List Attributes

List controls present users with a list of predefined text values.

You can populate the list by entering values or importing the values from a text file or Excel spreadsheet.

Drag a List control from the palette on the left into a group box in the center pane. In the pane on the right, set attributes as described below.

The attributes of a List within a List Group are different from a stand-alone List. These attributes are described in List Group Attributes.

Control Attributes

  Caption Enter a label.
Parent Lists elements that precede the List control. You can select one of these controls as a parent for conditionalized lists.

Custom Property Attributes

Name Controls the name of the custom property that the user creates in the SOLIDWORKS software. You can enter a name or select a name from the list. The list is populated by the properties.txt file.
Type Controls the information that a user can enter in the field. Select:
  • List to enter values.
  • Text File to import values from a text file.
  • Excel File to import values from an Excel spreadsheet.
When you import values from an external file, the link to the file is maintained. Changes in the Excel file are reflected in the SOLIDWORKS interface. If you make changes when a user has the SOLIDWORKS software open, the user must click in the Custom Properties tab and then press F5 to refresh the screen.
Value Controls the list of values.

Available when Type is List.
Path Specifies the path to a file that contains the list of values.

Available when Type is Text File or Excel File.
Range Specifies the cells in the Excel file that define the list, in the format first cell:last cell.

For example:

  • A1:A10 reads values in cells A1 through A10.
  • A1:B4 reads values in cells A1 through A4, then B1 through B4.

Available when Type is Excel File.
Allow custom values Allows users to manually enter text values into the box in the SOLIDWORKS software. When this option is cleared, users can only select values from the list.
Configurations

Show on Custom Tab

Writes the property the user creates to the Custom tab of the Properties dialog box.

Show on Configuration Specific Tab

Writes the property the user creates to the Configuration Properties tab of the Properties dialog box.

These options are not available when the template type is set to Drawing in page-level attributes.