Book excerpt: Automating SolidWorks 2011 Using Macros is designed as a tutorial to help beginner to intermediate programmers develop macros for SolidWorks and SolidWorks Workgroup PDM. The focus of this book is primarily on the Visual Studio Tools for Applications (VSTA) macro interface. It covers many of the major API functions through practical use cases. It teaches many Visual Basic.NET fundamentals as well as SolidWorks, SolidWorks Workgroup PDM and Excel API functions. The Author has also added a chapter dedicated to some of his favorite source code for you to use as the basis for typical automation procedures. Using this book you will learn how to: Record macros Control Custom Properties Create parts and features Build assemblies Batch create drawings Extract information from Workgroup PDM Create many other time saving utilities