Project Time Tracker - Create User Forms - SOLIDWORKS API Tutorial #6

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This is another great timeless tutorial from the experts and follows the previous API tutorial series from Keith Rice https://mlc-cad.com/solidworks-api-for-the-total-beginner/. If you have no experience with API, start there first. For anyone with a basic understanding of the API and how to structure a project, you can start here. The goal for this project is to create a custom macro that will allow us to track custom properties, file paths, and log-in/log-out times for users as they work in SOLIDWORKS. This information can be helpful for tracking job for client billing, for personal notes and logging, or simply to get a better idea of how much time is actually being spent and where. Notes are saved into an Excel spreadsheet for logging and analysis. The tutorial was created in 2014 but the approach to code remains a great example of best practices.

The goal of this tutorial series is to show you how to approach a programming project and systematically write and confirm the behavior of the program as you go. This new series is broken into 13 video chapters:
1. Getting Started - https://youtu.be/lvCjTlzxLfM
a. Introduce the project series
b. Demonstrate an example of the finished macro
c. Create a new project and review the Help documentation
2. Declaring Variables to Access Data - https://youtu.be/cERPqBat7L8
a. Choosing variables and declarations
b. Setting variables and types
c. Pulling file data and displaying it
3. Test for Data Existence, Write Data - https://youtu.be/dhaP5Yxj5h8
a. Check for custom property existence
b. Read and Write custom property values
4. Add conditional statements - https://youtu.be/6aC0tVdl_j0
a. Add conditional statements based on returns
b. Notify user of issues/status
5. Collecting File Information - https://youtu.be/1dvdc04HECM
a. Pulling file name, path, and type
b. Handling unsaved files
6. Collecting Time and User Forms - https://youtu.be/--cmDHqPxbE
a. Get current time
b. Build a new user form
c. Initialize and interact with the form
7. Formatting Forms - https://youtu.be/7HJKbVe6Sqo
a. User form layout
b. Adjusting form format and size
8. Form Interaction - https://youtu.be/MMvyHtJoeqM
a. Adding buttons
b. Providing user feedback
c. Connecting form and code
9. Creating Auxiliary Forms - https://youtu.be/RHZ6FZkdCb8
a. Creating additional forms for special needs
b. Keeping forms organized and consistent
10. Interact with User using Forms - https://youtu.be/S1A-wakoXfo
a. Prompting user for data input
b. Gather notes from user
11. Validating User Inputs - https://youtu.be/7otQ5u6ncyE
a. Checking for blank fields
b. Prompting user for required input
12. Writing to Excel - https://youtu.be/qIFaJhm86vs
a. Finding code to re-use
b. Connecting to Excel
13. Log In and Out - https://youtu.be/giYHGMhm0Qo
a. Open and close Excel Spreadsheet
b. Log user activity on demand
#Throwback #API @SOLIDWORKS