Hello to all,

Welcome to the new edition of the SOLIDWORKS Support Monthly News!  This monthly news blog is co-authored by members of the SOLIDWORKS Technical Support teams worldwide.

SOLIDWORKS Tips and Tricks: Displaying file properties in drawings and parts with a note from the Design library

By Mario Iocco

A customer wanted to create a note with a custom property and the following conditions:

1) The annotation must work for any sheet metal part or drawing
2) The annotation must be inserted as a Design Library note
3) The annotation must be generic and extract the part bend radius

Please see the below video demonstration on how to achieve this:

Troubleshooting SOLIDWORKS Manage and PDM Integration

By Kevin Crawford

SOLIDWORKS Manage works closely with SOLIDWORKS PDM.  A common issue is when changes are done in PDM and the changes do not appear when the record is viewed in Manage.  This is typically caused by an issue with the Manage add-in inside of PDM.  The Manage add-in will push any changes in PDM to Manage.  Here are some steps to go through when this issue occurs.

The first thing to check is if the Manage add-in is loaded in PDM

If not, go to the PDM Administration tool and load the add-in from the Manage client folder (default location is C:\Program Files\SOLIDWORKS Corp\SOLIDWORKS Manage).  You will need to add the following files: epdm.interop.epdm.dll and swm.swpdm.dll.  You also should add the configuration file, SWManage.swmc.  The configuration file is necessary for users that do not have Manage installed in order to connect to the Manage database.  It must be named exactly “SWManage.swmc”.

2. Is the add-in the same version as Manage? The add-in is not automatically updated during an upgrade.  As part of the upgrade process, the add-in must be updated.  To check the version of the add-in, you can browse into PDM and if you see the Manage tab, simply hover your cursor over the tab and the version number will appear.

In the newer versions of Manage (2020 SP3 and SP4), the version number of the swm.swpdm add-in is now displayed when you look in the PDM Administration tool of the add-in’s folder.

If the add-in is a different version, it must be updated to match the version of the Manage clients.  This can be done by deleting the add-in and loading it back.

3. Do you see the Manage tab in the PDM vault view? If the tab is missing, the most common issue is the add-in failed to register.  If the add-in was just loaded, browse into the PDM vault and right-click on a file.  If no error appears, the add-in likely registered but the tab may not appear until after a reboot or a restart of explorer.  If a user has never logged into the Manage client, the tab will not appear until after they have opened the Manage client and login.  If they are not a Manage user, it may not be necessary to login to the client.  In this scenario, you must include the configuration file (SWManage.swmc) with the add-in from step 1 or else the user will not connect to Manage.

If there is a failed to register error, the troubleshooting is similar to other PDM add-ins that fail to load.  There are a couple Knowledge Base solutions that may help troubleshoot the issue.  See S-017133 and S-075202.  If this doesn’t resolve the issue, contact your support team for assistance.

If the synchronization between PDM and Manage is working now but there are files that are still out of synch with Manage, you’ll need to re-synchronize the PDM object in Manage.  In the Administration tool, go to Structures > Documents and Records and edit the PDM object.  On the Connection page of the wizard, select “Enable Synchronization and get all PDM objects”.

The “Synchronization details” dialog appears and you can run the synchronization to update the files in Manage.  To save time, you can avoid scanning the entire PDM vault by only selecting the PDM folders where files are out of synch.

To summarize, the key to resolving synchronization issues between PDM and Manage is to ensure the Manage add-in is working properly in PDM.

Understanding graphics software

Please go through the below article to get a better perspective of graphics.

What is OpenGL? What is a graphics driver?

SOLIDWORKS uses OpenGL technology for rendering. OpenGL is a graphics language specification which is implemented by the respective graphics card vendors. For example, nVidia and AMD have their implementation of OpenGL in their corresponding drivers. A driver is a piece of software provided by the graphics card vendor which communicates between application like SOLIDWORKS and the graphics card hardware.

With the announced renderpipeline initiative we require graphics card that support Opengl 4.5 at a minimum. We are bringing cutting-edge technology to improve customer experience and so its imperative users update their graphics card drivers to a SOLIDWORKS certified version.

