Newcomer to Solidworks question

Will someone kindly tell me what condition or conditions would have to
exist whereby Solidworks WILL NOT allow the offset of a plane by ctrl
and drag. I encounter this situation sporadically, and I don't know if
I have a toggle on, or off that I shouldn't have. I use the ctrl drag
utility to move a plane over part of a feature that I want to extrude
cut, usually, or maybe trim off a section of a model. I am using
Solidworks 2006, if that matters.
I appreciate anyone sharing their knowledge, with many thanks.
Karen

 

Does the Property manager come up when you CTRL-LMB on the parent
plane? If not, are you sure you are on the edge of the parent plane?

TOP

 

The only thing I can think of is that you have a selection filter
enabled. If you press F5 it will bring up the filters toolbar and you
can see if plane selections are currently disallowed.

Another, although far less likely, is that you are using a kvm switch.
On my computer if you press ctrl twice it places the KVM switch into
listening mode. When this happens the ctrl key stops functioning.

 

Thank you all so much for your responses. I am sorry to have to bother
you talented draftsmen with a seemingly simple problem such as this.
No prompt manager window comes up, and can you tell me what does LMB
stand for in the CTRL-LMB phrase that you used? Yes, I am on edge of
parent plane.
Assuming that the "KVM switch is in listening mode, is there a method
to disengage it?
If I invoke F-5 and the selection filter tells me that the plane is
currently dissallowed,what would be the reasons, and what step do I
take to allow?
Thank you all again
Karen

 

Hey Karen, LMB = Left Mouse Button. This is normally the select button.

Reaper.

 

You can press escape to exit listening mode on a kvm switch. For those
that don't know what a kvm switch is - it lets use multiple computers
with a single set of keyboard/mouse/monitor.

Reasons selection would be disallowed are most likely because the
current command you are using does not allow it. For example if you
are in the sweep property manager then plane selections will be
disallowed by SolidWorks, as this would not make sense.

The other reason would be because you have enabled a selection filter
yourself. For example, if you press the v key it will set your
selection filter to only pick vertices.

 

And the symptoms of having the selection filter on is a funnel shaped
cursor. The symptoms of being in a command context is some kind of
transparent check box in the upper right corner of the graphics screen.