SW quirks

I can get what I need done in SW, but there's a few user interface quirks that slow me down. I'm wondering if anyone else find themselves frustrated with user issues and if there's something I can do to change them.


1. I'm trying to toggle on/off the "ORTHO" and "SNAP" function, which the help topics sayF8 and F9 will do. F8 seems to do nothing and F9minimizes theFeatureManager.Not to mentionF7 runs Spelling Check on my system. My status bar also doesn't display any ortho/snap/grid information.


2. When I'm drawing a profile, Ilay the line I want and then change the dimension to fit only to have the first endpoint of the line I set move. This causes the whole profile to shift, rather than the single lineadjust to fit. Is this a relations issue?


3. When I move objects to the desired snap point, I don't get an icon or display indicating what kind of snap point I got. I know it snapped because it appears tolock onto some invisible point. Other times, I won't even get a snap, even though I'm clearly over the desired point. I'm forced to draw in some point for reference and then delete or hide it after the move.


These are just the ones that get me the most. Is it some kind of setting? I poured overthe Options setting, but didn't find anything that helps.


If anyone can offer some advice, I would greatly appreciate it!

For items 2 and 3, be sure your "view sketch relations" is on: While editing sketch go to View > Sketch Relations.


If the line is blue, it is under constrained, if it's black its fully constrained.

Thanks for the help, SS.


What exactly does the Automatic relations in the System Options under Sketch-Relations/Snaps do? I've tried with it checked and unchecked and didn't notice any major difference.

for item
1. go to tools - options - customize - keyboards
assign a key for snap on / off.

mechyguy-


"Automatic relations" will add a "strong relation" (horizontal, vertical, etc.) to a line-sketch a horizontal line with it unchecked, and you'll see the horizontal relation in white as it snaps to horizontal while you sketch it. When you click to add the other endpoint of the line, it will be horizontal, but not constrained to be horizontal.


Now sketch a line with"automatic relations"checked, and you'll see the horizontal relation in yellow when it snaps to horizontal. When you click to add the other endpoint of the line, you'll see the relation added to the line, constraining it to horizontal.


Make sure View > Sketch relations is on to see the relations added to a line.

I appreciateall the help and it's definitely a good start for me. I realized that the SW help topics was giving me instructionsfor AutoCAD - oops. But the keyboard customization is useful and I better understand the relations now. Thanks again!