Description

Running ExcelBOM a message informs that accordingly to the parent MAKE_BUY or filter, the BOM is empty.

There are no items in this BOM. Please check the MAKE_BUY state of the parent and/or the condition <condition> applied in the filter.

Solution

The BOM criteria could be actually wrong or some field (e.g. UM ) could be missing in the DOCUMENT table.

Try to run Admintools to update the database schema against missing fields.

Description

While running 64bit applications based on Solidworks functionalities (such as Conversion Wizard) the user may experience an error like

Cannot create ActiveX component

This is due to a R23 installation (previous than sp1.3) that may have created an incorrect registry key value in

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{b2f1524f-6cfe-4386-b472-ab1148dea4f1}\InProcServer32

e.g.

C:\Program Files (x86)\MechWorks\MechWorks_Pdm\bin\vs2019_x64\DBWorks.dll

Solution

R23sp1.3 fixes the issue; for previous R23 sp, the removal of the above registry key fixes the issue.

To remove the key, the user can run (as Administrator) a simple .vbs such as follows.

1. suppose to create the c:\temp\R23Fix.vbs file containing the following code:

   Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
   on error resume next
       value = WshShell.RegRead("HKCR\CLSID\{b2f1524f-6cfe-4386-b472-ab1148dea4f1}\InProcServer32\") 
       If InStr(value, "DBWorks.dll") > 0 Then
           WshShell.regdelete("HKCR\CLSID\{b2f1524f-6cfe-4386-b472-ab1148dea4f1}\InProcServer32\" )
       End If
   If Err then 
       WshShell.Popup "Key deletion error" & vbCrlf & Err.Number & " " & Err.Description, 5, "Fix", 0 OR 16 
   Else
       WshShell.Popup "Key deletion completed", 5, "Fix", 0 OR 64
   End if

2. Open a command prompt as Administrator
3. run the script:

   start "C:\temp\fixR23.vbs"

Description

after updating to R23 a message similar to the following is shown at PDM startup:

The message is due to the fact a further check has been implemented in R23 about 4K monitors icon formats.
In R20 you simply didn’t see the icons in the user interface;
in R23 it is reported any missing large format icon through the Activity Console;
typically it means you have the LowRes icon but you’re missing the 4K format icon.

More, in R23, all the required (default) icons are distributed in both formats, so if you see the message you must have an old DBWORKS_SERVER folder with (maybe not used anymore) icons in LowRes format only.

Solution

You can download from here the missing icons; just unzip the icons into the <GPP>\SCHEMA\IMG\ folder.

Description

ConversionWizard is not able to recognize the installed CAD version, so an error message is shown:

this issue is reported by R23 sp1.0 only  on Solidworks 2023 and Solid Edge 2023 file types only.

Solution

The issue has been fixed in R23 sp1.1.

more, Solid Edge 2023 update4 is mandatory to use the ConversionWizard from StandaloneClient

Description

Running the ConversionWizard from MechworksPDM R23 sp1.0 the CAD is not recognized even if installed:

Cannot determinate installed CAD version, exiting.

Solution

Siemens released the following bugfix in Update4 of Solid Edge 2023
PR 10628404: Design Manager from the Windows Start menu will not run using a floating license
and this allows the ConversionWizard to properly work with StandaloneClient (R23 sp1.1)

Description

after an update you may see the following error while registering a generic document into the PDM (having enabled OnAddDocument.LST or DataEntr_Generic.LST)

This is due to a library update happened in R20sp0.5 (dated 20210730)

Solution

customized script case

if you customized the script, you’ve to edit them and replace the occurrence of this code

If Not LoadAllInput() Then

with this

If Not LoadAllInput("0") Then

default scripts case

if you’re running default script you can just copy the most up to date version of them from

<installFolder>\LST\DEMO_LST\

to

<GPP>\LST\

folder.

Description

After an update, the below error could be raised when registering a generic document into the PDM (having enabled OnAddDocument.LST or DataEntr_Generic.LST):

This is due to an update of a system library happened in R20sp0.5 (dated 20210730).

