Bounding Box View?

Is there any way you can create a view in Solidworks that shows the
bounding box of a part? I have a need for a completely undetailed
view of parts and assemblies and this would help. I want to use the
bounding box to create AutoCAD blocks and I don't need the intricate
details that show up in my Solidworks views.

Thanks,
Ben

 

I have a macro that will create a 3D sketch at the bounding box of the
model. If that's all you want then you could create a config with
everything else suppressed except that sketch. Keep in mind that the
sketch is not dynamic - you have to recreate it if the geometry
changes.

Go to http://www.kcswug.com/programs/macros/ and grab BoundingBox.swp.

WT

 

Thanks, this may help.

Ben

 

Wayne,
This looked like something that would be extremely useful, so I
downloaded and used your macro. It doesn't give an accurate box (not
the actual edges of the solid). Is this normal? I did find the
addfactor and change it to 0, but the box is still larger than the
part (by differing amounts in each direction).

 

The API help on it states this:
------
IMPORTANT: The values returned are approximate and should not be used for
comparison or calculation purposes. Furthermore, the bounding box may vary
after rebuilding the model.
The resulting box encloses the object, but it might not be the tightest box.

The two X, Y, Z points returned are the lower- and upper-diagonal corners
that bound the feature. The box is aligned with the model coordinate system.
The box dimensions enclose the feature. However, the box might not be the
minimum bounding box for the model.
-----

Based on that description, you see that the box it looks at is to the
farthest outside points, and is not a good representation of irregular
shapes as it goes to the extremes. The original purpose of that macro was
to get a rough idea of the size of material needed to make the part, and the
"add" factor was put in to let the user adjust the amount they wanted to add
for "extra" material.

WT