Tag Archives: Enterprise PDM

FeatureWorks, Hole Wizard & SolidWorks Toolbox in Enterprise PDM Vault Views

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Bill Mitchell

If a user has SolidWorks Toolbox stored in an Enterprise PDM Vault it is necessary to always have a locally cached version of the SolidWorks Data folder on the client. However, the SWBrowser.mdb database used by Toolbox is also used by the Featureworks add-in as well as the Hole Wizard feature. If a locally cached version of the SWBrowser.mdb file cannot be found the user will receive the following warning when SolidWorks launches:

This warning message will appear even if SolidWorks Toolbox is not enabled for start-up since the FeatureWorks add-in is always enabled with SolidWorks Professional and Premium and the Hole Wizard feature is available in all versions of SolidWorks.

The quick-fix for this issue is to log into the Enterprise PDM vault view, navigate to the SolidWorks Toolbox folder and use the ‘Get Latest Version’ command to reload the Toolbox data to the local cache. When SolidWorks launches again it will be able to find the SWBrowser.mdb file it requires.

Posted in Tech Tips | Tagged , , |

Using Convert Tasks in Enterprise PDM with Multiple Versions of SolidWorks

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Bill Mitchell

Many times it is a necessity to have multiple versions of SolidWorks installed on a computer serving as a Task Host for Enterprise PDM. One common problem with this type of Task Host is that an older version of SolidWorks may be set as the default application for SolidWorks file types. Since the older version of SolidWorks will fail to open the newer SolidWorks files the task requested by EPDM will fail.

Here are two adjustments that administrators can add to any Convert Task to help address this issue:

- Navigate to the specific Convert task in the Enterprise PDM Administration application.

- Open the task and select the ‘Output File Details’ settings section.

- Select the ‘Advanced Scripting Options’.

- Add the following statement to the script as shown: swApp.Visible = True

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This will force SolidWorks to be visible during the conversion which can be helpful to see if the task properly launches the required client-side version of SolidWorks.

- Select the appropriate version of SolidWorks to use from the highlighted pull-down menu.

- Using the <Use default> option may cause the wrong version of SolidWorks to launch. Specifying the correct version can prevent a task failure due to future file version issues.

Posted in Tech Tips | Tagged , , |

Avoiding the Prompt to Save Files that are not Checked Out.

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Bill Mitchell

Working with large assemblies in Enterprise PDM means getting many files you really don’t need or want to check out. The typical workflow is to just check out the files you want to modify and the rest of the sub-assemblies and components are loaded as reference on a read-only basis. This workflow approach eliminates the creation of file versions that are equal to each other. However, when you close the top level assembly there may be a series of prompts to save these read-only files. This can become time consuming and annoying to dismiss.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a setting within the System Options to bypass the prompts. Select Tools > Options > System Options > External References and enable ‘Don’t prompt to save read-only referenced documents (discard changes)’. This will bypass the multitude of prompts and allow you to only get prompted to save the files you’ve checked out and need to save.

Posted in Tech Tips | Tagged , |

DDi CADcast Enterprise PDM Backup & Maintenance

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Bill Mitchell

This DDi CADcast covers the procedure needed to properly backup your Enterprise PDM file vaults.  In addition we cover several common maintenance operations.


Posted in DDi CADcasts | Tagged , , |

Upgrading SolidWorks Enterprise PDM Add-ins

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Bill Mitchell

Many PDM Administrators use Dispatch and the SolidWorks Task Scheduler as part of their SolidWorks Enterprise PDM implementation. These powerful tools unlock a large amount of automation for workflows but are version specific and need to be manually upgraded as part of any Enterprise PDM upgrade plan. The reason for this is that these add-ins can be customized. Allowing an automatic upgrade process to upgrade the DLL may risk the loss of the customization or scripting.

To upgrade the add-ins first complete the Enterprise upgrade process described in the Installation Guide, found under <Extracted Service Pack Install>\Support\Guides\GB\Installation Guide.pdf

After upgrading, log into the Enterprise Vault Administration application and expand the Add-ins section to verify which version of the add-in is running. The version will show in a numerical form YYYYSSBBBB.

Example: 2012040813

  • YYYY – Major Version (e.g. 2012)
  • SS – Service Pack (e.g. 04 = SP4)
  • BBBB – Build Number (e.g. 0813)

If an older version is found to be on the vault then upgrade the existing task add-in.

  1. Log in as Admin to the Enterprise Vault Administration application on an upgraded client.
  2. Select File > Open and browse to c:\program files\solidworks enterprise pdm\default data\
  3. Load the “Convert_GB.cex” file.
  4. Drag-and-drop the SWTaskAddIn to the add-ins node (not the Convert Task node).
  5. Select ‘Yes’ to update the existing add-in.

Exit Enterprise PDM and log in again to the Vault View to ensure the updated add-in is loaded. The Task Host Configuration in the client computers system tray will show the updated add-in is loaded.

 

 

 

 

** NOTE ** Once the add-in is upgraded you may still need to update any custom modifications to the existing task script.

 

Posted in Tech Tips | Tagged , , |