SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM Best

Practice Workflow
SOLIDWORKS Electrical 2015
31/03/2014
Revision 4.0

3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes | Confidential Information | 01/02/2012 ref.: Document_Reference |

 Table of Contents

1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 4
2. Selecting a Method for Linking Data to SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM ............................................... 4
3. Project Data Stored in the SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vault .......................................................... 6
4. Switching from Update Files for SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM to Check In/Check Out ..................... 8
5. Using Check Out .................................................................................................................................. 12
6. Using Check In ..................................................................................................................................... 14
7. SOLIDWORKS Electrical Enterprise PDM Limitations .......................................................................... 16

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 Revision History
Rev # Date Description
1.0 Dec 2013 Document created.
2.0 Jan 2014 Document revised.
3.0 Feb 2014 Document revised.
4.0 Mar 2014 Document revised.

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 1. Introduction

SOLIDWORKS Electrical 2014 service pack 02 or higher includes new enhancement features
for working with SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM.

In addition to the Update to PDM method available in previous versions of SOLIDWORKS

Electrical, version 2014 sp02 or higher provides controlled project workflow by allowing users
to check in and out projects to or from SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vaults.

These enhancements provide users with improved ways to better regulate project design, take
advantage of project level SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM version control, and introduce a way
of collaborating on projects in a multi-site environment, or where users need to regularly work
on site.

This document provides details on the new recommended workflows for using the
SOLIDWORKS Electrical Enterprise PDM link and update tools.

2. Selecting a Method for Linking Data to SOLIDWORKS Enterprise

PDM

There are two methods available for linking data to SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM:

 Update Files for PDM

 Check In/Check Out (referred to as the controlled workflow)

Users can access these methods from the Tools > Link to PDM Configuration.

The Update Files for PDM method allows users to select project data and export it to an
SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vault. This method operates as previous versions of
SOLIDWORKS Electrical.

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This method is best for sites where multiple users are working on a single shared Microsoft SQL
Server hosting the SOLIDWORKS Electrical databases, and where all team members are using
SOLIDWORKS Electrical.

The Check In/Check Out method allows users to check out projects directly from
SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM and to check them back in. Use it for sites where users work on
different databases, and want to manage and collaborate on projects by checking data in and out
of a shared SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vault. The Check In/Check Out method is also a
good choice when networks are slow, when users often have to work outside of their offices (for
example on customer sites), and when managers want tight control over which engineers have
access to project designs.

NOTE:

Read this the document in its entirety before you select a method.

You can only use one method. You should not change to the other method without first consulting
with your local reseller.

When you select a method, you can then use Check In and Check Out data or Update Files for
PDM vault from the Projects Manager.

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 3. Project Data Stored in the SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vault

SOLIDWORKS Electrical projects generate data that is useful for manufacturing, purchasing
and assembly of electrical designs. SOLIDWORKS Electrical can also pack an entire project
into a consolidated zip archive for version and revision history or transport to another
SOLIDWORKS Electrical project database. Since SOLIDWORKS Electrical projects and files
can only be opened and viewed in SOLIDWORKS Electrical, data used for other areas of the
business must be exported.

A SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vault from SOLIDWORKS Electrical can store information
such as:

1. Project archive files

SOLIDWORKS Electrical project archives contain a complete snapshot in time of the

project files and database. The archives include SOLIDWORKS models related to the
project if using SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D. Project archives have the extension
tewzip.

2. Drawing sets in DXF or DWG format

Drawing sheets in an Electrical project can be exported to PDF, DWG and DXF formats.
Utilize these output formats for sharing schematic content with all collaborators who do
not have SOLIDWORKS Electrical. From the Import/Export tab in an active project,
select Export PDF files or Export DWG files. You can also convert to the DXF format by
using the Export DWG files command.

3. 3D SOLIDWORKS parts and assemblies

For users of SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D, projects also contain SOLIDWORKS

assemblies and parts that should be controlled. No export is required from these files
unless other derivative files are preferred for document control or PDM such as STEP,
IGES or Parasolid. These files reside in the project folder structure under the
SOLIDWORKS folder. For example, the SOLIDWORKS assemblies and other files
shown in the image below are in project ID 100.

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4. Intelligent PDF files

An intelligent, navigable PDF file contains all reports and drawings in the project.
Additionally there are component and document tree bookmarks that reflect the
SOLIDWORKS Electrical data structure.

5. Project level report sets

Reports such as Bills of Materials, wires, cables, harnesses and PLCs can be exported in
text or Microsoft Excel formats for downstream use. These can be exported from the
Reports Tool on the Project tab for any active project.

