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Secret SolidWorks Command?

26 March 2009 7 Comments

Super Rebuild!Do you know about the “secret” Forced Rebuild command?  I say secret, because there is no menu item for it; it is only accessed by hitting CTRL-Q.  It does everything Rebuild does, and much more!

A Forced Rebuild rebuilds the entire feature tree from the beginning, unlike the regular Rebuild command, which only rebuilds what has changed since the last Rebuild.

Well, John Setzer of Graphics/Systems has a post on their blog, SOLIDNotes, regarding the differences between these two Rebuild commands.  He goes into a lot of detail on how the Rebuild commands walk through the file and what sections of the file are affected by each command.

I will admit that I hardly ever use the regular Rebuild command; CTRL-Q is just ingrained in me now…

So, if you don’t know about CTRL-Q (and I have come across many who do not) or just want to learn more about how the Rebuild commands work, head on over there and check it out!

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  • I have always used the Rebuild on the main toolbar. I guess I need to remove that icon and stick the post-it on the monitor to remind myself to use CTRL-Q.

  • I've been using CTRL-Q for years. Certainly beats turning on “Verification on Rebuild” and suffering the huge performance hit.

    It's almost second nature now. When I get pause in thinking, I just CTRL-Q and don't even notice any lag.

    It's also a good rule of thumb to CTRL-Q your models AFTER upgrading to a new service pack. You never know where there might be a regression.

  • I Ctrl-Q constantly. To the point I yell it out with a forceful vengeance reminiscent of a Celt battle cry.

  • I use CTRL-Q always, it is just like another Keyboard shortcut. My entire left hand side of the keyboard have allocated shortcuts so it just becomes second nature. It's also good if using multiply Advance mates with hinges, actuactors etc as they throw up some strange errors at time when moving thing. The CTRL-Q clears them (most of the time)

  • CTRL – Q….is there another command!! Rebuld is for icon boys, CTRL Q is for the true hot key geek!

  • CTRL – Q….is there another command!! Rebuld is for icon boys, CTRL Q is for the true hot key geek!

  • CTRL – Q….is there another command!! Rebuld is for icon boys, CTRL Q is for the true hot key geek!