How to use PDM (pt. 2)

Solidworks PDM is a server based cloud that stores all of the solidworks part files the team designs. It features version control, file check in / check out, and component hierarchy control. If used properly, it works very well. If used improperly, it will ruin you and your lead/chief engineers life.

At all costs, avoid working locally unless absolutely necessary. It saves everyone time in the long run.

This is part 2 of the guide, which covers the actual usage of the software in solidworks

Part 1 (here) covers access and usage relating to it not breaking your whole computer.

This is most important tool you can add to your Solidworks. It gives you all the information you need about the file, such as what other components it includes, who has what checked out, what version each component is on, etc. It also lets you control these things, allowing you to check in and out included components, open previous versions, get latest version, etc.

To do this, go to tools > add ins and make sure solidworks PDM is checked in both the left and right boxes.

It will appear in the bar on the right side of your screen, make sure you learn how to use it. Hover over the buttons to see what each is, but each function will be covered later in the guide.

PDM CONTROLS

Function	Color in figure below	Description
Check Out	Red	Pulls the file from the server to your computer for editing. Keeps other people from checking out and editing. If you don't do this, the file stays in a read only state.
Check In	Green	Puts the file back into the server with whatever changes have been made, and creates a new version.
Get Latest	Yellow	Gets the latest version of the file. Typically this is done automatically when checked out or opened, but may need to be done manually in some cases.
Get Version	N/A	Gets a specific version from the list of previous versions.

OPENING A FILE 1

While in the vault view in file explorer, there are some options available to you. These buttons are typically fine to use, simply highlight the file in question and the buttons will perform the respective action. This method works well for simple parts/assemblies with few to no components/dependencies.