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Can someone teach me the basics of VBA in solidworks?

Question asked by Evan Dlugopolski on Aug 21, 2014
Latest reply on Jan 18, 2017 by Solid Air

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Hello all,

I am far from any kind of programmer but I have been trying to learn VBA programing for the past year now with both excel and solidworks. It seems to be near impossible to find any clear explanation on the basic structure and concepts of VBA programming. I can usually copy/paste bits of code together to make a complete macro, but they are very sloppy and I don't fully understand exactly what the individual parts of the code are doing. I have tried searching the web, gone through much of the solidworks API help etc but I feel like I don't even understand enough to make sense of the API help.

Basically what I am looking for is some basics and if possible an explanation of these specific things:

vocab and terminology. Specifically things like:
- dim vs set
- Boolean???
- etc.
The hierarchy. Specifically:

.sldworks vs .solidworks????
modeldoc2
application.sldworks vs sldworks.application

selection manager. Specifically:
- component2
- GetSelectedObjectTyp(2, 3) vs .GetSelectedObject (2-6)

It is just all very confusing and I cant seem to make sense of it. If anyone would like to take the time to teach me over the forum/PM or point me in the direction of some good resources to start learning VBA I would really appreciate it. Simple examples would be great too!

Thanks!

Evan

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Jacob Picolet Aug 21, 2014 5:05 PM

Keith Rice has a website called CADSharp.com: SolidWorks API Video Tutorials.

Deepak Gupta also has a lot of helpful information and a blog: Boxer's CAD CAM Blog | News, Events and Tech Tips

Search wise the articles from Javelin and Hawkridge are typically the most helpful.

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David Mandl @ Jacob Picolet on Jan 18, 2017 11:21 AM

Allow me to throw my recommendation behind Keith Rice and his website. His videos are very helpful, and the free version of his catalog includes some very handy videos for VBA novices.

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Christian Chu @ David Mandl on Jan 18, 2017 11:49 AM

Just adding to your comments: believe Keith will have a seminar in LA just before SWW - Pls. double check his website

Edit: here is the link

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Deepak Gupta Aug 22, 2014 1:43 AM

If you looking for a book, check here: SolidWorks API - Programming & Automation

If you looking for video tutorials, check here: Video Tutorials for the SolidWorks API

If you looking for examples/website for macro example, then the forum itself is full of tons of examples. SW API help files are awesome too.

Some of the other sites to look at are:

Lorono's SolidWorks Resources

Lenny's SolidWorks Resources

Angelsix SolidWorks Macros

3DCC Free SolidWorks Macros

SolidWorks Tips

SolidWorks API

SolidWorks Tools - Macros and code examples

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Amen Allah Jlili Jan 18, 2017 6:01 PM

Some of the questions you asked are about the fundamentals of programming.
If you do a course on VB.NET, it will all make sense to you. Try Microsoft Virtual Academy (it's free).

dim vs set
- Dim is a keyword used to declare a variable. It says to the compiler, please dimension this variable of name A to this type.
- Set is a keyword used to put a memory reference inside a variable. The variable will hold a memory reference that will point to somewhere else. Set is reserved for reference-types (*: There are exceptions here). Topic to read about here is Ref types and Values types.
Boolean
- A Boolean a value type. A variable of type boolean can hold either true or false. The value is intrinsic. There are no references involved.

The hierarchy. Specifically:
- .sldworks vs .solidworks????
  - SldWorks is the actual namespace (something to read about) that holds almost all SOLIDWORKS objects. .SldWorks, however is the type representing the highest variable in the hierarchy in terms of access. From it, you can access all the other objects.
  - SolidWorks is just a larger namespace that precedes SldWorks // Notice that intellisense shows SolidWorks & SldWorks with the same icon.
  - Application is the actual SolidWorks application. Application of member of SOLIDWORKS. It has a number of members that you don't find in SldWorks.
- ModelDoc2
  - ModelDoc2 (Go to the online Help). It represents all documents, hence why it's a model.
selection manager. Specifically:
- component2 (Online Help)
- GetSelectedObjectType(2, 3) : Get the type of the third object that was selected with a mark of 3. Marks are a way to allow methods to perform selections independently. If method A uses objects marked with 45, then selecting objects with a mark 3 and invoking method A wouldn't yield any desired results.
- .GetSelectedObject (2,6): Selects the object at the index 2 as marked by 6. This array is 0 based so technically speaking, it's the third object.

