Accessing and Using Help

When you access help, a Web version of the documentation is displayed in a Web-based view. You can choose to view a local help (.chm) file, for example, if your Internet connection is slow or unavailable.

Web-based help includes these features:
Search Identify relevant topics using relevancy ranking, spelling correction, short descriptions in search result views, and guided navigation.
Topic Navigation Navigate using next and previous topic buttons, as well as breadcrumb trails at the top of help topics.
Feedback Provide feedback directly to the documentation team on individual help topics.
Up-to-Date Documentation Access updated Web help, so you never need to download large compiled help (.chm) files.

To access and use help:

Do one or more of the following:
Task Action
To switch between Web help and local help: Select or clear Help > Use SOLIDWORKS Web Help.
To access the currently enabled help:
  • Click Help > SOLIDWORKS Simulation > Help Topics to open the welcome page.
  • Click Help, click , or press F1 in a dialog box or PropertyManager to access context-sensitive help.
  • Click the flyout menu of Help options in the Menu Bar .
To select a topic: Use the Contents pane (Web help or the Contents tab (local help).
To perform a search (Web help):
  • Enter a term and click Search.
  • View search result descriptions to determine the best match. Beneath each description is a breadcrumb trail that reflects the topic hierarchy.
  • Narrow the search results by selecting a category on the left.
To perform a search (local help):
  • Click the Search tab, enter a term, and click List Topics. Select a topic and click Display.
  • Create Boolean searches using "AND," "OR," "NOT," and "NEAR."
  • Select Search previous results to use only the previously found topics for the next search. This allows you to narrow down your search by adding keywords.
  • Select Match similar words to highlight similar words in the found topics. For example, if you search for "open," topics with both "open" and "opening" are found.
  • Select Search titles only to find only topics with the keyword in the title.