Starting a new part, assembly, or drawing file
This section addresses the three types of SOLIDWORKS files: parts, assemblies, and drawings. Here, we'll briefly cover what each file is for and how we can use each of them; however, more about each type of file will be covered throughout this book.
What are parts, assemblies, and drawings?
As we just mentioned, SOLIDWORKS files fall into three distinctive categories: parts, assemblies, and drawings. Each file type corresponds to a certain deliverable when we're making a product. By deliverable, we mean whether we need to deliver a three-dimensional (3D) part file, a 3D assembly file, or a two-dimensional (2D) engineering drawing. To illustrate these three file types, let's break down the simple cylindrical box shown in the following diagram:
Figure 2.1 – A cylindrical box assembly consisting of two parts
We can induce three distinctive categories from the preceding cylindrical box diagram...