Solution

Customized script

if you have customizations on OnAddDocument.LST or DataEntr_Generic.LST script files, you’ve to replace the code

If Not LoadAllInput() Then

with the following one

If Not LoadAllInput("0") Then

Default script

if you’re running default scripts, you can can just take the most up to date version from

<installFolder>\LST\DEMO_LST\

and copy into the

<GPP>\LST\

folder.

To open a ticket on Mechworks Support you can send an email to support @mechworks.com
Here below is a list of things to consider to properly format the request email.

1. 1. Remove any unnecessary picture (logo/social/awards/events/whatever) from email signature before sending
   2. Cases (bug or inquiry) MUST contain logs.
      Please refer to our FAQ https://reservedarea.mechworks.com/faqs/create-logfile/ to enable PDM tracing mode and get all needed log files.
      Starting from R20sp1.0 we also improved our Capture MechWorks PDM Log script (available from your Start menu-Mechworks) to get all the client logfiles and make a zip of them. You then have to manually add DBWACLServer.log or LicenseManager.log if they apply to your case.
   3. If possible (highly encouraged), create a video showing the issue, adding audio or captions to explain keypoints.
      Videos are more useful than pictures and can be easily shared among the team, whereas the meeting cannot.
      Do not attach videos to emails; accepted way is to specify a link to download the video (from your filesharing system) or upload such video on our FTP (ask MW for further details).
      video must have the format

      <caseNumber>_<date><_N>.<extension>

      use <_N> if sending more than one video for the same case on the same date.
      Examples:

      50528_20211020.avi
      51456_20211018_1.wmv
      51456_20211018_2.wmv
      52774_20210912.mp4

   4. Please avoid several email follow-ups in a short time: rather, take more time to collect all the needed info/files, record a video, write a full description and then send your email.
   5. Cases have to be categorized. This must be specified in the email subject.
      Possible case types are:
      1. Inquiry: you ask a question to us.
      2. Bug: you made tests and against the expected behaviour (from your knowledge or MW documentation) it is actually a bug.
         To fix a bug we need to reproduce it on our systems: we expect you send us all the needed files/info to achieve this.
      3. Enhancement: it is a behavior not already implemented but that would be useful for the application.
         Enhancements have a cost: we will evaluate whether to do it, how to do and when.
         The reseller will be involved in this process though.
         Resellers are also kindly asked to provide a rough idea of the expected implementation, taking care of current product behavior and impacts of the new feature on it.
   6. When not sure, the default choice is inquiry; please note the time spent for investigating/understanding the proper type may cause a slowdown.
   7. Cases must be given a priority. This must be specified in the email subject.
      Possible case priorities are:
      1. Urgent: customer is not able to work (stuck); data can be seriously impacted; meeting may be required; a fix can be done with the next Beta versions.
      2. High: the issue is causing troubles; a fix is needed soon (next service pack); a workaround may be useful meanwhile (when possible).
      3. Medium: the issue is causing waste of time; annoying the customer but the work is not impacted; a fix can be done within the release life.
      4. Low: issue is not reproducible on demand or it has low impact (a fix can be done but no forecast is expected).

Expected email subject format

[RESELLER/CUSTOMER name] – type – priority – TITLE

Where
RESELLER/CUSTOMER: the name (uppercase) of the final customer (no need to specify LTD, INC, GMBH, AG, SRL, …) or reseller (if no customer is involved)
type: BUG/INQ/ENH
priority: Urg/High/Med/Low

Examples

[MICROSOFT] - INQ - Med - Admintools raise an error while doing upgrades
[APPLE] - BUG - High - CAD does not save anymore
[ACME] - INQ - Urg - Database is not reachable
[MW] - ENH - Low - provide help documentation in Klingon language

Windows Defender “Attack Surface Protection” (ASP) as many other antivirus software, could be the cause of many PDM issue when not properly configured.

