Recommend book for programming Solidworks

[smcadman]

I purchased a book titled: "Automating SolidWorks 2004 Using Macros" but it assumes you know how to program already. Can anyone recommend a book for programming in SW? I believe C++ is what I need to learn, if not please advise.

I am also contemplating taking a course at a community college in the spring and want to know if this sounds like a good one to start:

Programming Fundamentals I - C++

Introduces the fundamental concepts of structured programming. Topics include software development methodology, data types, control structures, functions, arrays, and the mechanics of running, testing, and debugging. This course assumes computer literacy

If there is a good book to start with, then maybe I can forgo the $260 course.


Flores

 

[TheTick]

SW 2007's macro language is VBA. Learn basic principles of object-oriented programming first. Start with VBA or VB6. After that, practice practice practice.

Recorded macros are helpful but often they don't record certain necessary information. This is especially true when managing selections.

Honesty may be the best policy, but insanity is a better defense.

http://www.EsoxRepublic.com

-SolidWorks API VB programming help

 

[handleman]

What language to learn depends on how you want to automate SW. If you want to write macros like the ones discussed here, you would need to learn VBA. If you want to write separate .exe programs or .dll add-ins then either VB or C++ should work. As to the value of a programming course, I would think that with a little digging around you should be able to find a decent free tutorial or two on the web. That sort of depends on your interests and what motivates you. If you think you'd work harder or take it more seriously by wanting to get your money's worth out of it, then do the course. If you are really driven to learn it, I'd take the free route. If you've never done any programming before, any language would be fine to start with. That outline looks a lot like the one programming course I took in college - a good basic introduction to programming. One thing that appears to be lacking in the course as outlined (at least pertaining to SolidWorks automation) is object-oriented programming. Automating SolidWorks makes extensive use of objects, properties, methods, etc. However, if that course is like the one I remember, object-oriented programming is probably a more advanced topic.

-handleman, CSWP (The new, easy test)

 

[smcadman]

Thanks guys. I saw some of the examples on the SW API site are written in C++ and VBA and I wasn't sure which one to focus on.

http://www.solidworks.com/pages/services/APISupport.html

I will look for a book on VBA at Amazon and also see what kind of tutorials are on the net.

The only programming I have ever done was AutoLISP for AutoCAD and that is completely useless in SW. There were some that I did that you enter a few variables in a dialog box and it would make a complete 3D solid part.

Flores