This article was derived from Dassault Systems' What's New in SOLIDWORKS 2023 for accuracy. Many of the images are also derived from this article for simplicity. We also kept the same order of topics to simplify cross-referencing. My contribution to this subject is to provide background details on the base functionality and provide real-life uses where possible. We left the original text where we felt that further details were not required.

Automatic Update of Mapped Linked Record Properties

Linked record objects are record objects that act as parents for document or PDM objects. Linked Records make it possible to create records in Linked Records that are initiated from a Document or PDM Objects. The document or PDM records are added as primary references to the Linked Records.

For those new to SOLIDWORKS Manage, Records are one of several object types available in Manage. Objects are the key building blocks of the SOLIDWORKS Manage structure. The object acts as a container for items such as BOMs, references and workflow diagrams.

Two common object types are records and document records. Document records have an attached document, while records do not. For example, we can have a document record containing files located in SOLIDWORKS PDM, known as a PDM Object. And we can have a BOM record that contains information about those files but does not include the files. In SOLIDWORKS Manage, records can be associated or linked. These linked records often have a parent/child relationship.

In SOLIDWORKS Manage 2023, mapped properties can automatically be updated to connect primary references and the associated linked record. The linked record updates when the primary reference changes and the record is checked in.

Enabling automatic updating of mapped linked records.

Using the 'New From' Option

Fields are used everywhere in SOLIDWORKS Manage. Creating and modifying fields is one of the most common tasks an administrator will perform. SOLIDWORKS Manage 2023 makes the creation of fields less time-consuming by making it possible to copy a field and its settings to create a new field with the same settings.

The new functionality is accessed by right-clicking on a field and selecting 'New From.'

Accessing the “New From” command.

The next step is defining the display name for the new field.

New From display name.

Once 'Save' is selected, a new field is created with the same settings as the field from which it was copied.

New copied field.

Note that additional fields can be created in the 'New From' dialogue box. These additional fields will also have the same settings as the copied field.

Task Administration Access

Tasks are an important part of SOLIDWORKS Manage and are used throughout the Manage Environment. A task is a configured action that requires the attention of a SOLIDWORKS Manage user.

Tasks can be defined as a required element of processes, cases and projects. Processes, cases and projects are Manage objects used to replicate a company's existing or desired processes from within SOLIDWORKS Manage.

In SOLIDWORKS Manage 2023, tasks can be accessed from the Manage client interface. From within the dashboard tab, right-click on a Task or All Tasks. Then select Administration Tasks.

Accessing tasks.

Dashboards provide a real-time view of aspects of a company's Manage environment, such as project percentage completion. A dashboard can be configured to meet a company's reporting requirements. Reports are available in SOLIDWORKS Manage but are generated on-demand, compared to Dashboards' real-time nature.

Linked Record BOM Compare Field Selection

We have already discussed Records and Linked Records. Most people reading this article are likely familiar with the concept of a BOM (bill of materials). BOMs are used extensively throughout SOLIDWORKS Manage. Since records can be linked, so can BOMs. The ability to compare a linked record BOM to the BOM of its primary references has been improved in SOLIDWORKS Manage 2023. It is now possible to select which BOM fields to compare.

Selecting BOMs to compare.

Support for Variable Driven BOM Quantities

A significant advantage of SOLIDWORKS Manage is its integration with SOLIDWORKS PDM. This integration includes the ability to pull information, such as that which is contained in PDM BOMs, into Manage.

SOLIDWORKS Manage 2023 reads the BOM quantity from a SOLIDWORKS PDM variable set and uses it for the UNIT_OF_MEASURE attribute.

Previously, SOLIDWORKS Manage used the instance count for the UNIT_OF_MEASURE attribute.

Mapping of attributes from a SOLIDWORKS PDM BOM.

Timesheets to Approve Node

Timesheets are used to track the progress of processes and tasks. In SOLIDWORKS Manage 2023, a manager can see the timesheets that a user needs to work on, to complete the timesheet approval process.

Viewing SOLIDWORKS Manage timesheets.

Cancelled Task Line in Capacity Planning

Capacity planning allows a manager to see all of an organization's defined resources, including their capacity and utilization. With SOLIDWORKS Manage 2023, a manager can see the number of hours consumed by a cancelled task.

The Assigned Tasks row displays the total assigned task time, including the cancelled task time. The available capacity row displays assigned task time, less the amount of cancelled task time.

Viewing cancelled tasks.

Capacity Planning User Efficiency

Prior to SOLIDWORKS Manage 2023, the efficiency percentage in user details always displayed 100 percent, irrespective of the settings in the capacity planning. Now in SOLIDWORKS Manage 2023, the value shown in capacity planning is applied to the user's time.

Hide Labels

Hide Labels allows a user to hide captions. This can declutter the interface to make it easier to see the displayed tabs.

To hide captions for the following items, right-click tabs and select Hide Labels:

• Bottom tabs in the main user interface for all objects.
• Property card tabs for processes.
• Administration for document and record objects (not SOLIDWORKS PDM).
• Administration for relationships and resource objects.

To hide labels for property cards for document and record objects, click Hide Labels.

Hiding labels.

Marking Tasks as Complete

When multiple users are assigned to a task, each user has the option to 'Mark as completed' for that Task. The 'Mark as completed' button is displayed in the task's property card and various task grids.

This functionality is enabled from tasks in Manage system administration. Prior to SOLIDWORKS Manage 2023, a user would need to enter the required time in the progress area to mark the task as complete.

Accessing tasks.

Task Snooze Reminder Time

Preceding SOLIDWORKS Manage 2023, the Snooze option in a SOLIDWORKS Manage Reminder would set the snooze length to five minutes. In SOLIDWORKS Manage 2023, the SOLIDWORKS Manage Reminder saves the last task’s snooze time.

Snoozing tasks.

Tasks Board Time Display

A Task Board is just that: a location where a user can review assigned Tasks. In SOLIDWORKS Manage 2023, the Tasks Board displays the time required for completion, the total assigned time and the number of due days until the next task.

The text is color coded depending on the state of the task. Green indicates complete tasks, red indicates overdue tasks and gray indicates in-process tasks that are not overdue.

Task board time display.

The rapid pace of new functionality in SOLIDWORKS Manage 2023 continues. This new release continues to offer some important new functionality as well as providing a more efficient user interface. The integration with SOLIDWORKS PDM is also tighter. This release continues to show the power of an advanced data management system that extends the capabilities integral to SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional.

About the Author

Joe Medeiros, as an Elite Applications Consultant at TRIMECH, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller servicing customers throughout North America, offers SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using DS SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Joe has been involved in many aspects of the DS SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996 and as an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about DS SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Many of the enhancements are centered on that unsung hero, the PDM Administrator—but there is something for everyone. In this article, we will review these enhancements and provide insights into why these enhancements are meaningful. We have organized these enhancements to line up with the SOLIDWORKS 2023 What's New guide.

Managing Deleted Users

Administration of users is one of the most common tasks that a PDM administrator has to contend with. Whether it be adding users, assigning users to the correct group or deleting users, a well-functioning vault must include well-defined users.

It has always been possible to delete a user and up until SOLIDWORKS PDM 2023, this was a near-terminal event. Now, by providing the user the permission “Can administrate users,” a deleted user can be restored. To accomplish this feat, an administrator need only to right-click Users and select “Deleted users.”

Deleted users.

Select the user(s) to restore and click on Save.

Restore login.

If there is already an active user that matches the deleted user, there is no need to worry about overwriting the active user. A warning will be displayed if the login name you are attempting to restore is already active.

If the restored user does not appear after the restore operation, right-click on the vault and choose the refresh option.

Refresh vault.

After the deleted user is restored, that user will be added to any groups they were members of prior to being deleted.

Refuse Login

The option to block a user from logging into PDM has always been possible, from Administrative Permission > Refuse Login. Setting this option has been made easier by adding it to the right-mouse menu of users and groups. Expanding the users and groups management tab, right-clicking users and selecting open, will allow an Administrator to refuse Logins.

Opening user properties.

Once the users dialogue box is opened, there is an option to refuse login.

Setting refuse login.

Configuring Transition Actions

Transitions are the workhorses of workflows and transition actions are workhorses of transitions. A properly orchestrated group of transition actions can significantly boost productivity. One of the tools available to transition actions is the option to populate a variable value. Often, we want to populate a variable with user information. Building on user fields introduced in SOLIDWORKS PDM 2022, the transition action dialogue box includes the user properties field.

User variables.

These fields are available to the below transition action types:

• Import data from XML
• Inc. revision
• Send mail
• Set variable

Adding Tooltips to Data Card Controls

Data cards are the gateway for entering and displaying metadata. This metadata can be entered or displayed in data card controls. As a PDM administrator, we can use static text to prompt or inform a user about what is expected or displayed in a control. In SOLIDWORKS PDM 2023, an administrator can add a tooltip to a control, so when a user mouses over a control, the user will be given additional information about that control.

Control tooltip.

Tooltips can be added to controls in a data card by selecting a control, then in the control properties, entering a title and body for the tooltip.

Adding control tooltips.

Tooltips cannot be used with tab and frame controls.

Automatic Login to the Administration Tool

When creating or modifying a PDM vault, an administrator may need to regularly log into PDM Administration. To avoid having to continually enter login credentials, in local settings, SOLIDWORKS PDM can be configured to automatically log into PDM Administration using a specific PDM or Windows user. To access automatic login options, right-click on settings and choose open.

Accessing local vault settings.

Under the automatic login tab of the settings, select a vault in the Administration login section and check “Use automatic login for this vault.” Next, select “Login as the following user” or “Login as the currently logged-in user in Windows.” For the option, “Login as the following user,” enter the admin username and password.

Note, local settings apply to the current computer.

Setting administration login.

Data Card Controls

For the Button control in a Data Card, there is a Command Type option, Find User, which opens the Find User Dialogue box and allows you to search and select a PDM vault user. In previous releases, this option would return a user login name. In SOLIDWORKS PDM 2023, several user values are available, such as full name, initials, first name and last name.

Also relating to data card controls is control logic. Control logic is used to regulate the visibility of data card controls. Control logic can gray out or hide a control. A condition configures the visibility of a control. For example, a control can be hidden if the variable value of that control contains certain text.

Control logic conditions.

In previous releases, control logic was only available from the control pull-down in the data card editor. Now control logic can be accessed from the toolbar of data card editor. 

Accessing control logic from the toolbar of the data card editor.

Control logic can also be accessed from control properties.

Control logic in control properties.

Controls using control logic can be identified by an icon at the control's top-left. This will greatly simplify identifying these types of controls.

Control with control logic.

The display of this icon can be toggled from the toolbar in the data card editor. Being able to toggle the icon for controls with control logic will help to declutter the data card when the information that the icon provides is not needed.

Toggling of control logic icon.

Performance Improvements for File Version Upgrade Tool

The File Version Upgrade tool is often used after updating PDM to a newer major release. The File Version Upgrade tool upgrades SOLIDWORKS files from earlier to current releases. Using this tool to upgrade SOLIDWORKS files can reduce open times for legacy files. Also, routinely upgrading files can prevent corruption when files that are several versions older are converted to the current version of SOLIDWORKS.

In SOLIDWORKS PDM 2023, the conversion process is faster. By selecting the overwrite and latest version options on the version settings page, the File Version Upgrade tool only upgrades the latest versions of files. Since potentially fewer files will be updated, less time should be needed to perform the file version upgrade.

Latest version option in file version upgrade.

Logging File Retrieval Operations

In SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional, a server-side log can be maintained that tracks file access. This can be a great auditing tool. This ability now gives an administrator or manager real-time reporting on who has accessed files, and from where and when.

The server side-logging is enabled from the vault properties. To enable logging for a vault, right-click on the vault and choose properties. In the properties dialogue, under logging operations, check Get.  

Setting logging file retrieval operations.

To see the logs, right-click on the vault and choose “Show the Get log.” The log will display the date of the operation, the name of the user who initiated the operation and the computer on which the operation was performed.

Get log.

The document name, document path and the archive server where the file was retrieved from are also displayed.

Additional Get log information.

Support for Microsoft Edge WebView2-Based Controls

PDM 2023 now offers support for Microsoft Edge WebView2-based controls. In SOLIDWORKS PDM, the Internet Explorer-based controls are replaced with WebView2-based controls. This applies for:

• Preview pane in SOLIDWORKS PDM File Explorer. You can preview the HTML documents that are present in the vault.
• EXALEAD OnePart Search view.
• Web Card Configuration Editor dialogue box.

Removing Computer from the Task Execution

Removing a computer as a task host is now easier in SOLIDWORKS PDM 2023. In earlier releases, a computer was removed by modifying the PDM task host configuration from the computer where the task host was enabled. This involved physically getting on that computer to make those changes. Now computers can be removed from a single location.

In PDM 2023, the task host can be removed directly from the task in PDM administration. To remove a computer, edit the task that contains the computer to be removed. Next, select the execution method tab. Then right-click on the computer to be removed and select either “Remove from SWTaskAddIn” or “Remove from All Add-ins.”

Removing task host computer from task.

“Remove from SWTaskAddIn” removes the selected computer from the add-in being edited, while “Remove from All Add-ins” will remove the selected computer from all tasks in the current vault.

Display Groups for Inherited Permissions

In PDM, user permissions are often set for groups and users can belong to multiple groups. To make it easier to determine which group an administrative permission is coming from, an administrator can mouse over the group icon for a given permission. A popup window will display what group(s) that permission is coming from. The window that lists the group(s) can be pinned to remain open.

Notification Templates

Notifications can be sent by PDM when a file changes state, or it can be sent manually. Previously to SOLIDWORKS PDM 2023, modifying the template used for notifications was limited and cumbersome. In PDM 2023, there are now better tools to configure Notifications.

First, accessing the templates is easier. The templates are now listed under the Notification node of PDM administration.

Accessing notifications.

Each of these templates can be edited by right-clicking on it and selecting Open.

Opening template.

To customize the template, select the Custom button.

Customize notification template.

SOLIDWORKS PDM Performance

With many employees now working from home, high latency can impact performance. In PDM 2023, changes have been made to minimize the impact of latency. The below PDM operations benefit from these changes.

Archive server data operations:

• Add files to the vault.
• Get files to the local cache.
• Replication of vault archive.

File operations:

• Check in files or folders.
• Check out files or folders.
• Undo check out of files or folders.
• Get latest version of files.

Enhanced Data Security

Data security is a continuously increasing concern for most companies. SOLIDWORKS PDM 2023 now encrypts all data to and from the archive server. This is huge!

Support for Windows 11

SOLIDWORKS PDM supports Windows 11.

Copying Static Text

Static text can now be copied from a data card. Static text refers to text that is not associated with a data card control. In previous releases, text associated with a data card control could be selected, but not static text.

User Interface for eDrawings Web

To add consistency, the user interface of eDrawings Web Viewer follows the language specified in Web2.

This release offers tools that will make the administration of PDM easier and more intuitive. But it is not only administrators who benefit from these enhancements. With performance and security enhancements, SOLIDWORKS PDM 2023 has something for all who use PDM.

About the Author

Joe Medeiros as an Elite Applications Consultant at TRIMECH, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller servicing customers throughout North America, offers SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using DS SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Joe has been involved in many aspects of the DS SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996 and as an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about DS SOLIDWORKS solutions.

In fact, the demand for 2D CAD is significant enough that publishers best known for 3D CAD, such as Dassault Systèmes, have introduced their own flavors of 2D CAD. In 2010, Dassault Systèmes released DraftSight, a 2D CAD application with which any ACAD user will feel right at home.

In hindsight, I should have realized that 2D CAD would have some sticking power. After all, at the time I made my prediction of the impending demise of 2D CAD, drafting boards were still in general use.

For trivia buffs, the patent for the first drafting table as we know it was awarded to George Ring on July 18, 1905 (U.S. patent 795,065). How many people do you know that still use a drafting board? There may be one or two diehards for whom mechanical drafting continues as an art form.

The first modern drafting board.

Why does 2D CAD persist? Early on, from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s when 3D CAD was still new to people, many viewed it with skepticism, perhaps as a passing phase. By around 2005, most of my students were still 2D CAD users. Many students in the early days (1998 to around 2005) only interacted with a computer to use ACAD or to play a game of Tetris or Solitaire. Windows was a mystery to them, and I often found myself teaching both SOLIDWORKS and Windows.

One student told me over lunch on the first day of 3D CAD training that he would leave design rather than learn a new CAD program. That could have been an indication that 2D CAD would stay around because of the reluctance to change in what might be called mid- to late adopters—except that most of them have aged out of the workforce. The people who are currently using 2D CAD today are younger and computer savvy. They often have experience with other design packages, so hesitancy to change is not a problem.

Cost is one factor in 2D CAD’s lingering popularity. Generally, 2D CAD costs less than 3D CAD, and the hardware required for 2D CAD is generally less expensive. For many companies, such as a small machine shop that just needs to sketch up a prismatic shape every once in a while, an inexpensive 2D CAD program running on an inexpensive PC is sufficient.

That being said, smart companies know that the cost of software and hardware is far less than the costs of the greatest assets—their employees. They know that the intrinsic efficiencies of 3D CAD far outweigh the additional costs. Smart companies also realize that when there is little advantage to 3D CAD, like the small machine shop with simple prismatic parts, the costs of purchasing 3D CAD will be hard to justify—not to mention the costs of retraining employees and the learning curve of mastering 3D design.

Careful evaluation of the return on investment (ROI) in migrating to 3D can also keep 2D CAD around. A hybrid 2D/3D environment may be the best solution. A company that has been around for a while has likely accumulated a large amount of 2D CAD drawings, which will provide reason enough to keep 2D CAD.  

In some cases, 2D drawings of designs are rarely referenced or changed. Since 2D drawings can be of complex assemblies and remodeling in 3D would take a considerable time and effort, it may be deemed more expedient to edit the 2D CAD for the few times that changes are needed.

A legacy 2D CAD drawing.

Many companies have a bounty of physical drawings and may need to get these drawings into a digital format. While it is easy enough to scan a paper drawing to 2D CAD, getting a 3D model is more of a manual process. And if scanning is not an option, then it’s back to the drawing board—figuratively speaking.

Legacy does explain all of the reasons for 2D CAD still being around, but this accounts for only a fraction of the amount of 2D CAD being used. For certain disciplines, 2D is still a better tool.

Take civil engineering, for example. Civil engineers use layouts and elevations in the form of 2D drawings. Creating 3D models of the surrounding landscape, road elevations and gradients may not be worth the effort when 2D drawings can convey the same information.

2D civil engineering layout drawing.

However, 3D CAD is gaining traction in civil engineering, particularly in the design of structures such as buildings, dams and bridges. In additional to their better visualization, 3D models lend themselves to simulation. It's hard to imagine that many of today's amazing structures could have been built without the ability to simulate how these structures will react to forces generated by wind, seismic activity, heat, cold and a variety of conditions these structures must endure.

The use of 3D models for evaluating wind effects.

