pdmworks workgroup contributor

SolidWorks Office Premium

Using PDMWorks Workgroup Contributor and PDMWorks Workgroup Viewer

SolidWorks Corporation300 Baker AvenueConcord, Massachusetts 01742 USA

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1995-2007, Dassault Systemes

SolidWorks Corporation is a Dassault Systemes S.A. (Nasdaq:DASTY) company.

300 Baker Avenue

Concord, Massachusetts 01742 USA

All Rights Reserved

U.S. Patents 5,815,154; 6,219,049; 6,219,055; 6,603,486; 6,611,725; 6,844,877; 6,898,560; 6,906,712; 7,184,044; and foreign patents, (e.g. EP 1,116,190 and JP 3,517,643). U.S. and foreign patents pending.

The information and the software discussed in this document are subject to change without notice and are not commitments by SolidWorks.

No material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose without the express written permission of SolidWorks.

The software discussed in this document is furnished under a license and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of this license. All warranties given by SolidWorks as to the software and documentation are set forth in the SolidWorks Corporation License and Subscription Service Agreement, and nothing stated in, or implied by, this document or its contents shall be considered or deemed a modification or amendment of such warranties.

SolidWorks, PDMWorks, 3D PartStream.NET, 3D ContentCentral, DWGeditor, eDrawings, and the eDrawings logo are registered trademarks and FeatureManager is a jointly owned registered trademark of SolidWorks.

SolidWorks 2008 is a product name of SolidWorks Corporation.

COSMOSXpress, DWGgateway, Feature Palette, PhotoWorks, TolAnalyst, and XchangeWorks are trademarks of SolidWorks.

COSMOS and COSMOSWorks are registered trademarks, and COSMOSMotion, COSMOSDesignStar, and COSMOSFloWorks are trademarks of Structural Research & Analysis Corp.

FeatureWorks is a registered trademark of Geometric Software Solutions Co. Ltd.

Other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Document Number: PMT0160-DRAFT

COMMERCIAL COMPUTER

SOFTWARE - PROPRIETARY

U.S. Government Restricted Rights. Use, duplication, or disclosure by the government is subject to restrictions as set forth in FAR 52.227-19 (Commercial Computer Software - Restricted Rights), DFARS 227.7202 (Commercial Computer Software and Commercial Computer Software Documentation), and in the license agreement, as applicable.

Contractor/Manufacturer:

SolidWorks Corporation, 300 Baker Avenue, Concord, Massachusetts 01742 USA

Portions of this software 1990-2007 D-Cubed Ltd.,

1998-2007 Geometric Software Solutions Co. Ltd.,

1986-2007 mental images GmbH & Co. KG, 1996-2007 Microsoft Corporation, 1997-2007, Structural Research & Analysis Corp., 2000-2007 Tech Soft 3D, and 1998-2007 3Dconnexion, IntelliCAD Technology Consortium, Independent JPEG Group. All Rights Reserved.

Portions of this software are copyrighted by and are the property of UGS Corp. 2007.

Copyright 1984-2007 Adobe Systems Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Protected by U.S. Patents 5,929,866; 5,943,063; 6,289,364; 6,563,502; 6,639,593; 6,754,382; Patents Pending.

Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, the Adobe PDF logo, Distiller and Reader are registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. For more copyright information, see SolidWorks Help About.

Other portions of SolidWorks 2008 are licensed from SolidWorks licensors.

All Rights Reserved

PDMWorks Enterprise software is 1998-2007 SolidWorks Nordic AB. All rights reserved.

Outside In Viewer Technology 1992-2007 Stellent Chicago, Inc.BETA

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SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualTable of Contents

IntroductionAbout This Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Course Design Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Using this Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3About the Training Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Conventions Used in this Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Lesson 1:PDM Concepts and File Management

The Four Pillars of PDM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7What is the PDMWorks Workgroup Software? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7PDMWorks Workgroup Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

The PDMWorks Workgroup Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8PDMWorks Workgroup Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Vault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9VaultAdmin Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

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PDMWorks Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Basic Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

File Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Project Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10File Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Revision Numbers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Ownership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

SolidWorks File Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

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SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualSolidWorks File Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10External References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11File Associativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

File References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

File Reference Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Find References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Copy Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Print. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Copy List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Pack and Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12List External References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13File Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Update Holders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Out of Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Opening Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Computer Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Saving Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Save. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Save As . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Save As Copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

File Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Classes of File Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Creating File Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Uses of File Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

External Reference Search Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Lesson 2:SolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In

PDMWorks Workgroup Contributor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21SolidWorks Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Window Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23File Management Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Using SolidWorks Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Case Study: SolidWorks Explorer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Renaming Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Where Used. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Opening Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Pack and Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Case Study: PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Vault View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Local View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Local View Status Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Vault View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45History/Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

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SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualLesson 3:Managing Files with PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In

Document Check In Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51File Associations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Adding Attachments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Removing Attachments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Case Study: Check in Documents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Check In Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Revision Scheme. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Properties for Individual Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Creating Sub-projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Case Study: Change Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Change Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Smart Dialog Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Take/Release Ownership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Multi-selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Vault Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Working on Vaulted Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Take Ownership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Open Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Check Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Methods of Opening/Checking Out Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Case Study: Working on Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Customizing the Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Searching in a Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Output to File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70File Format Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Searching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Searching for Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

SolidWorks Search Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Vault Searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Where Used. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Microsoft Desktop Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Indexed Searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Case Study: Microsoft Desktop Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74Case Study: Setting Up Microsoft Desktop Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Opening Files from the Search Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Search Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Searching for Documents in the Vault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Case Study: Searching the Vault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Renaming Documents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Case Study: Renaming Documents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Cleaning up the Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

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SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualLesson 4:PDMWorks Workgroup Viewer

PDMWorks Workgroup Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Case Study: Accessing the PDMWorks Workgroup Viewer . . . . . . . 89

PDMWorks Workgroup Viewer Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90PDMWorks Workgroup Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94eDrawing Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95View as Adobe PDF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

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SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualIntroductionBe

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual

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SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualAbout This Course

The goal of this course is to teach you how to use the PDMWorks Workgroup software to manage design documents. A prerequisite to using the PDMWorks Workgroup software is an understanding of the file structure and file referencing used by SolidWorks.

The focus of this course is on the fundamental skills and concepts central to the successful use of PDMWorks Workgroup. You should view the training course manual as a supplement to, not a replacement for, the system documentation and on-line help. Once you have developed a good foundation in basic skills, you can refer to the on-line help for information on less frequently used command options.

The intended audience for this course is people who do not use SolidWorks but still manage SolidWorks files. They use PDMWorks Workgroup through the PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In to SolidWorks Explorer and the PDMWorks Workgroup Viewer. While the SolidWorks Explorer interface looks different from the interface used within SolidWorks, the same principles apply so that if you know either one, using the other should be easy to do.