Where do i find my driver version?
nVidia:
Right click on your desktop:

AMD:

What driver versions are needed for SOLIDWORKS enterprise users?
You should always install the latest certified drivers as indicated by SOLIDWORKS hardware certification.

For nVidia, we certify against the driver branch and we ask you download the latest driver from nVidia from that branch. As of this article, we have certified R440 branch. This means you can download the latest driver from this branch such as 443.18 released on June 24, 2020. Please make sure to download ODE (Optimal Drivers for Enterprise) version. For nVidia customers, I would recommend installing nVidia Quadro Experience software : Quadro Experience: The Ultimate Quadro Productivity Companion | NVIDIA if you’re interested in the release log for fixes for SOLIDWORKS.

For AMD, we certify each individual driver drop from AMD. As of this writing, 19.Q3.2 was certified for SOLIDWORKS 2020.

How do I switch between nVidia and intel GPU on my laptop?
In general, SOLIDWORKS should automatically run on your discrete GPU. But we’ve have heard of issues when the laptop uses hybrid solutions. For example intel paired with nVidia GPU or intel paired with AMD GPU. If you come across a situation where SOLIDWORKS Rx reports that the discrete GPU is not used, please report this error with your VAR or let us know here in the forums. In meantime, you can disabled intel GPU within your BIOS. Each machine has its own BIOS, so its best you look at your machine’s user manual. The other option is to enable discrete GPU from your nVidia control panel or from AMD Radeon Pro settings.

nVidia:
Please navigate to your nVidia Control Panel:

AMD:
SOLIDWORKS should always run on AMD discrete GPU in a laptop hybrid situation. But in general, you can assign any application to run on discrete AMD GPU by right clicking on desktop->AMD Radeon PRO Settings->System

Once you see SOLIDWORKS under “search”, use the pull down menu and select “High Performance”. This will make SOLIDWORKS or any other software to run on discrete AMD mobile GPU. I also request, if you come under this situation, to please let us know.

Is there a free tool that i can use to introspect my machine’s configuration?

There are several tools available online, but i usually use CPU-Z to introspect my CPU and RAM. For GPU, i use GPU-Z. Just google for them. This could be daunting to use for beginners as it display a lot of details..but i think its not bad to have all the information you may need.

What other options do i need to look for in nVidia control panel for a better user experience?

In general, I always recommend keeping your Global Presets to “Base profile” when using SOLIDWORKS. You may want to look at recommendations when using other DS products.

What other utilities are there from nVidia that I can use to improve my experience?

We recommend checking out nVidia Quadro Experience:

Quadro Experience: The Ultimate Quadro Productivity Companion | NVIDIA.

If you’re using multiple monitors, then you can also use nVidia Quadro View:

Quadro View Desktop Management Software | NVIDIA

What are DCH Display Drivers from NVIDIA?

Microsoft DCH (Declarative Componentized Hardware supported apps) drivers refers to a new universal Windows driver package. . Per Microsoft requirements, the NVIDIA Control Panel is no longer included in the base DCH driver package and is instead distributed exclusively through the Microsoft Store and seamlessly installed following the completion of the NVIDIA driver installation.

What is the difference between NVIDIA Standard and DCH Display Drivers?

Functionally, there is no difference between NVIDIA’s Standard and DCH drivers. While the base core component files remain the same, the way DCH drivers are packaged and installed differs from previous (Standard) drivers. When directly comparing the two driver types, the DCH driver package has a smaller size and a faster installation time than the Standard package.

Which versions of Windows 10 support NVIDIA DCH Display Drivers?

NVIDIA DCH Display Drivers are supported on Windows 10 x64 April 2018 Update (Version 1803 OS Build 17134) and later versions.

My Windows 10 PC has NVIDIA Standard Display Drivers installed. Can I download and install NVIDIA DCH Display Drivers from NVIDIA.com?

Yes. NVIDIA DCH Display Drivers can be installed on top of NVIDIA Standard Display Drivers.

My Windows 10 PC has NVIDIA DCH Display Drivers installed. Can I download and install NVIDIA Standard Display Drivers from NVIDIA.com?