Plants are laid out with floor plans and elevation drawings. Simple shapes, such as rectangles, are sufficient to represent equipment and the area they will occupy. For large plant layouts, detailed 3D CAD models may be counterproductive because of the complexity of the model and the strain they will place on the computers that have to store and display them.

A 2D plant layout drawing.

Schematics are another area where 2D CAD rules. Whether it be electrical, PCB, hydraulic or pneumatic, schematics can easily be most efficiently represented by simple symbols, 2D routes and a series of tables.

PCB schematic.

However, there is 3D CAD software, such as SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D and SOLIDWORKS Routing, that can help automate the process of generating these systems. A 3D model can be invaluable when routing piping, as shown below.

3D pipe routing.

For those who have evaluated their needs and concluded that 2D CAD is the right solution, there are many products to choose from. Dassault Systèmes' DraftSight is one.

Dassault Systèmes began to offer two versions of DraftSight around 2010: a fully functional, free 2D CAD version and a pro version that added AutoLISP support and access to technical support.

DraftSight is available in several flavors that provide solutions for the varying needs of individuals and organizations. For those who are familiar with AutoCAD, DraftSight offers a similar look and feel. It has the same command line, and there is a coordinate system that ACAD users are familiar with. Granted, there are some differences, but most ACAD users should be able to grasp these differences quickly.

The variety of bundles is one of the strongest selling points of DraftSight. This diversity allows individuals or organizations to pay for what they need. The bundles include DraftSight Professional, which costs $249 for a 12-month subscription, and DraftSight Premium, which costs $599 per year as of the time of this writing. DraftSight also comes in Enterprise and Enterprise Plus versions. Enterprise versions  are geared towards organizations that have large 2D CAD departments. For these organizations, the Enterprise offerings can be more cost-efficient than purchasing individual Professional or Premium licenses.

DraftSight bundles.

A detailed feature comparison of the different DraftSight offerings is available from this link.

In hindsight, my proclamation of the death of 2D CAD was, in the words of Mark Twain, greatly exaggerated. Although 3D CAD has replaced traditional 2D CAD in many fields, as seen in this article, 2D CAD remains useful and is healthy and strong. Therefore, I revise my prediction to one that believes 2D CAD will be alive and useful for some time, between the next generation and forever.

About the Author

Joe Medeiros is an Elite Applications Consultant at TRIMECH, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller servicing customers throughout North America, and offers SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using Dassault SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Joe has been involved in many aspects of the Dassault SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996, and as an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about Dassault SOLIDWORKS solutions.

An organization can have many different types of software, such as CAD, data management, electrical, publishing and more. The first decision a company has to make is to determine who will administrate each of these applications. Will one person administrate them all? Or will there be one person or group that will handle each piece of software.

The decision you make will likely be influenced by the availability of manpower. But keep in mind that it can be hard to find someone that has the knowledge to administer all these different applications. A person that specializes in electrical may not have the skills to administrate CAD. Also, the workload to administer all these systems may be too great for a single person and can result in burnout, applications not being administrated correctly and/or your administrator exiting your organization.

While it may not be possible to have an individual for each application, a compromise may be to have one administrator that handles a number of similar products. For instance, if your data management software and your electrical software both use the same database backbone (i.e., Microsoft SQL), then your electrical person may be able administrate both of those pieces of software. If you do mainly mechanical design, your CAD administrator may be the best person to also administrate your data management software. Generally, some additional training is required.

What should be avoided is having an administrator who lacks solid knowledge of the software they will be administrating. Having someone assigned to administrate software they have little knowledge of will lead to frustration, a long learning curve and perhaps the loss of the administrator. Further, it is likely that software which is foreign to an administrator will not be configured or supported optimally.

This is not to say that that your electrical expert cannot bridge the gap and also be able to administrate CAD successfully. This depends on the innate ability of the potential administrator to learn a new discipline. You will need to provide time for your administrator to develop these skills. Yes, experience is good, but a learn-it-on-go approach can lead to bad practices. Most software sellers or resellers offer training. On the whole, you should strive to ensure your administrator is an expert in the software they will support.

An honest appraisal of a potential administrator's ability to learn needs to happen. Some people learn better than others. The user with the most experience is not always the best candidate to administrate your applications. Generally, it's the people who are more comfortable with change that make the best administrators.

Each piece of software has a periphery of related software, systems and processes. While your administrator may not need to be an expert in each one of these areas, they should have a good working understanding of those segments. As an example, while your data management administrator may not need to be an expert on networks, they should have a good understanding of how networks work. Your electrical and data management administrators will benefit from a general understanding of databases. Understanding of hardware can help your CAD administrator understand and evaluate performance. Carefully analyzing these peripheral items connected to your software will help you evaluate potential administrator candidates and help lay out a training path for the selected candidate.

An administrator will rarely work on their own. A successful administrator will need to work with team members, other teams, contractors and vendors. These include but are not limited to end users, IT, management and contractors. An administrator needs to know or be able to determine the people that they will support and who will support them.

The administrator needs to know of or learn the software vendor's contacts, such as tech support, training and sales, for all the software that they will support. The administrator will also need to know which methods are used to communicate with the vendor, where to locate sources of vendor information (knowledgebase articles, blogs, channels etc.) and how to access bug fixes and escalation procedures if and when they are required.

Because your administrator will need to interact with several different contacts, the administrator needs to have good communication skills. Since information can come from multiple sources, your administrator needs to have good organizational skills in order to document and prioritize this information. In a very real sense, a good administrator is a good project manager.

An administrator will often need to involve several disciplines in a project. For example, a project involving IT, software vendors and end-users in a software update will require an administrator with good leadership skills and the ability to delegate responsibility. The administrator must communicate effectively with various groups in order to coordinate their efforts.

Much of the information that your administrator requires is available online. Accessing this online material is often the fastest way to find a solution. An efficient administrator needs to be methodical in how they perform their research and organized on how they compile it. Being comfortable working online is a must.

Being proactive is key to preventing issues. An adept administrator will consistently scour sources to look for methods to improve the use of the software they are responsible for. Many software vendors offer webinars. Your administrator should make a point of attending the webinars that are relevant to the work of their users.

But what may be the most important attribute for a good administrator is a thorough knowledge of their company's structures and processes. This knowledge is important. This is learned knowledge, not an innate skill.

Often, the person with the most experience is picked to be an administrator. While experience is important, such a person may lack the soft skills covered previously in this article. Processes can be learned and contacts can be developed but soft skills are more difficult to acquire. Don’t let experience trump soft skills with your administrator candidate.

Also, those who are deeply familiar with your company's structures and processes may be resistant to changing those systems for which they have become the "go-to person." Or, change may be something that is outside their comfort level. An important part of being an adroit administrator is the drive to find new methods and tools to make a system more efficient. Along with that drive, this administrator needs to have the skills to ferret out these efficiencies. As noted earlier, these skills can rarely be learned.

This does not mean that the company CAD guru does not have something to offer. It may well be that this person possesses the skills I have already mentioned but even if they don’t, they can still be of great benefit to your administrator. The guru can be teamed up with your administrator to take advantage of their combined skills and knowledge.

Another partner that your administrator should have good working relations with is your IT department. There are many aspects of software that will require IT involvement. A competent administrator will know when to solicit IT’s help and provide the information that IT will need. There will also be others with whom your administrator will need to interact with. This is why communication and people skills are so important to an administrator.

To help make a quality administrator, an administrator needs the training to learn the tools they will be using. An administrator will also need the time to grow into their role. Investing in developing an administrator will pay large dividends.

In many companies, administering software is a sideline at best. Many companies believe their software vendor’s support team will be the de facto administrators and personal trainers. But as resellers freely admit, they generally will not administer software on a day-to-day basis.

Management and users should be careful not to overload administrators. A well-trained and experienced administrator is too valuable to lose. If your administrator feels overwhelmed, they may start looking for employment elsewhere. Splitting tasks between administrators or making assistants available can help lighten the load. An overload, once detected, is reason to consider a second administrator. Having a backup is good insurance in case one administrator is sick or leaves your organization.

For larger projects, such as server moves and software updates, you may want to consider contracting an organization.  Most resellers offer these services and have a great deal of experience with those projects. They will likely complete the task faster with less down time, and the end result will likely be better which also results in less down time and less frustration.

The benefits of a good administrator are plentiful and varied. Spend time choosing and developing your administrator and your engineers and designers will enjoy long lasting and far-reaching benefits.

About the Author

Joe Medeiros as an Elite Applications Consultant at TRIMECH, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller servicing customers throughout North America, offers SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using DASSAULT SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Joe has been involved in many aspects of the DASSAULT SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996 and as an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about DASSAULT SOLIDWORKS solutions.

In this article, we will review the enhancements outlined out in the official documentation, What's New in SOLIDWORKS 2022 and elaborate with examples and real-world experiences. We will follow the order laid out in What's New in SOLIDWORKS 2022 to facilitate cross-referencing and provide links where applicable. We will also reference other sources to build on the material in What's New in SOLIDWORKS 2022 and outline additional enhancements.

Create Record Process Output:

In Create Record process outputs, it is now possible to attach new records and to specify a subfolder in which the new record is created.

Recent Files:

When adding new file data, this data can be selected from a list of recently accessed files. This saves the user from having to navigate to this data every time.

Object Structure Editor:

The process of editing object structures has been made easier by allowing an administrator to access the object directly from the SOLIDWORKS Manage user interface. Previously, an administrator would need to open the SOLIDWORKS Manage administration interface and navigate to the object in order to edit the object's structure. Now an administrator can right-click on the object and select Tools > Administration (Structures) to launch the selected objects structure in a separate window.

Editing object structure.

Record Hyperlinks:

Accessing and providing access to records through the Plenary Web Client has been improved. A hyperlink to a SOLIDWORKS Manage record can be copied to an email or another document to provide quick access to the record. This is done by right-clicking on the record and selecting Tools > Copy Hyperlink.

A record can also be opened in the plenary web client directly from the desktop client. This is done by right-clicking on the record in the desktop client and selecting Tools >Open Record in Web Browser.

User Interface:

In SOLIDWORKS Manage 2022, several areas of the user interface have been improved. These improvements increase the user experience and make the interfaces more consistent. The table below lists these improvements as outlined in What's New in SOLIDWORKS 2022.

Avatar Images and Icons:

For SOLIDWORKS Manage 2020, an avatar can be set for a user. To add an avatar, in SOLIDWORKS Manage administration navigate to the users tab, right-click on the user and select Set User Image.

Set user image.

Plenary Web Client:

Logging in to the SOLIDWORKS Manage plenary web client has been simplified. Previously, a user would need to log in using their SOLIDWORKS Manage password and then log in to their SOLIDWORKS PDM object separately. Now a user can log in with their SOLIDWORKS PDM username and password.

Check Out Rights for Affected Items:

In a process, administrators have additional controls over who can check out affected items. These additional options are:

• User who accepts this stage. This option limits check-out rights to a single user who accepts the stage.
• User(s) from this field. This option allows administrators to specify check-out rights to users for a specified object type field defined for the process.

Process access rights.

Replace User:

New to SOLIDWORKS Manage 2022 is the ability to replace users and specify the Change "Checked Out By" value.

Creating and Deleting Multiple Field Groups:

Multiple field groups can be created at once by entering multiple lines or copying and pasting text from other file types such as .xlsx, .txt or .csv. The use of Ctrl or Shift select can select multiple field groups.

SOLIDWORKS PDM User-Defined References:

Paste as Reference is a tool in SOLIDWORKS PDM used to create a link between two files. For SOLIDWORKS components, this linking happens automatically but not for other document types or unrelated document types (i.e., a PFD and a SOLIDWORKS drawing). These links can be created manually by pasting a reference. In SOLIDWORKS Manage 2022, these references can now be displayed for:

• SOLIDWORKS part files and other part files.
• Non-SOLIDWORKS files (such as PDF’s) and SOLIDWORKS part files.

Paste as reference in SOLIDWORKS Manage.

SOLIDWORKS Manage Performance Improvements:

A vital component of any new software release is performance and SOLIDWORKS Manage 2022 delivers increased performance as follows (the contents of the table below are from What's New in SOLIDWORKS 2022.

As mentioned earlier, there are additional enhancements that are not covered in What's New in SOLIDWORKS 2022.  Many of these additional enhancements can be viewed in a YouTube video created and released by SOLIDWORKS. The first of these we want to look at are BOM Filters. Filters are useful for finding items in a large BOM. In SOLIDWORKS Manage 2022, filters can be saved and saved filters can be managed independently.

BOM filters.

In order to facilitate sharing through emails or other documents, BOMs also take advantage of hyperlinks. A shared BOM allows others to make changes to the BOM without having access to SOLIDWORKS Manage. Any changes made will be carried through to SOLIDWORKS Manage.

Sharing BOM.

The ability to share BOMs is controlled by editing the Object SOLIDWORKS Manage administration.

Enable BOM Sharing.

The following enhancements in BOMs are covered in detail in SOLIDWORKS Manage 2022 BOM Enhancements:

• Sharing your BOM
• Bill of material filters
• Bill of materials latest version setting
• SOLIDWORKS integration BOM view
• SOLIDWORKS integration drawing BOM table

Inside SOLIDWORKS, there is now a tab where a user can see their assigned tasks. To make viewing Tasks events easier, there is a check box to only display SOLIDWORKS-related tasks.

Assigned tasks in SOLIDWORKS.

In this article, we have attempted to bring several sources that outline What's New in SOLIDWORKS Manage 2022. The reader is encouraged to follow the included links for additional information on these enhancements.

With the release of SOLIDWORKS Manage 2022, we are starting to see the maturing of this product. Not only are there productivity and performance enhancements but a lot of work has gone into improving the user experience. These user experience improvements are achieved by providing a better user interface and cross-platform enhancements.

To learn more, check out the ebook SOLIDWORKS 2022 Enhancements to Streamline and Accelerate Your Entire Product Development Process.

About the Author

Joe Medeiros is an Elite Applications Consultant at TRIMECH, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller servicing customers throughout North America offering SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using Dassault SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Joe has been involved in many aspects of the Dassault SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996 and as an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about Dassault SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Here is what Configuration is according to the SOLIDWORKS Help:

"Configurations allow you to create multiple variations of a part or assembly model within a single document. Configurations provide a convenient way to develop and manage families of models with different dimensions, components or other parameters."

Essentially, configurations act as files within a file. Configurations are usually made of parts and assemblies that have significant commonalities. For those that have taken the SOLIDWORKS Essentials training, the Pin part, with its long and short configurations, is a simple example of this commonality. While the pin part may vary in length and perhaps diameter, it is still basically a cylinder.

We could create individual parts for each possible size of the pin, but this can be time-consuming and very tedious. Tracking and organizing all those individual pins can also be challenging especially if your organization is not using some sort of data management software. (By the way, organizing files in Windows Explorer folders, with some master list somewhere that lays out the structure of the Windows Explorer folder is not data management. That form of organizing files is an anachronistic behemoth that is just waiting to self-implode.)

And that pretty much sums up configurations. They work best with common parts because configurations make it easier to create new variations and make organizing these files simpler. It must be noted that modern data management software can also simplify the creation and organization of common parts without the need for configurations. More on this later.

Now that we know what a configuration is, let's look at the mechanics of configurations. Configurations can be accessed from the top of the SOLIDWORKS Feature Manager in an open SOLIDWORKS part or assembly. By default, Configurations are located under the third tab.

Configuration Tab of Feature Manager.

Every single part or assembly will contain one configuration, aptly named the 'default' configuration. Additional configurations can be created in several ways, including the creation of some features. For example, inserting a Weldment feature will result in two configurations: one a parent, the other the child configuration, which is also known as a “derived configuration.”

Derived configurations.

At its most basic, each configuration can be created manually from the right-mouse menu.

Manually creating a configuration.

Creating each and every configuration manually is laborious and unnecessary. Toiling through the creation of dozens or perhaps hundreds of configurations would be a merciless grind. Luckily, SOLIDWORKS realized this early on and allowed the use of Microsoft Excel to streamline the process.

Spreadsheets, with their ability to cross-reference rows and columns, can significantly reduce the onerous task of creating multiple configurations. Mind you, entering reams of configurations can still be quite mind-numbing, suitable only to those who enjoy data entry.

These purpose-built Excel Spreadsheets are called design tables. Design tables work by entering the proposed configurations in column A. Subsequent columns define what will be controlled by the proposed configuration. Where the cells of the proposed configuration intersect the cells of the configurable items, we add values. Using the pin part again as an example, where the 'long pin' configuration intersects with the 'length' column, we can specify the physical length of the Pin.

Design table.

We would likely not create a design table for a couple of configurations that contain only a couple of configurable items, but we do it here to provide an easily understood example. Design tables are at their best when a SOLIDWORKS component contains several configurations and/or several configurable items.

More than just dimensions can be structured with configurations. Below is a list of all the available configurable items as recorded in SOLIDWORKS Help:

Base Parts in Configurations
You can control the configuration of a base part with a design table. This is available in part documents only.

Color Parameter in Configurations
The design table can include a column for configuration-specific colors. The value is a 32-bit integer that specifies RGB (red, green, blue). If you do not specify a value, zero (black) is used.

Comment in Configurations
The Configuration Properties PropertyManager has a Comment box, where you can enter information about the configuration.

Component Configuration
You can specify which configuration of a component is used in various configurations of an assembly.

Component Part Number in Configurations
When you create configurations with a design table, the software automatically sets options in the Configuration Properties PropertyManager.

Component Suppression State in Configurations

Cosmetic Threads in Configurations
You can configure callouts for cosmetic threads.

Custom Properties in Configurations

Derived Configurations in Design Tables
You can control derived configurations in a design table.

Description in Configurations
The Configuration Properties PropertyManager has a Description box, where you can enter a description of the configuration.

Dimensions in Configurations

Display States in Configurations
You can create multiple display states for each configuration of an assembly or part.

End Conditions in Configurations
You can change the end condition of extruded features in specified configurations.

Expand in BOM in Configurations
You can control how the assembly is listed in a BOM, when this configuration is used as a subassembly.

External Sketch Relations in Configurations
You can set different external sketch relations in specified configurations.

Feature Suppression State in Configurations

Shortcuts for Suppressing Items in Design Tables
The string values suppressed and unsuppressed are valid values for selected design table columns. You can use shortcuts for these string values in design tables.

Fixed or Floating Position in Configurations
You can configure whether the position of a component is fixed or floating in an assembly.

Global Variables in Configurations
You can configure global variables.

Hole Sizes in Configurations
In the Hole Specification PropertyManager, you can configure the size of Hole Wizard holes by clicking Configurations and selecting This Configuration, All configurations or Specify Configurations.

Lighting in Configurations
You can suppress and unsuppress (turn off and on) lights in configurations.

Mass Properties in Configurations
You can configure values that you assign for mass, center of mass and moments of inertia in parts and assemblies.

Materials in Configurations
You can configure materials for parts and for bodies of multibody parts.

