Category: SOLIDWORKSPDM

When implementing security software that monitors or controls computer processes, it’s critical for PDM administrators to ensure that all essential SOLIDWORKS® PDM processes are added to the trust list. Configuring security software with SolidWorks PDM properly prevents blocked services and keeps the system stable. Failing to do so could result in interrupted operations, degraded performance, or complete service outages. This guide outlines the key processes and steps to include in your trust list for a secure and smoothly operating SOLIDWORKS PDM environment. Key SOLIDWORKS PDM Processes to Trust On You Server The following processes are fundamental for SOLIDWORKS PDM functionality on the server: Microsoft SQL Processes SOLIDWORKS PDM relies on Microsoft® SQL Server for its database management. Add these SQL Server processes to the trust list: SolidNetwork License (SNL) Server Processes For environments using SNL, ensure these licensing processes are included: SOLIDWORKS PDM Web2 Server Processes If your organization uses the SOLIDWORKS PDM Web2 server, consult the Microsoft Internet Information Service (IIS) documentation to identify and trust relevant IIS processes. On Your Client machines (PDM users) To avoid client-side disruptions, include the following SOLIDWORKS PDM processes from the Task Manager Wait Chain: Additional Files to Trust In addition to the primary processes listed above, ensure these files are also trusted: Generating a Comprehensive List of Executables If we missed any executable files related to SOLIDWORKS PDM, run the following command in the PDM installation folder: This command creates a file named EPDM_list.txt, listing all executables in the SOLIDWORKS PDM folder and its subfolders. The contents of this list may vary based on the installed add-ins and applications, such as SOLIDWORKS add-ins or the File Upgrade Utility. Important Notes By following this guide, PDM administrators can effectively configure their security software to maintain a secure and reliable environment for all SOLIDWORKS PDM users.

Monday.com has rapidly become one of the most popular work operating systems, offering teams a flexible and intuitive platform to manage projects, tasks, and workflows. It helps organizations stay organized and efficient, but for companies using SOLIDWORKS PDM, syncing project data between platforms can be challenging. Blue Byte Systems has developed an add-in that seamlessly integrates Monday.com with SOLIDWORKS PDM. This add-in automatically syncs Monday.com board items with PDM data card folders, eliminating manual updates and ensuring data consistency across both systems. Key Features: Benefits: With Blue Byte Systems’ Monday.com PDM sync add-in, companies can seamlessly connect project management and design workflows for better efficiency and collaboration. How to Use After adding the add-in to your vault via the Administration tool, right-click on the add-in to get the settings. Once you have completed the configuration the add-in, open the card editor and add a button that triggers the add-in like follow: To test the add-in, go to a folder in PDM and click the button. Sometimes, you have click out and refresh the card to get the new values. GET Monday Datacard sync add-in

PDMPublisher is a powerful SOLIDWORKS PDM add-in that revolutionizes how you manage and print documents from your assemblies. One standout feature of PDM Publisher is its Annotations capability, which allows users to insert notes at specific locations in the printed PDFs. This functionality enhances the utility of the printed documents and provides a level of customization that is invaluable for engineers and designers. Enhancing PDF output with annotations and dynamic folder creation in PDMPublisher gives users even more control, ensuring printed files are organized and detailed exactly the way the project demands. Customizing Annotations With the Annotation feature, you can seamlessly mix static text with dynamic variables that evaluate to specific values from your PDM files. This means that your notes can contain real-time data, making your PDFs more informative and relevant. For example, you can include variables such as part names, revision numbers, and other essential details directly within the notes. This is particularly useful in collaborative environments where updated information is crucial. Evaluation Function Explained The evaluation process utilizes a dedicated method that parses a specified pattern and replaces designated placeholders with actual values. Here’s a breakdown of how it works: Available Options for Dynamic Variables The evaluation function supports several options that can be used in the annotation text: These options give you the flexibility to customize your annotations extensively, ensuring that all pertinent information is captured in your printed documents. Dynamic Output Path Creation In addition to annotations, PDM Publisher allows users to utilize special variables as part of the output path for saved documents. If the specified directory does not exist, PDM Publisher will automatically create it. This feature can be leveraged to organize your files systematically by using dynamic variables such as: By implementing these features, PDM Publisher enhances document management and workflow efficiency, providing a robust solution for engineering teams.

