Autodesk Vault Professional 2021 Add-in for SolidWorks
May 8 2020

This file contains information that became available prior to releasing the Autodesk Vault Professional 2021 Add-in for SolidWorks or that you may find useful while using the Vault add-in for SolidWorks.

System Requirements for all Vault products are accessible through the Vault install and www.autodesk.com/vault-system.

DISCLAIMER: Migrating data from a Beta product to the released product is not supported.

Table of Contents
Additional Resources
Autodesk Vault Professional 2021 Add-in for SolidWorks
  1. System Recommendations
  2. Installation Information
  3. Vault add-in for SolidWorks
  4. Autoloader
  5. Known Issues

If you experience problems not covered in this Readme or have questions about the Vault family of products, there are a variety of resources available to help answer your questions.


Legal Notice

System Recommendations

Supported Operating Systems with SolidWorks
Windows 10 64-bit
SolidWorks 2018 SP5 +
SolidWorks 2019 SP5 +
SolidWorks 2020 SP2 +
Supported Vault Products
  • Autodesk Vault Professional 2021 Server
  • Autodesk Vault File Server 2021
  • Autodesk Vault Professional 2021 Client
Supported Hardware
Minimum Requirements Recommended Requirements
  • Intel i3 or equivalent AMD processor, 1.6 GHz or higher
  • 4 GB memory or higher
  • 6 GB disk space
  • Intel i7 or equivalent AMD processor, 3 GHz or higher
  • 8 GB memory or higher
  • 10 GB disk space

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Installation Information

General Information


Autodesk Vault Professional 2021 Add-in for SolidWorks requires Autodesk Data Management Server 2021 and is not compatible with prior versions of Autodesk Vault.

Before installing Vault add-in for SolidWorks, you should close all running software.

In a connected workgroup or replicated environment (multiple Vault server installs), Server-Setup should be run on publisher and all subscribers. This is also true for Autodesk Vault File Servers (AVFS) where Server-Setup should be executed for all Autodesk Vault File Servers present in the environment.

The installation path must not contain XML reserved characters such as "&".

Installation Information


Autodesk Vault Professional 2021 Add-in for SolidWorks can only be installed on machines with an existing SolidWorks installation. All versions of SolidWorks that are listed in System Recommendations are supported.

Please check regularly for Windows updates and install them. Systems that are not up-to-date may not be supported.

The Vault add-in for SolidWorks consists of a server and a client setup.

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Vault add-in for SolidWorks

Use the Vault add-in for SolidWorks to perform many Vault tasks within SolidWorks so that files and elements can be managed directly within the SolidWorks interface.

Store and manage all your SolidWorks files, including:

  • Assemblies
  • Drawings
  • Parts
  • Toolbox components


    • When all your SolidWorks files are stored in the Vault, you ensure more accurate where-used information, comprehensive searching on all files, and better knowledge of what is the latest version of your designs.

    Vault add-ins are available from your subscription entitlements download page or the Autodesk Vault app store when using your Autodesk ID subscription credentials. See the readme and relevant documentation for details on integration support requirements, installation, configuration, and common troubleshooting tips.

    Add-in working folder is set when you first run SolidWorks after the Vault installation. You can change the Vault root working folder from the Vault 2021 Client using the "Set Working Folder..." on the Folder Details tab. The Add-in also supports administrator enforcement of a consistent working folder.

    Changes to the working folder will not take effect in SolidWorks until you log out and log back in with the Vault Add-in for SolidWorks.

    Adding files to Vault outside of the working folder is supported in this release. All files including SolidWorks library files that are located outside of the working folder will be checked in within the same folder as the root assembly.

    Use Vault to store and share SolidWorks file templates. SolidWorks file templates can be uploaded to Vault using Vault Professional 2021.

    The Vault add-in for SolidWorks extracts thumbnail images for preview. Configure the required mapping in Vault Professional, as follows:

    Note: You must have administrative access to perform these tasks.
    1. Click Tools > Administration > Vault Settings.
    2. On the Vault Settings dialog box, switch to the Behaviors tab, and click Properties.
    3. In the Property Definitions dialog box, select Thumbnail, and click Edit.
    4. Select the Mapping tab to add a property mapping.
    5. Click inside the * (Click here to add a new mapping) field beneath the Entity column.
    6. Select File in the entity type.
    7. Click the field under Provider and select SolidWorks (*.sldprt;*.sldasm;*.slddrw).
    8. Click the field under File Property and then click Import Properties.
    9. Select whether you want to import properties from the vault or from a source file.
    10. On the Select File dialog, locate the file from which you want to import. Click Open. The Import Properties list is automatically updated with the Thumbnail property.
    11. Click OK to create the mapping.
    12. On the Mappings tab, click OK to commit all changes and return to the Edit Property dialog box.

    To detect the SolidWorks document type you must add another mapping. Follow the same steps as above, except instead of selecting the property Type in Step 3 and selecting Component Type in Step 10.

    Note: You can’t set SolidWorks properties of "Date" and "Number" to an empty value from Vault Client.