The MsSense.exe process could block many other processes from accessing many files; as example, it could block processes around recursive check-in/approval operations – not being visible at first glimpse, but causing major inconvenience afterwards:

• DBWACLServer not being able to set permissions (without throwing or logging any errors)
• PDF creation being halted with no files or corrupt files being created
• Related assemblies (parent/child) causing SWX to crash on next Save/Checkin
• …

In case the PDF Master Drawing Mode is enabled, many possible things could go wrong.

To verify if ASP is actually the cause of reported issues about PDM just switch it off, leaving with no AV software at all.

Reading Microsoft’s docs, it seems that in case “ASP” is enabled, processes are running in some kind of a “sandbox-like” environment.

Unfortunately, it seems it is impossible to define ANY exclusions here; those were set for the standard Windows Defender “MsMpEng.exe” process, have no effect on the “ASP” functionality.

The following list is taken from Microsoft website advertising their product
(https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/defender-endpoint/attack-surface-reduction); it’s stated the ASP engine is able to:

• Block executable content from email client and webmail
• Block all Office applications from creating child processes
• Block Office applications from creating executable content
• Block Office applications from injecting code into other processes
• Block JavaScript or VBScript from launching downloaded executable content
• Block execution of potentially obfuscated scripts
• Block Win32 API calls from Office macro
• Use advanced protection against ransomware
• Block credential stealing from the Windows local security authority subsystem (lsass.exe)
• Block process creations originating from PSExec and WMI commands
• Block untrusted and unsigned processes that run from USB
• Block executable files from running unless they meet a prevalence, age, or trusted list criteria
• Block Office communication applications from creating child processes
• Block Adobe Reader from creating child processes
• Block persistence through WMI event subscription

In case such list cannot be filtered or exclusions defined, obviously PDM/CAD processes could fail at several areas.

Description

It may happens, on systems where BitDefender antivirus is installed, tha ExcelBOM stops working, raising a error like followings:

In general when it’s noticed with no PDM updates or scripts/parameters modification, the cause must be investigated towards automatic updates set for the operating system (Windows, Office365, WindowsDefender) and for the antivirus/antimalaware.

Solution

A new global exception defined for the following folder solves the ExcelBom issue:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Mechworks

Remarks

You may encounter the same experience (PDM application not working as expected with no evident modifications), in such case please consider to set similar exceptions.

Description

After a Windows update (often due to a Microsoft365 update), at startup the PDM is stuck on the following error message

The operating system is not presently configured to run this application.

This because such update (e.g. Microsoft365 ver. 20204) changed the Access Driver to a version that the operating system is not able to manage.
Here is explained by Microsoft:
https://docs.microsoft.com/da-dk/office/troubleshoot/access/cannot-use-odbc-or-oledb

Solution #1

As suggested in the link above,  the solution is to reinstall the Access Driver

e.g. 2016 MS Access Database Engine Redistributable

Here is an example on how the driver can be modified in the process:

Solution #2

Starting from R17sp2.16 a parameter has been added to DBWConn.PAR file for avoiding the creation of Briefcase datasources.

SKIP_CREATION_BRIEFCASE_DSN  1

please refer to official documentation for further details.

Inventor 2020/2021

For Inventor 2020/2021 there’s no native support for the full preview so the Inventor Viewer must be installed as additional application;
please consider the following procedure is also for Inventor 2021, just replace “2020” with “2021” in the paths

Once installed, you’ve to manually copy and register as followings:

copy from

C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor View 2020\Bin\InventorViewCtrl.ocx
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor View 2020\Bin\CommonLIB.dll
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor View 2020\Bin\en-US\InventorViewRes.dll

to the correspondent subpath of the Inventor 2020 installation:

C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2020\Bin\InventorViewCtrl.ocx
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2020\Bin\CommonLIB.dll
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2020\Bin\en-US\InventorViewRes.dll

please note the third file is contained in a language dependent folder (en-US is for US english installation), so make sure of copying accordingly to the installed language;
for this reason the installation language of Inventor and Inventor viewer must be the same.

then, opening an administrative command prompt, you’ve to register the dll:

Regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2020\Bin\InventorViewCtrl.ocx"

finally, add the following path as a further value of the already existing “PATH” environment variable

C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2020\Bin

through the Edit environment variable dialog:

Description

Some character are not properly shown in the MechworksPDM interface.
Usually they’re shown like this:

instead of like this:

Solution

This behavior is driven by Windows10 operating system that uses a different non-unicode setting on the workstation where the issue is verified.

