Renaming / moving files

When doing some conceptual design I don't want to assign part numbers to
parts/assys/drawings because the design may change in a way that makes the
item obsolete. The file names therefore tend to match the description.

When the design has firmed up, I want to assign part numbers which also need
to be used as the file names to guarantee they are unique. Also, the file
name (i.e. number) determines which production folder the file gets saved
in - each folder has a batch of 500 numbers and contains any
part/assy/drawings within this number range. As you'll probably gather, we
don't have PDM :-(

I therefore need to rename the files and move them to the correct folder
without screwing up any references.
Does anyone have a slick method for doing this?
Doing "save as" with all the related files open to maintain the links is a
partial solution, but then I have to remember to go back and delete the old
files (scope for mistakes) - this is made worse because sometimes either SWX
or WinXP still thinks the old file is open and won't let me delete it until
I've exited SWX.

Any suggestions?

Out of interest, do any of the PDM offerings solve this problem both for
parts already in the vault (I presume they allow you to rename it and take
care of any refs automatically), and also for those that have not yet been
checked in?

Regards,
John Harland

 

Probably the best free manual method is to use SW Explorer. You can rename
files, tell it to find where that file is used, and update the references.

WT

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Don't forget, SolidWorks Explorer only finds top level drawings. So,
assembly component drawings files will have to be individually edited.

Best Regards,
Devon T. Sowell
www.3-ddesignsolutions.com

 

Hi Wayne,

The drawback with SWEx is that it doesn't let me specify a new folder to put
the renamed document in to.

Regards,
John Harland

 

John

Ok I think this may work,

First click File - Find references, in the pop up click copy files, in
the next pop up you want preserve directory structure. place them in
your new folder and hit ok. This will save the assembly and files in a
preserved directory structure

Second go to my blog http://mountain-wave.blogspot.com/ and download
"Batch Renaming in SolidWorks" at the very bottom of the page. This is
set up as a podcast as well and I generally do a weekly show, with the
exception of this week as I have a lecture to give a the local
university. Anyhow after you see the vid, when prompted for 'file
location' leave this blank, but check all the parts, sub assemblies in
the list and change the names according to the vid. Hit save and
hopefully this works for you.

I have not tested this so no guarantees that it works, if is does not,
at least do the second part (follow the vid) and then start saving the
renamed parts while the top level assembly is open to the appropriate
folders. I know you were trying to avoid this but at least you don't
have to retype the names 8 million times

 

After renaming, use windows explorer to put the files in the right folders.
Then open the top-assembly in SW and when SW asks for the missing files,
browse to the correct folder and select the correct files. Save the assembly
and your finished.
This is how we rename and re-arrange our SW-files (also no PDM system).

\./\./im

 

John,

This is more or less how our company operates. What we do, is open the
assembly (and any assembly layouts if they are started) and do a
"File/Save As" within Solidworks. This updates the referances as you
save.

 

I tend to agree with MS Explorer and SWks Explorer use.

It would be nice to have a more intuitive and self-tracking and easy
file finding system that was more transparent, but I am not going to
hold my breath.

I often generate 100s of files or more before I get to a finished
plastic part design that has a couple parts with their variations of
fittings. The numbers of trials and evolutions of the early work can
be mind numbing. On one plastic assembly, I modeled about 6-8
different joint designs for assembly before I managed to come up with
the simplest of all to tool and assemble. That left a raft of models
all looking very similar that could easily get mixed up if I was not
careful.

I have tried to set up a folder Trial #1 and then when I progress to
where a major change in the design is contemplated, I create a new
folder with MS Explorer Trial #2 (or maybe occassionally #1a). I then
use SWks to Save As (assembly file now w/"2" suffix), click the
References button and check all the parts and save both the Assembly
and all parts to the new "Trial #2 folder".

Then I have to go back and use SWks Explorer to give all parts the new
"2" suffix. It is a bit time consuming, but it keeps ALL REFERENCES
STRAIGHT with NO DUPLICATE NAMES so I don't get hopelessly lost after 5
iterations of a design, and I can always "Go Back" if I go down a blind
alley (always happens somewhere when you are pushing the envelope of
what is possible).

I think there is a basic difference between concept work and just
continuing evolving engineering of established products. Conceptual
design is more like envelope sketches or PostIt notes, where each page
is a new design, and I would not want all of those conceptual files in
a PLM, as most would have to be deleted later.

Maybe someone has a better solution or a macro-automated solution.

Thanks - Bo

 

Well...I can tell you that using PDMWorks makes it a lot easier to
rename files. Part of this is due to the precedence of how Windows
searches for files. There is an explanation in SW help under Search,
File locations for external references. Because all the files are
essentially in one place, the vault, PDMWorks keeps track of all the
relationships regardless of renaming, changing projects, etc. Since
we've moved to PDMWorks, I rarely get "Cannot locate file.....".

Good luck

 

What I faced on developing a new plastic product with 4-5 pieces & some
variations was ultimately only a couple dozen or so of finished files
on products and measuring tools (ring & plug gages).

The other files used to plan tooling, early trials, competitive part
files, etc consumed over 500 files. Those 500 files don't belong in an
official Engineering PDM as I see it, because we are not controlling or
updating or guaranteeing the viability of those models in any way.
They were development, prototype mold layout and reference materials.
We need to keep them around, but not because we use them in production
or make them available as a product.

Thus this is often like the old "Engineering File Cabinet" used to hold
all the "stuff" about a project, but they are NOT the drawings in the
official company plan cabinets drawn on A to E size drawings.

I wonder how other firms handle the planning, dross & sludge &
reference materials such as I encounter?

It is not a trivial issue, even with simple parts. I imagine it is
even worse if you design a large custom machine.

Bo

 

I wouldn't worry too much about what goes into PDM.
You can still delete unecessary files after the fact.
We generate a lot of files in PDMWorks...some get Released, some get
trashed.
One of the nice things about PDMWorks is the ability to vault any
document type and associate it with a SW file.
This is a good way to manage your reference material that you want to
keep for historical purposes.

Cheers