SolidWorks Workgroup PDM Performance Suggestions by Cole McLeod
This article is a collection of some common issue resolutions and some tips for improving performance while using
SolidWorks Workgroup PDM. (Previously known as SolidWorks PDMWorks Workgroup)
Issue #1 - Searching is slow: First make sure that you are using the search indexing tool. This is easy to set up and can save a lot of time while searching. Another is rather then using the typical search in PDM (right clicking, search) use the report option. Reporting along with the indexing you can get results in seconds.
Issue #2 - Server disk space is low: there is an option to keep an extra copy of the latest files. By turning this off you can potentially save a lot of disk space. (turn the option off in the global settings, then validate the vault)
Tip #1 - Controlling Drawing Properties:
You can control what view SolidWorks uses to control Meta data in the drawing. Go into your sheet properties and change "Use custom property value from model show in". Default is the first view in the tree.
Tip #2 - Creating a dimension tolerance with + and + in SW.
In some industries there is a need to have bilateral dimension but have both dimension be +. To do this is SW, select on the dimension and change the tolerance to bilateral. Then in the + side enter your value, in the - add a + then your value.
Cole McLeod
Mechanical Application Engineer
Alignex, Inc.