PDM
In SOLIDWORKS PDM, when you ‘Copy’ and ‘Paste’ a file to another folder, the two files are independent of each other even though the copy would have the same name and physical content. There is no link between the source file and its copy. The files will each have a unique record in the database (Document ID) and have a separate file history. If you ‘Copy’ and then select ‘Paste Shared’ to a new folder instead, the copied file be ‘Shared’ to the new folder. A shared file is shown with a plus-sign next to the file icon. A shared file will have same record in the database (Document ID) but share version history with the other instances of the shared copy. To see which folders a file is shared between, right-click the file, select Properties and view the Links tab: Benefits of a Shared File You can cache individual versions of…
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 installing the selected products, the Installation Manger will also install any required prerequisites. When installing SOLIDWORKS or any of the products intended for the end user, I would recommend using the Installation Manager. For Server Products, though, using that products installer may be more efficient. For example, the PDM Server Installation is approximately 500 MB, which is far smaller then full SOLIDWORKS Installation, which is around 14 GB. This makes the PDM Server Installation, much more portable. This also, makes downloading the PDM Server Installation, much faster. If you have already downloaded the full SOLIDWORKS Installation, you will find the PDM Server Installation…
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 the Settings node of SOLIDWORKS PDM Administration: Search paths for External References can then be defined here:
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. There are conditions regarding which configuration are chosen, but none can be defined by the user. Look for variable in given list of configurations – This Option will look at a user specified, list of Configurations. This Option works well, if a known and consistent, convention is used for naming Configurations. PDM will search for a Configuration Variable, starting with the first Configuration on the list and work it’s way down. With this Option selected, the ‘+’ and ‘-‘ buttons are used define the order in which the configurations are searched. Look for variable in…
Before you manually update SOLIDWORKS Toolbox in SOLIDWORKS PDM Vault, first ensure there is a full recent back up of the file vault database and archive. Next make sure that all the Toolbox parts are not checked out or in use by any currently checked out assemblies. When an existing major version Toolbox is upgraded, Toolbox parts may be need to be moved, any checked out checked out files will not be moved and could result in the update failing. To Check whether any SOLIDWORKS Toolbox parts are currently checked out: Log into a local vault view as “Admin” and use the search tool to make sure no files are checked out under the Toolbox folder in the vault. To find if any Toolbox parts are used by checked out assemblies, run the SolidWorks Enterprise PDM report “ListAllCheckedOutParentsWithToolboxParts.crp. This report can be downloaded from the SolidWorks Knowledgebase article S-058099. Knowledgebase articles are accessible from the SolidWorks Customer Portal (www.solidworks.com) Check…
For SOLIDWORKS PDM Maintenance to optimize performance and prevent data loss, it is important to perform scheduled back-up of your PDM components. Let’s first examine the components that should be backed up. These components are: The SQL Database, The Archive Folder and The Archive settings. With the first two components, failing to back these up correctly, may lead to permanent data loss. The first and second components, should be scheduled to occur during the same time span so there are no mismatches in data. For example, the SQL Database and the Archive Folder could be scheduled to occur over night, when no one is accessing the vault. This ensures that the information in the SQL database, matches the files in the Archive. If there are mismatches, those files may not be recoverable, if a fatal event were to occur, such as the loss of a server. Also, back-ups should be done…
For all of you who create or edit SOLIDWORKS PDM Data Cards, this may be one of your favorite enhancements, in SOLIDWORKS PDM 2018. Yes, you can now UNDO any unintended changes. Undo is not available from the right-mouse menu, but CTRL-Z works and Undo is available from the Edit pull-down. There is no Redo…yet.
In my previous article, we looked at Creating Branches from a Source file, so that we could test different concepts, on these Branches. In this article, we will look at how to combine these changes into a Source File by Merging Branched files with their source. As with Branch, Merge is available from the Tools pull-down, in the PDM Local Vault view. The dialog Box for Merge, is similar to that for Branch but the Branch Name is not specified, as it already exits for the Source files and the Branches. The Source and Branch file will be checked out for this operation, if they’re not already checked. Only one file can be Merged, at a time. Like the Branch operation, the Merge operation will appear in the History of the file. A list of Associated Branches, is available by right clicking on a Branch or the Source file. Selecting a…