Chapter 15: Working with Libraries
In This Chapter
Building a library Exploring other Design Library functions Understanding Smart Components Using Smart Components Making Smart Components Working with Smart Components tutorial
One of the biggest benefits that you can take advantage of in any CAD software is reusing data that you have already created. If you are really lucky, you can use data that other people have created. Libraries are simply organized collections of data that you think you will reuse at some point. You can create libraries that include all kinds of data, including sketches, features, combinations of features, parts, and even subassemblies. This chapter focuses on libraries that you would use with assemblies. It pays special attention to items you create or customize yourself for optimal automation.
Chapter 14 covers SolidWorks Toolbox, which technically is not a library, because it doesn't store a lot of parts. Toolbox is a “configurator” because initially it only contains templates that are used to make various sizes of the parts, which you configure through an interface. This distinction is important because unless you explicitly create a specific size part in Toolbox, it does not exist. To be most reliable to multiple users, libraries should contain parts that exist.
This chapter also talks about the library automation found in Smart Components, which enables you to place several parts at once, along with the resizing and custom in-context features. This ...