    SolidWorks Toolbox and Vault

    You can use SolidWorks Toolbox with Vault. Create or use existing Vault Library folder and configure SolidWorks Toolbox to use its location. Toolbox parts are checked in Vault and managed as Library items.

    Warning

    If you use Toolbox with Vault you need to do one of the following:
    Important: If you do not make one these changes, Toolbox components can cause unexpected behavior.


    IMPORTANT: If SolidWorks is configured as the default viewer in Microsoft Windows for SolidWorks files, SolidWorks is launched when using the View feature in Vault Professional 2021. Because the file that is being viewed is stored in a temporary folder and is not the original file, it is strongly recommended that files being viewed are not added to the Vault during this workflow.


    If a component inside an assembly is edited without being checked out, edit operations performed on the component may fail. To avoid this, check out the component before editing it.

    We recommend that you avoid renaming and simultaneously moving components in Vault Explorer. We recommend that you have a recent backup of all affected files in case there are any problems.

    To preserve the DWF attachment during the rename operation, go to “Tools>Administrator>Vault Settings>Visualization tab> Commands”, and uncheck “Rename”.

    A file that is checked out automatically when you edit a design table, may encounter an issue when checking the file back into Vault Professional 2021. We recommend checking out the file containing the design table before editing the table.

    A default DWG template file is used for publishing drawings to DWF, but you can configure custom DWG templates to control DWF sheet size. Use of custom DWG templates can be specified in the publish settings file for each SolidWorks drawing sheet size. See the “Open Drawing from Vault” help topic for more information.

    Please note, you need to have installed DWG TrueView 2021 x64 if you want to create DWF files based on SolidWorks drawings through the Job Server.

    SolidWorks may issue the “Out of Memory” warning when certain large assemblies are checked in with the Create DWF Attachment option enabled. We recommend creating DWF Attachments using a Job Server. To set up a Job Server, run the same client setup and activate the additional Job Server component in the Setup Program.

    The DWF creation of SolidWorks drawing files is done on the "Autodesk DWF Writer for 2D” printer. If this printer is not installed, the DWF is created in the Autodesk Vault Professional 2021 Add-in for SolidWorks.

    Migration


    Enhancements to property mapping in Vault 2021 means that some SolidWorks model property classifications have been updated. Configured property mapping may not work correctly after migration. To fix it, remap and then re-index SolidWorks property provider specific properties.

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    Autoloader

    Install Information


    The Autoloader is installed automatically on each client.

    Autoloader Information


    Only users with the administrator role may load files into the vault using Autoloader.

    Autodesk strongly recommends backing up all existing databases and necessary files prior to running Autoloader.

    Autoloader requires SolidWorks 2018, SolidWorks 2019 or SolidWorks 2020 as well as Vault Professional 2021 installed on the system if you wish to use Autoloader to upload SolidWorks files.

    It is recommended that you close all other programs when running Autoloader to avoid memory problems while uploading data.

    SolidWorks files may be uploaded to any folder in the vault.

    To create DWFs, Autoloader submits jobs to the Job Server.

    Autoloader copies all files being uploaded to the vault to a temporary folder on the system that is running Autoloader. Therefore, enough free space must be available to accommodate the duplication of such files. If publishing DWF files enough space must also be available on the Job Server to accommodate the DWF files.

    Autoloader cannot detect Derived or Virtual components when scanning, se these are not added to the Vault using Autoloader.

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    Known Issues

    Use of Vault Professional 2021 Client (Vault Explorer) with SolidWorks files


    The Drag & Drop of SolidWorks files from Vault Professional 2021 to SolidWorks or a folder in Windows Explorer is not supported.

    Use of SolidWorks


    Renamed files may incorrectly reset the file revision. Please check renamed files for the correct revision value.

    Cut List BOM information for specific Structural Part configuration is extracted only for Part files saved in SolidWorks 2019 and later with the “Add Rebuild on Save Mark” turned on. Cut List BOM information for Part files saved in earlier versions of SOLIDWORKS, or without the “Add Rebuild on Save Mark” option will only be available for last saved active configuration and empty for all the others.

    'Exclude from cut list' property is not supported for Cut List BOM items.

    'Replace working copies' option in the Undo Check Out dialog is not supported.

    When the server and client are in different time zones, the custom property of date type is shifted by one day during properties synchronization.

    If DWF files from SolidWorks drawings are created using the printer "Autodesk DWF Writer for 2D" a message appears when you print. Click OK to continue.

    You can’t plot a SolidWorks drawing to PDF using the Thick Client Plot Manager.

    When creating DWF using Job Processor, active SolidWorks can be used. To avoid possible issues, we recommend starting Job Processor as an administrator.

    After executing the ‘Assign/Update Item’ command in Vault, BOMs are created for all items (including subassemblies) instead of only parts in assemblies containing 'Parts only' BOM type.

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    Legal Notice

    Autodesk Vault Professional, Autodesk Vault Workgroup, Autodesk Vault Basic, Autodesk Data Management Server, Autodesk Vault Office, Autodesk Inventor, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Mechanical, and AutoCAD Electrical are trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2016, SQL Server 2012, SQL Server 2014, SQL Server 2016, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Microsoft Office 2013 and Microsoft Office 2016 are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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