Prerequisites Students attending this course are expected to have the following:Q Experience with the Windows operating system.Q Knowledge of SolidWorks file structure and referencing.

Course Design Philosophy

This course is designed around a process- or task-based approach to training. Rather than focus on individual features and functions, a process-based training course emphasizes the process and procedures you follow to complete a particular task. By utilizing case studies to illustrate these processes, you learn the necessary commands, options and menus in the context of completing a task.

Using this Book This training manual is intended to be used in a classroom environment under the guidance of an experienced instructor. It is not intended to be a self-paced tutorial. The examples and case studies are designed to be demonstrated live by the instructor.

About the Training Files

A complete set of the various files used throughout this course can be downloaded from the SolidWorks website, www.solidworks.com. Click on the link for Services, then Training and Certification. There you will see a link to the page where you can download the training file sets. The files are supplied as signed, self-extracting executable packages.

The Case Study folder contains the files your instructor uses while presenting the lessons. The Vaults folder contains the PDMWorks Workgroup vault that is used for the lessons.

Windows XP The screen shots in this manual were made using SolidWorks 2008 and PDMWorks 2008 running on Windows XP.

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SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualConventions Used in this Book

This manual uses the following typographic conventions:

Convention Meaning

Bold Sans Serif SolidWorks and PDMWorks commands and options appear in this style. For example, Tools, SolidWorks Explorer means choose the SolidWorks Explorer option from the Tools menu.

Typewriter Project names and file names appear in this style. Names that you type appear in this style.

17 Do this step

Double lines precede and follow sections of the procedures. This provides separation between the steps of the procedure and large blocks of explanatory text. The steps themselves are numbered in sans serif bold.

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e4 About This Course

SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualLesson 1PDM Concepts and

File Management

Upon successful completion of this lesson, you will be able to:

Q Understand SolidWorks file referencing.

Q Describe the key characteristics of the PDMWorks Workgroup software.

Q Describe the general procedures used with PDMWorks Workgroup.

Q Understand the basic document flow into and out of the vault.

Q Understand the basic definitions used with PDMWorks.Beta

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Lesson 1 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualPDM Concepts and File Management

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 1PDM Concepts and File ManagementThe Four Pillars of PDM

Product Data Management systems provide four basic functions:

Q Searching and sorting files.Q Change control and sharing.Q Secure vaulting and revisioning.Q Tracking references. References are tracked both down (made-

from) and up (where-used).

What is the PDMWorks Workgroup Software?

PDMWorks Workgroup is an affordable data management solution offering users a fully integrated, easy to deploy and use solution for their most common data management tasks such as:

Q Workgroup collaboration.Q Controlling document access.Q Searching for documents.Q Determining document relationships.Q Check in/Check out of documents from a vault.Q Automated revision control.Q Concurrent work by several users on projects.Q History tracking.Q Report generation.

It is for design teams who need to concurrently work on projects, at a single site, while ensuring that design revisions as well as complex file relationships are managed. It provides:

Q Fast search to eliminate time wasted searching through folders for files.

Q Historical record of file changes that ensures you are always working with the right revision.

Q Automatic management of complex file relationships.Q Management for all file types including office documents.Q Resources to show if someone else is already working on a file,

thereby ensuring that users wont be overwriting each others files.Q All functions are completely within the design environment as

PDMWorks Workgroup is an integral part of SolidWorks.Q A system that only requires a minimal amount of administration.

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eThe Four Pillars of PDM 7

Lesson 1 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualPDM Concepts and File ManagementPDMWorks Workgroup Overview

PDMWorks Workgroup provides a secure method of working. The basic philosophy of PDMWorks is:

Q Files are stored in the vault.Q Users have access to the vault.Q Users Check Out or Open files from the vault.Q All required files are copied to the users local work space.Q The user works with the files locally thus gaining maximum speed.Q Only changed files need to be Checked In to the vault thus

minimizing network traffic.Q When users are finished with the files, they Check In changes and

then may release ownership, delete the local files or both.

The PDMWorks Workgroup Process

The process looks like this:

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 1PDM Concepts and File ManagementPDMWorks Workgroup Components

PDMWorks Workgroup is designed to run both natively inside of SolidWorks and as an add-in to SolidWorks Explorer. PDMWorks Workgroup has three components:

Vault The vault is a directory (usually on a server) where documents are stored in project directories. All data and file associations are maintained in the vault.

The vault is protected from direct user access through permissions within the operating system. All access to the vault must be through PDMWorks Workgroup.

The vault administrator installs and maintains the vault.

VaultAdmin Tool The VaultAdmin tool provides access for the PDMWorks Workgroup administrator to set up the system. Using the VaultAdmin tool, the administrator creates users and projects, revision and lifecycle schemes, and establishes global settings that affect all users.

PDMWorks Client Client software is used by the general users, either inside SolidWorks or as a part of SolidWorks Explorer, to access the PDMWorks Workgroup functions. The client software is used to check documents in and out, increment revisions and lifecycle status, view information and create reports.

PDMWorks Workgroup Viewer

The PDMWorks Workgroup Viewer provides web-based access to the vault. The PDMWorks Workgroup Viewer enables users to view and print documents and create reports.

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ePDMWorks Workgroup Components 9

Lesson 1 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualPDM Concepts and File ManagementBasic Rules In PDMWorks Workgroup, there are some basic principles that need to be understood.

File Names Every file name must be unique. For example, there cannot be two parts called Bracket.

Project Names Both project names and project descriptions must also be completely unique.

File Storage Only one copy of a document is stored in the vault, no matter how many other files reference it.

Revision Numbers Revision numbers are established during PDMWorks Workgroup installation and the scheme is maintained by the vault administrator. Revision numbers can only go forward, never backwards. Each revision of a document is kept in the vault so you can open any version.

Ownership When you have ownership of a document, you have the right to change that document and then check the document into the vault. Only one person can have ownership of a document at any time.

Locking A document is locked whenever someone has ownership of that document. A locked document in the vault is protected from any user, other than the owner, checking in a modified version of that document.

References References are logical links between different documents in the vault.SolidWorks References

In the vault, SolidWorks files references are automatic based on the SolidWorks assembly hierarchy. The vault maintains the references established in SolidWorks.

Attachments Attachments are logical links from non-SolidWorks documents to either SolidWorks or other non-SolidWorks documents. Users establish these links manually.

SolidWorks File Management

There are several principals of SolidWorks File Management that are key to our understanding of PDMWorks Workgroup. First and foremost, PDMWorks Workgroup does not change the way SolidWorks searches for or references files.

In order to properly manage SolidWorks files, or use any Product Data Management system with SolidWorks, it is important to understand just what SolidWorks files contain and how they relate to one another.

