About

Hello,

You come here it means you want to know about this blog more and the person who is sharing this knowledge.

For organization purpose I have divided this page into the parts.

Feel free to jump to the topic you want to read.

Introduction

I am a CAD engineer and using Solidworks 3D CAD Software from past 8 years.

I begin learning to programme from 2017.

Since then I learn different programming languages. Most of them are Microsoft technologies.

It is because in our job we use most of the Microsoft products like:

  1. MS Outlook

  2. MS Excel

  3. MS Powerpoint

Now I have knowledge of following programming languages:

  1. Visual Basic for Application, also known as VBA

  2. C#

  3. C++

I am very comfortable in VBA and C# but I am still learning C++ programming language.

I also have some knowledge of Excel macros but I am not very good at it.

I am good at Solidworks API and its application in the following languages:

  1. VBA for creating macros in Solidworks

  2. C# for Add-in or Standalone application in Solidworks

  3. Visual C++ just for fun in Solidworks

Why did I learn to programme?

In 2017, we are using Solidworks 2015 and Microsoft Excel documents for our project.

At that time, my CAD manager was working on automation of different project in Autodesk Inventor CAD Software using i-Logic.

By seeing him and doing this automation, I also want to do the same thing in my project also!

I talk with my team and ask them for the suggestions but they are not much interested.

Then I watch some YouTube Videos and get my hands dirty with macros.

After some time I got the confidence and now I am able to write macros with accurate use Google.

How did I learn to programme?

I know that I had to learn VBA macro programming for automation of tasks.

I ask for some guidance from my Software developer friends who are working on CAD Software development in my company.

They told me to learn about programming basics, Logical thinking and VBA programming language.

For learning purpose they told me to learn from YouTube Videos.

Then I look for some online tutorials like YouTube Videos and free online course.

On YouTube, I got a playlist from Me in 3d.

Select the link, if you want to watch those tutorials.

I watch all the videos and then complete all the macros as given in these videos.

This gives me confidence but not the knowledge I was looking for.

Hence I look for more resources and did not find a useful resource which can teach me macro programming step by step.

At that time, my developer friends suggest me to learn about VBA macro programming in Microsoft Excel.

They told me that, both Solidworks and Microsoft Excel use macros written in VBA programming language and in the later stage of development I have to learn both to integrate for large complex project.

So I started searching for macro tutorials for Microsoft Excel.

In office, it is very difficult for me to watch all the videos and do works at the same time.

At home, I want to spend my more time with wife who was not well at that point of time.

I thought I should look for a Book for this and luckily I found a book on Amazon which is shown below.

This is updated copy of the same book.

If you want to buy this book you can but it from Amazon by clicking above image ad.

Reading a book and working in an office at the same time is an easy task for me.

I started working with the book and get confidence in programming.

From this book, I learnt programming concepts and VBA programming language because I was not keen on learning Microsoft Excel macro programming hence I did not learn it.

After learning programming concepts and VBA programming language, I started creating Solidworks macros in VBA programming language.

At first, I record macros and try to understand every line code for example meaning of a line, why we use it here & so on.

Soon I know that recorded macros are not much help because it adds lots of Garbage code in it.

At this stage, I combine the knowledge I learn from video tutorial of Men in 3D and knowledge I get from reading the book.

By doing this,at slow pace, I was getting good at VBA macro programming in Solidworks without much help from others.

There are some times where I need to ask for help, at that time my developer friends helped me much.

I learn all this much by May 2018 and I was very persistent with that. Then I started creating macros for my project.

I started by identifying the smallest tasks to automate and then create Solidworks VBA macro for a particular task.

I identified some 10-15 tasks and create Solidworks VBA macros for those tasks.

In the Meantime, I also create a macro for one of my friend who saw me and asks my help.

After creating some Solidworks VBA macros I show them to my software developer friend in the company and he told me to create an Add-in in Solidworks 3D CAD Software by combining the functionality of all the macros I have created.

I was on learning spree hence took this task and started my journey of learning how to create add-in in Solidworks 3D CAD software.

Here I come across YouTube tutorials from AngelSix, SolidDNA tutorials and his books for Solidworks API programming.

These tutorials really helped me a lot.

From AngelSix YouTube Channel, I learnt basic C# programming languages as well and found it very helpful, practical and professional.

Learning C# programming language from his channel greatly boost my confidence.

After 2 months of learning from his YouTube Channel, I started creating Add-in in Solidworks with C# programming language along with Window Presentation Foundation (WPF) for modern User Interface.

It took me more 6 months to create an Solidworks C# add-in which has all the same functionality of previously done macros.

My software developer friends, my CAD manager and everybody in my team was blown away when I showed them the add-in I had created.

My work was recognised by everyone in my department which makes me very happy!!!

I stopped creating more macros myself because my teams mates are doing this job for themselves.

I help them in creating Solidworks VBA macros and Solidworks Standalone Application for themselves.

After that, I started learning C++ programming language by reading books from the creator of C++ programming language Bjarne Stroustrup.

Those books are shown below.

1st is very good for learning programming itself!!!

A must recommendation to all those who want to learn how to think for programming !!

2nd book is an advance book, mainly use for reference in C++ programming language.

If you want to buy these books you can but them from Amazon by clicking above image ads.

After reading the 1st book I thought I should start implementing my new knowledge in creating some application.

I choose C++ programming language and Solidworks C++ API for recreating what I had done previously.

It took me more 6-8 months for learning C++ programming language and Solidworks C++ API but I create only 10% of the tasks.

It was simply because after everyone noticed the my programming skills, I asked my developer friends to assign me some work.

So that I can learn what actual software development process looks like and how they do it.

Because of this, I am not able to give much time to C++ programming language and Solidworks C++ API.

But I am sure if anybody wants to start a C++ project for Solidworks I can really help in this.

Basically I read a lot, work a lot and practice a lot. Because of these I learn all these things.

Purpose of this blog

Purpose of this blog is simple.

Share my knowledge of Solidworks VBA Macro development and provide Solidworks C# API help in a tutorial format.

Since I was sharing my knowledge with my co-workers, I thought why don’t share this knowledge with other people who wants to learn these skills.

Also, I believe that everybody should have access to the knowledge they are looking for and this blog gives me the opportunity to share my knowledge around the world.

And blogging is a good way to do this!!!

In this blog, I write tutorial posts about VBA programming language and Solidworks VBA macro development.

I want to write these tutorials in a beginner-friendly manner so that those who do not have programming knowledge will not get intimated by this.

It is an easy task but it takes time to learn and master.

Also, in recent time when I search for the job openings, I found that there is an increase in demand for this type of skill also.

Which really surprise me!!

This encouraged me to write more on this blog. So that more people can get help from my blog.

Future Plans

I want to go step by step in this blog.

First I covered some basic on VBA programming language with examples but they are basic.

Currently, I am writing posts on individual Solidworks functions in Sketch Module.

I would like to proceed by covering the following modules one-by-one:

  1. Solidworks Sketch Module

  2. Solidworks Part Module

  3. Solidworks Assembly Module

  4. Solidworks Drawing Module

It will take time to create cover these modules.

I also want to explain these topics with VBA examples also.

As you can understand it is a huge task to cover all these with VBA examples so it takes time but slowly we will cover all these.

If you want to want to know the full list of my recommended books I have listed them in my Resouces page. Please check it also.

If you like my work please share with other people also.

I like the motto of Sharing is caring.

Hence if you find my blog helpful then I request you to share with your friends, colleagues and other people who want to learn these sort of things.

I hope you enjoy learning from these tutorials and create macros from your own.

If you have any question you can e-mail at below given e-mail id.