Scale Features in Configurations
You can configure the X, Y and Z scale factors.

Sketch Dimensions in Configurations
You can control the driving state of sketch dimensions in specified configurations to control the behavior of your model.

Sketch Planes in Configurations

The plane on which a sketch lies is configurable through the Sketch Plane PropertyManager. You can place a single sketch on different planes in different configurations.

Sketch Relations in Configurations
You can control the suppression state of sketch relations per configuration.

Sketch Suppression State in Configurations

Split Parts in Configurations
You can control the configuration of a split part with a design table. This is available in part documents only.

Tolerances in Configurations

User Notes in Design Tables
The design table can include additional columns or rows for information only (notes, intermediate calculations and so on).

The use of design tables does require Microsoft Excel. Not every SOLIDWORKS user can be expected to have Excel, however, so SOLIDWORKS introduced Modify Configurations. Modify Configurations consists of four branches. Each branch is available by right-clicking on a related object as follows:

• Configure Feature – right-clicking a feature.
• Configure Dimension – right-clicking a dimension.
• Configure Component – right-clicking a component in an assembly.
• Configure Material – right-clicking a material in the Feature Manager. Materials can also be configured from the material dialog box.

In the Modify Configuration dialog box, the item to be configured will be displayed in a table similar to an Excel spreadsheet. Additional configurable items (i.e., a dimension) can be added by double-clicking on the item in the modelling area. The items to be configured are displayed along the top row of Modify Configuration dialog box. The configurations to be generated are entered and displayed down the left column. Potential configurations can also be renamed and deleted by right-clicking on the configuration.

Modify Configuration dialog box.

Modify Configuration can be used to only create configurations, but the configurations can be saved in a table view for future access.

Save table view.

While Modify Configuration does in make design tables unnecessary in many ways, it does not completely replace them. Some SOLIDWORKS add-ins, such as Routing, rely on design tables. Also, design tables can be shared and/or referenced between multiple SOLIDWORKS documents.

Another utility that requires design tables is the SOLIDWORKS Configuration Publisher. The Configuration Publisher makes it possible to access a configuration by selecting from predefined parameters.

Configure Component dialog box.

At the beginning of this article, we mentioned that it is often faster and easier to add configurations than it is to model a new part from scratch. We looked at the pin part from the Essentials course as an example of how we can vary the size of a part by using configurations. A pin is a relatively simple part. With more complex parts, there is greater potential for time savings through the use of configurations.

Based on what we have looked at so far, we may be tempted to say that configurations should be used universally for components that share some commonality. But like everything else in CAD, there are always compromises and shortcomings.

Configurations can cause bloating of files. Each configuration needs to store information on how it differs from the other configurations, and all of it is stored in the SOLIDWORKS file. The more configurations, the bigger file. The bigger the file, the more time it takes to load or rebuild it. If you have a fastener with thirty configurations used a hundred times in an assembly, that is 30 x 100 things that have to be reloaded and rebuilt every time. This will impact performance.

There is a tool to shrink those bloated configuration components. In SOLIDWORKS System Options, you can choose to purge cached configuration data in the Performance section.

SOLIDWORKS system options.

This will purge a fair chunk of the cached configuration information. But this, too, comes at a cost. When switching between configurations, all of the configuration information that was stripped away must be rebuilt when switching configurations. You can have better performance with opening files or on switching between configurations—but you can't have both.

Since configurations can make creating similar parts easier, many designers use configurations to design whole groups of parts. The problem with this strategy is that these groups of parts are not individual files. If you have assemblies or drawings that reference these different configurations that are all contained in a single file, which assembly or drawing does that file belong to? This use of configurations can make managing your data difficult. While this approach may save time in the near term, it can be much more costly in the long run. As I tell my SOLIDWORKS Essentials students, short-term gain can lead to long-term pain.

Besides, tools such as SOLIDWORKS' Pack & Go, or SOLIDWORKS PDM's Copy Tree, make it easy to create new similar parts. Most importantly, these are separate files that can be unambiguously referenced by an assembly or drawing.

I follow a simple rule when determining if individual files are required. If the form fit or function differs, then a separate file is needed. To simplify that even further, if there is a different part number, it's a new file.

A perceived and misguided advantage of configurations harbored by some is that configurations facilitate data management. These people state that instead of having thousands of parts, a company can have much fewer parts with several configurations. This theory is often held by those that consider Windows Explorer as a data management tool. However, Windows Explorer lacks the functionality to truly organize a company's design data. Since most companies' design data is their lifeline, should it really be entrusted to such a basic tool?

With SOLIDWORKS Workgroup being available since the early 2000s, why would a company choose to be bogged down with an unwieldy Windows Explorer folder structure? While Workgroup was clunky, it still beat having to create configurations to tame the data monster. What's more, Workgroup had decent search capabilities, access control, automated revisions and rudimentary lifecycles. These are things that are not part of a Windows Explorer environment.

With SOLIDWORKS PDM, SOLIDWORKS users have access to a more powerful data management tool. Like SOLIDWORKS Workgroup, each seat of SOLIDWORKS Professional and Premium ships with a seat of PDM Standard. This means that many companies already have a decent data management tool just waiting to be deployed.

At this point, you may be wondering if configurations have any use at all. In the right environment and used for the right application, configurations can still be a useful tool. Configurations lend themselves best to library or common components, that are not revision controlled. These are often purchased components such as fasteners. Ballooning file size is still something that needs to be managed, but with the application the SOLIDWORKS System Opens options discussed earlier, file bloating can be diminished.

In summary, do not let this article persuade or dissuade you from using configurations. Think of it as thorough look and an informed opinion, if anything. Its up to you to do your homework. See if configurations work for you in your particular situation, whether they are an advantage or an impediment.

Learn more with the eBook Gain Competitive Advantage with Product Data Management.

About the Author

Joe Medeiros is an Elite Applications Consultant at TRIMECH, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller, servicing customers throughout North America, offering SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Joe has been involved in many aspects of the SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996 and as an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about SOLIDWORKS solutions.

As with every new release, there are dreams of exciting new tools and high hopes for greater performance. The 2022 release of SOLIDWORKS PDM offers both.

Performance is something we can never get enough of and SOLIDWORKS PDM 2022 offers increased performance where many need it the most: in database servers with high latency.

Some of the areas in which PDM saves time:

• Opening files.
• Displaying the Save As dialogue box.
• Copy Tree.
• Creating a document in SOLIDWORKS.
• Saving a data card with a large number of file extensions is faster by 15 percent to 60 percent.
• Checking in a drawing with a large SOLIDWORKS bill of materials (BOM) is significantly quicker.
• Displaying files in the Where Used tab, with the Show All option and additional custom columns, is many times faster for certain vaults.
• Displaying the Transition dialogue box for dynamic notifications is quicker.
• Loading a Web2 preview is between 1.5 and 2 times faster for large models. Performance increases are often in the range of 10 to 40 percent.

Not only does SOLIDWORKS PDM 2022 perform better, but it is also easier to install. The PDM client could be installed as part of a SOLIDWORKS Administrative Image with previous versions, but it was not a straightforward process. In SOLIDWORKS 2022, distributing the PDM client is easier to configure.

For those that may not be familiar with a SOLIDWORKS Administrative Image, this powerful application offers a quick way of installing pre-configured SOLIDWORKS and PDM on multiple computers. With these new enhancements, a Local Vault View can be defined without the need to run a separate script. The Local Vault View can be created using an existing PDM export (.cvs) file, or a new .cvs file can be created by clicking on Launch View Setup Wizard.

Setting up Local Vault View in an administrative Image.

Now that we have SOLIDWORKS PDM 2022 installed and are delighted with the increased performance, let's take a look at the new enhancements to the SOLIDWORKS PDM 2022 Client.

Presence Notes

Knowing the availability of a co-worker to collaborate with can be difficult, especially with many people currently working from home. As a user, you can now easily let everyone know your availability with a Presence Note.

It was possible to edit a PDM user's Presence in the past, but this required editing the user in PDM Administration. Since only PDM Administrators can usually make this change, changes to a user's Presence were likely not done regularly. With SOLIDWORKS 2022, it is just a matter of hovering the mouse over the Login Profile Picture.

Modifying the Presence Note of logged in user.

With everyone now being able to easily update their Presence Note, it is easy to determine your co-workers' availability by hovering the mouse over their names in the Explorer Window.

Viewing the Presence Note of a co-worker.

Visibility

Visibility is one of the things that SOLIDWORKS seems to have focused on for the 2022 release and this can be seen in operations such Check In, Check Out, Undo Check Out, Change State, Get and Rollback. When performing these operations, the number of affected files is clearly displayed at the bottom of the dialogue boxes.

Indication of affected files.

Also, you can see all the configurations of a part in the Where Used tab after selecting All Versions.

Viewing configurations for all versions.

EXALEAD OnePart Search

With an EXALEAD OnePart and SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional license, we have access to the EXALEAD OnePart Search, which is now integrated into SOLIDWORKS PDM. The EXALEAD OnePart Search is available from the same pull-down where we access our PDM searches.

Location of PDM searches.

eDrawings

When navigating in our PDM Vault, being able to visually identify a file is essential. When it comes to SOLIDWORKS files, these can be viewed with eDrawings—but loading eDrawings can take time. In previous versions, an option could be set to load the image as a bitmap initially. Then when clicking within the preview panel, eDrawings would be loaded.  This allowed for the image to be loaded quickly and eDrawings could then be loaded only when eDrawings functionality was required. In PDM 2022, there is a prominent icon that makes switching from the bitmap to eDrawings a lot more accessible.

Enabling eDrawings from the PDM preview pane.

When we do need eDrawings tools, we can access more of these tools from the SOLIDWORKS PDM preview pane.

We now have access to eDrawings commands such as Animate, Section and Properties from inside the PDM preview panel with this option.

Common eDrawings Tools in the PDM eDrawings preview panel.

We can also access the component tree from the eDrawings preview panel. Selecting a component in the component tree will highlight the component in the graphics area. Selecting a component in the graphics area will highlight the component in the component tree.

Component tree in preview panel.

Task Pane

Improvements to the User experience continue inside of SOLIDWORKS. In the SOLIDWORKS PDM Task pane, the columns in the Variables area are resizable, making it easier to view the column information.

Resizable variable columns in PDM task pane.

In addition, we longer need to search or manually navigate to the location of a drawing as the drawing associated with a SOLIDWORKS part or assembly can be opened directly from the SOLIDWORKS PDM Task pane. This is accomplished by right-clicking on a component.

Open Associated Drawing from PDM task pane.

Administrator Improvements

There is also plenty for us Administrators in SOLIDWORKS PDM 2022. For example, Active Directory is a great way of organizing users and groups, especially in larger implementations. In PDM 2022, there is better integration with Microsoft Windows Active Directory.

Below is a list of those improvements for PDM 2022:

• The default property mappings or map properties such as User data are not mapped to any Active Directory attribute.
• A user's profile picture can be imported from the Active Directory.
• A user can make changes.
• Windows Active Directory Users and groups now have a separate icon.
• It is now easier to validate Windows Groups in PDM Administration. This is done by right-clicking on the Groups and selecting Validate Groups from Active Directory. If the Group does not exist in Active Directory, a Group icon with a red plus will be displayed. To view details, right-click on the icon and select Information.
• SOLIDWORKS PDM and Windows logins can also be validated by right-clicking on the User node of PDM Administration and Validate Logins. As with Validate Groups, an icon will be displayed to indicate the invalid login. For SOLIDWORKS PDM logins, an invalid login is identified with a red lock.

Validating user login.

In a nice organizational touch, Groups and Users are now located in the same location under Users and Groups Management.

Users and Groups Management.

Another pleaser is the ability to resize an image directly from the PDM card editor. Previously the image had to be opened in an application such as Microsoft Paint, then resized, saved and inserted back into the data card. It could take several iterations of this process to get the right-sized image. Many PDM Administrators will really appreciate this enhancement.

Saving PDM Logs

The PDM logs are often the best tool for troubleshooting PDM issues. Your SOLIDWORKS value added reseller (VAR) may have asked you for these logs in the past. It is now clearer on how to save and archive user logs. In previous releases, there was just one general-purpose Save located under the file pull-down of PDM Administration. Now saving the logs is available from the menu bar located above the logs.

General purpose save location.

Saving, archiving user logs in SOLIDWORKS PDM 2022.

PDM logs can be saved in several formats in PDM 2022. These are:

• Comma separated value (*.csv)
• JSON (*.json)
• Text (*.txt)

PDM and EXALEAD OnePart

PDM can now be linked to EXALEAD OnePart. The connection to EXALEAD OnePart is configured through PDM Administration.

Configuring Connector for EXALEAD OnePart.

Configurations

Working with SOLIDWORKS file configurations in previous versions of SOLIDWORKS PDM could be confusing for new PDM administrators. In SOLIDWORKS PDM 2022, it is much clearer which configurations a variable will update. In the PDM card editor, an administrator can easily identify if “all configurations” or the default @ configuration will be updated.

Selecting which configurations to update.

As PDM users, we now have control over which configurations of a file will be displayed.

Defining which configurations will be displayed.

As a PDM administrator tool, we can choose whether or PDM users or groups will have the ability to make these changes. This is done from the user or group settings.

Setting whether PDM users can change configuration display.

Web2

SOLIDWORKS PDM Web2 has also seen some improvements in SOLIDWORKS PDM 2020. It is now possible to view neutral file formats in eDrawings. These include:

• STEP (.step, .stp)
• IGES (.iges, .igs)
• Parasolid (.X_B, .X_T, .XMT, .XMT_TXT)
• STL (.stl)
• JT (.JT)
• Acis Sat (.SAT, .SAB)

For each Control, as a PDM Administrator, we can specify whether that control will be visible on a web card.

Showing control on web card.

Using 'Configure card for web,' we can configure the web layout for the file data card.

Launching configure card for web.

Configuring the Web Data Card.

The 2022 release of SOLIDWORKS PDM is one of the most comprehensive that I've seen in a while. Enhancements range from performance to installations, with sure-to-be-appreciated enhancements for all. Whether you are an administrator or PDM user, you will find something that you will truly enjoy in this release.

Watch What's New SOLIDWORKS PDM 2022 or learn more about SOLIDWORKS PDM with the whitepaper Gain Competitive Advantage with Product Data Management.

Learn more about the new enhancements in SOLIDWORKS 2022 with the eBook SOLIDWORKS 2022 Enhancements to Streamline and Accelerate Your Entire Product Development Process.

About the Author

Joe Medeiros is an Elite Applications Consultant at TRIMECH, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller, servicing customers throughout North America, offering SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Joe has been involved in many aspects of the SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996 and as an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about SOLIDWORKS solutions.

 This article will look at strategies for administering both SOLIDWORKS and SOLIDWORKS PDM in a remote environment. Since many employees will continue to work remotely after the pandemic, these strategies will continue to be useful for many companies.

When an employee works remotely, there are generally three ways to connect to an organization's servers. These are:

• A virtual private network (VPN)
• Using a remote desktop (RDP)
• A cloud solution

Each of these has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, a VPN may be the simplest solution to implement, but high latency and bandwidth issues can result in poor performance when accessing a company's server.  An RDP solution can address the latency and bandwidth issues, but this solution requires two computers and can increase maintenance costs. Like an RDP solution, a cloud platform can minimize latency and bandwidth issues, but unlike an RDP, there is no need for two computers.

To help us better understand the challenges of working remotely, a basic understanding of what impacts network performance is important. Understanding what latency, throughput and bandwidth are and how they differ is crucial.

Latency, usually measured in milliseconds (ms), is the delay between a user's action and a web application's response to that action.

Throughput is the amount of data that can pass through a connection over a given period of time and is normally measured in packets per second (PPS). A packet is a unit of data that is routed between two points.

Bandwidth is a measure of how much data can be moved in a given amount of time and is usually measured in bits per second (bps), kilobits  per second(Kbps), megabits per second (Mbps) or gigabits per second (Gbps).

While throughput and bandwidth may seem similar, they are not. Throughput is impacted by latency, so throughput will always be lower than bandwidth. If latency is high, throughput can be significantly lower than the available bandwidth.

When data travels between two points, it will likely traverse multiple networks, each introducing its own delay or latency. While the delays are small, usually in milliseconds, these delays are compounded by back-and-forth communication and can add substantially to round trip times (RTT). RTT is the amount of time for a response to reach a client after a client request.

Latency can also be impacted by the physical distance between the client and server. While latency delays are usually measured in milliseconds, just as with bridging multiple networks the latency is compounded and becomes significant. This is why SOLIDWORKS PDM offers a replication solution, since accessing large amounts of data on the other side of the globe can be difficult. Issues with hardware can also add significantly to latency. DNStuff's article titled "Network Latency vs. Throughput vs. Bandwidth" gives a good overview of the relationship between latency, throughput and bandwidth.

Figurative representation by DNS Stuff.

A simple test, such as the one in my blog, "Testing Connectivity to SOLIDWORKS PDM Archive Server using the Ping Test," can provide a rough idea of a connection's throughput. This is a rough approximation and there are applications that can provide a much more detailed view of the characteristics of a connection.

Many of the issues that lead to high latency, and therefore reduced throughput, cannot be addressed by an end-user. A company's IT may improve its network performance but the data still must make its way through the Internet. There is one thing that an end-user can do that reduces latency, however, and that is to connect their computer directly to their router/modem. Further, while hard wired to a router/modem, disabling Wi-Fi can prevent attempts by a computer to send data on an active Wi-Fi connection. The reason for these measures is that latency is normally higher on a Wi-Fi connection.

If there is no option but to use a Wi-Fi connection, Wi-Fi boosters, extenders and repeaters can boost network performance, especially in areas where Wi-Fi performance is poor. These devices generally do not offer the same performance as being directly connected to a router/modem, however.

On top of reduced throughput that occurs because of latency, there is now greater demand for bandwidth in many homes. Whether it be a partner that is also working from home or children attending online classes, an end user's bandwidth can be quickly consumed. Of course, an employee working from home can choose to add more bandwidth, but there is an associated monetary cost. A potential workaround is to transfer files between an employee's computer and a company's server(s) when Internet use is lower.

So how do all those factors impact administering remote employees? The simple answer is that it makes things much more difficult—but these challenges make some tools that are already available more attractive. Tools such as Microsoft Active Directory can be used to deploy software. For SOLIDWORKS, a SOLIDWORKS Administrative Image can be used to deploy a SOLIDWORKS installation.

Creating a SOLIDWORKS Administrative Image.

Neither Windows Active Directory nor SOLIDWORKS Administrative Image will increase throughput, but the use of these tools can control when these updates occur. For example, when Internet usage on the client computer client side is most likely lower, such as at night. A SOLIDWORKS Administrative Image can be configured to deploy an update at a specific time.

Scheduling SOLIDWORKS Administrative Image Deployment.

End users can also be allowed to deploy the Image manually by means of an email link. This allows the end-user to perform the update when they know Internet use is low.

