Best Practices
Security
of the Vault
Backing up the Vault
Maximizing Vault Performance
Converting Documents from Earlier Releases
Deleting
Documents
Copies
of Latest Files
File
Owners on Temporary Leave
Users
Leaving the Project or the Company
Custom
Properties
Template
Files
External
References
The vault directory should be accessible
to only one administrator, the person who is responsible for installing
updates, deleting files, maintaining passwords, and other administrative
tasks. Users should not have any access to the vault through Microsoft
Windows Explorer.
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Back up
the entire
vault folder, which contains both project documents and Workgroup PDM
configuration information. You should do the backup operation when no
one is modifying the vault (checking in documents, changing ownership,
and so on). To ensure no one is accessing the vault, first lock the vault
(see Vault
Settings) or stop
the service. You can then copy the vault folder with Windows Explorer.
Back up the
vault regularly, and test the backup occasionally to be sure your backup
procedure is valid. Store the backup on a server different from the one
where the vault resides (in case the vault computer is lost).
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A large number
of documents in a project degrades performance. More projects with fewer
documents (fewer than 1000 or 2000 documents per project) results in better
performance.
Clients can
hide projects
to improve performance.
If you operate
over a network, network performance affects Workgroup PDM performance.
Workgroup PDM cannot make a slow network faster.
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To convert documents from earlier
releases to the current release of SolidWorks, use the SolidWorks Task
Scheduler.
When converting Workgroup
PDM vault files in SolidWorks Task Scheduler, all documents open in a
resolved state (not lightweight). Make sure the computer on which you
run the conversion has enough memory to complete this procedure.
You can reduce conversion time
by using more than one computer (convert different projects on different
computers). Log in as the same user on each computer because the vault
is locked to everyone but one user during the conversion.
See Convert
SolidWorks Workgroup PDM Files for additional recommendations and
conversion instructions.
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The vault administrator specifies permission
to delete documents on the Vault Settings tab of the VaultAdmin.
For security, Admin only is recommended.
The top level directory contains an Obsolete folder, and each project also
contains an Obsolete folder, all
created automatically by Workgroup PDM. When vault administrators delete
projects, the files move into the top level directory Obsolete
folder. When users or administrators delete documents, the documents move
into the project Obsolete folder.
The Obsolete folders are hidden
from the Workgroup PDM interface. The vault administrator with access
to the vault directory should delete the Obsolete
folders periodically through Windows Explorer. Workgroup PDM creates new
Obsolete folders automatically.
Deleted documents and projects
in Obsolete folders cannot be
restored. Only archived
documents can be restored, and projects from which documents have been
archived should not be deleted. Archived documents can be restored only
to their original project.
To expedite deleting files:
The administrator creates a project
(Trash, for example) and gives
users write
access.
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In the vault view, users right-click the top-level document to be
deleted and select Change Project.
Only the owner
of the documents can change the project.
In the Change Document Project
dialog box, select Trash from
the list, select Children and
All Children, and click OK.
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In Vault
Settings, the vault administrator can choose to keep an extra copy
of the latest files (that is, the latest revision of every file). Select
or clear the Keep extra copy of latest
files check box.
The copies are in a folder called latest
that only the administrator can see (in Windows Explorer). The
latest folder does not follow vault folder structure. The files
in this folder use the complete real file name (in other folders, file
names appear with an underscore in place of the period in Windows Explorer).
A good use for this
folder is to zip up all the files in case of a catastrophic system failure.
If disk space is an
issue, you can save disk space by clearing this check box. All files in
the folder are deleted.
If you select the check
box, all the latest files are created.
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When file owners are away and other users
need access to their files, the vault administrator can change passwords
on the Users
and Groups tab of the VaultAdmin. The administrator can then
log in as the user and release
ownership
of the documents. Be sure to notify users that their passwords have been
changed.
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When a user leaves a project permanently,
use one of the following approaches:
Modify the existing
user account so a new person can immediately take ownership of the previous
user's documents.
Delete the old user.
All files owned by that user now have no owner and can be assigned to
any users.
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Entering custom properties
for assemblies with many sub-assemblies and parts can be time-consuming.
An efficient approach is to add the custom properties (part numbers, descriptions,
and so on) in SolidWorks. Then check in
the top-level assembly. You are prompted to enter the information for
any documents that do not yet have the custom properties filled in.
You can use the SolidWorks API
to generate custom properties for large numbers of documents; for example,
to serialize document numbers or to standardize on a format of all caps.
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You can handle company
template files through the Workgroup PDM vault. Add templates to the vault
only if they need revision control. Users must copy the template files
to their local workspace.
To maintain templates:
In the VaultAdmin, create a
project to hold the templates (Templates,
for example).
Assign write
access
to the person maintaining the templates and read
access
to everyone using the templates.
Check in the templates
to the Template project.
Users copy the templates
using Workgroup PDM Open
Document.
Users should periodically
check the local view to be sure their local copies are equal to the versions
in the vault.
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To control
file use (for example, references to Toolbox or other files when opening
documents in a Workgroup PDM vault), SolidWorks recommends that you clear
the option Search file locations for
external references in Tools,
Options, System
Options, External References.
If Workgroup
PDM does not locate the reference file in the vault, you can correct the
reference or locate the correct file manually.
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