A solution is to change the set in the Current language for non-Unicode programs of the Region & language section of the control panel:

please note that while fixed values are working properly, the values taken from text files (such as .LST for dropdown lists) are affected in the same way:

in this case it can be helpful to change the txt file coding (eg. ISO 8859-1):

Description

When running BriefCase forms from an integrated client or from StandaloneClient x64, you may be prompted about running the functionality from StandaloneClient x86 version:

This is caused by the fact no MSAccess driver x64 is installed; to verify this you can open ODBC Data Sources (64-bit) and see that’s only 32-bit driver is there:

Solution

Of course you can run Briefcase from StandaloneClient 32-bit as a solution.

Otherwise you can install MSAccess x64 drivers that are distributed by Microsoft.

At the following x64 PDM startup the x64 ODBC entry for the Briefcase functionality will be added:

Description

When plotting a PDF or a TIF document, a message about missing Ghostscript application is raised:

Solution

By clicking YES you should be redirect to the download page;

if not, the direct link to download the missing component is the following:

https://www.ghostscript.com/download/gsdnld.html

the required package is Ghostscript 9.22 for Windows (32 bit) with a GNU AGPL license type.

Description

Solid Edge ST10 doesn’t allow to show full preview.
This is due to the fact ST10 version doesn’t deploy 32-bit controls anymore.

Further information can be found here on Siemens Community Forum.

Solution

You have to download an additional Solid Edge package, install it and register one of its components.

1. Download from Siemens website the package ST10 View & Markup
2. Install it on the workstation
3. open a administrative MSDOS prompt
4. execute the command

   regsvr32 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Insight Connect ST10\Program\SEpartX.ocx"

Description

when running in Windows 10, you may see to see the iconized browser that has an issue with icon overlapping like this:

Solution

The icon  position depends on 3 different aspects:

• Screen resolution
• Scaling
• size of the icon in the title bar

The first 2 elements are customizable via UI

while the third one can be accessed through registry only.
As many other settings, interface elements are defined in the registry key:

[HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]

and in details the icon height is defined through the value named CaptionHeight:

You can change the current value to enlarge the icon space and obtaining the correct visualization of the title bar.
Please note the value must be expressed as
-15 * <desired icon pixel height>
so, if you want icons to be 22×22 pixels, the value must be expressed as
-15 * 22 = -330

e.g. On a screen resolution of 1920×108, scaling 100%, the value CaptionHeight=-300 (that means -15*20) solved the issue:

Description

Especially on Windows 10, when installing R17 release from the scratch, you may be prompted about the missing Microsoft .NET 3.5 package, then the setup will exit.

this because the Windows 10 default is .NET 4.x package only:

Solution 1

In most of cases, as suggested by the message, the solution is to run the Windows Feature dialog and to enable the .NET Framework 3.5

Solution 2

In a minority of cases, the solution 1 is not effective, so R17 has been added of a complementary package installer.

Here are steps to install .NET 3.5 without accessing Windows Feature dialog:

1. extract installer contents by opening an Administrator MSDOS prompt and typing

   MechWorks_Pdm_Msi_R17_SP0_0.exe /extract:"C:\temp"

   
   
   a progress bar informs you about the process
   
   
   finally you’ll have some files extracted in the chosen folder
   

2. from the previous MSDOS prompt, execute the installDoNet35w10.bat file by typing it:
   
   the .NET 3.5 package will be downloaded and finally you can verify it has properly added to windows features:
   
3. then you can run installer again

Description

Starting from R16, it is performed a further check on records with NULL ID.
Since an ID with a NULL value it’s unwanted state (that will cause issues), at startup a message (or the Activity console) warns the user  about that:

