Javelin / TriMech Author
Andrew Lidstone, CSWE
How to attach to a different SOLIDWORKS PDM Archive Server Location
By Andrew Lidstone, CSWE on February 12, 2020
Whether its because the SOLIDWORKS PDM archives have been migrated to a new server, or you are working in a different office than usual and need to connect through a replicated Archive Server, it may be necessary to modify which Archive Server your PDM Vault…
Changing the SOLIDWORKS PDM License Server
By Andrew Lidstone, CSWE on February 5, 2020
Changing the computer that is used as the SOLIDWORKS PDM License Server is actually very easy and can be accomplished quickly in a single step, even if there are many users or multiple vaults involved. On any client computer, open the PDM Administration console and…
Are you having issues after upgrading SOLIDWORKS PDM Web2?
By Andrew Lidstone, CSWE on January 30, 2020
Following an upgrade of SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional, you may encounter some odd behavior when accessing the vault through Web2. If you see any of these symptoms, you may have missed one final step in the upgrade process: Login page hanging indefinitely Being able to login…
SOLIDWORKS 2020 Open & Save As Dialog Improvements for File Types
By Andrew Lidstone, CSWE on January 14, 2020
A simple but very welcome improvement that has been made in SOLIDWORKS 2020 is the file type list in the Open and Save As dialog boxes. In previous releases, if you needed to open a non-SOLIDWORKS file, when opening the file type drop list, you…
SOLIDWORKS 2020 Animated Command Tooltips
By Andrew Lidstone, CSWE on January 13, 2020
A great addition to the user interface in SOLIDWORKS 2020 is the new animated tooltips that appear when you hover your cursor over some tools. This new functionality provides a quick overview of how a command works for new users, or if it’s one that…
SOLIDWORKS 2020 Feature Tree Name Translation
By Andrew Lidstone, CSWE on January 10, 2020
More and more commonly, teams spread out across the globe are collaborating together on designs. SOLIDWORKS Data Management tools make it easy for designers to work together and share files, even if they are located on different continents. One side effect of this global collaboration…
SOLIDWORKS 2020 Command Manager and Toolbar controls
By Andrew Lidstone, CSWE on January 9, 2020
A change has been made in SOLIDWORKS 2020 that simplifies the process for controlling both the Command Manager and Toolbars. In previous releases, to enable additional tabs for the Command Manager, you had to right-click directly on an existing tab to access a specific menu…
SOLIDWORKS Visualize 2020 PDM Menu Integration
By Andrew Lidstone, CSWE on January 3, 2020
A great addition in SOLIDWORKS Visualize 2020 is the new SOLIDWORKS PDM menu. This menu provides better integration between Visualize and your data management tools. The menu will become active when a file stored in a SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional vault is opened in Visualize (this…
SOLIDWORKS PDM 2020 SQL Server Requirements
By Andrew Lidstone, CSWE on January 1, 2020
Starting with SOLIDWORKS PDM 2020, the SQL Server running the vault database will need to be upgraded to at least SQL Server 2014 SP3. This applies to both SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional (running SQL Standard) and SOLIDWORKS PDM Standard (running SQL Express). You can check which…
How to relocate SOLIDWORKS PDM Vault Database Files
By Andrew Lidstone, CSWE on August 2, 2019
To maximize PDM performance, the SQL database files should be located on the fastest hard drive available. If the mdf and ldf files for the database need to be relocated, this can be done using the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio. Before moving the files, ensure…
SOLIDWORKS Backup / Recovery Settings Explained
By Andrew Lidstone, CSWE on July 26, 2019
The loss of data, whether from hardware failure, software issues or simply human error is a constant concern for all designers. To help protect your data you may take advantage of Product Data Management software such as SOLIDWORKS PDM, but if you do not have…
How to display the SOLIDWORKS File Version in Windows Explorer
By Andrew Lidstone, CSWE on July 18, 2019
When a file is saved in SOLIDWORKS, the major version that it was last saved in is recorded as a custom property, as shown in the image below: Display SOLIDWORKS File Version This custom property can be displayed directly in the Windows Explorer detail view…
How To Manually Backup the SOLIDWORKS PDM Database
By Andrew Lidstone, CSWE on July 5, 2019
When troubleshooting SOLIDWORKS PDM issues, or when performing operations like software upgrades you may need to manually backup the SOLIDWORKS PDM Database outside of your normally scheduled Maintenance Plan. This backup can be run as a task within the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio. Step…
How to use the SOLIDWORKS PDM View Setup Tool
By Andrew Lidstone, CSWE on July 4, 2019
Once the SOLIDWORKS PDM Client software is installed the next step is to setup the Vault View which give the user(s) access to the vault through Windows Explorer. The easiest way to do this is by using the SOLIDWORKS PDM View Setup tool. It is…
How to Avoid Locking Out the Microsoft SQL sa Account
By Andrew Lidstone, CSWE on June 28, 2019
Starting with Microsoft SQL 2005, the Password Policy and Password Lockout settings from the Windows Operating System (found by going to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy > Account Policies) are automatically inherited by the sa account in SQL. This could lead…