<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Solidworks Tips and Tricks - Using your mouse efficiently
 
After a long delay, I finally can give you the Solidworks Tips and Tricks that you have asked for! My goal is to send these Tips and Tricks e-mails about once per month to help you be a better Solidworks user. As an engineer I know that most people don't have the time to learn all of the new features, or even existing features in Solidworks. So, the goal of these Tips and Tricks e-mails are to provide a focused set of ideas to help all levels of users work faster and better. As a Senior Application Engineer for the largest Solidworks VAR in the United States I saw a lot of things that users didn't know about that would make their life easier. So, these are Tips and Tricks are a result of what I learned working with over 150 companies in Colorado. If you have a particular interest regarding Solidworks please let me know. I will try to respond to specific areas that people need. Also, I will try to break these e-mails into different experience levels so that you can focus on the level that interests you.

First of all I apologize that this is a long Tips and Tricks. It's length is due to its importance and that I am trying to raise the bar for everyone. In the future TnT's probably won't be so long.

This month's topic: YOUR MOUSE

Background: Solidworks is highly dependent on the mouse for everything. There are a number of things that you can do to maximize your mouse efficiency. Also included in this e-mail are ways to minimize OVERUSE of your mouse and keep your arm from fatiguing.

BASIC MOUSE INFORMATION:

No mouse buttons selected: In Solidworks you can move your mouse over features and parts to highlight different features. You can turn off this dynamic highlight in Tools Menu, Options, Display/Selection, "Dynamic highlight from graphics view"

Left mouse button (LMB) is for selection. It is context-dependent. In other words, depending on what you click on will determine what is selected. No surprises here, I hope!

Middle mouse button (MMB) is a crucial button for efficiency in Solidworks. If you don't have a 2 button mouse, with a scroll wheel, or something comparable, GET ONE! It will help you so much. First, the scroll wheel on most mice is also a button. If you want to rotate your part, push the MMB and rotate!

TRICK: If you want to rotate a part or assembly about a point, line, or face instead of swimming around the screen do this: Click and release the MMB on a vertex, midpoint, line or face, then click and hold the MMB to rotate about that feature you just clicked on. Your part or assembly will rotate about that feature instead of your part center of mass. Try it, you'll like it!

Right mouse button (RMB) is also very useful. It is generally used as a shortcut for commands that you could otherwise reach from other places inside Solidworks. It is context dependent. If you right click on a face you will get options that are likely for whatever you click on. Most users don't take full advantage of this. Try to use it more! It saves your arm and hand considerably.


INTERMEDIATE MOUSE INFORMATION:
I typically work with my left hand on the keyboard and my right hand uses the mouse. You can use the following combinations of mouse and keyboard to pan and zoom:
CTRL + MMB to Pan
Shift + MMB to zoom

There is an option to turn off the command "stickiness". So if you are a person that likes to get back to your "select" option often you can turn off the command stickiness by going to Tools Menu, Options, General, "Single command per pick". When this option is selected I can choose to draw a line and then once I am done drawing one line my tool goes back to "select" mode. If I want to draw more than one line then I can double click on the line command and it will stay active until I select another command or hit the "Escape" key. Personally I like this feature, some people don't.

Solidworks 2005: In this new version of Solidworks you can hit the "Enter" key to repeat your last command. This works in sketching, as well as single item features such as filleting. This is definitely a nice touch.

ADVANCED MOUSE INFORMATION:
Want to save time? Use software to help you. Depending on what operating system and drivers you have installed will determine whether the following option is available to you. Some mouse drivers have an option to jump to the default button when a dialog box pops up. I love this option. You would be surprised how often a box pops up asking you to do something, and you don't need to move your mouse - usually. Just click and you are done!

To see if you have this option, go to Start Menu, Control Panel, Mouse. Look for an option that says something like "Automatically move pointer to the default button in a dialog box". If you can't find it, don't worry! You can download a mouse pointer driver from Logitech that will work beautifully. Go to www.logitech.com and download the MouseWare software for your style of mouse. Don't worry if you don't have a logitech mouse. I have used it on a Microsoft mouse and it works fine. In fact, it works better. DON'T use the Microsoft Intellimouse drivers. It will make you a dumbymouse user. If you try to use your MMB in Solidworks it will zoom in and out and not rotate like it should.

MOUSE/HAND HEALTH
I have had considerable issues with carpal tunnel, wrist fatigue, shoulder strain, etc. Here are my lessons learned and some I have seen from others.

Most of my issues have come from one of two things 1) wrist pressure or 2) leaning on my mouse arm for support. For wrist pressure I suggest the following, in order of cost:
1) Make sure your arm fully rests on your desk - from your hand to your elbow. This will lessen the pressure on your wrist.
2) Optical mouse - typically these require a lot less effort to move around on the desktop, which makes a surprising difference. Basic Microsoft wired mice require the least pressure to activate the middle mouse button.
3) Vertical Joystick - 3M makes a great mouse that turns your wrist vertical. This has been my best solution. I am a little slower with it but I can go forever with it and not put any pressure on my wrist. It doesn't have a scroll wheel but if I use Shift + MMB I get the same result. I just got one from Buy.com for $53 after tax.
4) Gamer Joystick - You can buy a full size joystick and then use a free shareware program like Joystick2Mouse to convert the joystick to acting like a mouse. I've tried it but found I was a lot slower. The nice thing is that the joystick I bought has about 20 extra buttons on it. I can program each button to do a lot of commands at once (ie Isometric View then Fit to Selection) so that I don't even have my left hand on the keyboard. If you want this program just send me an e-mail and I can give it to you.
5) There are some keyboard & mice pullouts that give way if you put too much pressure on them. The idea is to train you not to lean on your mouse or keyboard. If you like this idea I can get you more information on the product name and cost.

Future Topics:
How to optimize your computer to maximize stability and speed.
Advanced Modeling
Using Macros

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