SolidWorks File Structure

The SolidWorks file structure is a single point database. This means that each piece of information is stored in only one file. Any other file that needs that piece of information must reference the file where the information is stored rather than copy the information into itself. This creates external references.

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 1PDM Concepts and File ManagementExternal References

External references are the links between documents. There is no separate database to list the references, instead a pointer in the file header lists the referenced files and their location. These are absolute references, in other words they are a complete path such as D:\myfiles\bracket.sldprt.External references in SolidWorks are only one directional. Assemblies have references to the parts contained in the assembly. The individual parts do not have references back to the assembly. In other words, the part does not know where it is used.

File Associativity The advantage of using external references is that when information such as a dimension in a part is changed, all files that use that part are updated. This highlights the fact that each file must always know the path to all of the files it references.

File References SolidWorks creates files that are compound documents that contain elements from other files. File references are created by linking files rather than duplicating information in multiple files.

Referenced files do not have to be stored with the document that references them. In most practical applications, the referenced documents are stored in multiple locations on the computer or network. SolidWorks provides several tools to determine the references that exist and their location.

Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)

In the Windows environment, information sharing between files can be handled either by linking or embedding the information.

The main differences between linked objects and embedded objects are where the data is stored and how you update the data after you place it in the destination file.

Linked Objects When an object is linked, information is updated only if the source file is modified. Linked data is stored in the source file. The destination file stores only the location of the source file (an external reference), and it displays a representation of the linked data.

Linking is also useful when you want to include information that is maintained independently, such as data collected by a different department.

Embedded Objects When you embed an object, information in the destination file doesn't change if you modify the source file. Embedded objects become part of the destination file and, once inserted, are no longer part of the source file.

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Lesson 1 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualPDM Concepts and File ManagementFile Reference Example

The many different types of external references created by SolidWorks are shown in the following graphic. Some of the references can be linked or embedded.

Find References Find References provides the exact locations of referenced part and assembly files. Find References will display the Search Results dialog box which lists the component files used, including the full path names. This is useful if you have several versions of the component files.

Where to Find It Q From the File menu, select Find References.

Copy Files The Copy Files button is used to copy the files to another, common, directory. Copy Files opens Pack and Go, which is used to copy the parent and all referenced files to a single location, or to create a ZIP file.

Print Print sends the list of references to the printer as plain text.Copy List Copy List makes a copy of the search results list on the Windows

clipboard. This can then be pasted into other documents.

Pack and Go Pack and Go provides a method to copy all references as well as drawings and COSMOS results to either a specific directory or a Zip file.

PartAssembly

Mirror PartSplit Part

Insert Part

Derived Part

File Re

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In-Context Reference

File Reference

File

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File Reference

Library Feature

Design Table

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 1PDM Concepts and File ManagementList External References

In an assembly, you can create an in-context feature on one component that references the geometry of another component. This in-context feature has an external reference to the other component. List External References lists the specific feature, data, status, entity or component information for each in-context entity.

If you change the geometry on the referenced component, the associated in-context feature changes accordingly.

Note Do not confuse the command List External References with File, Find References. In a part document, the command File, Find References only lists the name of externally referenced documents, if they exist. It does not provide feature, data, status, entity, or component information.

File Names Unique file names are key to managing files in SolidWorks. Only one document of a given name can be open at any one time. When first saved, each file should be changed from the default name (Part1, Assembly1, etc.) to something unique. If part numbers are used, assigning the part number when the file is first created can prevent file reference problems later.

Update Holders The external references created between components are listed as features at the bottom of the assembly FeatureManager design tree. These update holders are the features that cause the in-context features in one part to update based on changes in the referenced part.

Because update holders are part of the assembly file, in-context features do not update unless the assembly is open. If the update path is not available (for example, if the assembly document is closed), updating occurs the next time you open the assembly that contains the update path.

Out of Context Because changes propagate through the assembly to the in-context feature, in-context features are out of context if the assembly is not open.

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Lesson 1 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualPDM Concepts and File ManagementOpening Files SolidWorks is a RAM-resident CAD system. Whenever a file is opened, it is copied from its storage location to the computers Random Access Memory or RAM. All changes to the file are made to the copy in RAM and only written back to the original files during a Save operation.

Computer Memory To better understand where files are stored and which copy of the file we are working on, it is important to differentiate between the two main types of computer memory.

Random Access Memory

Random Access Memory (RAM) is the volatile memory of the computer. This memory only stores information when the computer is operating. When the computer is turned off, any information in RAM is lost.

Fixed Memory Fixed memory is all the non-volatile memory. This includes the computer hard drive, floppy disks, zip disks, flash drives, CDs and DVDs. Fixed memory holds its information even when the computer is not running.

Save

Open

Fixed DiskRAM

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 1PDM Concepts and File ManagementSaving Files Saving files writes the file information in RAM to a location on a fixed disk. SolidWorks provides three options for saving files. Each has a different effect on file references.

Save Copy the file in RAM to the fixed disk, leaving the copy in RAM open. If this file is being referenced by any open SolidWorks files, there are no changes to the reference.

Save As Copy the file in RAM to the fixed disk under a new name or file type, replacing the file in RAM with the new file. The old file in RAM is closed without saving. If this file is being referenced by any open SolidWorks files, update the references to this new file.

Save As Copy Copy the file in RAM to the fixed disk under a new name or file type, leaving the copy in RAM open. If this file is being reference by any open SolidWorks files, do not update the references to this new file.

File Properties File properties are details about Windows based files that help identify it for example, a descriptive title, the author name, the subject, and keywords that identify topics or other important information in the file. Document properties can be used to display information about a file or to help organize files so that they can be found easily. You can search for documents based on document properties.

SolidWorks adds and has available file properties unique to SolidWorks that are more suited to engineering than the default properties associated to other Windows documents. Additional properties can be added based on the users needs.

Metadata File properties and attributes are sometimes referred to as Metadata.

Classes of File Properties

File properties can be grouped into several classes.Q Automatic

Automatic properties are maintained by the application that created the property. These include properties such as the date the file was created, last modified and file size.

Q PresetPreset properties already exist, but the user must fill in the text value. The preset file properties used in SolidWorks are stored in the file Property.txt. This file may be edited to add or remove preset properties.

Preset properties can accept text, date, yes/no and numerical data.Q Custom

Custom properties are defined by the user and apply to the entire document

Q Configuration specificConfiguration specific properties apply only to a specific configuration.

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Lesson 1 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualPDM Concepts and File ManagementQ SolidWorks custom propertiesThere are several custom properties that can be automatically updated by SolidWorks. These include the parts mass and material.

Where to Find It Q Click File, Properties.

