Hi everybody! In this article, I want to cover a topic that Iāve personally run into while working with SOLIDWORKS Electrical, and thatās two commands that are side by side on the Schematic menu,Ā StretchĀ andĀ Move. The questions that Iāve had are: What do these do and when do I use which? If youāve had these same questions, please keep reading!
Figure 1: Stretch and Move commands location.
I have a simple project open that Iām working on with two multiphase circuits and a motor symbol on each. In both cases, I want to move the motor to the right and I can do that with either command. The difference is apparent after Iāve completed that move.
Figure 2: Motor circuits prior to moving.
If what Iām trying to accomplish is moving the symbol, theĀ MoveĀ command is all I need. I can select the symbol first, or enter the command first. You can access it by right clicking on what you want to move, clicking the command in the Schematic tab or Modify tab. To start the move, click on the start point of the move, and either specify a distance or move your cursor to the end point and left click.
Figure 3: Using the Move command.
You see that once I do that, the symbol is no longer connected to the wires. I can re-establish the connection by clicking on each wire and moving the endpoint to the symbol. However, if thatās what you want in the first place, you can see how this is a tedious process.
On the bottom symbol, Iāll use the Stretch command. Again, you can either preselect entities or click on the command and then make my selections. This command is only accessible on the Schematic tab, which is probably why people go for Move first. Iāll click on the command, and the property manager asks me to select stretch points. Thatās going to be the connection points on the symbol. I’ve found if you click on the point, the system will select and deselect the symbol, so instead, Iāll use a box select. As soon as Iāve selected all of the points, hit the green check or click the right mouse button to specify the base point. In this case, it behaves just like Move. However, the wires stay connected after the move! Theyāve been stretched.
Figure 4: Using the Stretch command.
In this article, I went over using the stretch and move commands. I hope this helps you have confidence in using these in your schematics. For more information, request a SOLIDWORKS Electrical quoteĀ or contact us atĀ Hawk Ridge SystemsĀ today. Thanks for reading!