A set of BOMs are also automatically generated as CSV (Comma Separated Value) file
types in the BOM subdirectory.

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 4. Switching from Update Files for SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM to
Check In/Check Out

As previously stated users cannot interchangeably use the Update Files for PDM method and the
Check In/Check Out method.

If you have been using the Update Files for PDM method and want to change, you must archive
all project data, delete all projects, and then change to Check In/Check Out.

To ensure data integrity, follow these steps:

1. Click Project data > Archive project to update all projects to SOLIDWORKS
Enterprise PDM.

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2. Click Delete to remove all projects.

3. When required, select and connect to a SQL Server instance hosting the Electrical
database in Application Settings.

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4. From Tools, select Link to PDM Configuration, and select Use Check In/Check Out
buttons.

5. Click Projects Manager > Check Out to check out projects from the vault.

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 5. Using Check Out

Check Out allows users to check out projects directly from a SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM
vault. When a project that has been checked out it cannot be accessed by any other user for
modification until it has been checked in again as a completed project, unless users are working
on the same SQL database and are connected to the same collaborative server.

1. To check out a project and make it available for modification on a local system, select
the Projects Manager > Check Out.

2. In the Check Out project dialog box, browse to the SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM
Vault SOLIDWORKS Electrical Project folder Archive subdirectory.

3. Select the project tewzip file and click Open.

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The project is checked out of the SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vault and unarchived. The
vault displays the following information:

 the user that currently has the project checked out

 the user’s computer where the project is checked out
 the current state of the project

The Projects Manager also displays the SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM status and vault path.

As the project is unarchiving from the vault, the standard Merge library elements command
displays, where users can select to either Update data and access the Unarchiving projects
wizard, or Do nothing to unarchive without updating the application data.

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 6. Using Check In

Users can check in at any time either to create a backup (while keeping it active on the local
system) or to indicate the project is complete.

1. From the Projects Manager, users can check individual or multiple projects into the
SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM Vault by selecting the project(s) and clicking Check In.

2. Only closed projects can be checked into the SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vault. If a
project is open, a warning displays. Click Close to automatically close the project and
proceed with the check in.

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3. In the Project check in dialog box, select whether the project is still in progress or is
complete.

If you select the Project is in progress option, the current project data is updated to the
vault, but the project remains active in SOLIDWORKS Electrical and checked out.

Selecting the Project is complete option checks in the project data to the vault, automatically
removes the project from the SOLIDWORKS Electrical manager, and makes it available on
the vault for other users to check out.

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 7. SOLIDWORKS Electrical Enterprise PDM Limitations
The two PDM methods cannot be used interchangeably in the SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM
vault
The Update Files for PDM and Check In/Check Out methods cannot be used interchangeably in
the same SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vault. You can only select one method for managing
PDM data and should not change the method once it has been used for a SOLIDWORKS
Enterprise PDM vault.

Check in of projects can fail when using a SQL Server database that does not use a named
instance
The SQL Server hosting the SOLIDWORKS Electrical databases must use a named SQL
instance (not the default instance) to ensure that all project data and exported reports check in to
the SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vault properly.

Deployments with multiple SOLIDWORKS Electrical clusters attached to the same

SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vault can lose data on certain check in failures
If a process checks in all project files, but the project remains in the SOLIDWORKS Electrical
database and is shown as checked out in the Project Manager, there is the potential for losing
data. Data loss can occur if another SOLIDWORKS Electrical cluster makes modifications to the
project while the first SOLIDWORKS Electrical cluster continues to modify the project. These
types of check in failures can happen if there are temporary connection issues with the
collaborative server, or other check in issues noted in this document.

Potential for data loss when multiple projects with the same name are checked into the
SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vault
If two users attempt to check in a project with the same name, data could be overwritten. This
error can happen if the warning about the identical file name is displayed to one of the users too
late in the check in process.

Users should not manually add archive files to the SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vault
The check in functionality in SOLIDWORKS Electrical creates a file structure for exported
reports. If a user adds a file manually to the vault that is not in the expected file structure, this
could leave an orphaned copy of the archive file checked out at the original location. However, a
workaround is available to address this situation.

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Users are not able to open or check out earlier versions of a project inside a vault
Users can only check out the latest version of a file from a SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM
vault. Once a project is checked out and extracted to the Electrical database, users cannot access
previous versions.

