I've always liked the fact that in SolidWorks I can access recently used commands even if they are not always iconized in the toolbars command manager short cut toolbar etc.
I was thinking that there should be a way to get these to be available in a flyout icon and that the max number of recent commands can be selected to appear on the icon.
In order to use the recently used list involves right clicking and selecting it on the pop-up or Application menu. A number of cad systems have toolbard that show the most recently used commands as icons on a toolbar that are constantly being swapped to update the recent commands. Since SolidSorks already keeps a list of the recent commands, how hard would it be to make these commands available on a flyout button. Tools > Customize > [Commands] > Flyouts > Recently Used
If that were the case I could drag the flyout to a toolbar, command manager, shortcut menu so that I don't have to hit right click every time and browse through a list to get to the recently used command list. on a big menu. Now I'm not super picky, (really?) I'd accept the old school flyouts with the single icon image, in fact I'd prefer it because it would be easier to find but maybe having it display as the last used recent command but have a * in the corner to indicate it's the Recently Used commands icon.
I mentioned this to Product Definition while participating in the 2013 Alpha testing at SolidWorks new facility in Waltham which was a Tremendous Experience.
I'd appreciate any enhancement requests people like me can send in to get this implemented if you'd find it useful. CADKEY Key Creator or one of those systems that has this functionality was useful although in general the UI was bulky and inconvenient the Recently used toolbar was ideal because of this. I think AutoDesk has something along these lines but in General I never liked AutoDesk because almost every attempt except the newer Inventors were anything but powerful and the lack of references to Planes in Sketches annoyed me.
I tried to submit this as an idea but the forum interface made this a hassle so I posted as a Discussion.
I'm still waiting for SolidWorks to be able to read my mind way better than msWord's paper clip can but that will be at least 3yrs from now that that may occur.
Michael
SolidworksUser Interface