Solidworks VBA Macro - Insert Virtual Part

5 minute read

Objective

In this article, we understand “how to” Insert Virtual Part in Assembly document from VBA macro.

This is most updated method of inserting Virtual part in as assembly document.

Results We Can Get

Below image shows the result we get.

We Insert Virtual Part in simple manners.

There are no extra steps required.

To get the correct result, please follow the steps correctly.

Macro Video

Below 🎬 video shows how to Insert Virtual Part from SOLIDWORKS VBA Macros.

Above video is just for visualization and there is no explanation.

I have explained every line in this article.

It is advisable to watch video, since it helps you to better understand the process.

VBA Macro

Below is the VBA macro for Insert Virtual Part.

                        Option Explicit

' Variable for Solidworks Application
Dim swApp As SldWorks.SldWorks

' Variable for Solidworks document
Dim swDoc As SldWorks.ModelDoc2

' Variable for Solidworks Assembly
Dim swAssembly As SldWorks.AssemblyDoc

' Variable for Solidworks Component
Dim swComponent As SldWorks.Component2

' Variable for Solidworks Face
Dim swFace As SldWorks.Face2

' Program to Insert virtual part
Sub main()
  
  ' Set Solidworks Application variable to current application
  Set swApp = Application.SldWorks
  
  ' Set Solidworks document variable to currently opened document
  Set swDoc = swApp.ActiveDoc
  
  ' Check if Solidworks document is opened or not
  If swDoc Is Nothing Then
    MsgBox "Solidworks document is not opened."
    Exit Sub
  End If
  
  ' Set Solidworks Assembly document
  Set swAssembly = swDoc
  
  ' Get the selected face and set it to the Solidworks Face variable
  Set swFace = swDoc.SelectionManager.GetSelectedObject6(1, -1)
  
  ' Insert Virtual part
  swAssembly.InsertNewVirtualPart swFace, swComponent
  
  ' If there are error
  If swComponent Is Nothing Then
    ' Inform user and exit function.
    MsgBox "Failed to add Virtual part."
    Exit Sub
  End If
  
End Sub

                      

Prerequisite

There are some prerequisites for this article.

Knowledge of VBA programming language is ❗required.
We use existing parts in Assembly document.
Both components are fully constraint as shown in below image.
One face is selected, in which we want to insert virtual component.

We will apply checks in this article, so the code we write, should be error free mostly.

Steps To Follow

This VBA macro can be divided into following sections:

Create Global Variables
Initialize Global Variables
Insert Virtual Part

Every section with each line is explained below.

I also give some links (see icon 🚀) so that you can go through them if there are anything I explained in previous articles.

Create Global Variables

In this section, we create global variables.

Option Explicit

Purpose: Above line forces us to define every variable we are going to use.
Reference: 🚀 SOLIDWORKS Macros - Open new Part document article.

                        ' Variable for Solidworks application
Dim swApp As SldWorks.SldWorks

Purpose: In above line, we create a variable for Solidworks application.
Variable Name: swApp
Type: SldWorks.SldWorks
Reference: Please visit 🚀 online SOLIDWORKS API Help.

                        ' Variable for Solidworks document
Dim swDoc As SldWorks.ModelDoc2

Purpose: In above line, we create a variable for Solidworks document.
Variable Name: swDoc
Type: SldWorks.ModelDoc2
Reference: Please visit 🚀 online SOLIDWORKS API Help.

                        ' Variable for Solidworks Assembly
Dim swAssembly As SldWorks.AssemblyDoc

Purpose: In above line, we create a variable for Solidworks Assembly.
Variable Name: swAssembly
Type: SldWorks.AssemblyDoc
Reference: Please visit 🚀 online SOLIDWORKS API Help.

                        ' Variable for Solidworks Component
Dim swComponent As SldWorks.Component2

Purpose: In above line, we create a variable for Solidworks Component.
Variable Name: swComponent
Type: SldWorks.Component2.
Reference: Please visit 🚀 online SOLIDWORKS API Help.

                        ' Variable for Solidworks Face
Dim swFace As SldWorks.Face2

Purpose: In above line, we create a variable for Solidworks Face.
Variable Name: swFace
Type: SldWorks.Face2.
Reference: Please visit 🚀 online SOLIDWORKS API Help.

These all are our global variables.

They are SOLIDWORKS API Objects.

                        ' Program to Insert virtual part
Sub main()

End Sub

In above line, we create main Program to Insert virtual part.
This is a Sub procedure which has name of main.
This procedure hold all the statements (instructions) we give to computer.
Reference: Detailed information 🚀 VBA Sub and Function Procedures article of this website.

Initialize Global Variables

In this section, we initialize global variables.

                        ' Set Solidworks Application variable to current application
Set swApp = Application.SldWorks

In above line, we set value of swApp variable.
This value is currently opened Solidworks application.

                        ' Set Solidworks document variable to currently opened document
Set swDoc = swApp.ActiveDoc

In above line, we set value of swDoc variable.
This value is currently opened part document.

                        ' Check if Solidworks document is opened or not
If swDoc Is Nothing Then
  MsgBox ("Solidworks document is not opened.")
  Exit Sub
End If

                      

In above code block, we check if we successfully set the value of swDoc variable.
We use 🚀 IF statement for checking.
Condition: swDoc Is Nothing
When this condition is True,
- We show and 🚀 message window to user.
- Message: SOLIDWORKS document is not opened.
- Then we stop our macro here.

                        ' Set Solidworks Assembly document
Set swAssembly = swDoc

In above line, we set value of swAssembly variable.
This value is swDoc variable.

Insert Virtual Part

In this section, we Insert Virtual Part.

                        ' Get the selected face and set it to the Solidworks Face variable
Set swFace = swDoc.SelectionManager.GetSelectedObject6(1, -1)

In above code block, we get set the value of swFace variable.
We use GetSelectedObject6 method of swDoc.SelectionManager object.

                        ' Insert Virtual part
swAssembly.InsertNewVirtualPart swFace, swComponent

In above code, we Insert Virtual part into assemly.
For this, we use InsertNewVirtualPart method.
This InsertNewVirtualPart method is part of swAssembly variable.
This method takes 2 parameter.
- FaceOrPlaneToSelect: Plane or planar face.
- InsertedComponent: New part inserted as virtual component.
Return Value : This InsertNewVirtualPart method return 👉 Error as defined by swInsertNewPartErrorCode_e.

In our code, I have used following values:

Parameter Name	Value Used
FaceOrPlaneToSelect	`swFace`
InsertedComponent	`swComponent`

Reference: For more details please visit 🚀 online SOLIDWORKS API Help.

                        ' If there are error
If swComponent Is Nothing Then
  ' Inform user and exit function.
  MsgBox "Failed to add Virtual part."
  Exit Sub
End If

                      

In above code block, we check if we successfully added Virtual Part or not.
We use 🚀 IF statement for checking.
Condition: swComponent Is Nothing
When this condition is True,
- We show and 🚀 message window to user.
- Message: *Failed to add Virtual part.
- Then we stop our macro here.

Now we run the macro and after running macro we get a New Virtual Part as shown in below image.

This is it !!!

I hope my efforts will helpful to someone! 😊

If you found anything to add or update, please let me know on my e-mail 📧.

Hope this post helps you to Insert Virtual Part with SOLIDWORKS VBA Macros.

For more such tutorials on SOLIDWORKS VBA Macro, do come to this website after sometime.

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Till then, Happy learning!!!