Solution

1. open the browser for updating
2. if necessary, enable the showing of the QueryPage (a browser restart is required to apply this change):
    
3. insert following query in QueryPage and execute it:

   SELECT * FROM DOCUMENT WHERE ID IS NULL

   please note the table name DOCUMENT is language dependent, so change the query accordingly

4. once shown the faulty records, you can choose to
   1. remove them with DELETE button bar (pay attention they’re not referenced anymore by any other record)
      
   2. editing them and add a valid ID value
      

Description

During installation on Windows 10 you may see an error about Package Manager that’s defined as deprecated:

Note: PkgMgr.exe ha been deprecated. Please update your scripts to use DISM.exe to install, uninstall, configure, and update features and package
for Windows.
[…]
Access Denied.

Solution

In some cases the deactivation/reactivation of .Net 3.5 (manually from Windows features dialog) has been effective;

in other cases it has been mandatory to block/reinstall the antivirus (Symantec in our specific case).

When creating an ExcelBOM you could experience an error about lack of memory:

To solve this issue please open Excel BOM Designer and set the XLSX format as default instead of XLS:

When creating an ExcelBOM you could experience an error about lack of memory:

To solve this issue please open Excel BOM Designer and set the XLSX format as default instead of XLS:

Very often is due to antivirus control.

e.g.
If you’re running AVG antivirus, please check the “[X] Scan files after closing” setting;
If enable, disable it.

Very often is due to antivirus control.

e.g.
If you’re running AVG antivirus, please check the “[X] Scan files after closing” setting;
If enable, disable it.

Sometimes it’s useful to allow data truncation so to not interrupt massive operations, such as file registration.

In case the filename is too long and you’re registering through the Registration Wizard, a SQL message about truncation could stop the whole process.

In this case it’s possible to disable the messaging by SQLServer so to let the wizard go through up to the end. The directive is SET ANSI_WARNING_OFF and can be encapsulated in a script (such as autoexec.vbs that’s run as first when starting the PDM).

Sub Main()
     DBWInit(TRUE)
     cmdLine="SET ANSI_WARNINGS OFF"
     DBWExecSQL( cmdLine )
end Sub

This will set the waning OFF for the current session.

Please note this procedure is very dangerous if applied to remarkable database fields like FILE_NAME or FILE_DIRECTORY, so make sure such files are never truncated.

Sometimes it’s useful to allow data truncation so to not interrupt massive operations, such as file registration.

In case the filename is too long and you’re registering through the Registration Wizard, a SQL message about truncation could stop the whole process.

In this case it’s possible to disable the messaging by SQLServer so to let the wizard go through up to the end. The directive is SET ANSI_WARNING_OFF and can be encapsulated in a script (such as autoexec.vbs that’s run as first when starting the PDM).

Sub Main()
     DBWInit(TRUE)
     cmdLine="SET ANSI_WARNINGS OFF"
     DBWExecSQL( cmdLine )
end Sub

This will set the waning OFF for the current session.

Please note this procedure is very dangerous if applied to remarkable database fields like FILE_NAME or FILE_DIRECTORY, so make sure such files are never truncated.

Some cases has been reported on Windows 10 that after successfully running Mechworks PDM setup, no entry was available to be selected between Solidworks addins.

The issue has been addressed in R16sp1.1 by adding the DBWorks DLL path

%programfiles(x86)MechWorksMechWorks_PdmBinVS2012_x64

to the environment %PATH% variable.

Some cases has been reported on Windows 10 that after successfully running Mechworks PDM setup, no entry was available to be selected between Solidworks addins.

The issue has been addressed in R16sp1.1 by adding the DBWorks DLL path

%programfiles(x86)MechWorksMechWorks_PdmBinVS2012_x64

to the environment %PATH% variable.

Description

After saving a single configuration of a multi-configuration model, the preview for the saved configuration is visible while the preview of another configuration is not visible anymore:

Solution

A related bugfix can be helpful

Please note that the bug fix does not affect any model previously saved, that
needs to be saved once again for fixing the configuration preview images contained in
the model.

