Capture modes: what each one captures — gull system handbook

Reference for the six capture modes in the gull system panel in SOLIDWORKS and the parameter types each one produces.

Capture modes: what each one captures

Six modes in the panel, in a fixed order. The mode answers what you meant by a click — which is why it is chosen first.

• Mode: Parameter (dimension, feature, part) - What to click: a dimension, feature, mate, flat pattern, component, the model root - What you get: Dimension, Angle, Count, Feature, Mate, Flat pattern, Component, Configuration
• Mode: Sketch text - What to click: text in a sketch (engraved or embossed) - What you get: Sketch text — the rule returns text
• Mode: Appearance - What to click: a body or a component - What you get: Appearance — colour or texture; a body wins over a component
• Mode: Material - What to click: a component in the assembly - What you get: Material — an item from the Materials list
• Mode: Drawing - What to click: a note on a drawing linked to a property, or a BOM table - What you get: Property (text), BOM (an export source)
• Mode: All dimensions in a sketch - What to click: a sketch - What you get: one Dimension per dimension in the sketch, with a custom name suffix

All dimensions in a sketch

Appearance: body or component

• Component. The appearance applies to the whole part, in every instance: Wheel‑1 and Wheel‑3 are the same target and the rule colours every wheel.
• Body. Only that one body, so on a weldment you colour one profile and leave the rest alone. A body has no suppression or material in the CAD, so it can only mean an appearance.
• A face, a feature, one instance. Cannot be captured. At those levels SOLIDWORKS appearances override each other by order and the order's result would depend on what was rebuilt first.

A click that makes no sense in the current mode — a material on a sub-assembly, an appearance on something without one — clears the panel without a message; the reason goes only to the add-in's log. If Selected parameter stays "—", check the mode first.