Creating File Properties

File properties can be created directly in the file, or they can be created by other procedures.Q Direct method

File properties are added directly to the file by the user.Q Design tables

Design tables can create custom properties using a column header $PRP@property where property is the name of the property to be created and populated with the information created in the design table.

Q PDMWorks WorkgroupPDMWorks Workgroup will add several custom properties to files checked into the vault. These include: number, status, description, project and revision. PDMWorks can also be configured to add additional properties defined by the Vault Administrator.

Uses of File Properties

File properties can be used for several operations.

Q Parts, assemblies and drawings File properties can be used to create parametric notes. Annotations linked to file properties will update as the properties change.

Q AssembliesAdvanced Selection and Advanced Show/Hide can select components based on specific file properties. Specific procedures are found in the training course Advanced Assembly Modeling.

Q DrawingsFile properties can be used to fill in data in the title block, BOM, revision blocks and annotations. Specific procedures are found in the training course SolidWorks Drawings.

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 1PDM Concepts and File ManagementExternal Reference Search Order

When any parent document is opened, all documents that are referenced by the parent document are also loaded into memory. In the case of assemblies, components are loaded in memory according to the suppression state they were in when the assembly was saved.

Important! PDMWorks Workgroup does not change the SolidWorks search order.

The SolidWorks software searches for referenced documents in the following order:

1. Random Access MemoryIf a file with the correct name is already in memory, SolidWorks will use that file.

2. The directory paths specified in the Referenced Documents list on the File Locations tab in Tools, Options, System Options (optional).Users may establish a list of directories for SolidWorks to search first. Generally, these directories would be shared network locations where projects are stored. Establishing this list is optional and may be bypassed.

3. The last path you specified to open a document.When you open a parent document, SolidWorks will search in the same directory for the referenced files.

4. The last path the system used to open a document.This applies if the system opened a referenced document last.

5. The path where the referenced document was located when the parent document was last saved.This is the path stored in the parent document except that the drive path (C:\, D:\, etc.) is considered to be the current drive.

6. The path where the referenced document was located when the parent document was last saved with the original disk drive designation.This is the absolute path name stored with the parent document.

7. If a referenced file is still not found, SolidWorks gives you the option to browse for it.When SolidWorks reaches the end of the search list and has not found a document, it turns the process over to the user to search manually.

Note All updated reference paths in the parent document are saved when you save the parent document.

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Lesson 1 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualPDM Concepts and File ManagementBeta

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e18 External Reference Search Order

SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualLesson 2SolidWorks Explorer and

PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In


Q Understand the functions in SolidWorks Explorer.

Q Use SolidWorks Explorer to prepare files for PDMWorks Workgroup check in.

Q Use Pack and Go to package files.

Q Open the PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In.

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Lesson 2 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualSolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 2SolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-InPDMWorks Workgroup Contributor

The vault may be accessed from computers that do not have SolidWorks installed, through either the SolidWorks Explorer with PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In or the PDMWorks Workgroup Viewer.

Our perspective in this lesson will be that of a SolidWorks Contributor, someone using SolidWorks Explorer and the PDMWorks Add-In without SolidWorks. We will first use SolidWorks Explorer to prepare files to be checked into the vault. Later we will use SolidWorks Explorer with the PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In to obtain information about files in the vault.

SolidWorks Explorer

SolidWorks Explorer is a Windows-based application that enables design team members who are not SolidWorks users to access and manage design information. Using the PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In, it can also access information in the PDMWorks Workgroup vault. SolidWorks Explorer can also be used on systems with SolidWorks installed to access the vault, however it provides no additional functions beyond those already available inside SolidWorks.

Without SolidWorks installed, SolidWorks Explorer with the PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In gives users the same functionality of the SolidWorks client with only one exception; they can neither check in nor check out SolidWorks documents to or from the vault.

This lesson explains how to use SolidWorks Explorer, a program that is included with the SolidWorks software. It is used to modify unopened part, assembly and drawing files. It also integrates with PDMWorks Workgroup, through the PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In, to access the PDMWorks Workgroup vault.

SolidWorks Explorer can be run as a stand-alone application or run within the SolidWorks application. If SolidWorks Explorer is used within SolidWorks, it is treated as a typical document and it can be tiled or cascaded.

In this example, we will be preparing an assembly to be checked into the vault. As a result, we want to identify where the parts are used, revise the name of the part and its associated drawing, as well as revise any sub-assemblies and main assembly in which the part is used. The changed part will appear in the modified assembly only, leaving the original assembly intact.

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Lesson 2 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualSolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-InWindow Layout SolidWorks Explorer has several main features:

File Explorer This pane displays the entire folder structure of your hard drive(s), enabling you to browse for files, similar to Windows Explorer.

Results The results of searches are shown in this pane.Document Information

This pane lists the active document and its basic information. Click on the tabs to see its properties, relationships to other documents, and a detailed eDrawings preview.

To change to another document, just browse to and click on it in the File Explorer/Results pane.

Preview When any tab, except View, is selected a 2D preview of the file is show in the Preview Pane.

SolidWorks Search Assistant

The SolidWorks Search Assistant provides an easy method to search for files both on your system and 3D Content central. Microsoft Desktop Search must be installed for the SolidWorks Search Assistant to function.

Tag Search Type a tag value in the box to search for files that contain the tag.

File Explorer/Results Pane

Property/Operation Tabs

Document Information Pane

Preview Pane

SolidWorks Search Assistant Toolbar

Tag Search

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e22 PDMWorks Workgroup Contributor

SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 2SolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-InOperations SolidWorks Explorer has several functions available from the Operations tool bar. They are also available from the Tools menu.

File Management Options

SolidWorks Explorer has several file management functions available by selecting a filename or right-clicking a filename in the File Explorer.

Selecting a file will open a popup toolbar.

Info Lists basic information about the file, including path, type and date modified.

Properties List and edit the summary information, custom properties, or configuration specific properties of files.

References Lists the references of any part (including derived or mirrored parts, assembly, or drawing).

Where Used Lets you search for all the places where a specific part or assembly is used, including any derived or mirrored parts.

Configurations Edit the configurations of a file by renaming or deleting them. You cannot edit the actual makeup of a configuration by suppressing or unsuppressing features/components.

Hyperlinks Allows you to list and edit any hyperlinks the files may have.

View Displays an image of the selected part, assembly, or drawing file in the main window.

ReplaceRenamePack and GoOpen

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Lesson 2 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualSolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-InThe following functions are available:

Important! It is important to remember that SolidWorks Explorer alone does not provide true revision control, in the same manner as a PDM (Product Data Management) application. For example, SolidWorks Explorer does not provide vaulting, check out/check in, or read/write control capabilities. The PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In, however, does provide some PDM capability through SolidWorks Explorer. We will explore this later in the lesson.