Deploying SOLIDWORKS Administrative Image Manually.

A better understanding of SOLIDWORKS Administrative Images can be gained by reviewing Scott Durksen's blog titled "SOLIDWORKS Administrative Images Setup Guide."

While there can be challenges with updating software, updates are infrequent and if managed properly, the pain can be mitigated. The day-to-day access to data is likely much more painful to an end-user who is working from home. Some of this pain can be mollified by using SOLIDWORKS PDM. While latency can still be an issue, files can be cached locally, therefore eliminating the need to access files located on a network drive during save and rebuild operations.

SOLIDWORKS PDM can alleviate issues related to latency, but it does not eliminate them. At some point, an end-user will need to perform operations, such a check-in/out, that require accessing a company's PDM server(s). At this point, low throughput will lead to poor performance or prevent PDM operations.

Problems can be greatly reduced by using a remote desktop (RDP) solution. With an RDP, a user can access their purpose-built CAD station which is located at a company's facilities. This access is accomplished from a system located in an employee's home office. In this scenario, the amount of data being transferred is much less than accessing files through a VPN connection, and therefore latency should have a lesser impact. Also, with an RDP, updating systems can be easier as the employee's workstation is located on their company's local area network (LAN).

The downside of an RDP solution is that two systems are required. This can add increase maintenance and may require purchasing a second system. Granted, the home system does not require the same specs as a CAD workstation and therefore should cost less, but this still is an additional cost. Of course, a user may be able to use their own personal computer to access their workstation through RDP, but this can introduce security issues, as the user's computer may not have the same level of security as a company's computer.  

A cloud computing solution can address some of the latency issues of a VPN solution and the costs and security concerns of a Remote Desktop. As Ryan Moffatt, who heads Javelin Technologies' cloud computing solution, explained: a cloud computing solution offers scalability and security that a company's LAN rarely matches. He also explained that a cloud computing solution could greatly reduce issues related to latency, such as those that can occur from working remotely.

There are several cloud solutions available, with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud being among the most popular.

In a cloud computing solution, a company's computing requirements are hosted on a cloud platform. This can range from simply storing data on the cloud to what amounts to creating a virtual machine on a cloud platform. The article by builtin.com, titled "Cloud Computing 101", gives a good overview of what cloud computing is.

For the purpose of this article, we can think of a cloud platform as a virtual machine. A company can configure a cloud platform to meet a company's requirements for specific applications. This could include a server to host PDM or a CAD platform to run SOLIDWORKS.

There are many advantages to cloud computing. These include:

• Reduced IT Costs: For some cloud computing plans, hardware and software updates may be included. Since there are no computers to maintain, there are fewer requirements for IT resources.  Changes to systems, such as adding additional space or increasing performance, can be accomplished quickly.
• Scalability: Cloud computing platforms can be quickly added or removed to meet a company's requirements.
• Business continuity planning: Data stored in the cloud ensures it is backed up and protected in a secure and safe location that can quickly be restored in the event of a disaster. With the increasing occurrence of ransomware, this is a critical advantage.
• Flexibility: With a cloud computing solution, a user can work from anywhere, as long as they have access to the Internet.

As I mentioned earlier, a cloud computing solution can be used to just host PDM and the above advantages make a cloud solution ideal for PDM server(s). But if the end-user is connecting to cloud-hosted PDM server(s) through a VPN connection, latency can still be problematic. Latency should be less, though, as there are likely fewer network connections involved.

To achieve maximum performance while working remotely, hosting SOLIDWORKS on the cloud can drastically increase performance. Essentially the servers and clients are hosted on the same highly efficient local network. A cloud solution may even eliminate the need for PDM replication.

Like other monumental occurrences, COVID-19 has introduced serious challenges and these challenges are catalysts that drive change. The demand for flexibility in where people work will likely remain. Companies can meet these demands by evaluating and investing in technologies that make this flexibility possible.

To learn more about 3DEXPERIENCE and SOLIDWORKS, check out the whitepaper Developing Better Products in the Cloud.

About the Author

Joe Medeiros is an Elite Applications Consultant at Javelin Technologies. Javelin Technologies is a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller, servicing customers throughout Canada. Javelin offers SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Joe has been involved in many aspects of the SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996, and as an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about SOLIDWORKS and SOLIDWORKS Data Management solutions.

At the time of writing, I am referencing the SOLIDWORKS Manage 2021 service pack. No doubt the enhancements will continue to flow in upcoming service packs for SOLIDWORKS Manage 2021.

The first enhancement I will look at is right at the start of SOLIDWORKS Manage—the login screen. After expanding Options, the user can choose from all available Manage System files. This in itself is not new, but the display is cleaner and, thankfully for my eyes, larger.

System drop-down.

The main improvement in the login screen for SOLIDWORKS Manage 2021 is a separate window for organizing the list of System files. Adding and removing system files obviously is not new, but having a separate window to do this will be helpful in environments where there are multiple SOLIDWORKS Manage databases.

Editing system files.

There are also filtering tools to help users find particular system files.

Systems filters.

For those new to SOLIDWORKS Manage, a SOLIDWORKS Manage System file is used to link the SOLIDWORKS Manage Client to the SOLIDWORKS Manage Server.

I got an email from Elton Xhemali, Managing Director of RevZone Solutions Ltd.  RevZone is the developer of SOLIDWORKS Manage.  He wanted to alert me to some great enhancements added after the official release of SOLIDWORKS Manage 2021.

When Elton mentioned "multi-windows" or "modeless windows," initially I wasn't sure what he meant. However, once he demonstrated this enhancement to me, I could well understand how nice this enhancement is from a usability aspect.

Anyone who has worked with SOLIDWORKS PDM Manage knows there can be multiple Property Cards open at any given time. In the past, it was required that some Property Cards be closed in order to access other already-open Property Cards. Now, multiple open Property Cards can be easily accessed. A user can easily jump between Property Cards or align Property Cards side-by-side for referencing.

Multi-windows/modeless windows.

This next enhancement is one of my favorites, and one of the coolest to watch.

SOLIDWORKS components could previously be manually added in SOLIDWORKS Manage BOM.

Manually adding an item to a BOM.

Components existing in SOLIDWORKS, and components manually added to a BOM.

Now when these items are added to the SOLIDWORKS Manage BOM, they will appear in the SOLIDWORKS Task Pane.

SOLIDWORKS Manage in SOLIDWORKS Task Pane.

What's really slick is that components manually added into the SOLIDWORKS Manage BOM can be dragged into a SOLIDWORKS assembly from the SOLIDWORKS Task Pane.

Component.

Once the assembly is uploaded, the components originally manually added in the SOLIDWORKS Manage BOM become standard SOLIDWORKS BOM items.

Uploading components manually added to a BOM.

Display in SOLIDWORKS Manage after upload.

As Elton noted, "The ramifications of this are big. An engineer can work out a BOM from the SOLIDWORKS Manage desktop/web, then when a designer opens SOLIDWORKS, they can drag and drop them into the assembly directly."

The next enhancement I'll look at involves SOLIDWORKS Manage Processes. In a Process Workflow, multiple users may be required to make a decision at any given stage. In previous releases, all decision-makers would have to vote in order for the workflow to progress. This could result in lost time while waiting on a user's vote. In addition, if any user rejected the stage, the originator would not get notified until all votes were cast. In the case of rejection, there is no useful purpose to forestall notifications while waiting for someone to vote.  

Now, as soon as one user rejects a stage, the process is sent back to the originator.

The help feature in SOLIDWORKS Manage provides a good example of how this works: "… if five users are required to make a decision, if the first user selects a ‘reject’ value in a field, the condition driven by this field can be evaluated immediately, and send the process back rather than await the other four decisions."

Execute conditions.

A powerful tool in SOLIDWORKS Manage is the ability to work with third-party data sources. This functionality is achieved through a 3rd Party Link Field (3PL). These 3PL's are used to link to data sources such SQL, Excel and Access, to name a few of the more common sources. 3PL's can be used to get information from these data sources or to take advantage of custom SQL scripts. In SOLIDWORKS Manage 2021, 3PL fields can now be turned into a drop-down list that is populated by a SQL Query.

Enable multi-value format.

The result is that the field acts as a list and is powered by the 3PL in real-time. Elton referred to this new functionality as "Multi-value 3rd party fields." On looking at this name, I wasn't sure what it meant, but when this feature was demonstrated to me, I could well understand the power of this new functionality.

Results of multi-value format.

Similar to Multi-value third-party fields, Custom Tables are also populated by a data source, such as a SQL query. The data source can come from SOLIDWORKS Manage or from another source such as an ERP/MRP solution. The custom table can be displayed on the right-hand side of the Property Card or the property tabs below in the main user interface (UI) by clicking on the icon at the top-right corner.

Displaying a custom table.

There are options for controlling the display of custom tables, and the contents of a custom table can be exported.

Custom table options.

The data in the custom table can interact with the various fields in real-time. This means that as values are selected in the Property Card, the corresponding values displayed in the custom table are recalculated in real-time from the linked data source.

Another nice enhancement for BOMs is Reference Specific Values. Reference Specific Values can be assigned to a child component, and that reference only exists when viewing the child component in the contents of a parent. If the child component is viewed on its own, the Reference Specific Value will not be present. Reference Specific Values can be assigned to all levels of assembly structure.

Reference Specific Values.

Reference Specific Values are useful when there is information about a child component that is relevant for a specific assembly. For example, there may be information, such as a delivery date, that is relevant to a child component only for one assembly. The delivery date may not be relevant to any other assembly that contains the child component.

SOLIDWORKS PDM is a component of SOLIDWORKS Manage, and for some it may be a large piece of their Manage environment. In SOLIDWORKS, PDM files transition from state to state as they progress through their PDM workflow. To ensure that the PDM state will be updated in real-time in SOLIDWORKS Manage, SOLIDWORKS PDM States are now System Fields in SOLIDWORKS Manage.

PDM State field.

Looking at Gantt charts, previously project progress was calculated by a 3PL that was included in a template. The use of 3PL's made calculating project progress more involved. Now the updates are instantaneous and are handled strictly by SOLIDWORKS Manage. There is also now the ability to easily update progress from Tasks.

Update project progress.

Effectivity is a utility that updates the “Effective From” and “Affective To” date values of record items. In SOLIDWORKS Manage 2021, there have been enhancements to Effectivity and how it integrates with BOMs. When assigning effective dates for record items, the dates can be set to automatic so that no one can change the date, or permissions can be assigned so only certain users can change the dates. Any changes to dates will permeate through all BOMs and Structures. There are now also tools for filtering items by how they relate to Effectivity.

Filtering based on Effectivity.

If a record does not contain Effective Dates, then Effectivity can be added to a record from Manage Administration.

Applying Effectivity.

To give better control of which SOLIDWORKS PDM records can enter a process, processes can be configured to only allow SOLIDWORKS PDM records with predefined states. If no PDM states are defined, then all states are allowed into the process.

Process inputs.

Another BOM goodie is the ability to compare Flattened Linked Record BOMs with document BOMs.

Compare flat view.

In SOLIDWORKS Manage, every main grid can have up to seven icon columns. These are Status, Tasks, Comments, Related Files, File Type, Configuration and BOM. All but Status can be shown or hidden in order to filter what is being displayed. This can help reduce clutter and make comparing columns easier.

Column visibility.

In SOLIDWORKS Mange 2021, icons have been made more graphic in order to make it easier to identify different types of fields. These new icons are specific to each field type.

Icons for different fields.

To make it easier to track changes when a Primary Document has changed, the grid for the Linked Record will show an exclamation mark (!) to indicate the change. After checking out the record, the Linked Record can be updated.

Updating a Linked Record.

In SOLIDWORKS Manage 2021, the PDM Synchronization Wizard has seen many enhancements, including the ability to exclude PDM Variables. This can be useful for reducing the amount of information being mapped, and accordingly reducing sync times.

Excluding PDM variables.

Speaking of synchronization, Elton notes that disabling 'Show synchronization steps' can greatly reduce synchronization.

Show synchronization steps.

I had not expected to write another article about new enhancements in SOLIDWORKS Manage 2021. As is witnessed in this article, the rate of enhancements for Manage is incredible, and I may well be writing another article to cover more upcoming enhancements for SOLIDWORKS Manage 2021.

To learn more, check out the whitepaper Gain Competitive Advantage with Product Data Management.

Joe Medeiros is an Elite Applications Consultant at Javelin Technologies. Javelin Technologies is a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller, servicing customers throughout Canada. Javelin offers SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Joe has been involved in many aspects of the SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996, and as an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about SOLIDWORKS and SOLIDWORKS Data Management solutions.

There are a total of eighteen enhancements related to SOLIDWORKS Manage listed in the SOLIDWORKS "What’s New SOLIDWORKS 2021" guide. I have listed these enhancements below, with a brief description of each.

Bill of Materials (BOM) Enhancements

• Export BOM in Tree Style.
• Multi-line comparison tool.
• New Bill of Materials editing tools.

Task Enhancements

• Task Board is accessible from the Capacity Planning dashboard.
• New context menus in My Work area.
• Enhancement to Tasks in the Default Dashboard.
• Task owner control over what assignee can do.
• Private Task options.

SOLIDWORKS Manage User Interface Enhancements

• Automatic selection of list items.
• Automatic display of the source record part number when using New From or Derived From.
• Move command in main project grid.
• All custom field for users available in Capacity planning.
• Change Owner in Tasks displays all user fields.
• Default sort order for Created Date set to descending order.
• Context-sensitive help in the Administration tool.
• Notification editor has buttons that enable users to insert dynamic field values.
• Move records available as deliverables in a project stage.
• The preview pane is available in the Where Used tab.
• For clarity, the field control icons appear on the left side of the field entry.

Database Debug Log Viewer

• Administrators can specify whether tracked errors are written to a log file.

Promotion Settings for SOLIDWORKS PDM Reference Files

• Options for the handling of missing files.

Multiselect Project Stages and Show Substages Options

• Ability to select multiple stages in order to view related resources, tasks and deliverables.

Access to the Capacity Planning Dashboard

• Capacity Planning is available from the Tools menu and the Resources tab of a project property card.

SOLIDWORKS File Preview in the Plenary Web Client

• Thumbnail images of SOLIDWORKS files can be viewed in the Preview pane, and the image can be maximized.
• SOLIDWORKS PDM files can be opened in SOLIDWORKS PDM Web2 browser.

Thumbnail Utility for SOLIDWORKS PDM Objects

• Thumbnail images can be extracted from SOLIDWORKS parts, assemblies and drawings, and can be stored in SOLIDWORKS Manage.

Access to Numbering Schemes

• Numbering schemes can be defined or edited when defining an Object or Field.

Partial Administrators for Dashboards

• Partial Administrators can be assigned to Dashboards, and Partial Administrators can create and edit dashboards.

Save as Recursive

• Part of the SOLIDWORKS Manage add-in for SOLIDWORKS.
• Imports assemblies and references.
• Applies SOLIDWORKS Manage defined numbering to assembly structures.

Viewer Licenses

• Users logged in with a Viewer license can accept a Process and send it to the next Stage.

Multi-Language Display Names

• Text can be entered into SOLIDWORKS Manage using different languages.

Controlling Field Values

• When using Copy From, the administrator of an object can clear field values and set field values to their default values.

Optionally Upgrading the Database when Upgrading Client

• After updating the client and logging into SOLIDWORKS Manage Environment, the user is asked if they want to upgrade the database. Previously, the database was updated with the client. There is a caveat, however: according to the What's New SOLIDWORKS 2021 guide, "the database remains unchanged, and you cannot use it with the upgraded client." While it is unclear what this option's purpose is, it is likely that this allows other users to continue working during the update.

File Sharing Option

• Files can be shared with non-Manage users.
• Sharing creates a link to files through the Plenary web client interface.
• Administrators can control sharing for users and groups.
• An Administrator can control the number of links created per object.

Project Lists

• This enhancement didn't make it into the What's New Manual, but Dassault Systèmes does mention it on the SOLIDWORKS 2021 Manage YouTube feed. Project Lists combines many tools that can be used across multiple projects to assist with capacity planning and load management.

Auto Update Project Service

• Another enhancement not mentioned in the What's New SOLIDWORKS 2021 guide is the Auto Update Project Service. The Auto Update Project Service for task updates automatically updates project stages and automatically transfers task attachments to the deliverables section of a project.

Everything Else

• Full-text searches of imported files.
• Change the data type of a link to a third-party field.
• Released icon for status change outputs on timesheet processes as the processes complete.
• Automatically fill process description field from affected items is now an option in the Process Wizard.
• Better performance for Gantt chart tools.
• Required fields must be filled before the saving process.
• Administrator control of the layout of main grids and users saving changes.
• Administrators can define the password when resetting passwords.

Now that we have outlined the enhancements for SOLIDWORKS Manage 2021, let's take a deeper look at some of the more significant ones.

BOM Enhancements

With SOLIDWORKS Manage 2021, the BOM of a parent file can be checked out and edited without having to check out the children files and items.

In addition, a BOM can be Displayed as a Grid (Multi-Level) or a Tree (Explorer) style. In Manage 2021, the BOM items can be exported in Tree Style.

Grid and Tree Mode.

There is also now a Multi-line compare option in the BOM Compare tool, which can compare all levels of a BOM.

Multi-line Compare.

If a record is not checked out, a linked record can be created from the BOM.

Create Linked Record.

SOLIDWORKS Manage 2021 also features the following new editing features related to BOMs:

• Dissolve to remove parent sub-structures and promote their child items.
• Add New enables users to add a new item to a BOM.
• Add New From enables users to add a new item using the selected item as the source record.
• Cut, copy and paste items across levels.
• Replace command lets users replace a selected item with a newly created record.
• Copy From to view and select items to copy.

Tasks Enhancements

The Task Board can now be accessed from the Capacity Planning Dashboard and from My Work Area.

My Dashboard.

In the My Work area, Assign To, Mark as Completed and Delete are now part of the menu for Tasks.

My Tasks.

Tasks in the default dashboard now include:

• Part number and priority columns.
• Urgent tasks are highlighted.
• Order of tasks mirrors My Tasks.

Owners of a Task can control the task available to an assignee. These tasks are:

• Add/Remove attachments.
• Change details list.

Tasks can be identified as private by selecting Create New Tasks as Private, or by selecting Private in a stage task.

Database Debug Log Viewer

Perhaps it is because of my support background, but I find this enhancement quite useful. Database Debug Mode creates a log that contains the last 100 SQL database queries for each user, including failed login attempts.

The database debug mode is activated for a user and will automatically be deactivated after 24 hours (if not deactivated manually beforehand.)

Activating Database Debug Mode.

The log can be viewed from SOLIDWORKS Manage Administration. An administrator can search the log, export the log or copy a selected value from the log.

Viewing Log in SOLIDWORKS Manage Administration.

As is illustrated by the enhancements listed in this article, SOLIDWORKS Manage is still a rapidly developing product. I feel honored to be working with early adopters to help shape this product. While there are still some rough edges, the power and potential of this product are truly noteworthy.

