Who Should Attend

This intensive 3-day program is designed for professionals who want to go beyond using SOLIDWORKS PDM and start automating it.

• Developers and engineers working with SOLIDWORKS PDM
• PDM administrators aiming to automate workflows
• Technical consultants building ERP or PLM integrations
• Anyone looking to master PDM customization through the API

Day 1: Programming Fundamentals and Introduction to the PDM API

• Lay the foundation with essential programming concepts and your first connection to the PDM Vault.
• Programming fundamentals in VBA covering API basics, macros, data types, loops, arrays, and debugging
• Best practices for clean and reliable automation
• Your first PDM macro “Hello Vault”
• Understanding IEdmVault5, login methods, and reading or writing card variables

Day 2: Standalone Applications and Batch Utilities

• Move from macros to full Visual Studio applications and scalable automation.
• Building standalone C# or VB.NET tools using the PDM API
• Using the iterator pattern to traverse files and folders
• Standard operations such as check-in, check-out, undo and get latest
• Developing a console app to list files, edit metadata and manage states
• Creating a WinForms CardEditor app to bulk-edit part descriptions
• Implementing batch operations with IEdmBatchAdd, IEdmBatchUnlock, IEdmBatchGet and IEdmBatchUpdate

Day 3: Add-Ins, Context Menus and Tasks

• Bring automation directly inside PDM with interactive add-ins and background tasks.
• Creating and deploying PDM add-ins using IEdmAddIn5, GetAddInInfo and OnCmd
• Managing menus and hooks with ICmdMgr, AddHook and AddCmd
• Using IEdmDictionary5 and IEdmReference for advanced variable transfers
• Writing task add-ins for automated exports and bulk operations
• Packaging, versioning and deployment best practices

Outcomes

• By the end of the bootcamp participants will
• Understand the PDM API object model and its core interfaces
• Write macros, standalone tools and production add-ins
• Automate check-in and check-out workflows, card variable edits and state transitions
• Build scalable batch tools for high-volume operations
• Package, version and deploy automation confidently in production