Using SolidWorks Explorer

SolidWorks Explorer can be started from within a SolidWorks session or executed as a stand-alone program. When it is opened inside SolidWorks, it is treated like a standard file window and can be tiled, minimized, or cascaded.

Where to Find It Q From the SolidWorks Tools menu, select SolidWorks Explorer....Q From the Windows Start menu, click All Programs,

SolidWorks 2008, SolidWorks Explorer.Q Create a shortcut by dragging the SolidWorks Explorer icon

from the SolidWorks installation directory onto your desktop or Quick Launch toolbar.

Procedure We will begin by finding an existing assembly in SolidWorks Explorer.

Case Study: SolidWorks Explorer

This case study will introduce SolidWorks Explorer and its functions. We will set the options, then prepare an assembly for introduction into PDMWorks Workgroup.

Open Opens the file in the appropriate program based on the file type. If SolidWorks Explorer is running stand-alone, SolidWorks is started for parts, assemblies and drawings if it is installed.

SolidWorks Pack and Go

Copies a SolidWorks file including references, with options to add a suffix or prefix to each reference file, and create a ZIP file.

Rename Renames a SolidWorks file and updates its Where Used.

Replace Replaces the file with another of the same type. In an assembly, all instances of the component are replaced.

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 2SolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In1 Click Start, All Programs, SolidWorks 2008, SolidWorks Explorer.When we first start SolidWorks Explorer, all that will open is the Search Assistant.

Click the Expand icon . The File Explorer/Results pane will open.

In the File Explorer, click any file or folder. SolidWorks Explorer will now open the Document Information/Preview pane.

2 SolidWorks Explorer Options.For consistency, we must first set the SolidWorks Explorer options to make sure the results we see are the same.

Click SolidWorks Explorer Options on the SolidWorks Explorer toolbar.

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Lesson 2 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualSolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In3 Local options.The local options set the items we will see in the SolidWorks Explorer pane. Select the options shown.

4 References/Where Used.Select the References/Where Used tab.

SolidWorks Explorer does not have a database from which to find the relationships between files. Instead, it must search for them. To limit the search, and therefore the time to conduct the search, we can direct SolidWorks Explorer to search only certain folders.

Click Add Folder. Locate and select the Case Study folder in the training files directory:

\SolidWorks 2008 Training Files\PDMWorks Workgroup Contributor\.Set the remaining options as shown.Be

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 2SolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In5 Add-Ins.Select the Add-Ins tab.

Add-Ins are used to connect SolidWorks Explorer to other programs, such as PDMWorks Workgroup. Later in the lesson we will establish this connection with PDMWorks Workgroup, but for now clear the selection.

6 Search.Select the Search tab.

The Search tab controls the path and display used during searches.

Click Add Folder. Locate and select the Case Study folder in the training files directory:

\SolidWorks 2008 Training Files\PDMWorks Workgroup Contributor\.Set the options as shown.

Click OK to close the options.

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Lesson 2 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualSolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In7 Select a file.In the File Explorer, locate the \SolidWorks 2008 Training Files\PDMWorks Workgroup Contributor\Case Study\Scorpion Clutch directory and select the assembly 217440c.

8 File properties.Examine the Document Information pane. There are seven property operations tabs that provide different pieces of information about the selected file.Be

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 2SolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-InInfo These are the automatic general file properties stored with Windows files. If you right-click a file in Windows Explorer, this is the information found on the General tab.

Properties These are the custom file properties stored with the file. If you right-click a file in Windows Explorer, this is the information from the Custom tab.

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Lesson 2 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualSolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-InReferences Which other files are referenced by this file. This is sometimes called looking down the references because we are looking at the references below the selected file.

Where Used Which files use this file. This is sometimes called looking up as we are looking for the references above the selected file that use the selected file.

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 2SolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-InConfigurations The configurations of this file.

Hyperlinks Any hyperlinks in the file are listed.

View The three dimensional preview is available using eDrawings. You can zoom, rotate, animate and print the model from this view.

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Lesson 2 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualSolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-InPreview Picture The two dimensional preview is a bitmap save with the file. When a folder is selected, all the files in the folder are previewed. You can select different files in the preview window or in the list below the preview window. You may also cycle through the previews using the scroll bar or arrows in the preview window.

Renaming Components

You can use SolidWorks Explorer to rename components in an assembly. This is useful for changing a generic name to a true part name at the assembly level.

For PDMWorks Workgroup, each filename must be unique. We can not have multiple files with the same name. If we are transitioning from a non-PDMWorks system to PDMWorks Workgroup, we may have to fix problems with the existing naming convention such as removing the revision from the filename.

The benefit of using SolidWorks Explorer is that we can rename files and maintain the file references without opening the files and creating additional copies.

Remember The documents must not be open in SolidWorks when you modify them using SolidWorks Explorer.

2D Preview Picture

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e32 Renaming Components

SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 2SolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In9 Clutch Assembly.Select the Clutch Assembly_revC.SLDASM in the File Explorer.

There are several files that need to be renamed before they can be checked into the PDMWorks Workgroup vault:

The part named sleeve.sldprt must have its generic name replaced by a part number.

The top level assembly Clutch Assembly_revC.SLDASM must have its name replaced by a part number and the revision removed from the name.

The following part and assembly files need to have the revision number removed from the file name:

Q 207689C_revB.SLDASMQ 217147C2_revA.SLDPRT

10 Rename sleeve.SLDPRT.In the File Explorer, select the sleeve part. Click Rename on the popup toolbar.

Change the name to the part number 207800C.sldprt.

207800C.sldprt

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Lesson 2 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualSolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-InWhere Used The Where Used option is used to find where components are used. This will search for references to the component in assemblies, drawings, derived parts and parts with in-context features based on the search path that was set up in the SolidWorks Explorer Options.

When renaming files, it is important to know where the file is used so we can control which references will be updated.

11 Set where used.Update where used lists the files that reference the sleeve. It shows that this part is only used in the assembly 207689C_revB.SLDASM. Make sure the assembly is selected so that when we change the name of the sleeve, the reference will update.If we didnt want the reference to update, we would simple clear the selection.

Click OK.

Before After

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 2SolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-InIf we had opened SolidWorks, we would see that the file has been renamed and the assembly reference has been updated.

12 Rename additional components.Using the same technique, rename the remaining three files:

Opening Files Files can be opened directly from SolidWorks Explorer

Where to Find It Q Select or right-click a file in the left pane, then click Open in the toolbar.

Note Our assumption at the beginning of this lesson is that we are using PDMWorks Contributor because we do not have SolidWorks available on our computer. As this course is generally taught in classrooms where SolidWorks is available, we will demonstrate the effects of the previous steps on the files in SolidWorks. If you do not have SolidWorks loaded, you will obviously not be able to do the next step.