For more about SOLIDWORKS, check out the whitepaper Developing Better Products in the Cloud.

About the Author

Joe Medeiros is a Senior Applications Engineer at Javelin Technologies, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller, servicing customers throughout Canada and offering SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Joe has been involved in many aspects of the SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996. As an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about SOLIDWORKS.

Many of the enhancements are on the front-end (user-facing), but there have also been back-end performance enhancements that users will appreciate.

Performance Enhancements

While performance can vary from environment to environment, SOLIDWORKS reports that adding files to the vault is 1.5 to 3 times faster in PDM 2021. On average, this is approximately a twofold increase in performance.

Halving the time it takes to add files to PDM is likely enough to drive many companies to update to PDM 2021 immediately, but there are additional performance gains. Checking-in files and changing state operations are now approximately 25 percent faster. For large assemblies and drawings, a 25 percent decrease in the time needed to perform these operations will save a significant amount time. Destroying files and folders is also reported to be many times faster. While this operation is performed far less often than other operations, PDM administrators will appreciate the reduced time it will take to purge deleted files.

Breaking down these performance gains further, SOLIDWORKS has significantly improved performance in the following operations.

 For folders containing a very large number of files:

• Check-in and check-out of a file.
• Adding a new file by dragging, or by copying and pasting.
• Creating a new file from a template.

For assemblies with a large number of components at a single level (i.e.: assembly, subassembly), when working in SOLIDWORKS:

• Opening files.
• Saving files.
• Switching windows.
• Editing a target file name in the Copy Tree dialogue box in a high latency environment.
• Using Copy Tree when a user setting is added to clear variable values.

User-Facing Front-End Enhancements

Beyond these notable performance enhancements in SOLIDWORKS PDM 2021, there are some great front-end enhancements that many users will appreciate.

Columns

The first of these is the customization of columns. In PDM Administration, the columns node is used to add Column Sets that are displayed in the PDM Explorer View and the Search View. Before SOLIDWORKS PDM 2021, there were essentially two column types that could be defined, one for the PDM Explorer and the other for the search window. Each user or group could have assigned one Explorer Column Set and one Search Column Set. This changed slightly in PDM 2020, when SOLIDWORKS introduced Quick Search. This resulted in a new column for the Quick Search Results.

In PDM 2021, columns have seen a complete makeover. First, there are now several predefined Column types that correspond with file details, file operations and searches.

Column node in PDM administration.

The column types do not contain column sets themselves, but instead act as templates that are used to create a column set. For instance, under Files >Details >Columns, right-click on Contains to create a new column set and populate predefined Columns.

These columns display information which many find useful when the Contains tab in the PDM Explorer view is selected. Of course, these existing columns can be deleted, and additional columns can be added. This allows you to configure what information your company’s PDM users will see.

Customizable columns.

The new column types are:

• File Details Columns, which includes Contains and Where Used.
• File Operations Columns, which are geared to PDM operations such as Change State, Check-in, Check-out, Get and Undo Check-out.
• File List Columns, which is the same one used for Explorer, in previous releases of PDM.
• Quick Search Result Columns to accommodate Quick Search, which was introduced in PDM 2020.
• Search Result Columns, which was also available in previous releases of PDM.

These additional columns mean that your company's PDM users can access the information they need when performing many common PDM operations. For instance, as an administrator, when you need to perform an Undo Check-out, you can more easily access important information such as the 'Local Version' and 'Referenced as.'

Previously this information could also be added to a multiuse, single column set, but this made for a PDM Explorer View that required scrolling to the left or right to see a required column. Now, this information can be accessed from a purpose-built column set.

In PDM 2021, users and groups are also no longer limited to having one column set per column type.

To accommodate this new functionality, the columns node interface in PDM administration has been updated. Columns and permissions now have their own tabs. Previously, permissions were defined in a panel on the right side of the column node interface.

Updated column node interface.

Column sets can still be assigned to users and groups, but the interface is much cleaner. And since users and groups can be assigned multiple column sets, a preferred column sets can be defined for each user and group. There are also now convenient search fields for users and groups.

Column node permissions tab.

In PDM Explorer, a PDM user can switch between column sets assigned to them from a right-mouse menu.

Changing column sets in PDM Explorer.

PDM File Explorer

The PDM File Explorer has itself gone under a facelift and been given some additional functionality.  First is the introduction of new short-cut keys:

• Ctrl-I (I as in India) for check-in
• Ctrl-O for check-out
• Ctrl-U for undo check
• Ctrl-T change state

The PDM Quick Access toolbar has been made more customizable.

PDM Quick Access toolbar.

In PDM Administration, by right-clicking a user or group and selecting settings, you can define what will appear in the Quick Access toolbar for each user or group.

Quick Access settings.

To allow for additional customization as a user, you can control what appears in your Quick Access toolbar from a pull-down on the right side of the Quick Access toolbar.

Modifying the PDM Quick Access toolbar in PDM Explorer.

The language used and About information can now be conveniently accessed from the Log Out icon at the top right of the PDM File Explorer.

New Log Out icon options.

A handy little addition to PDM 2021 is the ability to navigate Back and Forward from the address bar of PDM Explorer to previously selected files. This is similar to the behavior in Microsoft Windows File Explorer.

Back and forward from the PDM Explorer address bar.

It is also now possible to use View commands as well as some other commands from the ribbon control of Microsoft Windows File Explorer.

Workflow States

To give your States some added pizazz, new icons are available for Workflow States. Beyond pizazz, and likely of greater importance, the additional icons can make states graphically easier to recognize. Along with new icons, existing icon graphics have been reworked. These changes to icons can be seen when editing or creating a Workflow State. There is now an abundance of icons available to States, broken into categories.

New workflow state icons.

Treehouse Display

Treehouse displays the parent-relationship of references through a graphical representation and is an alternative to the default table view. A treehouse display can make it easier to understand the structure of your assemblies and drawings. Previously, treehouse was available from the Contains tab of PDM File Explorer. In PDM 2021, treehouse is also available from the Where Used tab.

Treehouse display in Where Used.

PDM BOMs

When you define a BOM in PDM Administration, you can now choose to Include Derived Part References in a computed BOM.

Include derived part references in a computed BOM.

For those who may not be familiar with derived parts, a derived part is referenced in another part as an external reference. The derived part will be the first feature in the part in which it is referenced.  Derived parts are useful when we want to use an existing part as the base for a new part. If the derived part is changed, those changes will propagate to the referencing part.

Another new feature to BOMs is the ability to include cut list references in a computed BOM.

Include cut list references in a computed BOM.

We will finish our look at what's new for SOLIDWORKS PDM 2021 with another new feature in PDM BOMs. PDM 2021 can now use the bill of materials component display settings defined in SOLIDWORKS for configuration specific properties.

The Promote option will dissolve a subassembly in the SOLIDWORKS BOM and display the subassembly’s child components. In PDM, the Computed will display the same.

Configuration properties.

Similarly, if the 'Link to Parent Configuration' option for 'Part number displayed when used in a bill of materials' is selected in SOLIDWORKS, the PDM Computed BOM displays the same. The 'Link to Parent Configuration' option sets the configuration to use the same part number as the parent configuration.

Now that we have looked at what is new in SOLIDWORKS PDM 2021, we see that with significant increases in performance, a cleaner interface as well as some useful new functionality, SOLIDWORKS has once again improved PDM.

For more information on how SOLIDWORKS PDM improves efficiency and shortens time to market, check out the eBook Gain Competitive Advantage with Product Data Management.

About the Author

Joe Medeiros is a Senior Applications Engineer at Javelin Technologies, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller, servicing customers throughout Canada and offering SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Joe has been involved in many aspects of the SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996. As an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about SOLIDWORKS.

At the North point of the Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE platform Compass is where social and collaborative apps are located. At the core of these apps is 3DSwYm.

“3DSwYm reveals the power of communities and conversations to share and innovate throughout internal and/or external ecosystems. It leads your company to be more agile and innovative by providing intuitive content creation tools and social interaction,” per Dassault Systèmes.

Before we jump into the 3DSwYm deep end (see what we did there?), let’s go through some terminology. Dassault Systèmes uses “SwYm” to refer to sites built using 3DSwYm technology, and “SwYmers” (pronounced “swimmers”) to refer to the people who use those sites. SwYm itself stands for Say What You Mean.

So join us, fellow SwYmers, in exploring the 3DSwYm community.

Communities, found in the top bar.

The first concept to understand is that 3DSwYm is available as a web app that can be accessed from the North point of 3DEXPERIENCE platform Compass, a widget that is part of a dashboard, then through the top bar of a dashboard by selecting Communities.

The next concept is that of Roles. 3DSwym Roles define your rights to create, read, update and delete content that is located on the communities you belong to. For those who want to have a better understanding of the permissions associated with various Roles, I have included below the Roles and access rights as defined within 3DEXPERIENCE User Assistance. User Assistance is online help for the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform, and can be accessed by clicking on the question mark on the 3DEXPERIENCE top bar.

3DEXPERIENCE User Assistance can be accessed by clicking on the question mark on the 3DEXPERIENCE top bar.

Legend for 3DEXPERIENCE User Assistance.

The explanation of the User Assistance acronyms and footnotes are:

• Y/N: Bold is the default behavior.
• CRUD: Create, Read, Update and Delete any content. An underscore (_) is used instead if the given right is not available.
• *: Update and delete their own content.
• R or CRUD*: Read any content and depending on the owner’s choice, Create, Update and Delete their own content.
• A platform administrator can: Edit or delete any content if the moderation mode has been activated, and edit or delete any comment.
• ⁽¹⁾ A contributor can create a media only in the context of a rich text message and cannot change the display on the “What’s New” option of this media.
• ⁽²⁾ The status of an idea can only be changed by an owner.
• ⁽³⁾ If an answer has been validated, only community owners can update it. Everyone can rate an answer except the member that answered the question.

Wiki commands specific rights.

The specific rights acronyms and footnotes are:

• ⁽¹⁾ Community owners always have access to private pages.
• ⁽²⁾ Wiki page privacy can be switched only if the parent page is public.
• ⁽³⁾ Lock applies only to the page title and content, not to the tree structure: The “Lock this page and all sub-pages” command will be effective at the time of the action so any newly created page will not be locked. A locked page can be moved within the tree.
• ⁽⁴⁾ MM stands for Moderation Mode.
• ⁽⁵⁾ When working on a private page, it applies only to contributors and authors declared as authorized users on this private page.

WeDo (like “to do”) specific rights.

For the WeDo specific rights, explanation as follows:

• ^* Update and delete their own content only if a member of the community.
• ^** Assignee can read/assign/change status only if a member of the community.

Additionally, as an administrator, you have access to the Communities Control Center, where you manage your communities.

My Communities.

The 3DSwym interface can consist of up to three panels. This can vary depending on what is selected and how you have the panels configured. The left panel gives you access to Communities and Conversations, each with its own tab. With the Communities tab selected, the communities you belong to are displayed under My Communities. You can define your favorite communities by dragging a community from My Communities to Favorite Communities.

My Communities.

Just below the Communities tab you can:

Search from your list of communities (My Communities).

Filter for only new content.

List My Communities, which will list the communities you belong to as well as public communities. You can also discover private communities, which you can join.

Selecting What’s New will launch the What’s New feed, where you can view the posts added by members of your communities. You can also post to your communities from this location.

Posts can be viewed chronologically for each community by selecting that community. While a community is selected, any post you add will be posted only to that community.

Community Posts.

Selecting a Community will provide you with several tools to access community information. This information is displayed on the far-right panel and includes community details, community members and a timeline of your communities’ posts.

The far right of the Community Panel.

Tools

Referring to the above image, along the top of the far-right panel, the following tools are available:

Filters your posts by their contents.

Filter your content by media.

Filter your content by WeDos.

Filter your content by ideas.

Filter your content by questions.

Filter your content by wiki pages.

Filter your content by surveys.

Community Features

To the right of the above tools is the Community Features pull-down. The pull-down allows you to:

Unfollow a community.

Leave a community.

Subscribe to new content.

View and edit your contributions to the selected community.

Subscribe to an RSS feed related to your communities.

Share with your communities.

On the left panel, the Conversations tab offers similar tools to the Communities tab. The Conversations tab contains conversations between two or more individuals, while the Communities tab contains content relating to the communities you belong to.

Similar to communities, you can search and filter conversations. By pressing “+” you can start a new conversation. Also, like communities, you can add conversations to your favorites.

The middle panel will display the conversations you had with the selected user. The two icons on the right change the way your conversations are displayed.

Content displays your conversation as a list of messages, posts, media or WeDos, while Timeline displays your conversations  chronologically. In both, you can add messages.

Note: Displaying as content or timeline is also available in communities

Adding a message to conversation.

Filters for contents and timelines.

As with communities, while the conversations tab is selected, there is a toolbar on the far-right panel that gives you control of your content. Referring to the image above, from left to right, these tools filter by posts, media and WeDos.

Audio and video calls and community features

To the right of the previously mentioned toolbar, there are tools for audio and video conferencing.

After starting Audio call, you can:

• Maximize to maximize the audio call window.
• Mute microphone or unmute.
• Hide camera to stop broadcasting the video streaming.
• Show camera to restart the streaming.
• Hang up to end the audio call.

Similarly, after starting a video call, you can:

• Maximize to maximize the video call window.
• Mute microphone or unmute.
• Hide camera to stop broadcasting the video streaming.
• Show camera to restart the video streaming.
• Hang up to end the video call.

The pull-down to the right of this toolbar gives you access to community features.

Set a topic, lets you edit the current conversation topic.

Transform into community. If you are platform administrator, you to can transform the conversation into a private community.

Subscribe to new content. Sends you a notification when new content is added to the selected conversation.

My contributions allows you to view and edit your contributions.

Similarly, to contributions, selecting WeDos will allow to view and edit your WeDos

Below these two toolbars, you can view the members of the selected conversation and the contents/timeline of the conversation. Selecting contents/timeline in the right panel has the same effect as selecting either of the two icons situated at the top-right of the middle panel (where you view your conversations) and changes how the conversation is displayed.

Members and Contents.

This article is part of a series, and provides a brief overview of the 3DSwym platform that intends to provide a basic understanding of the functionality found in the Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

To learn more about SOLIDWORKS, check out the whitepaper Developing Better Products in the Cloud.

About the Author

Joe Medeiros is a Senior Applications Engineer at Javelin Technologies, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller, servicing customers throughout Canada and offering SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Joe has been involved in many aspects of the SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996. As an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about SOLIDWORKS.

A dashboard is a collection of widgets, and widgets are links to platform apps, community content and web content. The dashboard a community member has access to can be one that is related to their roles, dashboards that were created specifically for them and dashboards that the community member created for themselves.

Regardless of which dashboard a member uses, they all have common elements.

Common elements of dashboards.

1. The Compass

The compass is a means of launching related apps.

• North – Social and collaborative (sharing)
• East – Information intelligence (metrics and data)
• South – Simulation (analysis)
• West – 3D Modeling (CAD)

2. Top Bar

Search: Lets you search across the 3DEXPERIENCE platform or within the current tab. Search results can be refined using 6WTags.

6WTags: Click the tag icon next to the search box to reveal the 6WTags. 6WTags lets you capture the semantics on any content.

Me: Lets you access some basics about your profile.

Notifications: Opens the 3DNotification Center on the right pane of your dashboard to display the notifications pushed by some Apps and services of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

Add: Lets you create and organize your dashboards.

Share: Lets you share tabs or dashboards with other users or user groups.

Content: Opens 3DDrive in a pane on the right of your dashboard to securely mashup, store, access and share files online from any device and anywhere.

Communities: Opens 3DSwym in a pane on the right of your dashboard to access the power of communities within a dashboard.

Help lets you access the following:

• Get Started: Displays the coachmark, a conceptual design window that provides a basic overview of the 3DEXPERIENCE.
• User’s Communities: Opens the community where you can find answers from members.
• On the cloud only: Get Support: Opens the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on cloud support page.
• 3DEXPERIENCE User Assistance: Online help and User Guide.

(Note: Description of the top bar commands was derived from 3DExperience User Assistance)

3. Tabs

Tabs are used to organize content.

4. Action Bar

Along the bottom is the action bar. The action bar is populated with the actions available for a selected app.

App action bar.

Apps come in two flavors: native apps and web-based apps. Native apps are installed on your devices, such as a computer, tablet or mobile phone. The installation for the native apps can be done directly from the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. An example of a native app would be the SOLIDWORKS Connector. Clicking on the SOLIDWORKS Connector will launch SOLIDWORKS on the computer where the Connector was installed, providing that SOLIDWORKS is also installed on that computer.

Web-Based Apps live on the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform and are launched and employed on the platform. An example of a Web App would be xShape.

As mentioned earlier, the dashboards you have available to you can be defined by the role(s) you are assigned. A role is a collection of apps that are related to defined fields of expertise. Examples of roles include 3D Component Designer, 3D Creator or 3D Sculpture. Example of apps related to these roles are xDesign for the 3D Creator role or xShape for 3D Sculpture.

My Roles.

Selecting a role will display the apps related to that role. For example, the 3D Sculptor role will give you access to the below apps.

Apps for 3D Sculptor role.

The roles and apps you have access to are displayed on a panel on the left side of the dashboard. This panel can be shown or hidden by clicking on the 3DEXPERIENCE compass, located at the top-left of the dashboard.

3DEXPERIENCE compass.

Below the 3DEXPERIENCE compass, you can change how your apps are displayed.

App display options.

You can also switch between your apps (Me), your company’s apps, and apps from the world.

App Type Selection.

With ‘Me’ and ‘As a System of Operations’ selected, you will see all the roles assigned to you. As mentioned previously, selecting a role will display the apps associated with that role. Below My Roles is a listing of ‘My Favorite Apps’ and below that ‘My Apps’. In My Apps, you will see all the apps you have access to based on your roles.

You can create a shortlist of Apps by dragging the app from My Apps to My Favorite Apps. Apps under My Favorite Apps can be dragged and dropped to reorder them, and apps can be removed from My Favorite Apps by dragging them to the Trash can at the top-right corner of My Favorite Apps.

Removing apps from my favorite apps.

Selecting content from the top bar will give you access to your files, as well as files shared with you. You all also have access to storage such as Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive.

Content.

Clicking on the grey area to the right will allow you to upload files.

Uploading Files.

Selecting communities on the Top bar will allow you to view and post to your 3DSwym Communities. 3DSwym Communities is displayed on the right-hand of the dashboard.

3DSwym Communities.

Dashboards can be used for defined roles—for example, 3D Component Designer—or for specific apps, such as SOLIDWORKS xDesign.

SOLIDWORKS xDesign dashboard.

Each dashboard will consist of widgets. A widget is a link for displaying a feed, a status, a graph or running an app. Selecting an app, such as 3DDrive, will display a dashboard containing widgets specific to your 3DDrive.

Widgets for 3DDrive.

