The dictionary defines the word expert as “a person who has special skill or knowledge in some particular field; specialist; authority.” Now ask yourself are you an “expert” when to comes to sketch repairs? Using SOLIDWORKS constraints has caused everyone at some point in time their sketch state to change to an undesirable result.
When a sketch changes color, every color means something. When a sketch changes to an undesired result like Red, Blue or Pink, how you respond is what makes you an expert. Some of you may hit undo and try something different. If you’re really brave, you may wade through all the relations to figure out what the conflict is. This is certainly not a skill everyone possesses.
So how do we make everyone an expert?
Blue = Under – Defined
Black = Fully – Defined
Red = Over – Defined
Yellow = Invalid
Pink = Unsolvable
Instantly becoming an expert in sketch repair is easy. It is so easy in fact, that the only thing you need to know is where to find the tool that will do it for you. The problem is that the tool called “SketchXpert,” is not located on a toolbar and it cannot be added to your S-Key or mouse gestures. It is only found in one spot: When a sketch changes to an undesirable state, you will notice an icon on your status bar in SOLIDWORKS. This is how you get to the SketchXpert.
Once inside the command, select “Diagnose” and SketchXpert will determine how the conflict can be repaired. It may give you multiple solutions to the problem, all of which rid your sketch of errors. One thing you don’t want to miss in the SketchXpert Property Manager is the “always open this dialog when sketch error occurs” message. This will make it always pop up when it is needed most.
Find the solution that works for you and accept it. Now you can confidently say you too are a sketch repair expert using SketchXpert.