Creating a Tab

You can create templates for entering custom properties for parts, assemblies, drawings, and weldments.

Three read-only properties, Part Name, Standard, and Specification, are available in Toolbox settings and appear in the Configure Component PropertyManager for standards that have an existing Designation.

To create a tab template:

  1. In the SOLIDWORKS software, on the SOLIDWORKS Resources tab of the Task Pane, click Property Tab Builder .

    The SOLIDWORKS Resources tab is not available in SOLIDWORKS Connected.

  2. In SOLIDWORKS Connected, open Property Tab Builder.
    1. On the Custom Properties tab of the Task Pane, select Click for template options .
    2. In the Template Options dialog box, click Property Tab Builder.

      Property Tab Builder opens. The center pane contains the template that you create for the tab. The pane on the right contains page-level attributes.

      In the center pane, a border surrounds the active element, and attributes for that element appear in the right pane. When you open Property Tab Builder, the focus is on the overall page level.
  3. In the right pane, set page-level attributes. Select the template type: Part, Assembly, Drawing, or Weldment.
  4. In the center pane, click the group box. Then, in the right pane, set attributes for the group box.
  5. Drag elements from the left pane to the group box in the center pane. Set attributes for those elements in the right pane.

    You can:

    • Place multiple group boxes at the page level. You cannot place group boxes inside other group boxes.
    • Place all other elements only inside group boxes.
    • Drag elements to reposition them within a group box or to move them to a different group box.
    • Delete elements by right-clicking the element and clicking Delete.
  6. When you finish editing the template, click Save .
  7. In the Save SolidWorks Properties template dialog box:
    1. For File name, enter a name.
    2. Select the location to the properties.txt file.

      To find the location of the properties.txt file, in the SOLIDWORKS software, click Options > File Locations. Select Custom Properties Files in Show folders for. The path appears under Folders.

      To share the customized tab, store it on a network drive that is accessible by SOLIDWORKS users. The users can specify their file location for Custom Properties Files to the network drive.

  8. You can close Property Tab Builder or click New to create another template.

    In the SOLIDWORKS software, the next time that you select the Custom Properties tab in the Task Pane, the template appears for the type of document that is active.

    If a tab does not yet exist for the active document type, click Create now on the Custom Properties tab to open the Property Tab Builder.