Generating SOLIDWORKS files in the vault using serial numbers – PDM Professional.

In this Blog I will show how to set up a very basic part template and serial number so new SOLIDWORKS part files created in the vault takes a file name from the serial number.

The first step is to create a serial number. This is done by right clicking the Serial Number node in the administration tool

The Format of the serial number can set from the pull-down and by manually adding static text. The ‘Next counter Value‘ can also be set if you want it to start somewhere other than 0.

In this example I have set the counter value to have 7 digits, so it would by default start at 0000000, then 0000001 and so on. You can customise this as required and use different strings for the serial number.

You can also give it a meaningful name:

The next step is to create and check in a new empty part file in a templates folder in the vault. (You could also do this for drawing and assembly files etc) This will be the file that the template uses to create new files.

We now need to set up a template file. I have done this for a part but you could obviously do them for parts, assemblies and drawings and they would all be linked to the same serial number (assuming you wanted the naming to be consistent, or you could cretae multiple serial numbers for different formats)

In the admin tool, select create new template:

Give the template a name, in this case create new part.

Set the ‘execute as’ options for permissions, then on the template cards tab, select templatre variables and then add a new one, called partnumber, linked to the serial number as below.

Now in the files and folders tab, click on the select template button, pick the part file template you have already checked in, then set the template to the partnumber serial number as below. You can copy these to card variables as well if required.

Finally set the user and group permissions.

Now you can test this via the right click menu inside the vault:

Hopefully this will give you some ideas to show how to create serial numbers for your files in PDM Professional.

More info can be found in the Administration guide for PDM