Javelin / TriMech Author
Joe Medeiros, CSWE
How to resolve the ‘Toolbox is currently in use’ issue when installing SOLIDWORKS
By Joe Medeiros, CSWE on July 14, 2014
The ‘Toolbox is currently in use’ issue can occur if users are accessing Toolbox during a SOLIDWORKS installation, but it can also be the result of a file that normally gets deleted, not being deleted. The file is called SWBrowser.ldb and by default resides in the lang\english sub-folder of…
SolidWorks Tutorial: Views Missing from Saved DWG/DXF
By Joe Medeiros, CSWE on June 25, 2014
When saving a drawing as a DXF/DWG, in some cases views may be missing from the resultant saved file and the message “The assembly contains at least one component that contains invalid geometry” may also be displayed, when the file is being saved. Required display…
EPDM – Using Right-Click SolidWorks Rename
By Joe Medeiros, CSWE on June 18, 2014
Files can be renamed by right clicking on a file and choosing ‘Rename’ from the SolidWorks fly-out menu. This only renames the cached file and may result in having the old file and a newly renamed file in the vault. Using the standard Windows rename command from…
SOLIDWORKS PDM Error: ‘No database is connected to this view’ Adobe Reader XI (11.0.7)
By Joe Medeiros, CSWE on June 16, 2014
When using SolidWorks Enterprise PDM the ‘No database is connected to this view’ error message may appear when opening a PDF from multiple folders using Adobe Reader XI (11.0.7). This error appears to be triggered by the Protected Mode option in Adobe Reader XI (11.0.7), which is enabled by…
SOLIDWORKS PDM Could not access the item in the database
By Joe Medeiros, CSWE on June 10, 2014
The error message “Could not access the item in the database” can be the result of a number of issues. If the message is received when attempting to log into a vault, the issue may be with the “sa” log-in The local log file may help determine…
EPDM – T-SQL Query: ShowFilesNotReplicated
By Joe Medeiros, CSWE on June 3, 2014
The Replication report available in SolidWorks Enterprise PDM Administrator will show how many files have not been replicated, but not the names of these files. SolidWorks subscription customers can access a T-SQL query, that will list these files. This query can be downloaded from the…
SOLIDWORKS EPDM – Default Values in Search Card
By Joe Medeiros, CSWE on May 30, 2014
Default values can be assigned to variables so that when a search is used, one or more fields will have a predefined default value. For example a default value can be added for the search path. Default values are added by selecting the background of the…
SOLIDWORKS PDM Cannot Find File Error when starting a New Part with a Vaulted Template
By Joe Medeiros, CSWE on May 29, 2014
Many organizations will store their SOLIDWORKS templates in their SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vault. On occasion a user will receive the following EPDM cannot find file error message: This can occur when a “clear local cache” was performed on the folder, where the template files are kept. This error message…
SOLIDWORKS EPDM – Clear Local Cache
By Joe Medeiros, CSWE on May 20, 2014
When a file is accessed in the vault, it is cached (saved) to location where the local vault view was created. Files do not need to be checked out in order to be cached. A “Get” will also cache files locally, as will checking out…
Flexible Retrieval of Referenced Files During Check Out – new in SolidWorks EPDM
By Joe Medeiros, CSWE on April 14, 2014
The manner in which referenced files are handled during check-out can now be controlled by an administrator. These options control whether reference files will be automatically selected when performing a get latest. To use these options Auto select reference files to get latest when checking out,…
‘Always work with latest version of files’ Option – new in SolidWorks EPDM 2014
By Joe Medeiros, CSWE on April 10, 2014
An administrator can now allows users, who have the option selected, to always work with latest version of files, and the ability to Get earlier versions of a file. This is done by enabling the option Enable the get version command in SolidWorks Add-in, from within the User…
EPDM – What’s New 2014 – Extracting Hidden SolidWorks BOMs
By Joe Medeiros, CSWE on March 27, 2014
Even if a SolidWorks BOM is hidden in a SolidWorks assembly or drawing, the BOM can still be accessed through SolidWorks Enterprise PDM. This option can be set from the local vault view under, Display > Options, by selecting Extract hidden BOM from SolidWorks on Check In.
EPDM – Version Free Variables
By Joe Medeiros, CSWE on March 26, 2014
Version free variables allow for a variable to be changed without checking out a file. Changing a version free variable will not increment the version of a file and a user can update the variable without having permissions to check out the file. This can…
EPDM – Setting Permissions for Template Documents
By Joe Medeiros, CSWE on March 24, 2014
SolidWorks EPDM templates can be used to generate a document, based on an existing document template. For instance EPDM can use an Excel template to generate an Engineering Change Order (ECO). The template can contain predefined fields, that are either entered manually, or entered by…
EPDM – Template Folders and Design Library Components Must be Cached Locally
By Joe Medeiros, CSWE on March 19, 2014
SolidWorks cannot access Template files & Design Library components directly from the Archive server. These files must be cached locally. To ensure that the proper version of the file is being used a “Get Latest” should be performed first. With SolidWorks EPDM 2014, the latest…