Migrating files

Has anyone had any problems migrating older version solidworks files to
2004? What if you skip a release and are upgrading from 2001+ to 2004? We
can't wait until the end of a project, because all of our project
intermingle. We are a mass production facility, so even after a product is
launched into production, it still follows us around for years. All that to
say, we thought that I could load 2004 on my PC and copy a heap of files on
to my local drive, and make damn sure nothing is being opened that's on the
network, (I'd unplug my network cable) and test it there because it really
does have to be an all or nothing install here. And there are only 3 of us
designers here.

Thanks.

 

I have successfully opened SW2003 models & drawings with no problems. As
far as your opening some files from the network, it's ok as long as you
don't save them. A way to prevent that is to make them read-only.
Obviously, that won't work if the shared network files you would open do, in
fact, need to be modified and saved. However, if they are just reference,
such as hardware, purchased parts, etc. just set the attribute so you can't
write to them. Then all you have to do is put up with the "conversion"
message whenever you open them.

WT

 

I have no experience with 2004, but making sure that old parts, assemblies
and drawings translate OK is a real pain. It's not enough to just open the
files and look for cherries. You have to do a ctrl-q on each part to force a
complete rebuild. If you don't do this, you'll think the parts are OK until
you try and edit them, only to find the cherries showing up. Then comes the
detective game of figuring out what caused the problems and how to fix them.
This can take a long time!

Jerry Steiger
Tripod Data Systems