Working within a SOLIDWORKS PDM workgroup, updating information on a PDM datacard for multiple files manually can quickly become tedious and prone to mistakes. Whether you’re a new designer, a project manager revising data, or an administrator entering details, doing this task by hand often slows down workflows and introduces inconsistencies. The good news is you can automate this entire process with a simple VBA macro. In this guide, you’ll learn how to use a VBA macro to interact with and update a PDM datacard, helping streamline your work and reduce repetitive data entry in SOLIDWORKS and SOLIDWORKS PDM. For this tutorial, we’ll use SOLIDWORKS 2023 and SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional 2023. You’ll see how to build a macro that can read and update datacard variables inside a PDM vault. Step 1: Creating a New Macro Start by opening SOLIDWORKS and following these steps alongside me– This guide is an extended version of work previously done for automating PDM with VBA. If needed, you can always catch up on our previous tutorial guides about checking files into another vault at our Blue Byte YouTube channel. Step 2: Setting References and Connecting to the Vault Before you can start editing the PDM files, we need to make sure that the references are correctly connected to the PDM vault. Let’s do that– Now, let’s define the essential variables: Dim edmVault As IEdmVault5Dim filePath As StringDim swFile As IEdmFile5Dim swFolder As IEdmFolder5Dim variableName As StringDim varEnum As IEdmEnumeratorVariable5 Step 3: Connecting to the Vault We’ll now establish a connection to the PDM vault and log in automatically. This is a critical step that authenticates your macro and authorizes it to retrieve your files and data cards in your vault. The code logs in automatically using your current Windows credentials, so it’s simple to accomplish and allows your automation to run smoothly. Set edmVault = New EdmVault5edmVault.LoginAuto “YourVaultName”, 0 ‘ Replace “YourVaultName” with your actual vault name Step 4: Getting the File and Folder Once you are logged in to the vault, you need to identify and retrieve the file that you want to modify. The best practice to do so is to use the complete file path. Simply right-click on the file in your File Explorer and select “Copy as Path”. Note: This is just one of the methods you’d want to follow for SolidWorks PDM data card examples. Other methods typically include searching for files that exist within the API. However, I’d say the file path method I’m using is the simplest. vbaCopy codefilePath = “C:\PDM_Vault\YourFile.SLDPRT” ‘ Replace with your actual file path Set swFile = edmVault.GetFileFromPath(filePath, swFolder) Step 5: Checking Out the File Before making any sort of changes to a SolidWorks PDM data card, you must check out the file. This is part of PDM’s version control process. The check-out process places the file in your exclusive control, so others can’t change it at the same time, and thus prevent data corruption. You’ll receive an error if you attempt to edit a variable on an unchecked-out file. If Not swFile.IsLocked Then swFile.LockFile swFolder.ID, 0End If Step 6: Accessing Datacard Variables Now that the checking is done, we can go ahead and access, view, and modify the datacard variables. We’ll use the enumerator to modify the variables. It’s an easy way of updating these variable fields. The following example sets the “Description” field on the data card of the selected file to “New Description”. You can do the same to make changes for any other data card variables, such as part number, revision, or material. Set varEnum = swFile.GetEnumeratorVariablevariableName = “Description” ‘ Example variablevarEnum.SetVar variableName, “@”, “New Description” This example sets the “Description” field on the data card of the selected file to “New Description”. Step 7: Testing and Finalizing If you run the macro now, you should be able to see that the data card now shows the new value. By now… you’ve successfully integrated this powerful automation technique that’ll now significantly improve your process by removing manual data input and ensuring data consistency for all your documents. Summary Following along with me, now you know- Was the guide helpful so far? If so, don’t forget to check out our YouTube channel and subscribe to make sure you don’t miss out on any future updates. Follow us on LinkedIn for more tips and tricks on automating SOLIDWORKS and PDM processes.