Before After

Original Name Renamed

217147C2_revA.SLDPRT 217147C2.SLDPRT207689C_revB.SLDASM 207689C.SLDASM

Clutch Assembly_revC.SLDASM 200108.SLDASM

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Lesson 2 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualSolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In13 Open the assembly.Select the assembly 200108.SLDASM, then click Open

.

Select Dont open any referenced documents and click OK.

Check the FeatureManager design tree. All four files show that their names have been changed and the references have been updated.

14 Close SolidWorks.

Pack and Go SolidWorks Pack and Go copies an assembly and all its references, optionally adding a suffix or prefix (such as _Rev1), in one operation. A ZIP file may also be generated.

When intending to copy SolidWorks files, it is very important to realize that references can easily be lost. Copying an assembly file only, does not copy its components.

Using Windows Explorer to copy SolidWorks files is not recommended; in fact, an assembly copied with Windows Explorer will attempt to reference the original components. SolidWorks Explorer and SolidWorks Pack and Go are designed to maintain these references correctly.

Where to Find It Q Select a file in the File Explorer and click SolidWorks Pack and Go on the toolbar.

Q In SolidWorks, click File, Find References the click Copy Files.Q Or, File, Pack and Go.

r

15 Determine references.In the File Explorer, select the assembly 200108.SLDASM.In the Document Information pane, select the References tab.

Notice that the referenced files are in two locations, the Scorpion Clutch folder and a sub-folder named Fasteners.Our objective is to get all of these files in a single folder that we can ZIP and send to someone.

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 2SolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In16 Pack and Go.Select the assembly 200108.SLDASM, then click Pack and Go .The assembly and all the referenced files will be listed.

17 Save to a location.Select Save To Folder.

Click Browse and select the \SolidWorks 2008 Training Files\PDMWorks Workgroup Contributor folder.Click Make New Folder.

Name the new folder Transfer.Click OK to close the dialog.

Select Flatten to a single folder. We do this to avoid having sub-folders under the Transfer folder.Click Save. The Pack and Go dialog box should close automatically.

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Lesson 2 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualSolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In18 Locate the files.In the File Manager, locate the Transfer folder.Select the assembly 200108.SLDASM.Select the References tab.

Notice that all the referenced files are in the Transfer directory.19 Save to a ZIP file.

To make transfer of the files easier, we will create a ZIP file containing the assembly and all the references.

Select the assembly 200108.SLDASM, then click Pack and Go .Select Save To Zip File.

Click Browse and select the \SolidWorks 2008 Training Files\PDMWorks Workgroup Contributor folder.Click Create New Folder.

Name the new folder Compressed.Name the file Scorpion Clutch.Click Save to close the dialog.

Click Save. The Pack and Go dialog box should close automatically.20 Locate the files.

In the File Manager, locate the Compressed folder.

You can check the file contents by selecting the Zip file and then click Open .

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 2SolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-InPDMWorks Workgroup Add-In

SolidWorks Explorer is used as the interface to PDMWorks Workgroup when not using SolidWorks. This interface has all the same components as found in SolidWorks for accessing the vault. The one major difference is that you can neither check in nor check out SolidWorks files from SolidWorks Explorer.

PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In Functions

The following functions can be done with the PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In.

From the Vault View:

Q Document InformationQ Check In - non-SolidWorks filesQ Check Out - non-SolidWorks files Q Take and Release OwnershipQ Change ProjectQ Bump revisionsQ Find/Search DocumentQ Reporting Q Open DocumentQ Delete DocumentQ Add NoteQ Refresh Vault View, set Display Labels and PDMWorks Options

From the Local View (File Explorer):

Q Find Document in the VaultQ Update Document or All from VaultQ Refresh ViewsQ Check in non-SolidWorks documents to the vaultQ Pack and GoQ Rename FilesQ Replace files

Case Study: PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In

In this case study, we will examine the PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In user interface and the information that we can obtain from files in the vault.

1 Open the PDMWorks Add-In.In SolidWorks Explorer, click SolidWorks Explorer Options .

Select the Add-Ins tab.

Select PDMWorks Workgroup.

Click Apply.

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Lesson 2 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualSolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In2 PDMWorks options.Once the add-in is opened, there will be four more tabs in the SolidWorks Explorer options that are used for PDMWorks Workgroup.

For consistency, we will setup the PDMWorks Workgroup options before proceeding with the rest of the case study.

3 Vault options.Select the Vault tab.

The options on this tab control the way files are displayed in SolidWorks Explorer and the format for the output files that may be created.

Select the options shown.

4 Command Defaults.Select the Command Defaults tab.

This tab controls the default options when checking in or checking out files. These options can be overridden during the check in or check out process.


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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 2SolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In5 Folders.Select the Folders tab.

This tab controls the default location used when files are copied from the vault.

Click the Browse button and set the two paths as shown.

Note You may have to create these two folders.

6 Labels.Select the Labels tab.

This tab controls the labels that will be shown in the vault view and the the way project names will be displayed.


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Lesson 2 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualSolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-InVault View Once the PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In is selected, the File Explorer pane will be divided, showing the Vault View in the bottom of the pane. Once we are logged into the vault, the contents of the vault will be visible to us in this pane.

Vault View

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 2SolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In7 Login.Right-click in the Vault View and select PDMWorks Workgroup Login.

Type localhost for Vault computer. This means that the vault is located on your computer. If it were not, we would type the name or IP address of the computer where the vault is located.

Type Training Vault for the Vault description.

The login process requires us to provide our user name, password and vault location.

Rather than type our user name, we can select from all available user names recognized by PDMWorks by clicking Browse .

Note The vault name (the name of the computer holding the vault) must be entered before the Browse button will work.

8 User.We will log in as Bob White.

Select Bob White from the list.

Click OK.

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Lesson 2 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualSolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In9 Password.In our vault, everyones default password is the first three letters of their first name in lower case.

Type bob as the password.Click Login.

Local View The File Explorer or Local View shows the local drives just as they would appear in the Windows Explorer.

The one difference we see in the Local View, now that the PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In is started, is that the Local View is compared against the vault and the status of the documents on the local drive are shown by status icons.

Local View Status Icons

The Local View provides the status of the files in view compared to the vault. Each file will have an icon in front of it to show how it compares to the vault.

White line through a blue circle - Document does not exist in the vault.

White upward arrow within a green circle - Document is newer than the file in the vault.

White downward arrow within a red circle - Document is older than the file in the vault.

White equal sign within a gray circle - Document is the same as the file in the vault.

White star in green circle - New document or new document reference.

