About the SolidWorks Part Reviewer

An effective way to learn more about SolidWorks is to review how others developed their models. This can be done by using the rollback bar and then walk through step-by-step and see how each feature was created and learn how the part was put together.

The SolidWorks Part Reviewer was created to help automate reviewing how a part was created and make it more effective. With the SolidWorks Part Reviewer you can “play” the part and also see any comments that were placed in to help describe the feature.

 

Getting Started

To turn on the SolidWorks Part Reviewer, click Add-ins and turn the SolidWorks Part Reviewer on.

1

You will now see the SolidWorks Part Reviewer tab in the Task Pane. When starting the SolidWorks Part Reviewer, you will see a welcome screen with a link to this post.

Note: The authored by is defined by the Author filed within the File / Properties dialog.

2

Playing the Part

With the Add-in turned on, select the SolidWorks Part Reviewer tab. You can use the play controls to walk through the model feature-by-feature or play the entire part automatically. Note the comments appear as the feature and dimensions are shown.

I believe the most effective way to walk through a part is to pin the Task Pane and use the step-by-step feature. You can then examine each feature and rotate the part, select the sketch, etc., and then move on to the next feature.

3

Creating Your Own Files

It’s simple; just add comments to any existing part file. You don’t need the comments, but they sure help describe why and how you created the feature.

To share your models, just create a discussion, uncheck mark as a question, and attach your part file. It’s that easy.

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Learn how to use the Part Reviewer in SOLIDWORKS 2014

Greg Jankowski is the Director, SolidWorks Community & Content Strategy at DS SolidWorks Corporation. He is the author of SolidWorks for Dummies, SolidWorks for AutoCAD Users, and the e-book Exploring SolidWorks. Greg is a regular presenter at SolidWorks User groups and SolidWorks World where he hosts the CAD Admin Bootcamp. Greg started the 1st online SolidWorks community on comp.cad.solidworks and continues to support SolidWorks online communities and other customer web related resources.

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