Solid Applications SOLIDWORKS

SOLIDWORKS Hints & Tips – Adding custom material properties to Toolbox Components

1 December 2017
Adam Holmes

You can create a list custom property that is linked to the SOLIDWORKS Materials library. The video below will show how to achieve this.

To create a material property:

  1. From Windows, click Start > All Programs > SOLIDWORKS version > SOLIDWORKS Tools > Toolbox Settings .
  2. Click 2 – Customize Your Hardware.
  3. On the Customize Hardware page, select the folder or individual component to apply the custom property to.
  4. Under Custom Properties, click Add New Custom Property .
  5. In the Custom Property Definition dialog box, type the Property Name.
  6. Under Options, set options as needed.
  7. Under Type, select List.
  8. Select Link to SW material.
  9. Under Material, click Select and select a material from the list.
  10. Under Value, type a name for the material in the list.
  11. For properties that require a configuration name, type a Suffix and an optional separator.
    You can delete a list value by clicking Delete  in the value row.
  12. Repeat steps 6 though 8 for additional list items.
  13. Click OK.

Material Property Example

In the Custom Property Definition dialog box:

  1. Create a list property called Material.
  2. Select Add as configuration specific property and Link to SW material.
  3. In the value list, select the materials and type the values:
    Material Value
    Plain Carbon Steel PCarSteel
    ABS PC ABSpoly
    Brass Brass

Because you did not select Each value for this property requires a new configuration name, no suffixes are required.

On the Customize Hardware page, select (enable) the custom property for a component. In the right pane, you can specify Plain Carbon Steel as the default value and clear any material value that is not used for this particular component.

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