Dashboards can be created for a role or an app, but regardless of your roles, you will have a default dashboard called My First Dashboard. This dashboard consists of two tabs. The Getting Started tab provides a quick overview of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, while the Learn the Experience tab provides some basic tutorials.

Getting started on My First Dashboard.

On top of dashboards available for roles and apps, and the default My First Dashboard, custom dashboards can be created. To create a custom dashboard, click on the plus sign icon located on the top bar and select Dashboard.

Adding a dashboard.

Dashboards can be created from templates, or you can choose to start with an empty dashboard.

Choosing how to create a dashboard.

An empty dashboard will consist of the top bar and a single tab called New Tab. You will likely want to rename the tab to something that is more meaningful. This is done by right-clicking on the pull-down beside the tab and choosing Rename.

Rename tab.

Additional tabs can be added by clicking on the plus sign, to the right of the last Tab. Tabs are an efficient way of organizing your Widgets.

Apps can be added to a dashboard by dragging it from My Apps into the dashboard. If the dashboard contains multiple tabs, the Widget is added to the active Tab. The active Tab is denoted by a blue underline.

Adding apps to a dashboard.

Keep in mind that much of this Content, whether it be apps or feeds, can be accessed from the top bar.

Every dashboard can have a ‘Story’. Stories help others navigate your dashboard by allowing you to add descriptions for the dashboard, each tab and every widget of your choice. A dashboard can have multiple stories, so each story needs to be named. Once a story has been created, it can be played by selecting the story from the dashboard pull-down. The story will also play when someone accesses your dashboard for the first time.

Playing a story.

When playing the story, anyone using your dashboard can go through the description for every tab and widget that contains a description and become familiar with navigating your dashboard.

Navigating story.

As well as adding or playing a story, the dashboard allows you to share your dashboard.

Sharing dashboard.

You can also edit or delete your dashboard. Duplicating your dashboard allows you to use a current dashboard as a template for a new dashboard. Manage Dashboards will bring up a window that displays all your dashboards. Here you can assign members, change the dashboard settings and perform many of the operations you had access through the dashboard pull-down. You can also switch between dashboards to edit them.

Manage Dashboard menu.

The dashboards available to you can be accessed by clicking on the dashboard list to the left of the 3DEXPERIENCE compass.

Dashboard List.

The dashboard list contains tools to search for dashboards, add dashboards, access the Manage Dashboards panel and recycle any deleted dashboards. You can add your most used dashboards to your favorite dashboard list by dragging and dropping the dashboard from your the ‘My Dashboard’ list. Dashboards can be removed from your favorite dashboard list in the same manner. Selecting a dashboard will make it the active dashboard.

Dashboard list.

Dashboards are key to navigating the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. In this article, we looked at the structure of dashboards and how we can interact with them. Configuring and using dashboards effectively will improve the usability of the platform.

Learn more about SOLIDWORKS with the whitepaper Developing Better Products in the Cloud.

About the Author

Joe Medeiros as a Senior Applications Engineer at Javelin Technologies, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller, servicing customers throughout Canada, offers SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Joe has been involved in many aspects of the SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996, and as an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about SOLIDWORKS solutions.

The gateway to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform is the Compass. The Compass groups apps into Social & Collaborative (North), Information Intelligence (East), Simulation (South), and 3D Modeling (West).

The apps that are available to each user will depend on their Role(s), as well as any additional apps that were purchased. For companies that use SOLIDWORKS, Dassault Systèmes offers 3DEXPERIENCE WORKS, which bundles 3D design tools into Standard, Professional and Premium levels.

Social and Collaborative

The Social and Collaborative apps available through the north point of the compass include 3DSwymm, 3DDrive and User Groups, among others.

3DSwymm

3Dswymm is the collaborative engine of the 3D Experience platform, and allows you to share knowledge, experience and expertise within communities on the 3DSwymm platform. You can:

• Create and join communities.
• Participate and share with other Community members. This allows individuals to gain expertise and to collaboratively drive innovation.
• Use 3DMessaging to communicate concepts and challenges.
• Create Audio and video calls with members of your community.

3DDrive

3DDrive is a storage app that resides on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. You can upload files to 3DDrive and decide whether to share these files with colleagues. 3DDrive functionality is similar to other cloud storage such as Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive, and these applications can be added to your 3DExperience platform.

User Groups

User Groups lets you manage a centralized list of Groups. The created Group list can be used by compatible apps that make use of lists.

3D Modeling

3D Modeling Apps incorporate a variety of design and engineering apps, accessed through the west point of the compass. These can be standalone apps or bundled apps such as 3D modeling core or 3DEXPERIENCE WORKS. Roles will often include a bundle of related apps.

3DPlay

One 3D Modelling app that is available to all users in the 3DEXPERIENCE platform is 3DPlay. 3DPlay allows anyone with access rights to view 3D models, including non-CAD users. Beyond just being able to view the models, you can:

• Manipulate a design.
• Section through a design.
• Measure between items in a design.
• Annotate items.
• Share content.

If the 3D content contains simulation data, there is the added functionality in 3DPlay for:

• Accessing simulation content, without requiring the native simulation app.
• Easily and quickly communicating simulation results.

Simulation

Simulation on the south point of the compass is home to the apps used for virtual prototyping and process simulation. The simulation apps belong to the DELMIA or SIMULIA family of apps. DELMIA offers a full spectrum of solutions, that enable you to simulate your manufacturing processes.

This includes plant layout, robotics and machining activities. DELMIA is also capable of planning processes and resources, manufacturing operations management, lean manufacturing and supply chain optimization. DELMIA enables you to simulate the behavior of your designs, through the use of scalable finite element analysis solutions.

Information Intelligence

The Information Intelligence apps are found in the east point of the compass, and enable users to holistically immerse themselves in information from the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, as well as from any enterprise system or the web. This includes connecting, discovering, collecting, consolidating and understanding information found in any of these platforms. In the Information Intelligence platform, you can:

• Access your 3D Dashboards.
• Collect and find structured and unstructured data, using 3DSearch.
• With Netvibes, access RSS fees with the Feed Reader.

The Information Intelligence platform also includes B.I. Essentials.

According to Dassault Systèmes User Assistance, “B.I. Essentials is an Information Intelligence app that provides visual dashboarding of critical information by applying color shadings and labels to the content in your session. By revealing key information, it enables you to make decisions based upon multi-criteria data analysis on a scale ranging from global to precise.” Color and shadings are applied to the content, and there is a legend that explains the meaning of the colors.

Overview of the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform

Dashboards and Widgets

The 3DEXPERIENCE platform gives users access to a diverse selection of web pages and apps, which can be easily accessed from a dashboard. These web pages and apps are inserted into Dashboard as Widgets. To assist in creating Dashboards, you can choose from a predefined list.

Whether using a predefined Dashboard or creating one from scratch, Widgets can be added to a Dashboard by dragging them from the available apps, or from any of the four Compass platforms.

Widgets can be positioned by dragging and dropping where you want them. Clicking on the pull-down at the top-right corner of a widget, allows that widget to be shared with other users, duplicated or deleted. A variety of preferences can be set for each widget, and which preferences are available can vary with the type of widget.

To make it easier to view the contents of a widget, it can be displayed Full Screen. Finally, clicking on Help will display help specific to that widget.

Tabs can be added to Dashboards to help organize the various widgets.

You can have access to multiple Dashboards that are based on Roles, that are user-defined or that are shared by other users.

User Tools

A variety of user tools can be accessed at the far top-right of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

The first tool is found under the circle containing your initials. This is where your Roles are displayed and where Roles can be activated and deactivated. Your online status can set to show as being offline, away, busy or online. You can also access, view and set your profile information, such as email address, phone number, Network members and account information.

Any notification that you receive can be viewed, by clicking on the bell icon.

Tabs can be added to existing Dashboards and new Dashboards can be created by clicking on the plus sign icon. A story provides a quick overview of a Dashboard’s contents.

Both existing tabs and dashboards can be shared with other users, by clicking on the arrow icon.

The Content tool provides access to your 3DDrive, as well as any other storage apps that have been added to your 3DEXPERIENCE platform, such as Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive.

The second from last tool provides access to your 3DSwymm Communities.

Lastly, the 3DExperience Platform Help is available through the question mark icon, and can be used to help navigate the platform.

My Profile Tool

The My Profile tool is a widget integral to a Dashboard, where you can manage your profile settings and activities. Under the related tab in your profile, you can update your information:

• Overview, which includes summary information such as personal projects or hobbies, contact information including email and phone number, website address, and your location, which can contain company, address, city and country details.
• About, where you can list your skills, spoken languages, interests, education and experience.
• Network, where you can add members to your network.
• Account, where you can manage your account information. This includes the visibility of information such a job title, company and address, which can be set to visible for nobody, company, network, and everybody. You can also view how your information will be shared on the platform, including login, photo and address. The information can be shared with only you, your company or everybody. Lastly, you can manage your security settings by updating your password, setting 2-factor authentication or sending a validation email.

Roles

Understanding the function of Roles in the 3DEXPERIENCE platform is important. A Role is a set of apps and options, which you can access in various areas of the platform. The Roles you are assigned determine the apps that you have access to, and as mentioned earlier, Roles can be based on the app bundles that were purchased, or by creating a Custom Role.

Selecting a Role will display the apps that are associated with the that Role.

Apps

Apps run on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, and require that a Connector be installed on your computer in order to access them. When executing the app for the first time, you will be asked to install the Connector. Once the first Connector has been installed, your 3DEXPERIENCE platform can be accessed from the Windows System Tray.

This article was a brief overview of the Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE platform, which offers a collection of cloud-based applications with a well-integrated collaborative environment. Cloud-based, interactive computing is emerging as a dominant technology and the Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE platform places Dassault at the leading edge of this rapidly expanding frontier.

Learn more about SOLIDWORKS and 3DEXPERIENCE in the whitepaper Developing Better Products in the Cloud.

Joe Medeiros is a Senior Applications Engineer at Javelin Technologies, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller, servicing customers throughout Canada, offers SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Joe has been involved in many aspects of the SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996, and as an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about SOLIDWORKS solutions.

A portion of what I’ll be covering in this article is related to the integration of other SOLIDWORKS applications into SOLIDWORKS PDM 2020. The first of which is related to the latest SOLIDWORKS data management offering—SOLIDWORKS PDM Manage.

The SOLIDWORKS Manage tab in SOLIDWORKS PDM Explorer Vault View now contains additional tabs, which provide more information stored in SOLIDWORKS Manage. These tabs are Properties, BOMs, History, Where Used, Tasks and Emails.

Plenary Web Client

The Plenary Web Client for SOLIDWORKS Manage is included in the SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager. In SOLIDWORKS Manage 2020, the Plenary Web Client can be integrated with a connected SOLIDWORKS PDM vault, without the need to install any software.

PCB Integration with SOLIDWORKS PDM

The next SOLIDWORKS application that has seen improved integration with SOLIDWORKS PDM is SOLIDWORKS PCB—In particular, the new SOLIDWORKS PCB-PDM Connector. The SOLIDWORKS PCB-PDM connector, allows SOLIDWORKS PCB to take advantage of SOLIDWORKS PDM-based workflows. This allows mechanical and electronic design information to be managed with a single environment.

The new SOLIDWORKS PCB-PDM Connector allows:

• Creating SOLIDWORKS PCB projects and design files, which are managed within SOLIDWORKS PDM.
• Using the functionality inherent to SOLIDWORKS PDM to check-in and check-out PCB files.
• The ability to create versions of files using SOLIDWORKS PDM File Explorer.
• The use of PDM data cards to input and access information regarding PCB design files.
• The ability to perform Where Used for PCB design files.
• A centralized storage location of electronic design data in a SOLIDWORKS PDM vault, an environment with which many users are already familiar and comfortable.
• Notifications when a workflow process achieves a specific milestone.
• Development of a formal release process, with electronic approvals and sign offs.
• The integration of SOLIDWORKS PCB/PDM variables and parameters.
• Access to a SOLIDWORKS PDM Bill of Materials.

Visualize SOLIDWORKS PDM Integration

The last SOLIDWORKS application that I will look at, which has seen improved integration with SOLIDWORKS PDM, is SOLIDWORKS Visualize.  Within SOLIDWORKS Visualize, a user can access vault commands and view file information. This does require that SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional is installed on the system as SOLIDWORKS Visualize.

The SOLIDWORKS PDM commands are located on the menu bar of SOLIDWORKS Visualize.

From the SOLIDWORKS PDM pull-down in SOLIDWORKS Visualize, users can Check in/out files, perform an Undo Check-out (providing the user has sufficient permissions), Get Latest, Get Version (again, providing the user has sufficient permissions), Show Card (the PDM data card), Change State and Search. Selecting in Windows Explorer will launch Windows Explorer Vault View, and show information such as Local Version, Local Revision, the Workflow State and whether the file is Checked Out. If the file is checked out, the computer will show where it is Checked Out.

The next group of enhancements pertain to both SOLIDWORKS and SOLIDWORKS PDM.

Improved Performance When Opening and Saving Files from a Previous Version

The performance of opening legacy files (that is, files last saved in earlier versions of SOLIDWORKS) has improved. While this not a PDM enhancement, the improved performance of opening legacy files may eliminate the need to update some files in the vault, without paying a heavy performance cost.

In order to update vaulted legacy files, these files need to be checked out, opened in SOLIDWORKS, saved and then checked back in.

While the SOLIDWORKS PDM File Version Upgrade tool can be used to automate the process, this can be time-consuming and in order to not effect production may require that it be done after hours. Furthermore, some files may not upgrade during this process, and would require manual upgrading.

I’ve seen many PDM implementations where vaulted files are not upgraded to the currently installed version of SOLIDWORKS because of the amount of work involved. In large assemblies this can impact performance considerably, so this increased performance will be very welcome by many PDM users.

This does not completely eliminate the need to upgrade legacy files. Better performance can still be achieved with upgraded files. Also, the conversion process that takes place when a legacy file is opened can in rare cases cause file corruption. The older the version of the legacy file, the greater the chance of file corruption. I would still recommend upgrading commonly used or recently used files; but older, rarely used files can now be accessed without having to pay a huge performance cost.

Open Modes from File Explorer or PDM Vault View

This new functionality will launch the SOLIDWORKS Open dialogue box, from either Windows File Explorer or the PDM Vault View. Previously, the Open dialogue box was only available from SOLIDWORKS File > Open (Ctrl + O). This does require opening the file by right clicking on the file and selecting SOLIDWORKS > Open.

Launching the SOLIDWORKS open dialogue box allows the user to choose Display States, Configurations and Modes such Lightweight and Use Large Assembly Settings. These setting can improve performance when opening and working with large assemblies.

If SOLIDWORKS is already open, the file can be dragged into the SOLIDWORKS window from either Windows File Explorer or the PDM Vault View, while holding the ALT key. This will cause the SOLIDWORKS Open dialogue to launch.

Access to the SOLIDWORKS Open dialogue is available in earlier versions of SOLIDWORKS, but SOLIDWORKS 2020 must be installed on the same computer in order to update the SOLIDWORKS Launcher. For earlier versions of SOLIDWORKS (prior to SOLIDWORKS 2020), the ALT + drag method of opening files is not supported.

Installing Toolbox Software Without Installing Toolbox Data

In a shared Toolbox/Hole Wizard environment, such as where Toolbox is located on a network drive or in a PDM vault, the client installations can be set to not install or upgrade the Toolbox data at that location. This is useful when:

• The SOLIDWORKS PDM local view was not set before installing SOLIDWORKS.
• The files in the Toolbox/Hole Wizard location are in use and could block the SOLIDWORKS installation from completing.
• The Toolbox/Hole Wizard location is unavailable, which could also block the SOLIDWORKS installations from completing.

When the client installations are set to not install the Toolbox data, the SOLIDWORKS software and settings will point to the default Toolbox/Hole Wizard location. The Toolbox/Hole Wizard data is still needed, though, for the Toolbox/Hole Wizard to function. At some point, the Toolbox/Hole Wizard data will need to be installed in a central location.

The ability to install the Toolbox/Hole Wizard without the Toolbox/Hole Wizard data is defined in a SOLIDWORKS Administrative Image, and therefore a SOLIDWORKS Administrative Image must be used for the installation of SOLIDWORKS.

In the Administrative Image Option Editor, click Settings and then expand Toolbox/Hole Wizard Options. Next, check ‘No, install the Toolbox software without including the data files’.

Support for Configuration-Specific $PRPSHEET Properties

This enhancement is one that many PDM users have been waiting for. When you change a configuration-specific property in the source document (part or assembly), the $PRPSHEET property in the linked drawing displays the updated value without needing to open and save the drawing in the SOLIDWORKS. This enhancement applies to the following:

• SOLIDWORKS Quick View
• eDrawings Desktop including the integration in SOLIDWORKS PDM Desktop client
• eDrawings Web Viewer embedded in SOLIDWORKS PDM Web2 client.

This last group of enhancements are purely PDM enhancements that did not make it into my last article.

Reordering Columns in Search Results

Columns in the search results of an Embedded Search, can be reordered and these changes are saved.

Scaling the Paper Size in Print Task

When configuring the Print task, the Scale can be set to ‘Scale to fit’ and there is an option to ‘Allow the user to change the scale’.

In this article, I highlighted how other SOLIDWORKS applications are increasingly being integrated into SOLIDWORKS PDM. I also looked at how some of the new SOLIDWORKS functionality has enhanced the use of SOLIDWORKS PDM. Lastly, I described some additional SOLIDWORKS Enhancements that were not included in my last article. All of these enhancements, along with those in my article What’s New SOLIDWORKS PDM 2020, illustrate how SOLIDWORKS PDM 2020 is one of the most significant recent releases.

Joe Medeiros is a Senior Applications Engineer at Javelin Technologies, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller, servicing customers throughout Canada, offers SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using SOLIDWORKS solutions Joe has been involved in many aspects of the SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996, and as an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about SOLIDWORKS CAD and Data Management solutions.

The first group of enhancements I’ll look at relate to the user interface (UI). This includes changes to the existing UI as well as brand-new user interfaces.

Note: Some of the items covered in this article were released with SOLIDWORKS Manage 2019 service packs. I’ve included these in this article for those who may not have installed the relevant service packs.

Dashboard Viewer

The Dashboard Viewer is a stand-alone application that interacts with SOLIDWORKS Manage dashboards (see Figure 1). Using the Dashboard Viewer does not require logging in as Editor or Contributor and therefore does not require any of those licenses. Using the Dashboard Viewer will require at least one Viewer license, though.

Any dashboard created in SOLIDWORKS Manage can be displayed in the Dashboard Viewer. These dashboards are available from a pull-down in the Dashboard Viewer as shown in Figure 2.

The information displayed in the dashboard can be made to update automatically by setting a Refresh interval as shown in Figure 3. Having the dashboard running continuously and setting a Refresh interval will provide real-time updates.

