Inside CATIA

Rating:
Summary: good but
Review: good but not for a advaced student more like an intro to book

Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected.
Review: I bought this book becourse I read "Inside Solidworks" from David Murray which i liked a lot.

This book was not what I expected. The backcover says: beginner:yes, intermediate:yes, advanced:yes. To my opinion it only provides beginners information. But for a beginner it may be hard to understand in the way it's given.

A lot of pages only cover tables with descriptions of commands accompanied with a half-page-high screenshot of Catia (version 4.1.6? for unix?) for those commands. The examples are very basic with no "inside"-tricks or tips.

I am pretty new to Catia so it's hard to judge what the difference is between unix-Catia4.1.6 and the current windows-Catia5.4 but if i look in the book and on the screen the book looks very outdated.

This book reminded me of some books a read about autocad 9 or 10 years ago. Nowadays I think u may expect more then a summary of commands and poor examples from a not so cheap book.

Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected.
Review: I bought this book becourse I read "Inside Solidworks" from David Murray which i liked a lot.

This book was not what I expected. The backcover says: beginner:yes, intermediate:yes, advanced:yes. To my opinion it only provides beginners information. But for a beginner it may be hard to understand in the way it's given.

A lot of pages only cover tables with descriptions of commands accompanied with a half-page-high screenshot of Catia (version 4.1.6? for unix?) for those commands. The examples are very basic with no "inside"-tricks or tips.

I am pretty new to Catia so it's hard to judge what the difference is between unix-Catia4.1.6 and the current windows-Catia5.4 but if i look in the book and on the screen the book looks very outdated.

This book reminded me of some books a read about autocad 9 or 10 years ago. Nowadays I think u may expect more then a summary of commands and poor examples from a not so cheap book.

Rating:
Summary: Contents
Review: Introduction

Chapter 1. Setting up the CATIA Environment
Chapter 2. Generating 2D Graphic Elements
Chapter 3. Modifying 2D Graphic Elements
Chapter 4. Analyzing 2D Graphic Elements
Chapter 5. Managing 2D Graphic Elements
Chapter 6. Creating Multiple Views
Chapter 7. Annotating Drawings
Chapter 8. Hardcopy Output Using PLOT
Chapter 9. Generating and Modifying SPACE Graphic Elements
Chapter 10. Analyzing 3D Graphic Elements
Chapter 11. Creating Solids
Chapter 12. Analyzing Solids
Chapter 13. Managing Solids
Chapter 14. 2D/3D Integration
Chapter 15. Working in a Multi-Model Environment
Chapter 16. Creating Orthographic Views from Solid Models
Chapter 17. Parametric Modeling
Chapter 18. Housekeeping Tips

Appendix A. Element Identifiers Used in CATIA
Appendix B. Keywords Used for Multiple Selection
Appendix C. CATIA General Commands
Appendix D. Default Function Palette
Appendix E. CATIA Pull-down Menus
Appendix F. CATIA Utilities
Appendix G. Engineering Symbols

Index

Rating:
Summary: Save your money
Review: This book is VERY elementary. Only suitable for beginners, not for those with any experience. Lots of functions missing.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth it
Review: This books barely covers the basics of the now old V4 version. It does a just average review in a non-detailed manner of a handful of commands. It doesn't begin to cover what you'd expect in a book that costs [$$] dollars. None of the pictures are color either. My CD was cracked but the models described in the book are so basic why would you want to use it? You can teach yourself with the CD help that ships with CATIA better than use this books. It merely shows a little something about the program.
Take my advice. Don't buy this book! If I didn't care I wouldn't write this review.

Rating:
Summary: Inside Catia-How Do I Get Out?
Review: Very detailed book about a very complex CAD program. I was very disappointed with the way the index was done. For instance, if I wanted to know how to ROTATE some geometry, there is nothing in the index that refers me to the correct command, which is TRANSFORM. The same applies to COPY. The index should refer the reader to the correct command based on a description of the action that you want to apply. Another example would be if I wanted to MOVE some text, geometry, etc. There should be a MOVE entry in the index that refers me to the command that moves whatever it is I'm trying to move. CATIA's menu structure is very convoluted. Not being able to look in the index for what should be basic commands in any other CAD program was extremely frustrating and time consuming. Unfortunately, the choices are few as far as CATIA guides are concerned. This book is a fair attempt at simplifying a very complex CAD program.