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Set Up SOLIDWORKS Customization Environment in Visual Studio 

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  1. Programming Environment 
  • Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 
  • Operating System   
       Windows 11 
       Windows 10 64 bit 
  • Processor 
      Intel or AMD with SSE2 support 
      Intel Core i5 or higher recommended 
  • RAM 
      8 GB 
  • Graphics Card 
      Certified graphics card and driver 
      NVIDIA Quadro or AMD FirePro Recommended 
  • Disk Space 
      5 GB or more
  • SOLIDWORKS 2024 
  • SOLIDWORKS SDK 
  • .NET Framework 4.8 and above 

2. Visual Studio 2017 C# .NET Programming Sample
The following is an example of how to create a project called ‘Cube’ assuming that SolidWorks and Visual studio is installed.
2.1 Create .Net Project.
Run Microsoft Visual Studio
Click ->New->Project to launch the new Project dialog Window. Select C# in the installed on the left side and click Console App in the middle of the window.
Input the Project Save path and Project Name

Finish Creating New Project
Click OK button to Finish Creating new project Cube.

2.2 Set Reference Library

Add Reference
In visual studio find the ‘Cube’ project in the Solution Explorer, right click on it, and select Add –>Reference.

A reference manager dialog Window pops up, Click Browse as shown below.

Choose and Add Reference File
From the SOLIDWORKS installation directory, e.g. ‘< SOLIDWORKS installation directory>\api \redist’ select ‘SolidWorks.Interop.sldworks.dll’ and ‘SolidWorks.Interop.swconst.dll’ and then add them by clicking Add button.

After adding the files, right-click added ‘SolidWorks.Interop.sldworks.dll’, and ‘SolidWorks.Interop.swconst.dll’ files one by one and select Properties at the context menu, the Reference Properties palette pops up. Set the value of Copy Local property to False. The following screenshot shows how to change Copy Local property of ‘SolidWorks.Interop.sldworks.dll’.

2.3 Add Code
using SolidWorks.Interop.sldworks; 
using SolidWorks.Interop.swconst; 
using System; 
using System.Runtime.InteropServices; 
 
namespace Cube 
{ 
    class Program 
    { 
        static void Main(string[] args) 
        { 
  SolidWorksTest solidWorksTest = new SolidWorksTest(); 
            solidWorksTest.CreateCube(); 
        } 
    } 
    class SolidWorksTest 
{ 
        SldWorks swApp; 
        const string sldWrksProgramId = “SldWorks.Application”; 
 
        private SldWorks ConnectToSW() 
        { 
            try 
            { 
return(SldWorks)Marshal.GetActiveObject(sldWrksProgramId); 
            } 
            catch (System.Exception) 
            { 
return (SldWorks)Activator.CreateInstance(Type.GetTypeFromProgID(sldWrksProgramId)) ?? throw new Exception(“Failed To Create Solidworks Session”); 
            } 
        } 
 
        public void CreateCube() 
        {
            swApp = ConnectToSW(); 
            swApp.Visible = true; 
 
            //make sure we have a part open 
            string partTemplate = null; 
 
            ModelDoc2 model = swApp.NewPart(); 
 
            FeatureManager featMan = default(FeatureManager); 
  partTemplate =       swApp.GetUserPreferenceStringValue((int)swUserPreferenceStringValue_e.swDefaultTemplatePart); 
            model = (ModelDoc2)swApp.NewDocument(partTemplate, (int)swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperA2size, 0.0,                  0.0); 
            model.InsertSketch2(true); 
            model.SketchRectangle(0, 0, 0, 0.1, 0.1, 0.1, false); 
 
            //Extrude the sketch 
            featMan = model.FeatureManager; 
  featMan.FeatureExtrusion(true, false, false, (int)swEndConditions_e.swEndCondBlind,           (int)swEndConditions_e.swEndCondBlind, 0.1, 0.0, false, false, false, 
            false, 0.0, 0.0, false, false, false, false, true, false, false); 
     } 
  } 
} 

By following these steps, you can seamlessly integrate SOLIDWORKS API with Visual Studio, enhancing your development workflow and enabling the creation of powerful custom applications. If you have a project in mind or need further assistance, contact us at [email protected].

We’re here to help you boost your productivity and achieve your SOLIDWORKS customization goals!

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