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 2SolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-InVault View The Vault View shows the contents of the PDMWorks vault. It is organized like the FeatureManager design tree.

Each project is color coded to show the users level of access.

Orange - Read Only access

Black - Write and Read accessGray - No accessBlue - Not Revision managed

10 Examine the views.The upper part of the left pane is the Local View. The icons in front of each file shows that they are not in the vault.

The lower section is the Vault View, with the colors indicating our (Bob White) access to the various projects.

The displayed vault structure is similar to Windows Explorer in that we have projects (folders) and sub-projects (sub-folders)

Local View

Vault View

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Lesson 2 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualSolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In11 File references.In the Vault View, expand the project General Project and the sub-project Speaker Assembly.When the Speaker-Dual assembly was checked into the vault, the parts used by the assembly where listed under the assembly. This was done automatically by PDMWorks.

The one drawing in this project, Speaker Frame, is listed under the part Speaker Frame.

History/Notes In addition to the other properties that were available in SolidWorks Explorer, there is an additional tab available whenever we select a file in the vault. History/Notes provides a list of all action that occurred with the file.

Where Used When we select a file in the vault view, we will get a much faster response when we select Where Used. When we select Where Used in the Local View, SolidWorks Explorer must actually search for the file based on the search options. When we select Where Used for a file in the vault, we are only looking in the vault. To speed the search even more, the vault administrator can create an indexed catalog.

Note The vault used in this lesson does not use the indexed search.

12 Document Properties.In the Vault View, select the file Speaker-Dual.SLDASM found in the Speaker Assembly project under General Projects.

13 File history.Select the History/Notes tab.

Listed are all the actions taken with this file since originally being checked into the vault.

Revision/Configuration Specific Information.

In the header section of the right pane there are two pull-down lists. We can select either or both the revision and configuration. The information displayed under the various tabs will then be specific to that revision and/or configuration.

Select Revision Select Configuration

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 2SolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In14 Select revision.Select the revision list titled C-02 (Latest). We can see that this assembly has been through many revisions.

Some of the information we were looking at under the other tabs was revision specific. By default, we were looking at the information for the latest revision which is C.02.The vault administrator has archived some of the revisions to save space in the vault. If we select an archived revision, we PDMWorks Workgroup will not display the document properties for the file.

Select the References tab.

In the Revision column, we can see the revisions of each of the referenced parts when the assembly is at revision C.02.

15 Change revision.In the revision list, select revision A for the assembly.Revision A of the Speaker-Dual assembly used different revisions of the referenced parts.Be

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Lesson 2 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualSolidWorks Explorer and PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In16 Select a configuration.Change the revision back to C.02 (Latest).Select the configuration Dual Speaker Assembly.The References tab show the four parts used in this configuration.

17 Change configuration.Select the configuration Single Speaker Assembly. Notice that there are only three referenced files now as the part Second Speaker is not used in this configuration.

18 Close SolidWorks Explorer.

Dual Speaker Single Speaker

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SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualLesson 3Managing Files with

PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In


Q Understand the check in/check out process.

Q Check in non-SolidWorks files to the vault.

Q Search the vault for specific files.

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 3Managing Files with PDMWorks Workgroup Add-InDocument Check In Process

The process of checking in a document saves a copy of the file to the vault. The vault is only accessible to users through PDMWorks Workgroup.

Once the document is checked in, PDMWorks Workgroup will control user access to the file, revisioning, and lifecycle status (if used).

Introducing:Check In from Disk

Check In from disk will check in a selected file to a specific project in the PDMWorks vault. When using PDMWorks Workgroup from SolidWorks Explorer, you can only check in non-SolidWorks files.

Where to Find It Q Select a file in the Local View and click Check In on the flyout toolbar.

Q Or, right-click the file in the Local View and select Check In From Disk.

Q Or, right-click on a project in the Vault View and select Check In From Disk.

File Associations When a SolidWorks document is checked in, it automatically has associations with other files based on the SolidWorks structure. Non-SolidWorks documents must be associated (attached) manually.

Adding Attachments

When a non-SolidWorks document is checked in to the vault, it may be attached to other documents. To attach a document to a document you do not own requires permission to be set by the vault administrator.

Where to Find It Q Right-click the target document or documents that you wish the file attached to, then select Add Attachment.

Q To attach a document to several documents, select the target documents that you wish the file attached to, then right-click and select Add Attachment.

Removing Attachments

Attachments can easily be removed from single or multiple files.

Where to Find It Q Right-click the attached file you want to remove, then select Remove Attachment.

Q To remove an attached document from several documents, select the target documents that you wish the file attached removed from, then right-click and select Remove Attachment.

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Lesson 3 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualManaging Files with PDMWorks Workgroup Add-InCase Study: Check in Documents

We will check non-SolidWorks documents into the vault and attach them to files already in the vault.

1 Log in to PDMWorks Workgroup.Right-click in the Vault View and click Login.

Log in as Bob White (password: bob)2 Check in an eDrawing.

In the Local View, locate the eDrawing Speaker Frame.EDRW found the training files directory under \Case Study\Speaker.Select the eDrawing and select Check In from the toolbar.

Check In Options When a document is checked in, we have the option of adding additional information to the file properties, notes and setting the revision increment.

Document Options This section provides information about the current document and its status.

File Properties PDMWorks Workgroup properties such as Revision, Project and Lifecycle status, plus file properties are added directly into this table. The number of properties is set by the vault administrator.

File nameFile type

Status iconDelete local copy?

Retain ownershipCheck in

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 3Managing Files with PDMWorks Workgroup Add-InRevision Scheme

PDMWorks Workgroup can accommodate a revision scheme with three levels and a working copy level.

Revision schemes are displayed as follows:

The revision scheme used in this vault uses a dash (-), then the letters A through Z for the primary level and 01 to 99 for the secondary level. The allowed values depend on the lifecycle.

Checked Out Icon The Vault View shows which documents are checked out with a check mark in a colored circle. The color of the circle indicates if the document is checked out by the current user or someone else.

Magenta circle - Checked out by current user.

Cyan circle - Checked out by another user.

Properties for Individual Parts

When checking in an assembly and all its referenced parts, individual parts may need to have revision numbers that are different from the assembly or other parts. Some parts may need to have their number and description properties entered. These properties can be added to any file in the reference list.

3 Check in options.We do not want to retain ownership of this eDrawing once it is entered into the vault and we want to keep the copy on our local drive. We can set these options by clicking on the appropriate icon in the Options.

Select Release Ownership and Do not Delete local copy.

Dev.01.A+

Primary separator

Secondaryseparator

Workingcopy

Primarylevel

Secondarylevel

Tertiarylevel

Delete local copy Do not delete local copyRetain ownershipRelease ownership

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Lesson 3 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualManaging Files with PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In4 Attach to a SolidWorks file.This eDrawing should be attached to the SolidWorks drawing from which it was created.

