I have been writing automation software for a while, targeting many applications/file formats: PDF, Excel, XML, telephony, etc., etc.

There are two classes:

- Those in which the target application must be running (in some cases, all they do is to make the GUI invisible).

- Those in which the the target application does not have to be present.

In what category does the SolidWorks API(s) fall? Hopefully both?

The reason I ask is because I have many 3D apps and the one that is most demanding (in terms of graphics card) is SolidWorks. The application I plan to write will simply open a SLDDRW file and generate a PDF from it. No need for fancy GPU in that PC, is there?

TIA,

-Ramon F Herrera