Office2PDM addin for MS Office

Users have long enjoyed the ability to check their SolidWorks files into and out of the Enterprise PDM vault from directly inside of SolidWorks. This is because Enterprise PDM has something called the CAD Editor that is a SolidWorks Addin that runs directly inside of SolidWorks.

Extensible CAD Technologies has developed an office editor to enable users to work with their MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint files in exactly the same way. Currently, users must close their MS Office files and then operate on them in Windows explorer.

Although we haven’t released the application for sale just yet, we are very close. In the meantime, we are offering a free beta version on our website to anyone who is willing to try it out and give us feedback. You can download the beta version from here: Office2PDM Beta

Note: We still have a little work to do including the help file. Also, after you save a new document you must hit the Refresh button. This is a temporary workaround and will be resolved shortly.

Send all feedback to support@extensiblecad.com

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Extensible CAD will be exhibiting in booth #2 at SolidWorks World this year.  We will be showing InspectionXpert for SolidWorks, InspectionXpert First-Article and Office2PDM.  InspectionXpert is software that automates the creation of first article inspection sheets from CAD drawings.  Office2PDM is an addin for MS Office that enables you to work with Enterprise PDM from inside of Word, Powerpoint and Excel.

I will also be presenting personally on Enterprise PDM Customization on Monday at 1:30pm.  Unfortunately they scheduled me at the same time as Joy Garon’s What’s New In EPDM 2009 but that is just how it goes.  Stop by my session if you can and if not, then stop by our booth and say hello.

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From time to time I do presentations on the SolidWorks API and one that gets requested fairly often is the Beginner’s Guide To The API.  I just presented this in Roanoke, VA at the Blue Ridge SolidWorks User’s Group headed up by Jeremy Marks.  They were a good bunch of guys (although there was a University of North Carolina fan in attendance) and it seems like a well-run group.  However, after risking my life to get there by driving through what seemed the rain-storm of the century on unfamiliar mountain highways with almost no visibility I have decided that in the future it might be safer for me to simply make the presentation available on my blog : )

beginners-guide-to-the-api

Also, the SolidWorks Autonumbering Macro (w/ MS Access Database) that I usually show has been written up for ConnectPress with a link to download the Macro and Database.  You can view that article here:

http://www.solidworkscommunity.com/feature_full.php?cpfeatureid=32314

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Due to blackmail and extortion a request from my good friend Rohizzle, I have updated the popular Number Generator to work with 2009.  I have not made any enhancements so you can refer to the previous version’s post for instructions. 

Net:  This is an addin for SolidWorks Entperprise PDM that enables users to pick, at run-time, the numbering sequence to use for auto-numbering.

2009 Version Download

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API development and customization is all about automating repetitive tasks and I am sometimes amazed at how much I have been able to do over the years to make end users’ daily tasks easier to accomplish.  One place I have fallen short, however, is automating my own repetitive development tasks.  That is why decided to create a Visual Studio Template to automate the creation of PDMWorks Enterprise Addins.  This is similar to the SolidWorks Software Development Kit offered by SolidWorks for developing SolidWorks Addins.

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Over the past few months I have received numerous emails from folks using the original PDMWE Number Generator.  It is such a simple little app that I was pleasantly surprised at all of the nice feedback people gave me regarding it.  To show my appreciation, I have modified the Number Generator to allow it to work with multiple serial number sequences ”on the fly.” 

 You have always had the ability to set up muliple serial number generators in PDMWorks Enterprise but now the user can decide at File/Folder creation time which serial number to use.  An anticipated use case with this improved version of the tools is for users who have multiple categories of parts with numbers being assigned by category.  Note:  Even though the functionality has been expanded, the tool is still very easy to install and configure. 

So how does it work?

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One of the nice things about not being employed by Microsoft is that I need not live in fear of receiving an email like this from Bill Gates.  This email from Bill Gates to the people responsible for Windows is worth a read if you have time.  It is a nice little rant on Windows from the guy most responsible for making Windows the most ubiquitous operating system on the planet.  The next time you get ready to verbally abuse Bill Gates when Windows frustrates you, take a deep breath and relax with the knowledge that BIll is using the software too and giving ‘em hell when it needs to be improved.

Note:  The Microsoft Mullet and other funny mullet pictures can be found at http://www.mulletmadness.com/.

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