More, a Solidworks settings can affect the process too:

try to disable such option and to save the configuration again.

Description

After saving a single configuration of a multi-configuration model, the preview for the saved configuration is visible while the preview of another configuration is not visible anymore:

Solution

A related bugfix can be helpful

Please note that the bug fix does not affect any model previously saved, that
needs to be saved once again for fixing the configuration preview images contained in
the model.

More, a Solidworks settings can affect the process too:

try to disable such option and to save the configuration again.

Description

The disk is full due to database logfile growth:

Solution

Setting Simple recovery model

RMB on the database → Properties → Options

set the Recovery model to Simple:

RMB on the database → Properties → Files

browse the Autogrowth and set a Restricted file growth value for the logfile

Shrink log file

RMB on the database → Tasks → Shrink → Database → OK

RMB on the database → Tasks → Shrink → Files → OK

Set the File type to Data and click OK

Then set the File type to Log and click OK

Description

The disk is full due to database logfile growth:

Solution

Setting Simple recovery model

RMB on the database → Properties → Options

set the Recovery model to Simple:

RMB on the database → Properties → Files

browse the Autogrowth and set a Restricted file growth value for the logfile

Shrink log file

RMB on the database → Tasks → Shrink → Database → OK

RMB on the database → Tasks → Shrink → Files → OK

Set the File type to Data and click OK

Then set the File type to Log and click OK

Description

DBWorks R16 section is missing in the Solidworks command manager, despite of the fact the addin is running properly (see the DBWorks Menu is loaded):

Solution

You’ve to right click the SWCommandManager and select Customize CommandManager:

then for every entry of R16 or R15, right click and select Delete:

finally restart the CAD.

Description

DBWorks R16 section is missing in the Solidworks command manager, despite of the fact the addin is running properly (see the DBWorks Menu is loaded):

Solution

You’ve to right click the SWCommandManager and select Customize CommandManager:

then for every entry of R16 or R15, right click and select Delete:

finally restart the CAD.

To dynamically preview any Solidworks file (except the case you have saved jpg images of the preview through the option Open/Save→Save→[x]Save preview images as files) you need the SW Document Manager properly installed on the workstation.

If you are not able to see SW files preview despite of the fact Solidworks is installed, you may be in the need of re-register the SW Document Manager library.

The file is named swdocumentmgr.dll and it’s installed under the following folders:

C:Program FilesCommon FilesSOLIDWORKS Shared

and

C:Program Files (x86)Common FilesSOLIDWORKS Shared

To re-register it, you’ve to open a MSDOS command prompt and to type, for each of the two folders:

regsvr32 swdocumentmgr.dll

To dynamically preview any Solidworks file (except the case you have saved jpg images of the preview through the option Open/Save→Save→[x]Save preview images as files) you need the SW Document Manager properly installed on the workstation.

If you are not able to see SW files preview despite of the fact Solidworks is installed, you may be in the need of re-register the SW Document Manager library.

The file is named swdocumentmgr.dll and it’s installed under the following folders:

C:Program FilesCommon FilesSOLIDWORKS Shared

and

C:Program Files (x86)Common FilesSOLIDWORKS Shared

To re-register it, you’ve to open a MSDOS command prompt and to type, for each of the two folders:

regsvr32 swdocumentmgr.dll

if you encounter a type mismatch error while running script that invokes the DBWFilterSelect2 function, you may be in the need of modifying a little your script as followings.

original script:

res=DBWFilterSelect2(title,Dsn,SelectStatement,FieldtoRead,FieldToFilterOn,FilterValue,multiresult,position)

if res<>"" then
   if Ubound(multiresult)=0 then
      'DBWMsgbox "Only one result"
      DBWMsgBox multiresult(0)
   else
      'DBWMsgBox "More than one result"
      for i=0 to ubound(multiresult)
         DBWMsgbox multiresult(i)
      next
   end if
else
   'DBWMsgBox "The user has cancelled"
end if

modified script:

