In SOLIDWORKS 2023 and older, while the value of a mass property can be calculated and updated, the unit notation is not. This blog describes a workaround for displaying and converting mass properties automatically, with appropriate units displayed. These behaviors will then be codified using SOLIDWORKS Equations into a document template so that it’s easy to use and deploy across multiple documents in the future. Arithmetic conversions of units are accomplished using Equations in the Equations Manager, as a custom property cannot evaluate an arithmetic expression with text at the end.
In this tutorial, I will cover a useful variation of permissions assignments in SOLIDWORKS PDM that allows flexibility of group membership as a function of folder structure. Specifically, the following two folder permissions: Assign File Permissions and Assign Group Membership.
Configurations are a great tool in SOLIDWORKS for creating and managing designs. One of the most convenient abilities of a configuration is the use of configuration-specific properties to detail and organize individual configurations as if they were standalone files. When utilized in the Bills of Materials, data cards, and drawing annotations, these configuration-specific custom properties are indistinguishable from those defined in individual files and remain just as easily accessible in both SOLIDWORKS and SOLIDWORKS PDM.
Dynamic Lists are a feature in SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional data cards that allow the choices on one list to be determined by the choices on another list. While Dynamic Lists are exclusive to PDM Professional, similar functionality can be achieved in PDM Standard by using Control Logic and strategic formatting.
This blog details how to implement a working revision symbol in a SOLIDWORKS PDM workflow. A working revision symbol is a form of watermark typically seen on files that are actively being changed to indicate that it is in the process of implementing changes for the next revision. In this case, the format of Last Revision* reflects the following two crucial pieces of information.
SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional has a powerful feature in data cards known as an input formula. Using this option allows for the post-processing of information on the data card itself upon user interaction. An input formula allows an Editbox control to concatenate text from different fields, do arithmetic functions, or even evaluate alias sets.
Default values for card controls are a powerful tool that can be leveraged in SOLIDWORKS PDM Standard and Professional data cards to automate the population of values without the intervention of the user. When editing a control in the data card editor, there are many options for selecting a default value for a given control, such as text, a value from the parent folder’s data card, or even special values such as file name, the user’s initials, or the current date.
In SOLIDWORKS PDM, it’s common to have the PDM data card display metadata describing the model beyond its basic geometry—Description, Part Number, Revision, and many more are popular and useful pieces of information to track about a file. It’s often the data card itself that is the driving force behind the formatting of this type of data entry into the destination file; however, thanks to the magic of Variable Mapping, this behavior is a two-way street between the file and SOLIDWORKS PDM.