Click Attach to another document . The dialog box shows the vault. select the Speaker Frame drawing.Click OK.

The eDrawing is now listed under the Speaker Frame drawing.We could attach this eDrawing to other files if required by again clicking Attach to another document and repeating the process.

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 3Managing Files with PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In5 Set the lifecycle.If we are using lifecycles, the revision must valid for the lifecycle. As the drawing is Released and at revision C, we must first set the lifecycle for the eDrawing to Released. If we do not, we will not be able to use C as the revision.

Select the Status cell for the eDrawing and then select Released from the list.

6 Set the revision.The SolidWorks drawing is at revision C, so we want the eDrawing to be at the same revision.

Select the cell in the Revision column for the eDrawing. Type C in the Revision box at the top of the dialog box.

Click Apply. This will set the revision for just this one file to revision C.

SelectType

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Lesson 3 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualManaging Files with PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In7 Add a note.Select the cell in the Note column for the eDrawing. Type Initial check in. The note field can be multiple lines of text if necessary.Click Apply.

8 Select the project.We want the file to go into the same project as the drawing. Select the cell in the Project column for the eDrawing. Click the down arrow to expand the list and show all the projects in the vault. Select the Speaker Assembly project.

9 Check in the eDrawing.Click Check In.

10 PDMWorks warning.We will get a warning that the file is missing a number or description. Neither of these properties are required and can be added later.

Click OK.11 PDMWorks question.

One final question to make sure we are checking the file into the correct project.

Click OK.12 Examine the views.

Examine the Local View and Vault View.

In the Local View, the icon indicates that our local copy of the file is the same as the file in the vault.

In the Vault View, we see that the file has been attached to the SolidWorks drawing.

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 3Managing Files with PDMWorks Workgroup Add-InCreating Sub-projects

Sub-projects can be added by users if permission is granted by the vault administrator.

When creating a sub-project, its name and description must be unique.

Sub-projects inherit the same permissions as their parent project. Changing the project permissions must be done by the vault administrator.

Where to Find It Q Right-click on the parent project and select Create SubProject from the list.

Case Study: Change Project

To create a better project structure, we will add a sub-project under the Speaker Assembly to hold all the sheet metal parts.

1 Create a sub-project.Right-click the project Speaker Assembly and select Create SubProject.

2 Name the sub-project.Type Sheet Metal for the Name and Stamped Parts for the Description.

Click OK.

The new project appears in the Vault View under the Speaker Assembly project.

Change Project Documents can easily be moved between projects.Introducing:Change Project

Change Project allows a user, with ownership, to move a file from one project to another without opening the file.

Where to Find It Q Right-click the document in the Vault View and select Change Project.

Smart Dialog Boxes

Smart dialog boxes allow changes made to a parent document to be applied to all the children.

Smart dialog boxes are enabled in the user options.

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Lesson 3 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualManaging Files with PDMWorks Workgroup Add-InTake/Release Ownership

Document ownership can be taken or released directly from the vault without opening the file(s). To take ownership of a document, it can not be owned by someone else.

Where to Find It Q In the Vault View, right-click the document and select Take Ownership or Release Ownership.

Q Or, click to take ownership or to release ownership on the popup toolbar.

3 Take Ownership.Before we can do anything to a file in the vault, we must be the owner. Right-click the Speaker Frame part and select Take Ownership on the toolbar.

4 Add the children.We not only want to move the part file, but the drawing and eDrawing as well, so we must own them all.

Select Documents children and All children.

Click Own.

All three files now have icons to indicate that we are the owner.

Links When documents are checked into the vault, PDMWorks maintains only a single copy of that file in the vault. In the Vault View, we see documents and their references, similar to the FeatureManager design tree. In other words, if a part is used in different assemblies, the Vault View must show it in each of those assemblies.

To show that a document is not actually saved in a project, its icon has a link or shortcut symbol.

This part is in this project.

This part is in a different project but referenced by a document in this project.

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 3Managing Files with PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In5 Change Project.Right-click the Speaker Frame part in the Vault View and select Change Project.

For New project, select Sheet Metal from the list.

For Scope, select both Selected item (Speaker Frame part) and Children, All children (Speaker Frame drawing and eDrawing).

Click OK.6 Linked files.

Notice that the three files are now listed under the Sheet Metal project as well as under the Speaker Assembly project.

The files still listed under the Speaker-Dual assembly all have the link icon to show that the files are actually in a different project. They must still be listed under the Speaker-Dual assembly because it references the Speaker Frame part. The Speaker Frame part, in turn is referenced by the Speaker Frame drawing. The Speaker-Dual eDrawing is attached to the Speaker Frame drawing. PDMWorks maintains all these references for us.

Multi-selection Multiple documents can be selected for certain operations. To select several documents, press and hold the Control key while selecting. To select a series of sequential documents, select the first document, then press the Shift key while selecting the last document in the sequence.

Multiple selection is supported for the following commands:

Q Take Ownership Q DeleteQ Release Ownership Q Hide ProjectQ Add Attachment Q Open/check out

In the next few steps, we will create another sub-project and move several files into it using multi-selection.

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Lesson 3 SolidWorks 2008 Training ManualManaging Files with PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In7 Create a new SubProject.Right-click the Speaker Assembly project and select Create SubProject.

Name the new project Speaker Components and type Components for the Description.

8 Multi-selection.In the Vault View, select the part Magnet.Hold down the Control key and select the Membrane and Second Speaker parts.

9 Take ownership.With the three parts still selected, right-click any one of them and select Take Ownership .

10 Change project.Select the three parts. Right-click any one of them and select Change Project.

Select the Speaker Components project.Click OK.

The only file now in the Speaker Assembly project is the Speaker-Dual assembly. all the parts, drawings and eDrawings are now in the two sup-projects.

Vault Display The Vault View can be customized to display different labels for each project and document.

Projects can be listed by either their name or description.

Documents in the vault can be displayed with different labels to obtain information about the document without having to open it.

Introducing:Display Labels

Each document in the vault may be displayed with up to seven labels. By default Document Name and Revision are displayed. Number, Description, Status, Owner and one custom property may be added.

Where to Find It Q Right-click in the Vault View and select Display Labels With.

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SolidWorks 2008 Training Manual Lesson 3Managing Files with PDMWorks Workgroup Add-In11 Change the vault display.Right-click in the Vault View and select Display Labels With.

Select Owner from the list.

Each file will now list its owner.

12 Change project labels.Right-click in the Vault View, then click Display Labels With, then Select.

Select Descriptive name for Project labels.

Click OK.

13 Examine the Vault View.The project descripti