Yes, you can locate and download the driver through the  Advanced Driver Search.When installing Standard Display Driver versions posted 12/6/19 or later, the driver installation will force a clean installation which will fully remove the previous DCH driver before the Standard driver is installed. Should you be attempting to install a Standard Display Driver version posted before 12/6/19, we recommend you manually uninstall the previous DCH driver before beginning the installation.

How can I tell which NVIDIA Windows Driver Type is installed on my PC?

To confirm the type of system you have, open the NVIDIA Control Panel -> select “System Information” from the bottom left hand corner -> locate Driver Type. The text that follows will show if the driver type is DCH or Standard.

We uninstalled the NVIDIA DCH Display Drivers and NVIDIA Control Panel and then proceeded to download and install the latest driver from NVIDIA.com. Once the driver installation was completed, I am no longer seeing the NVIDIA Control Panel.

The NVIDIA DCH Display Driver will install the base display driver components but the hardware support apps (NVIDIA Control Panel) must be reinstalled from the Microsoft Windows Store manually. This should happen automatically without any user input. However, if the NVIDIA Control Panel is not installed during the installation of an NVIDIA DCH display driver, you may manually install it from the Microsoft Store be searching for “NVIDIA Control Panel” or directly from the URL below:

https://www.microsoft.com/store/apps/9NF8H0H7WMLT 

Please note: Reinstallation of the NVIDIA Control Panel is only necessary if you manually uninstall the NVIDIA Control Panel. If you are performing a clean install of Windows 10 x64 on a system which came preloaded with NVIDIA DCH Display Drivers, Windows Update will download and install both the NVIDIA DCH Display Driver and NVIDIA Control Panel automatically once you connect to the internet.

After updating my NVIDIA DCH display driver, I am no longer able to open the NVIDIA Control Panel. When I attempt to open the NVIDIA Control Panel, I get an error message “NVIDIA Driver is not installed on your system”.

The NVIDIA Control Panel app from the Microsoft Store may periodically get updated.  If you are seeing the message above, it likely means the latest NVIDIA Control Panel app was not updated to the latest version from the Microsoft Store during the driver update process.

How to fix it:

1. From the Windows Start Menu, open the Microsoft Store app. 
2. In the search field on the top right-hand corner, type “NVIDIA Control Panel” until the search as you type result shows the NVIDIA Control Panel app as shown in the screenshot below.  Once it appears, proceed to click on it to bring up the page. Note: If you accidentally clicked on the search icon after typing “NVIDIA Control Panel”, the Windows Store search results will show you several other games and apps.  You will find the NVIDIA Control Panel under the Apps section.

From here it should automatically start updating the NVIDIA Control Panel app. If it does not, you may manually update the app.

Once completed, you should be able to open the NVIDIA Control Panel.

Noteworthy Solutions from the SOLIDWORKS Knowledge Base

When I try to activate the ‘Include extended logging data’ option in SOLIDWORKS® Rx, why do I see the error: ‘Extended logging cannot be enabled on this computer due to missing Windows settings.’?
To activate the ‘Include extended logging data’ option in the ‘Problem Capture’ section of SOLIDWORKS® Rx, you must have Administrator privileges.To get more information, see Solution Id: S-078121

Is it possible to obtain all flattened DWG or DXF geometries from a multibody sheet metal part simultaneously?
Yes, this is possible. To know more, please visit the solution Id: S-078042

Where can I download the hotfix (SPR 1178466) for SOLIDWORKS® PDM 2020 SP1, SP2 and SP3 that fixes stability problems with Hole Wizard, Smart Dimension, and other functions until restarting SOLIDWORKS?
The following issues can affect some environments when working with the SOLIDWORKS® software on a system with a SOLIDWORKS PDM 2020 (SP0-SP3) add-in installed. In order to have more details about the hotfix, please visit the solution id: S-078185

Is there a SolidPractice available on the topic of “Managing Large Files”?
The document attached to solution id: S-078218 contains the solidpractice document for managing large files.

That’s it for this month. Thanks for reading this edition of SOLIDWORKS Support News. If you need additional help with these issues or any others, please contact your SOLIDWORKS Value Added Reseller.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome. You can enter them below.