What does the Preserve Relative Paths option do in the SOLIDWORKS PDM Move Tree tool?

If you’ve had a chance to take one of our Using SOLIDWORKS PDM classes, it’s likely you’ve heard me rave about the Copy or Move Tree Tool.  In a recent class, I was asked to clarify what the SOLIDWORKS PDM Move Tree Preserve relative paths checkbox does…

Copy/Move Tree – Options – Preserver Relative Paths

What does “Preserve Relative Paths” do?

This option allows users to copy/move files and bring their sub-folder structure with them.  The image below gives an example where a top-level assembly has its references split into corresponding folders by file-type;

Sub folder Structure

Now I’m going to run a Move Tree on the top level assembly, with the “Preserve Relative Paths” option cleared, and move it to New Folder;

Preserve relative paths – Cleared

The result is the sub-folder structure is not copied, and all files that were moved are put into the same folder.

Option Cleared – Result

Now, let’s try that again with the option checked, and move it to New Folder;

Preserve relative paths – Checked

The result is the sub-folder structure is copied, and all the files remain in their file type folder structure within the new location;

Checked – Result