There are two potential workarounds to this issue. A user can manually check out the archive
file, get the desired version, overwrite the cached version, manually check in the file to create a
new version, and check out the file from within SOLIDWORKS Electrical. Alternately, a user
could get the previous version, copy the archive file to a location outside of the vault, and
unarchive the file in SOLIDWORKS Electrical.

SOLIDWORKS Electrical cannot be used with SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vaults that use
unique file names
When SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM has the option enabled to restrict duplicate file names,
the check in of projects fails. Most of the reports are exported with the same file names for each
project. Even if the project name is unique, the reports will fail to check in. No warnings that
the check in has failed are displayed! This is especially critical when using the option Project
is in progress, because there is no indication that the check in failed and the files are intended to
be shown as checked out. Users may not see that their files were not versioned correctly.

There is no integrated BOM functionality with SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM

A BOM file is exported with the check in as a report. There is no way to create a BOM in
SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM from the BOM file.

You cannot enter comments about the version during check in

The check in command does not give the user the ability to enter a comment about the version.
SOLIDWORKS Electrical ignores the SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM setting that requires
users to enter version comments.

Archive files that are not projects cannot be managed inside the SOLIDWORKS Enterprise
PDM vault
A number of archive types cannot be managed in the SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vault.
These files cannot be checked out in SOLIDWORKS Electrical if they are manually added to the
vault.

Manually checked out files cannot be opened in SOLIDWORKS Electrical; archives cannot be
checked out if any of the report files are checked out to other users
If any of the files associated with an archive have been manually checked out, the Check Out
command fails to open the archive from within SOLIDWORKS Electrical. All files for an
archive must be checked into the vault to check out and open the archive in SOLIDWORKS
Electrical.

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SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM status is not taken from the status of the files in the vault
If users manually check in files from inside the vault, the SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM status
column in the Projects Manager is not updated, and the status is not checked until the check in
command is run.

Check out for archives is restricted to the subdirectory stated in the PDM configuration tab
Some companies work with multiple subdirectories for their electrical projects. In these
companies, users have to manually update the subdirectory path before they can check out
projects from sub directories that are siblings or parents to the current subdirectory path.
This creates a risk that new projects could be checked into the wrong vault location, since
users will not see the current configuration location in the check in dialog box.
SOLIDWORKS Electrical can check files into the wrong SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vault;
check out for archives is restricted to the SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vault stated in the
PDM configuration tab
Users cannot work in multiple vaults at the same time. If users need to check out files from a
different vault, they have to manually update the PDM configuration settings to point to the
correct vault and subfolder each time they move to a different vault.

If a user does not update the configuration to the correct vault before check in, or attempts to
check in multiple projects checked out from different vaults, the check in will check all projects
into the current vault noted in the PDM configuration settings. If the project does not currently
exist, this creates a new project directory structure. This situation creates a greater risk that
projects could be checked into the wrong vault, since users do see the current configuration
location in the check in dialog box. You should only use SOLIDWORKS Electrical with only
one SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vault.

The workaround for this issue is to check out the projects from the incorrect vault, change the
PDM configuration to the correct vault, and check in the projects again. Users will need to
manually delete the projects from the incorrect vault.

In the case where a project of the same name existed in the vault and the files were overwritten,
the user should rollback the files to the version before the last check in procedure to restore the
correct project files.
Check in does not create any reference structures
When projects are checked into the SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM vault, no reference
structures are created between the archive zip file and the project report files. If a report is moved
from the project directory, you will not be able to identify the project to which it belongs.

Archives cannot be opened or checked out by dragging and dropping items from the File
explorer into SOLIDWORKS Electrical
The drag and drop functionality for SOLIDWORKS Electrical runs the unarchive command by
default, but the unarchive command is disabled for files inside the SOLIDWORKS Enterprise
PDM vault. Drag and drop commands displays a warning that users should use the Check Out
command from within SOLIDWORKS Electrical.

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Updates to mapped variables in exported report files in the file vault are overwritten on
subsequent check ins of the project
If a user updates the data for any mapped variable for report files, these changes are not
propagated back into the file in the archive on check out. The changes are lost when the project
is checked in again.

PDM functionality does not work with Workgroup PDM

There is no default data card for SOLIDWORKS Electrical archive files

There is no data card for the tewzip file format.

Users do not have access to reference structures during check in or check out
Users do not have a way to see what files are checked in or checked out during each process.

SOLIDWORKS Electrical does not report which users have projects checked out and on which
computers the projects reside
SOLIDWORKS Electrical does not report which users have projects checked out and on which
computers the projects reside. This situation can create issues because only the user who checked
out the project can check it back in. Note, that the project must also be checked in on the same
machine where it was checked out.

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