Administration Tool Application

As with the Dashboard Viewer, there is now an independent interface for SOLIDWORKS Manage Administration as shown in Figure 4. Like the Dashboard Viewer, Administration also eliminates the need for a separate Manage license in order to perform administration tasks. This also allows an administrator to work in the Manage Administration and Client functions independently.

In this way, changes can be made in Administration and then tested in Client without first having to close the Administration interface. Previously, SOLIDWORKS Manage Administration had to be closed before a user could interact with Client.

The Administration tool can still be accessed from the Manage Client, but since this requires first logging into the Client, a license will be needed as shown in Figure 5.

Integration into Microsoft Outlook

SOLIDWORKS Manage is now integrated into Microsoft Outlook. After logging into SOLIDWORKS Manage, a user can add emails to an existing record or create a new record from an email as shown in Figure 6.

Once an email has been sent to a record from Microsoft Outlook, SOLIDWORKS Manage is activated. The user can then select a record and attach the email from Microsoft Outlook as shown in Figure 7.

More in PDM Explorer Vault View

The SOLIDWORKS Manage tab in SOLIDWORKS PDM Explorer Vault View (see Figure 8) contains the following additional tabs: Properties, BOM, History, Where Used, Tasks and Emails (thanks to the new Microsoft Outlook integration).

Dark Mode

Dark mode, or Night-time mode, is now available as an Interface option. This can be set from the SOLIDWORKS Manage Login or from My Options. If the mode is set in My Options, SOLIDWORKS Manage must be restarted before the changes will be applied (see Figure 9).

Projects

One of the core areas of SOLIDWORKS Manage, Projects, has seen significant enhancements.

SOLIDWORKS Manage can now import projects from other programs such as Microsoft Project. Currently, these exported projects must be in XML format. The ability to import projects can eliminate the need to recreate these projects in SOLIDWORKS Manage. Manage projects can also be exported to XML (see Figure 10).

When importing from Microsoft Project, Project Start, End and Duration are imported as are predecessors, and Microsoft Project Tasks become Stages.

Scheduling and Loading are additions to Manage, which can be used to help better define Project Timelines. Schedule and Load charts both provide a graphical overview of users’ capacity across the timeline. A Schedule Chart (see Figure 11) displays stages, for which each user is assigned as a resource. A Load Chart displays the timeline, where a user is assigned as a resource, and highlights in red if they are assigned to more than one stage at that time.

There are additional charts that are now available in SOLIDWORKS Manage 2020. Pert charts provide a graphical representation of a project’s timeline and Network Diagrams provide a graphical view of a project’s stages, dependencies and critical path (see Figure 12).

Project stages can now be Split, and a Split Stage can be removed. Any remaining Time after the Split will form a new Stage as shown in Figure 13.

While Insert Stage is not new, in earlier releases stages were always added to bottom of the screen and needed to be moved to the desired location. Now, Stages can be inserted directly into the chosen location.

The new Holiday Register allows personal Holidays, Absences and Public Holidays to be displayed and edited (see Figure 14). Along the top of the screen, checkboxes control what type of events are displayed (Holidays, Absences, Public Holidays). On the right side of the screen, days can be entered for each event. Holiday Register is a key component of Capacity Planning.

Capacity Planning visually displays the capacity and utilization of all resources. The upper panel displays the Capacity of the resources and the lower panel displays the Demand (see Figure 15).

A pick list makes it easy to select which resources will be monitored (see Figure 16).

Personal Holidays, Absences and Public Holidays can be accounted for individual users and the icon on the right side of the screen provides easy access to the Holidays Register. The overall Efficiency of the resources can also be set as shown in Figure 17.

In the Capacity Planning options, the working days and the number of working hours can be defined. Under the Color tab, colors can be assigned to capacity ranges as shown in Figure 18. For example, the color red can be used to identify when capacity drops below a certain level.

Processes

The other core area that has been enhanced in SOLIDWORKS Manage 2020 is Processes.

In the Workflow Properties of a Process, an administrator can add process conditions. Conditions can be added to a Process Stage to prevent a record from being sent to the next stage if those predefined conditions are not met, as shown in Figure 18.

When creating or editing a Process, related records can be added to exiting affected items as shown in Figure 19. This includes parent and child records and references. Multiple related records can be added, including those that are stored in different objects.

While sending items through a Process, the items can be split into related sub-processes as shown in Figure 20. The history of the parent process is retained within the sub-process. Sub-processes must first be enabled in SOLIDWORKS Manage System Administration for them to be available in the Client.

The following are general enhancements that do not directly relate to the above categories.

Send to Process

While related to Processes, Send to Process is located in the ribbon bar for records as shown in Figure 21.

Back and Forward Navigation

When working with records, it is now easy to navigate back and forward between individual records by clicking on Back or Forward in the ribbon bar as shown in Figure 22. This is an enhancement that provides the ease of use found in other SOLIDWORKS products and shows how Manage is being brought to the SOLIDWORKS standards users are accustomed to.

Task Templates

The SOLIDWORKS Manage Administrator can now create Task Templates. Using Task Templates can reduce the time and effort required to create a Task by predefining information such as the Assignment, Priority, Time Allocation and general details of a Task (see Figure 23). Task Templates can also be made Global, so that they are available to all users.

Object Notes

Administrators can add Object Notes to all objects except Project and Process objects. To use Object Notes, the Manage Administrator must first enable Object Notes for a particular object. Once enabled, Object Notes will appear in every record for that object. The data of Object Notes is specific to a field group. Adding notes to one field group does not apply it to another group.

Copy From BOM—Update Child References

Copy From provides the ability to copy information from a bill of materials (BOM) within the same record or from another record. In SOLIDWORKS Manage 2020, it is now possible to update child references that are used in the BOM Copy From operation. Manual Quantities can also be copied using Copy From.

Multiple Object BOM Import

It is now possible to import records from multiple objects when using Import from Excel file. There is also a new area on the template form that allows users to specify additional objects to search.

Custom Procedures

From the Search All command, users can run administrator-defined queries of the Manage database, without needing to directly access the database management tools. The Manage Administrator determines who can run these queries, and users can define customized procedures, which can include input parameters (see Figure 24).

Customized Affected Item List

Similar to BOM variants, the grid where affected items are viewed can be customized. Fields can be added as well as have conditional highlighting applied to them.

Multilevel Limiting Lists

Limiting Lists are no longer limited to two levels, and child can also be parent.

Web Client

The web client now can be run as either Plenary (full) or Targeted. The Administrator determines who can access only the Targeted Web Forms (see Figure 25). The Targeted Web Forms are created in Manage System Administration. Multiple Web Forms can be created, and the Administrator can determine who has access to each form.

The Plenary Web client can now be connected to SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional. This allows Check Out/In, change state and send SOLIDWORKS PDM data to a process.

This release of SOLIDWORKS Manage 2020, along with enhancements in service packs for SOLIDWORKS Manage 2019, has greatly improved user interaction and provided powerful new tools. One can only imagine what the developers at SOLIDWORKS are working on for service packs of SOLIDWORKS 2020 and the release of SOLIDWORKS Manage 2021.

About the Author

Joe Medeiros is a Senior Applications Engineer at Javelin Technologies, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller, servicing customers throughout Canada, offers SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using SOLIDWORKS solutions. Joe has been involved in many aspects of the SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996, and as an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Following performance, the next most significant enhancement to the software is with the Search tool. Searches have been made more flexible, and in certain respects are easier to configure.

There has also been a peppering of enhancements in many other areas of SOLIDWORKS PDM 2020.

Improved Browsing Performance

The developers at SOLIDWORKS have cleverly staged the way data is loaded. Information from SQL has to be loaded, and this can take a significant amount of time, especially in folders that have large numbers of files.

With SOLIDWORKS PDM 2020, users can access the required data while the remaining data continues to load in the background. It is also possible to stop the loading of data when a user is changing between different folders. In this way, a user does not need to wait for all the information in all the files in a selected folder to be loaded before they can access another folder. Below is how this process works in SOLIDWORKS PDM 2020:

1. All the data relating to subfolders is loaded synchronously. Subfolders can be browsed while data is being loaded in the background.
2. Next, files and their standard columns are loaded in the file list for the current folder.
3. Custom columns are loaded next. Additional custom columns can be added without impacting browsing speed.
4. After selecting a file and switching between the Bill of Materials, Contains, and Where Used tabs, SOLIDWORKS PDM 2020 loads the data related to these tabs in the background.
5. If a different folder or file is selected, the data loading for the current selection stops and the loading of data for the new selection starts.

The performance gains will be more noticeable in folders with large amounts of files or servers with high latency.

Improved Performance with SOLIDWORKS PDM Add-In

Performance of SOLIDWORKS PDM has also been improved as follows:

• Loading of the PDM data that is displayed in the PDM Task Pane Tree is performed in the background.
• When a file is selected, database calls are eliminated, thereby removing much of the lag time when browsing through files.
• When selecting a file in the graphics area or in the FeatureManager design tree, the file is selected in the PDM Task Pane Tree and the correct commands are instantaneously enabled in the SOLIDWORKS PDM toolbar.

General Performance Improvements

Beyond browsing and performance enhancements to the PDM add-in, SOLIDWORKS PDM 2020 also offers a number of general performance improvements. These are:

• Logging into the PDM vault when large numbers of files and folders are set for automatic caching
• Viewing the System History of a vault that contains a large number of files and/or folders
• Opening a file from a folder that contains a large number of files
• Creating a file or subfolder in a folder that contains a large number of files

These performance gains will be most noticeable where there are folders that contain a large number of files. In folders where there are fewer files, these performance gains may not be as apparent.

Search User Interface

The other area that has seen a significant improvement is searches. This includes the addition of Quick Searches and the revamping the Search functions.

Quick Searches, which can be performed without the requirement of a Search Card,are performed by entering text in the Quick Search field, which is at the top right of the Windows Explorer Vault View or by pressing Ctrl-F (see Figure 1).

Predictive Searches are incorporated into Quick Searches. Once a user has performed a number of searches, this search criteria is stored and the last five can be selected for reuse. Clicking in the Quick Search box will list the last five searches.

After entering text in the Quick Search dialog box,a list of matching, previously used searches will appear. Using the up and down arrow keys allows you to select one of the filtered results. Clicking enter will select the highlighted result, and pressing ESC on your keyboard will close the search.

Quick Searches can also be performed from the SOLIDWORKS Open dialog box, if the PDM add-in is enabled in SOLIDWORKS (see Figure 2).

Searches can be further configured by clicking on the pull-down menu to the right of the Quick Search dialog box and selecting Search Criteria as shown in Figure 3.

Additional Search Criteria is defined in PDM Administration. In the Lists Node, there is an additional section called Quick Search Variable Lists. Right-clicking on this section gives you the option to create a New List. Like Search Cards, Quick Search Variable Lists can be assigned to Users and Groups. In this way, different Users and Groups can have Search Criteria that meets their requirements (see Figure 4).

Adding a Variable to the Quick Search Variable List is similar to adding columns to a BOM or Column set. Pressing Add will activate a pull-down menu, where you can select a Variable. The Name field can be used to change what is displayed on the Quick Search pull-down. Providing a different Name will not change the Variable that is being searched, but only what the user will see. This is useful when the actual Variable name is long or obscure.

Searches have been made much more powerful with the addition of AND, OR and NOT Operators. Now searches can be refined by combining or excluding Search Criteria, by stringing together multiple Variables. In addition to being used in Quick Searches, Search Operators can also be used in the Search Tool and Search Cards. The Search Operators are case sensitive and must be entered as they are capitalized. In contrast, Search strings are case insensitive. For numerical Searches, the Operators =, !=, <, <=, > and >= can be used.

In SOLIDWORKS PDM 2020, it is now possible to move and resize the Columns in the Search results. Double-clicking the right column Border will automatically resize the column. This is one of those little things that can add polish to an otherwise extraordinary solution.

As mentioned previously, searching using Multiple Variables can also defined in a Search Card (see Figure 5). This can be done when creating or editing an Edit Control. Checking Multi-variable in Edit-box Properties provides a list of variables that can be strung together for a hard-coded search. Unlike the Quick Search, which uses dynamic criteria, the Multiple Variable search within the Search Card is static.

Child Reference State Conditions

Another significant enhancement in SOLIDWORKS 2020 is the ability to define Child Reference State Conditions. With this enhancement, an administrator can define the State conditions of immediate child references that must be met before the parent file can be transitioned. With this enhancement, a parent file can be prevented from being Transitioned until all the immediate children have been Transitioned first. This is just one example of how Child Reference State Conditions can be used. This enhancement opens up a whole new series of possibilities for controlling Transitions.

The Child Reference State Conditions is defined in a Workflow Transition, located under the Conditions tab (see Figure 6). After choosing Child Reference State as the Condition Variable, selecting “Text Equal To” or “Not Equal To” makes available Workflows and States as Condition Values that can be chosen to define the condition. Being able select other Workflow and Workflow States is useful when files are moved between Workflows through a Transition.

To accommodate this new Transition condition, there is a new selection for the Change State Affected Operation in the Warnings tab of User or Group Properties. If Child references do not meet state conditions is selected, Parent files will be blocked from Transitioning if the Child Conditions are not met (see Figure 7).

Logging Out from Windows Explorer

It is now possible to logout of SOLIDWORKS PDM without having the use the flyout in the Windows task bar. This can now be done in the SOLIDWORKS PDM Windows Explorer interface. A balloon will indicate which user is currently logged in (see Figure 8).

Having the logout located within Explorer makes this process less confusing for new users, who may not know where to find the logout command.

Warning Users When Transitioning Files

If a file passes through a Transition that includes Dynamic Notifications, a warning is given if a User or Group is not selected to receive the notification.

Resizable Dialog Boxes

Additional dialog boxes are now resizable:

• Edit Variable
• Serial Number—New Serial Number
• Indexing Settings
• Cold Storage Schema
• Dialog boxes in Data Import/Export node such as XML Variable Alias Sets, Export Rule, and Import Rule
• File Type Properties
• Customizable Columns
• Dialog boxes in Bill of Materials such as BOM, Item BOM, Weldment BOM, and Weldment Cut List
• Edit Template
• Dialog boxes in Dispatch such as Administrate Actions and Properties

This enhancement will help with the battle to monitor real estate and reduce the need to switch between active windows.

Paper Scaling in Print Task

When defining a Print Task, the Print Scale can be defined as Scale to Fit, or Scale. Scale allows users to set the Scale when the Print Task is executed.

Web2 (as listed in SOLIDWORKS PDM What’s New):

• When dragging a folder to the file list, the Check In File Structure dialog box opens automatically.
• In the Details section of the data card, in Comment, you can see version comments.
• SOLIDWORKS PDM Web2 lets you see a read-only view of the Bill of Materials.
• In the large screen layout, the Bill of Materials tab is available in the file detail view. The supported BOM types are:
  • Computed BOMs
  • Weldment BOMs
  • Weldment cut lists
  • SOLIDWORKS BOMs
• In the small screen layout, the Bill of Materials tab is available from the ellipsis menu. The tab contains two customizable columns.
• The Bill of Materials tab displays the bill of materials of SOLIDWORKS PDM items or of a SOLIDWORKS assembly, drawing, part or weldment part.

Working with SOLIDWORKS PDM users regularly, I often hear how performance can be a hurdle. The increase in performance, as well as the compelling enhancements in the Search functionality, makes the release of SOLIDWORKS PDM 2020 one of the best I have seen since I starting to work with this solution.

About the Author

Joe Medeiros as a Senior Applications Engineer at Javelin Technologies, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller, servicing customers throughout Canada, offers SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Joe has been involved in many aspects of the SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996, and as an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about SOLIDWORKS CAD and Data Management solutions.

Detailing Mode is similar to Detached Drawings, but unlike a detached Drawing, a drawing does not need to first be saved in Detailing Mode. Instead, the drawing is opened in Detailing Mode, similar to how assemblies can be opened in Large Design Review mode. In the Open dialogue box, when a drawing is selected, there are a number of modes to choose from, including Detailing Mode. A slider indicates the relative performance impact of each mode.

While not new for SOLIDWORKS 2020, Select Sheets has been moved conveniently close—to right beside the Mode selector. Previously, it was to the far-right of the Open dialogue box and easy to miss. I also like that Selected Sheets is displayed only for multiple-sheet drawings. This keeps the user interface focused.

Select Sheets allows users to decide which sheets will be loaded to work on. This can decrease open times and increase drawing performance. Once the drawing is opened, additional sheets can be loaded to work on as well.

If Lightweight or Resolved Mode is selected, the Use Speedpak option is available. Also, if Lightweight or Resolved Mode is selected, drawing References (components referenced by the drawing) can be modified.

After clicking Open, a dialogue box will list what can be done in Detailing Mode. This dialogue box can be dismissed.

When the drawing is opened, the top menu bar will indicate that the drawing is in Detailing Mode by displaying “Detailing” in brackets.

Opening a drawing in Detailing Mode when the referenced components have changed will produce a dialog warning the user that components may need to be updated, and gives the option to load the model.

This will only occur if the referenced components can be located by the search routines used by SOLIDWORKS. If the referenced components have been moved using tools other than the ones supplied by SOLIDWORKS, or if the referenced components are unavailable, then the user will be prompted to browse for the missing components or supress the missing components.

If there have been changes to the referenced components and the user chooses to continue loading the drawing in Detailing Mode, the changes to the referenced components will not propagate to the drawing.  The drawing will be loaded as it was last saved.

When there is an indication that the drawing needs updating, the drawings Feature Manager will indicate the drawing needs to be rebuilt.

The affected drawing views will display with a hashed border.

Right-clicking on the drawing will give the option Resolve Drawing. Resolving the drawing will load the reference components and update the drawing. The option to resolve the drawing is also available from most tabs of the Command Manager.

The user can also choose to update an individual sheet or view by right-clicking on the sheet or view. This can be done from the drawing area or Feature Manager. Updating individual sheets or views can reduce load times, compared to loading all sheets and views.

I would like to have the option to unload the referenced components and switch back to Detailing Mode without having to reopen the drawing, similar to how hidden components can be unloaded in an assembly. Perhaps this will be available in a future release.

Once opened in Detailing Mode, there are many operations that can be completed in a drawing. The caveat is that these operations do not require loading the referenced components. These include adding Annotations such as Model Items (i.e. dimensions), Auto Balloon, Hole Callout, Center Marks, Center Lines, Area Hatch and Revision Symbols.

While Tables are available, BOMs and most other tables are not. Only the General Table and Revision Table can be added in Detailing Mode.

Like an eDrawing, the drawing can be marked up. Unlike an eDrawing, the Measure tool is not available.

Additional Drawing Views can not be added in Detailing Mode from the View Palette, but views can be copied and pasted. This includes copying and pasting between sheets. Sheets can also be added to a drawing while in Detailing Mode.

While most drawing views cannot be added from Insert > Drawing View, I do like that Empty views can be added.

This allows a user to define the position and Properties of drawing views before loading a large assembly.

