Hello.  

I learned SolidWorks when I was in school and am just coming back to using it after 6+ years of using Onshape at a previous job.  

I am surprised and very frustrated that SolidWorks doesn't seem to have support for continuously variable configurations.  It seems that only discrete configurations are allowed.  I don't want to have to create a new configuration for every new length of a part that can have an infinitely variable length.  If I have multiple extrusions/rails/tubes/whatever in an assembly, I want to independently set their lengths from the assembly without affecting the part file.  The assembly file should store the configuration inputs for each instance.  Once the part file is set up and configured properly, I should be able to set an arbitrary length in an assembly and have the part number / description in the BOM update according to some equation or rule that depends on the configuration input. 

Is there no way to do this?  If not, how do SolidWorks users avoid wasting lots of time whenever they need a new length of the same part?  Compared to Onshape, I'm finding designing in SolidWorks to feel a bit clunky, slow, and less capable, but maybe I haven't learned the right workflows yet.

Thanks,

Kyler