Articles by: Joe Medeiros, CSWE
Starting with SOLIDWORKS 2016, the SOLIDWORKS PDM file set was incorporated into the SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager. This makes for a convenient one stop location to install all SOLIDWORKS products. Unfortunately, this also makes for a large installation file-set, that can be cumbersome to move around. There are good reason for using the SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager though. Outside of…
SOLIDWORKS PDM will normally handle references, between components. If these references do not exist, then PDM will use search criteria used by the respective application, such as SOLIDWORKS. Through the SOLIDWORKS PDM External References tab, additional folders to be searched, can be specified. These folders must reside in the selected Vault. Set External References in…
When defining a BOM in SOLIDWORKS PDM Administration. There are a number of options for choosing which Configurations to grab the Variable Value from. In this article, we will review the following SOLIDWORKS PDM Look for Variable options: Look for variable in all configurations – This option will display the first Value, of any Configuration.…
A SOLIDWORKS PDM Named BOM, is a saved from a Computed BOM and can be treated like any other vaulted file. Named BOMs can be Checked In/Out, Versioned, and have their State changed. Like other vaulted files, the history of the BOM is captured and can be viewed. Named BOMs can only be viewed by switching the…
There are three SOLIDWORKS PDM Display Types available in the Windows Explorer Local Vault: Show Files Show Bills of Materials Show Search Results They can be found under the Display menu as shown below: Show Files Show Files, is the default and most commonly used. This is the view, that displays the files and folders, that…
To verify that a PDM Client computer or Archive server can communicate with the SQL (Database) Server, a SOLIDWORKS PDM ODBC test can be performed. ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) is accessed from the Windows Administrative Tools: The testing is defined from the System DSN tab, by clicking on Add and selecting SQL Server Any Name can be…
A quick way of determining which SOLIDWORKS PDM Variable is connected to a Data Card Control, is from within the Local Vault View. With the Data Card Tab selected: Click on the Help Icon, in the top-right of the lower panel. A question mark will appear next to the the mouse cursor: Then click on…
In SOLIDWORKS PDM Standard, PDF Convert Task can now be created to convert SOLIDWORKS Drawings to PDFs. Tasks are created through the SOLIDWORKS PDM Administration, by accessing the Task node. The Task node will contain the Task List, which can used to view the Task status and to manually launch the Task. The Convert Task will…