CHEERS

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Fernando Castro Jan 18, 2017 7:03 PM

i was like you some time ago, and could do a very interesting things, but it was very hard to me. and it was a lot of try and error to make things works. then i decided to learn some basic concepts of Objects oriented programming. and then i finally undertand the api help.

you could se videos od the basics of programing, this worked for me.

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Solid Air Jan 18, 2017 8:25 PM

Some of the questions you ask are not solidworks but Visual Basic 6.0 which is what VBA is derived from. VB.Net is similar but not same so I would stick with VB6.

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7 Replies

Jacob Picolet Aug 21, 2014 5:05 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Keith Rice has a website called CADSharp.com: SolidWorks API Video Tutorials.
Deepak Gupta also has a lot of helpful information and a blog: Boxer's CAD CAM Blog | News, Events and Tech Tips

Search wise the articles from Javelin and Hawkridge are typically the most helpful.
Like • Show 8 Likes8
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- David Mandl @ Jacob Picolet on Jan 18, 2017 11:21 AM
  Mark Correct
  Correct Answer
  Allow me to throw my recommendation behind Keith Rice and his website. His videos are very helpful, and the free version of his catalog includes some very handy videos for VBA novices.
  Like • Show 4 Likes4
  Actions
  - Christian Chu @ David Mandl on Jan 18, 2017 11:49 AM
    Mark Correct
    Correct Answer
    Just adding to your comments: believe Keith will have a seminar in LA just before SWW - Pls. double check his website
    
    Edit: here is the link
    Like • Show 4 Likes4
    Actions
Deepak Gupta Aug 22, 2014 1:43 AM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
If you looking for a book, check here: SolidWorks API - Programming & Automation

If you looking for video tutorials, check here: Video Tutorials for the SolidWorks API

If you looking for examples/website for macro example, then the forum itself is full of tons of examples. SW API help files are awesome too.

Some of the other sites to look at are:

Lorono's SolidWorks Resources
Lenny's SolidWorks Resources
Angelsix SolidWorks Macros
3DCC Free SolidWorks Macros
SolidWorks Tips
SolidWorks API
SolidWorks Tools - Macros and code examples
Like • Show 7 Likes7
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Amen Allah Jlili Jan 18, 2017 6:01 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Some of the questions you asked are about the fundamentals of programming.
If you do a course on VB.NET, it will all make sense to you. Try Microsoft Virtual Academy (it's free).
- The hierarchy. Specifically:
  .sldworks vs .solidworks????
  SldWorks is the actual namespace (something to read about) that holds almost all SOLIDWORKS objects. .SldWorks, however is the type representing the highest variable in the hierarchy in terms of access. From it, you can access all the other objects.
  SolidWorks is just a larger namespace that precedes SldWorks // Notice that intellisense shows SolidWorks & SldWorks with the same icon.
  Application is the actual SolidWorks application. Application of member of SOLIDWORKS. It has a number of members that you don't find in SldWorks.
  ModelDoc2
  ModelDoc2 (Go to the online Help). It represents all documents, hence why it's a model.
- selection manager. Specifically:
  component2 (Online Help)
  GetSelectedObjectType(2, 3) : Get the type of the third object that was selected with a mark of 3. Marks are a way to allow methods to perform selections independently. If method A uses objects marked with 45, then selecting objects with a mark 3 and invoking method A wouldn't yield any desired results.
  .GetSelectedObject (2,6): Selects the object at the index 2 as marked by 6. This array is 0 based so technically speaking, it's the third object.
CHEERS
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Fernando Castro Jan 18, 2017 7:03 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
i was like you some time ago, and could do a very interesting things, but it was very hard to me. and it was a lot of try and error to make things works. then i decided to learn some basic concepts of Objects oriented programming. and then i finally undertand the api help.

you could se videos od the basics of programing, this worked for me.
Like • Show 2 Likes2
Actions
Solid Air Jan 18, 2017 8:25 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Some of the questions you ask are not solidworks but Visual Basic 6.0 which is what VBA is derived from. VB.Net is similar but not same so I would stick with VB6.
Like • Show 2 Likes2
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Can someone teach me the basics of VBA in solidworks?

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