Dragging features and Sketches in 2008 with “Instant 3D”
What was old is new again! A function added to SolidWorks 99 gave the ability to edit a sketch without having to invoke the Edit Sketch command. This function is called Move/Size Features. It allowed you to reach into a sketch from the 3D model environment and drag any unconstrained sketch geometry dynamically. The function was NOT available on your Features toolbar by default, so you had to add a special icon to your toolbar. Right up until Solidworks 2007, you would have to use Tools - Customize - Commands – Features, then drag and drop the icon for Move/Size Features onto your Feature Toolbar.
The icon looked like two green dots with arrows sticking out, as shown here: This function was fun, powerful, and a little bit dangerous in terms of what it could do to some of your relations internal the sketch, (such as if you rotated the sketch plane away from the default Horizontal and Vertical directions), and so it went largely unnoticed by all but the most expert of Solidworks users.
In Solidworks 2008, this function comes out from the shadows! The programmers re-wrote the command thoroughly to make it even more powerful, and remove the hazards that it originally presented to the novice user, and the command is now called Instant3D. The icon for this command is now found on the default Solidworks toolbars and Command Manager, and in the templates of a new installation, it will be turned ON by default. This icon is what allows you to drag on the face of any solid, and pull it in any direction not yet constrained within the sketch. If a feature does have parametric dimensions, Instant3D model will display those dimensions with a blue drag-ball at the free end of the dimension, allowing you to re-size the dimension with the aid of a ruler scale. Features not yet located parametrically can also be re-positioned within their sketch planes via dragging. If long-time users of Solidworks are a little un-nerved by the ease with which features can be re-positioned and re-sized, and wish to return to the version 2007 (and prior) edit mode where a double-click is required to edit a parameter, they need only to turn this icon OFF.