I would like to have the ability to add Detail views, as can be done in Detached Drawings. I suspect that this will possible in a future release of SOLIDWORKS.

Dimensions can be added using the Smart Dimension tool, but DimXpert annotations can’t be loaded. Hopefully in a future release, SOLIDWORKS drawings in Detailing Mode will be able to load DimXpert annotations. That being said, a drawing can be loaded in Resolved Mode, the DimXpert annotations added, then the drawing saved and reopened in Detailing Mode for further detailing.

Model dimensions that were added in Resolved Mode, however, cannot be edited other than repositioning them or deleting them.

As with a Resolved drawings, notes can be attached to a view or sheet. The note can be linked to a Property but not to Model properties.

If changes are required to the title block or drawing border, the sheet format can be edited. As with other notes, notes in the sheet format cannot be linked to Model properties.

Below is a full list of what can be done in Detailing Mode as listed in the What’s New SOLIDWORKS 2020 guide, including the ones already covered in this article:

• Notes, including notes with leaders
• Weld callouts
• Linear and circular note patterns
• Geometric tolerances
• Surface finish symbols
• Datum feature symbols
• Datum target symbols
• Revision symbols
• Revision clouds
• Radial and linear dimensions, including use of the Smart Dimension tool
• Locations labels
• Balloons
• Ordinate dimensions
• Magnetic lines
• Angular running dimensions
• Change the position, rotation, and labels of drawing views.
• Copy or cut drawing views and paste them onto the same or other sheets within the same drawing.
• Within annotations, add links to the displayed values of dimensions and other linkable annotations.
• Insert sketch blocks.
• Add general and revision tables. You cannot add other table types.
• Select displayed geometry, such as model edges and sketches. Use Select Other to find other selectable items. You cannot select model faces in any drawing views.
• Save the file as a PDF/DXF file, or print as a PDF.

The limitations when working in Detailing Mode, as listed in the What’s New SOLIDWORKS 2020 guide, are:

• You cannot create new drawing views.
• You cannot create center lines, center marks or hatching.
• You cannot use the Undo tool.
• Draft quality section views cannot be selected or exported to DXF/DWG.
• Detailing mode is not available for detached drawings.

The limitation of not being able to perform an Undo is hopefully something that will be changed soon.

In regard to Detached Drawings, as noted, Detailing mode is not available for Detached Drawings. When a Detached Drawing is selected in the Open dialogue box, there is no option to load the drawing in Detailing Mode.

While in Detailing mode, a drawing cannot be saved as a Detached Drawing. This should not be a problem as Detailing Mode and Detached Drawings basically do the same thing. I do hope, though, that SOLIDWORKS does port some of the functionality from Detached Drawings, such as the ability to create Detail views.

In summary, drawings do not need to be saved in Detailing Mode, as is the case of Detached Drawings. Like Detached Drawings, Detailing Mode can offer improved performance while detailing drawings of large assemblies. Like both Detached Drawings and eDrawings, Detached Mode allows drawings to be shared without having toinclude the referenced components.

While there are a few more things that I would like to see in Detailing Mode, this new functionality in SOLIDWORKS 2020 shows great promise. I look forward to seeing Detailing Mode evolve.

About the Author

Joe Medeiros is a senior applications engineer at Javelin Technologies, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller servicing customers throughout Canada, and offers SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using SOLIDWORKS solutions.

He has been involved in many aspects of the SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996. As an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Let’s start this introduction to using SOLIDWORKS Manage by defining it. SOLIDWORKS Manage offers companies a project management solution that can be easier to implement and less costly then a full-blown product lifecycle management (PLM) solution. SOLIDWORKS Manage includes SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional and can be integrated with SOLIDWORKS PDM vaults.

Once SOLIDWORKS Manage has been implemented, user’s access it through a login screen that provides options such as which SOLIDWORKS PDM vault to connect and the license type that will be used. Like SOLIDWORKS PDM, the license types are editor, contributor and viewer.

SOLDWORKS Manage launch screen.

Once launched, the user will have access to the SOLIDWORKS Manage interface. The main components of this interface are:

1. The ribbon bar is a collection of drop-down menus that provides access to items such as Administration and User Options (My Options) and configurable Dashboards.
2. Modules are the main areas of SOLIDWORKS Manage.
3. Module Objects are components used with each module.
4. Module Configurable Structures contains the details that make up the modules.
5. The side pane contains Advanced Search, Document Information and Shortcuts.

Main components of SOLIDWORKS Manage.

The ribbon bar provides many ways of interacting with SOLIDWORKS Manage. One of the first areas a User will encounter is My Options (User Options).

Accessing My Options.

In My Options, aspects of the user interface can be fine tuned. The aspects that can be modified are controlled by a SOLIDWORKS Manage administrator.

Some of the items available in My Options are:

• Ability to choose from available dashboards
• Configure some aspects of the active dashboard
• Define some aspects of the interaction between SOLIDWORKS Manage and SOLIDWORKS

My Options options.

Different dashboards can also be accessed from the Dashboard tab of the ribbon bar.

Dashboard tab.

A dashboard provides information about areas of the SOLIDWORKS Manage environment such as tasks, notifications and project status.

The SOLIDWORKS Manage ribbon bar also includes tools for searches, creating new records and opening existing records. The ribbon bar is also integrated into the main areas of SOLIDWORKS Manage, referred to as modules, which we will look at next.

Main tab.

The modules that make up SOLIDWORKS Manage are Home, Documents, Processes and Reports. While the modules themselves are individual items, there is a great deal of overlap and interaction between them.

SOLIDWORKS Manage modules.

The first is the Home module, which consists of My Dashboard, My Work, Tasks, Favorite Reports and Time sheets.

Home module.

The My Dashboard module object allows access to SOLIDWORKS Manage dashboards. As seen earlier, dashboards can also be accessed from the Home module or Dashboard tab of the ribbon bar.

My Dashboard module object.

The next Home module object is My Work, which lists all documents, projects, processes and reports a user is currently involved in.

My Work module object.

After My Work, the next is Tasks, which are actions assigned to a user or group or that is processed automatically as part of a process, case or project. The Tasks module object displays tasks and information such as percent complete, owner and lifecycle status. Aspects of the task, such as percent complete, can be updated from this module object. The funnel shaped icons in the below graphic are filters. These filters will only display information that meets certain conditions.

Task module object.

We will look at reports in more detail later on in this article. For now, I’ll just mention that reports can be accessed from the Home module. As is shown, a user can have favorite reports. This allows a user to quickly access information that is significant to them or a project.

Favorite Reports module.

The last Home module object displays Timesheets assigned to the logged in user or other users. Timesheets as are used to track task progress.

Timesheets module.

Next is the Documents module. This is the defined container where documents and records can be accessed. As we’ll see later, documents and records can also be accessed from other modules and the ribbon bar. Documents are physical files while a record is a SOLIDWORKS Manage object that may or may not contain a related document.

Documents module.

After selecting a document or record, the lower-right panel will display the property card for the selected document or record. The property card displays the properties associated with the selected item such as project and user information.

Property card.

As well as the property card, the lower-right panel gives the user access to related files, configurations of the file (if applicable), selected BOM items and selected To Do items list.

Double clicking a document or record will open a separate window that provides the same information as the lower-right panel. This separate window contains icons to perform operations such as check in/out.

Property card in own window.

Many of these operations are also available from a right mouse menu.

Menu when right-clicking on a document.

Since different file types are often related, documents and records can be linked to one another. For example, a photo of a physical part could be linked to a CAD file.

Creating a linked record.

The next module is Processes, which are used to move documents and records between a lifecycle states. A lifecycle defines the stages that a document or record will follow from inception to release and possibly to obsolesce. A lifecycle is created by a SOLIDWORKS Manage administrator and controls access to documents and records. The administrator also defines who can move items to different lifecycle states.

Example lifecycle.

As mentioned earlier, there is a great deal of overlap between modules. While lifecycles are accessible through the Processes module, they can also be accessed through other modules such as documents. For example, a document or record can be advanced through a lifecycle by right-clicking on it in the Documents module.

Send to process.

After initiating a lifecycle state change by selecting Send to Process, a user can select the available state(s) from a pull-down.

Selecting a lifecycle state.

Beyond the lifecycle, the Processes module provides access to a project’s objects. An object is a data structure used to either store or reference data. These objects are defined by the SOLIDWORKS Manage administrator.

The project’s objects are displayed on the left side of the Processes module panel. Selecting an object will display the records associated with that object on the right side of the panel.

Processes module panel.

Selecting a record in the Process module panel will provide similar information to what is available in the Documents module. Additionally, there is a graphical representation of the lifecycle.

Process record information panel.

As with the Documents module, a record can be opened in its own window. This window offers access to commands such as flagging a process as complete or advancing a record through a lifecycle by selecting Send to Next Stage.

Process panel.

The user also can quickly access information about the process, such as the users involved and any notes associated with a lifecycle stage, by selecting Process Information.

Process Information.

Projects are the nexus of SOLDIWORKS Manage. Projects are integrated throughout all of the other SOIDWORKS Manage modules. The Projects module provides a centralized location for a User to create, edit and view project information.

Projects are created by entering the project details

Project details.

and selecting a project template or creating a project from scratch.

Project template.

Once created, the Project module provides easy access to information related to a selected project.

Project information.

As with the Documents module, double-clicking a project will display the same project information in a separate window. This separate window also contains icons to perform related commands. Like the Documents module, many of these commands are available from a right-mouse menu.

Check-Out/In options.

Reports are a key aspect of SOLIDWORKS Manage and are touched on in all areas of it. Reports are a means of querying information contained within a company’s SOLIDWORKS Manage environment. Reports can be associated with files, or they can be internal to SOLIDWORKS Manage.

While reports can be accessed through multiple areas, the Reports module centralizes the tools for working with them. The Report module interface allows for the creation, editing and viewing of reports.

Report module interface.

One of the key features of the Report modules is the Report Designer. This module object allows a user to configure the appearance of a report.

Report Designer.

One of the strengths of SOLIDWORKS Manage is the ability to interact with SOLIDWORKS PDM. This is accomplished by integrating SOLIDWORKS Manage with the SOLIDWORKS PDM local vault view.

SOLIDWORKS Manage Integration with SOLIDWORKS PDM local vault view.

SOLIDWORKS Manage is also available as an add-in for SOLIDWORKS.

SOLIDWORKS Manage add-in.

Once added in, as with SOLIDWORKS PDM, SOLIDWORKS Manage adds a tab to the SOLIDWORKS task pane.

SOLIDWORKS Manage tab in SOLIDWORKS task pane

This article is a brief overview of SOLIDWORKS Manage and only touches on a few of the capabilities of this program. Still, it highlights some of the key features that SOLIDWORKS Manage possess to help a company move from product management to project management.

About the Author

Joe Medeiros as a Senior Applications Engineer at Javelin Technologies, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller, servicing customers throughout Canada, offers SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using SOLIDWORKS solutions

Joe has been involved in many aspects of the SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996, and as an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Manage offers companies a Project Management solution that can be easier to implement and that is less costly then a full-blown product lifecycle management (PLM) solution. SOLIDWORKS Manage can provide companies that have grown to the point where they need to manage projects beyond what a product data management (PDM) solution, such as SOLIDWORKS PDM, can offer.

Manage ships with SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional and can be integrated with SOLIDWORKS PDM Vaults. Manage is not a subset of SOLIDWORKS PDM, but instead, SOLIDWORKS PDM is one aspect that can be incorporated into Manage.

In this article we will look at the options that are part of SOLIDWORKS Manage, in particular the Administration Options.

Before we get started, it is important to understand that Manage is a large, highly configurable program. Attempting to configure this product without a good understanding of Manage may not yield a useable solution. I would encourage you to recruit the services of a partner, such as your SOLIDWORKS Value Added Reseller, to assist you in the deployment of this product.

Since SOLDWORKS PDM can be integrated into Manage, the first step is to install SOLDWORKS PDM Professional. Part of installation for PDM is the installation of Microsoft SQL. Manage will use the same SQL instance as PDM.

Manage takes advantage of Windows Internet Information Services and, therefore, this must first be configured.

Installation of Manage is a two-part process. First the server is installed, followed by the clients. The installation files for Manage are included in the SOLDWORKS installation file-set. The same file-set that includes SOLIDWORKS and SOLDWORKS PDM.

After launching the installer for SOLDWORKS Manage, the server components to be installed are selected. Typically, this would be the File Server and the Web Server.

Selecting components to be installed.

After defining the installation directory, the SQL log-in information is entered. As mentioned earlier, the SOLDWORKS Manage Server component will use the same SQL instance that is used for SOLDWORKS PDM and, therefore, uses the same SQL login.

SQL login.

Once the Manage Server has been installed, a new database will be added to the same SQL instance as SOLIDWORKS PDM. Since Manage will be pulling information from PDM, it is important that both use the same SQL instance.

SOLDWORKS Manage Database

After the Manage Server has been installed, the next step is to install the Client. The Client installation is straight forward and only requires defining the installation directory, as well as whether or not the SOLIDWORKS add-in will be installed.

SOLDWORKS Manage Client Installation

Once all components are installed, Manage can be launched. In the Launch screen, a user enters their log-in information. Optionally a user can designate which PDM vault to attach to and the license type to be used.

SOLDWORKS Manage Launch Screen

Unlike SOLDWORKS PDM, there is no separate area that users and administrators access. The areas that are accessible to any given user will depend on the roles they are assigned.

SOLDWORKS Manage Interface

Under the Tools tab, the user (My Options) and Administration options can be set. As My Options implies, the user options are for the currently logged-in user and include options for controlling parts of the interface, as well as where files will be cached locally.

My Options

The Administration Options are where the structure of SOLDWORKS Manage is defined and are the main focus of this article.

The System Administration panel consists of two parts. The lower part consists of the Main Areas, while the upper part lists the Sections for each Area

System Administration Panel

The Users Area contains settings for Users, Groups, Access and Installations.

Groups Area

Users and Groups can be created in Manage, but they can also be imported from PDM. Double-clicking a User or Group allows aspects of the User or Group to be defined.

The Access Section controls User and Group access to the Manage Modules.

Access Section

The Installations Section displays when the users last logged in and can be useful in tracking activity with Manage.

The next Area is the Advanced Area and is where an Administrator defines global settings for Manage.

Advanced Area

The Audit Trail Section allows an administrator to view Activity within Manage. For instance, an administrator can Monitor Failed Login attempts and view Notifications.

Audit Trail Section

In the Updates Section, the administrator can update SQL as well rebuild the SQL Indexes. Rebuilding Indexes can increase performance and can be scheduled through SQL Management Studio.

Updates Section

Additional database connections can be added from the Data Sources Section to pull information in “real time” from other database sources.

Database Sources

 The General Section contains options for entering Company Details and other General settings such as:

• The default local cache
• Interaction with SOLDIWORKS
• Enabling Replication and defining Replication settings
• Configuration of the General BOM (Bill of Materials)

General Section

 Also, in the Advanced Area are Sections where:

• Import Export rules can be defined
• Notification Template and Numbering Schemes can be created.
• Global Variables can be created and are used to supply values for common calculations. For example, currency conversion.

Structures is likely the Area where most time will spent in deploying Manage. In this Area, the Manage Modules are configured and Access and Permissions are defined for the Modules.

Structures Area

Documents and Records Objects are created in Documents and Records Section.

Document and Records Section

Objects are key to the Manage architecture and are used throughout SOLIDWORKS Manage. An Object is a configurable entity that acts as building blocks for various Manage Areas

In the case of Document and Records, Objects can be created for physical Documents as well as for Records

Object Properties

Documents are records with a primary file, for example a Word document. Records do not have a primary file but can reference other documents and records. An example of this would be an record that represents a part number which can reference other documents that define it.

If the Object Type is a PDM Object, the Object can be related to any PDM Vault that is in the same SQL instance.

SOLIDWORKS PDM Object

Objects properties that can be configured include Fields, Access, BOMs Lifecycle and Reports.

Document Object

Processes are used to change the Lifecycle Status of a record, for example setting the Status to Released.

SOLIDWORKS Manage Processes

The Process Management Wizard provides step-by-step guidance in creating Process Templates.

Process Management Wizard

The pull-down at the bottom-right, provides easy access to different areas of the Wizard. The Wizard consists of multiples sections such as Reports and Access Rights.

Accessing Areas through Pull-down

The Workflow Designer is where the Process Workflow is developed. The Workflow Designer provides a graphic representation of Workflow that makes it easy to define Stages and how items progress through the Workflow.

Workflow Designer

Users Notifications, Outputs, as well as other Conditions, are defined in Workflow Properties. Carefully defining the Workflow Properties, ensures that items will only progress to the next Stage, when all Conditions are met. Workflow Properties can also ensure that the required permissions are given to the correct Users.

Workflow Properties

Two Objects Types can be created in Projects and Cases. These are Projects and Cases. Projects are similar to Records but include project management tools. Cases are a special type of process and are usually used to make a decision then to automatically create a project or process when completed.

Projects and Cases

As with Processes, Projects and Cases uses a Wizard to assist creation of these Objects.

Reports are used throughout Manage, including other Structures. There are two different types of Reports, Individual and Consolidated. Individual Reports are created at the Object level and are used with individual Records. Consolidated Reports are created in the Reports Module and can report on anything within or external to Manage.

The actual generation of Reports is done from the main UI. Either from the Reports module for Consolidated reports or from the record itself for Individual reports. The Administration Options is used to define the report objects.

Reports Administration

Dashboards are used to provide a graphical interface for selected Users and Groups and can be customized to fit the requirements of each Groups or Users. The Dashboard Section in Administration Options is where the Dashboard Objects are created and configured.

Dashboard Section

Selecting Design Dashboard will launch Dashboard Configurator. This is where the contents of the Dashboard are defined. The panels that can be added to Dashboard provide information about aspects of Manage, such as Tasks.

Dashboard Configurator

Timesheets are used in Projects and can reference individual Tasks. The Timesheet Section uses a Wizard, similar to other Administration Option Sections. Timesheets are used to track time against project stages where the user is assigned as a resource.

Timesheet Process Wizard

Other Sections of Structures are:

• Relationships, for managing Customer Relationship Management Objects
• Resources for Resource Objects, such as Employees.
• Webforms Objects
• Task Objects

The last Area in Administrations Options is a link to launch SOLIDWORKS PDM Administration.

Manage functions and data can be made available to the PDM Vault view, if the Manage Add-in has been imported, through PDM Administration.

SOLIDWORKS Manage Add-in in SOLIDWORK PDM Administration

This article presented an overview of some of the key areas in SOLIDWORKS Manage Administration. The goal of this article is to illustrate the level of configurability that this product offers. If implemented correctly, Manage can take an organization to the next level of managing their projects and processes.

About the Author

Joe Medeiros as a Senior Applications Engineer at Javelin Technologies, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller, servicing customers throughout Canada, offers SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using SOLIDWORKS solutions

Joe has been involved in many aspects of the SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996, and as an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about SOLIDWORKS solutions.