XButtons

A lightweight SOLIDWORKS add-in that intercepts X1 and X2 mouse side button clicks and translates them into keyboard shortcuts that SOLIDWORKS can act on.

These shortcuts can be bound to any SOLIDWORKS command via Tools → Customize → Keyboard.

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How it works

The add-in installs a system-wide low-level mouse hook (WH_MOUSE_LL) when SOLIDWORKS loads it. When an X1 or X2 button press is detected, it synthesizes the corresponding key chord using SendInput and passes the original mouse event on normally so no other application is affected. Key chords can consist of a single key or any single key along with any of the modifiers Ctrl, Alt, and Shift. The first time the add-in is enabled (via the Tools→Add-Ins menu) a dialog will be displayed allowing you to specify the key or key combination you want to associate with the X1 and/or X2 mouse buttons. If you later want to change the combinations, you can use the Tools→XButtons→Settings menu item

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Requirements

• SOLIDWORKS 2020 or later (earlier versions likely work but are untested)
• .NET Framework 4.x
• Windows 10/11 64-bit

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Installation using Windows Installer (MSI) File

1. Download the Windows Installer .msi file from the Releases page
2. Double-click the MSI file and follow the prompts
3. Start SOLIDWORKS
4. Go to Tools→Add-Ins, scroll down and check the 'Active Add-Ins' checkbox. To always load the add in, check the 'Startup' checkbox.
5. Click OK and the XButtons setup dialog should appear

Installing manually

1. Download XButtons.dll and solidworkstools.dll from the Releases page
2. Place the files together in a folder
3. Register the add-in with SOLIDWORKS:

   C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\regasm /codebase <full path to XButtons.dll>
   

4. Restart SOLIDWORKS — the add-in will appear in Tools → Add-ins To unregister:

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\regasm /unregister <full path to XButtons.dll>

Building

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/xbuttons.git
   

2. Open xbuttons.sln in Visual Studio 2019 or later
3. Restore NuGet packages if prompted
4. Set the build configuration to Release / x64
5. Build the solution — the output DLL will be in bin\x64\Release\

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Installation from source

1. Start Visual Studio as admin and build the solution (see above)
2. Start the Debugger and SOLIDWORKS should start and the add-in will appear in Tools → Add-ins

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Configuring keyboard shortcuts in SOLIDWORKS

After installation you need to bind the two shortcuts to SOLIDWORKS commands:

1. Go to Tools → Customize → Keyboard
2. Search for the command you want to assign
3. Click in the Shortcut(s) column and press the combination you used when setting up XButtons
4. Click OK

Common assignments:

• Previous/Next view
• Undo/Redo
• Rotate/Pan/Zoom mode toggle

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Project structure

XButtons/
├── LICENSE
├── README.md
├── XButtons.sln
│    
├── XButtons
│   ├── app.config
│   ├── InputFactory.cs             # Factory methods for dealing with Win32 INPUT structures
│   ├── MouseHook.cs                # The mouse handling hook
│   ├── SetupDialog.cs              # Setup/modification dialog
│   ├── Win32.cs                    # Win32 API constants, strucures and methods
│   ├── xbuttons.ico                # Dialog icon
│   ├── XButtonsAddin.cs            # SOLIDWORKS add-in implementation
│   └── Properties
│        └── Settings.settings      # Add-in settings
│            
└── XButtonsInstaller
    ├── CreateSourceZip.ps1             # Helper script for src.zip generation
    ├── CustomActions.wxs               # Custom actions to run regasm
    ├── Folders.wxs                     # Installed folder structure
    ├── Package.en-us.wxl               # Localization resources
    ├── Product.wxs                     # Production definition
    ├── Registry.wxs                    # Create registry keys for add-in
    ├── SourceCode.wxs                  # Installed source code component
    ├── src.zip                         # Packaged source files
    ├── UI.wxs                          # Installer UI
    ├── XButtonsComponents.wxs          # Add-in components
    ├── XButtonsInstaller.wixproj       #
    │    
    ├── Bitmaps
    │    ├── CADmunity-installer-banner.bmp     # Custom top image for installer dialog
    │    └── CADmunity-installer-left.bmp       # Custom left side banner for installer dialog
    │                            
    └── Resources
         ├── license.rtf                # MIT license for installer
         └── xbuttons.ico               # Installed programs icon

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License

MIT