2. The editor

The SwPy task pane is a small IDE: tabs, IntelliSense that knows the live SOLIDWORKS objects, a REPL and an output panel. Everything runs in one Python session shared by all tabs and the REPL, so a variable defined by a script is available in the REPL afterwards.

Running code

Action	How
Run the whole script	F5, Ctrl+Enter or ▶ Run
Run only some lines	Select them, then F5 / Ctrl+Enter
Evaluate one expression	Type it in the >>> line below the output and press Enter
Forget all variables	Reset
Clear the output	Clear

The value of the last line of a script (or a REPL line) is printed in blue, like in Jupyter. Output from print appears while the script runs, so long loops show progress.

Errors

When a script fails:

• the traceback is printed in red in the output panel,
• the failing line gets a red dot in the margin and the error message is shown under that line (it disappears as soon as you edit),
• the caret jumps to that line. This also works when you ran only a selection.

Double-click any File "<swpy>", line N line in the output to jump to line N.

Syntax errors are underlined with a red squiggle while you type (about half a second after you stop). Hover the squiggle to read the message.

IntelliSense

Completion

A completion list opens automatically after . and after typing two letters of a name. Ctrl+Space opens it anywhere. Icons show what each entry is: m method, p property, v variable or field, C class, M module, k keyword. Tab or Enter inserts the selection, Esc closes the list.

Completion is driven by the live session, so it knows your real objects:

doc.Extension.Sel          # -> SelectByID2, SelectAll ...  (IModelDocExtension members)
model.faces.planar().      # -> normal, radius, largest, select ...
swconst.swDocumentTypes_e. # -> swDocPART, swDocASSEMBLY ...

For SOLIDWORKS objects it uses the API’s type information, so it also works through calls without running them:

part.FeatureManager.FeatureExtrusion2(...).   # -> IFeature members (Name, GetTypeName2 ...)
model.faces.largest().                        # -> IFace2 members

Many API methods are declared as returning a plain object (for example GetMotionStudyManager()). Once your code has called such a method, the editor remembers what it returned and completes its result from then on.

Variables that do not exist yet (you have not run the script) are inferred from their assignment in the editor: after x = sldworks.IPartDoc(doc) the editor knows x. is an IPartDoc, and inside for f in model.faces: it knows f. is a face.

Parameter hints

Typing ( after a function or method shows its signature, with the parameter you are typing highlighted; it updates as you type ,. Ctrl+Shift+Space shows it again.

SelectByID2(
    Name: str,
    Type: str,
    X: float,          <- highlighted
    ...
) -> bool

SOLIDWORKS parameters show their .NET types (str, float, int, bool, interface names); out parameters are marked - see out-parameters.

Hover and F1 help

Rest the mouse on a name to see what it is: the type of a variable, the signature and documentation of a Python function, or IModelDoc2.Extension: ModelDocExtension (property) for API members.

Press F1 with the caret on a SOLIDWORKS member to open its page in the official online API help (help.solidworks.com) for your SOLIDWORKS version.

Editing

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+/	Toggle # comment on the selected lines
Tab / Shift+Tab	Indent / dedent the selection
Alt+Up / Alt+Down	Move line(s) up / down
Shift+Alt+Down	Duplicate line(s)
Ctrl+Shift+K	Delete line
Ctrl+D	Add the next occurrence of the word to the selection (multi-caret editing)
Ctrl+Shift+L	Select all occurrences
Ctrl+Click	Add a caret
Alt+Drag	Column (rectangular) selection
Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y	Undo / redo
Ctrl+= / Ctrl+- / Ctrl+0 or Ctrl+Wheel	Zoom in / out / reset

Typing helpers:

• Brackets and quotes close automatically; typing the closing character steps over it, and Backspace in an empty pair deletes both.
• Enter keeps the indentation, indents after : and dedents after return, pass, break, continue and raise.
• The matching bracket is highlighted (red when unmatched), and all other occurrences of the word under the caret are highlighted.
• Blocks (def, class, if, for …) can be folded with the +/- markers in the margin.

Find, replace, go to line

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+F	Find bar (pre-filled with the selection). All matches are highlighted and counted
Ctrl+H	Find and replace
F3 / Shift+F3 or Enter / Shift+Enter	Next / previous match (wraps around)
Esc	Close the find bar
Ctrl+G	Go to line

The find bar has toggles for Aa (match case), W (whole word) and .* (regular expression; use \1 in the replacement for groups). Replace All is a single undo step.

Tabs and files

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+N	New untitled tab
Ctrl+O	Open one or more .py files (the ▾ next to Open lists recent files)
Ctrl+S / Ctrl+Shift+S	Save / Save As
Ctrl+W or middle-click a tab	Close the tab
Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift+Tab	Next / previous tab
Right-click a tab	Close, Close others, Copy path, Show in Explorer

• A ● after a file name means unsaved changes. Closing such a tab asks whether to save.
• Untitled tabs are never lost: they are written to %LOCALAPPDATA%\SwPy\scratch\ while you type (and scratch.py for the first one). Saving one to a file moves it to that file.
• Open tabs, the active tab, theme and zoom are restored the next time SOLIDWORKS starts.

Themes

Theme switches between light and dark. The choice is remembered.

Scripts menu

Scripts ▾ lists the scripts of your script folder: click one to run it. See Script buttons and user interaction.

The REPL line

• Enter runs the line in the same session as the editor.
• Up / Down walk through the history.
• Tab completes: it inserts the completion if there is one candidate (or their common prefix), otherwise it prints the candidates in the output.

Shortcut cheat sheet

Click ? in the toolbar to print all shortcuts into the output panel.