How to Copy an Assembly Tree Inside a SOLIDWORKS PDM Vault

Starting a new project from an existing design is one of the most common jobs in engineering. In SOLIDWORKS PDM, Copy Tree does it one assembly at a time through a dialog. When you need to repeat it, or copy several assemblies with the same rules, a command is faster.

The faster way: copytree

# one assembly, with a suffix
copytree -filePath "fidget spinner.sldasm" -suffix _ -directory "\new project"

# every assembly found, with drawings and latest versions, plus a report
copytree -search "*.sldasm" -includedrawings -latest -directory "\new project" -csv copy-report.csv

Options that matter

• -prefix and -suffix rename every copied file the same way.
• -includedrawings brings the associated drawings along.
• -latest copies the latest version of each file.
• -recursive includes subdirectories.
• -csv writes a report of every successful copy. The report folder must already exist.

copytree works with assembly files. Need per-file names from properties or serial numbers, or STEP and PDF exports alongside the copy? PDMPublisher’s Clone Tree does that from inside SOLIDWORKS.

Try it on your own vault

Start a free 7-day trial of PDMShell, see plans and pricing, or read the copytree reference. Questions? Book a short call with our team.