PDF creation on release in PDM standard in SW2023 impacted by "View PDF after saving" check box

[CarrieIves]

We recently updated our PDM to SolidWorks 2023. We only have PDM standard. The only task we can run during a workflow transition is the stock save as PDF that they have available. This task has the admin account open the drawing and save as PDF with a specified filename, copies specified properties from the data card of the drawing to the data card of the PDF, and links the PDF and Drawing. It runs on the computer of the person who approved the release.

In our 2022 PDM, it worked fine.

In 2023 (SP4.0), if the user has the check box "View PDF after saving" checked, then the task stops after the PDF pops up. So, the PDF doesn't get the data card properties copied nor does it get checked back in.

Have any of y'all seen this? My VAR told me that it was behaving as expected. I told my VAR since the behavior changed it was a bug.

I am considering having our workflow not run the task.

Right now, we create (file save as) PDFs all the time for draft versions of our drawings using a macro. I don't think asking my users (all 5-7 of us) to make sure to not have that check box checked before approving a release is a reasonable option. In fact, we are using the macro to create the pre-approval PDF that is one of the things we check as part of the release process.

Please let me know if this is causing you problems also or if it is just me.

Thanks,
Carrie

[AlexLachance]

In 2023 (SP4.0), if the user has the check box "View PDF after saving" checked, then the task stops after the PDF pops up. So, the PDF doesn't get the data card properties copied nor does it get checked back in.

Have any of y'all seen this? My VAR told me that it was behaving as expected. I told my VAR since the behavior changed it was a bug.

Geezus, shake your VAR up a bit, who the heck would give that kind of answer to something that isn't functionnal.


Let's just take his answer and dismantle it.


So you're supposed to check back in manually every time after saving?
So PDF's aren't supposed to have their data card properties copied in the first place?

I'd love to hear him try to justifyt both. It's a ridiculous answer from your VAR, the technician who gave you that answer just did not want to dig through the issue.

[CarrieIves]

@AlexLachance - I usually get pretty good response from my VAR, but I do know they are stuck with SolidWorks functioning as it does. I'm really trying to determine if this is normal functionality in PDM standard. Mostly, I would like to know if other users of PDM STANDARD have run into this issue.

There are two ways we create PDFs - using a macro that the user selects to run in SolidWorks or having PDM automatically create a PDF when a drawing transitions to the release state.

Mostly, we don't really care if our PDF has data card information. The filename contains most of what we want to know about it - part number, revision, release state.

Here's an example carefully snipped to remove customer detailed information.

The top PDF was created by PDM. You can see it has a description. The others were created by users running the macro. We could manually fill in the description on the data card, but that's an extra step we don't bother with. The drawing has the same filename except it wouldn't include the revision information.

[SPerman]

Could you modify the macro so that it forces "View PDF after Saving" to be off? The last step of the macro could be displaying the PDF if you want that as part of your workflow.

I re-read your post, and see the stock "Save as PDF" is your only option with PDM standard.

[AlexLachance]

I'd suggest as @SPerman said and work around the issue. I understand VAR's are stuck with SolidWorks working as is, but that is no reason to leave you in your situation without much attempt at solving it.

If you take those that aren't released and release them does their data card automatically fill itself? If so, then the reason the data card isn't filled is because of the PDM state of the file, which most likely forces the program to grab the writing rights of files to be able to distribute them properly.

[CarrieIves]

Because we are on PDM standard, we can't modify the task. So, I have asked all my users to make sure and uncheck the "View PDF after saving". This should allow the PDF creation task to work. (I was working with my VAR, and we thought we had changed a setting that fixed the problem, but it was back the next day.)

We have a SolidWorks macro that we use to create PDFs prior to release that will save the PDF into the local PDM folder and onto a network drive. I have modified that macro to force viewing the PDF on save. So, even with the check box unchecked, we can see the PDFs if we use our macro. I think this will work fine for us for now.

[Diaval]

I would strongly recommend that you get the VAR to open a ticket with DS that the feature is interfering with the PDM task operation. The behavior that PDM can't write to the PDF file when it is open might be expected but they should be able to do something. Maybe they can look at getting the PDM task for standard to get SW to ignore the option to open the PDF when it is created from the task?

[CarrieIves]

And my VAR did open a ticket and I have an SR# - SR01127639-01. Not sure if anyone besides me, my VAR, and SW can see it, but it's there.

[gupta9665]

And my VAR did open a ticket and I have an SR# - SR01127639-01. Not sure if anyone besides me, my VAR, and SW can see it, but it's there.

This is a service request only. So only you, your VAR, and SW can see it. Others can not see it until is it converted to SPR.

[CarrieIves]

It now has a bug report.
https://support.3ds.com/knowledge-base/ ... 0000371017