...
If isempty(multiresult) then
   if res="" then
      DBWMsgbox "user has canceled"
   else
      DBWMsgBox "only one result: " & res
   end if
else
   DBWMsgbox "many results"
   for i=0 to ubound(multiresult)
      DBWMsgBox multiresult(i)
   next
end if
...

with release R15sp2.8 the function has been enhanced to manage also past faulty cases:

res=DBWFilterSelect2(title,Dsn,SelectStatement,FieldtoRead,FieldToFilterOn,FilterValue,multiresult,position)

if res="" then
   DBWMsgBox "User has canceled"
else
   DBWMsgBox Ubound(multiresult)+1 & " result(s)"
   for i=0 to ubound(multiresult)
      DBWMsgbox multiresult(i)
   next
end if
...

if you encounter a type mismatch error while running script that invokes the DBWFilterSelect2 function, you may be in the need of modifying a little your script as followings.

original script:

res=DBWFilterSelect2(title,Dsn,SelectStatement,FieldtoRead,FieldToFilterOn,FilterValue,multiresult,position)

if res<>"" then
   if Ubound(multiresult)=0 then
      'DBWMsgbox "Only one result"
      DBWMsgBox multiresult(0)
   else
      'DBWMsgBox "More than one result"
      for i=0 to ubound(multiresult)
         DBWMsgbox multiresult(i)
      next
   end if
else
   'DBWMsgBox "The user has cancelled"
end if

modified script:

...
If isempty(multiresult) then
   if res="" then
      DBWMsgbox "user has canceled"
   else
      DBWMsgBox "only one result: " & res
   end if
else
   DBWMsgbox "many results"
   for i=0 to ubound(multiresult)
      DBWMsgBox multiresult(i)
   next
end if
...

with release R15sp2.8 the function has been enhanced to manage also past faulty cases:

res=DBWFilterSelect2(title,Dsn,SelectStatement,FieldtoRead,FieldToFilterOn,FilterValue,multiresult,position)

if res="" then
   DBWMsgBox "User has canceled"
else
   DBWMsgBox Ubound(multiresult)+1 & " result(s)"
   for i=0 to ubound(multiresult)
      DBWMsgbox multiresult(i)
   next
end if
...

Introduction to issue tracing

If you ever encounter a problem, a malfunctioning or a possible bug, please contact your reseller and where necessary send an e-mail with a description of your problem and of your current configuration at support @mechworks.com

MechworksPDM execution tracing

A set of parameters is available in Mechworks PDM so as to debug working sessions that have problems not solvable with the normal email support provided by MechWorks. If you experience unexpexted behaviour, the best way to send information to the MechWorks support is to describe the problem with an e-mail, and to attach the log file that will be generated when the Execution Tracing is enabled.

The standard log file are named:

DBWORKS_<DATE>_<TIME>.LOG

and starting from R20 also

DBW_FilePathMonitor_<DATE>.LOG

they are both necessary and they are written in the %TEMP% directory of the computer.

Having separate log files for different dates allowing for multisession log files.

Collecting logfiles

Starting from R20sp1.0 the script Start-Programs-Mechworks-Capture Mechworks PDM Log has been enhanced to automatically collect all the required CLIENT logs and create a single package of files.
Once created the logs and then executed this script, the user has to send it to Mechworks support for being analyzed.

Previous build users have to manually collect single functionality log files as explained below.

In any case, SERVER logs (DBWAclServer and/or MWLicenseManager) must be added manually since they require access to different server/workstation from the current one.
Please refer to single chapters to know which server log files are required.

Enable tracing

To enable the logging process from the MechworksPDM menu in the CAD interface, choose Activate_debug_logging script.
Here below are different CAD representation:

DBInventor toolbar

A dialog informs about the current state of the logging (enabled or disabled)

Then a confirmation of disabling/enabling is shown

Finally another dialog tells you where to find the generated log and last, such temp folder is opened for your ease

After that you can start performing actions that lead to the issue reproducing.

Please note it’s very important to log as few actions as possible to reduce the analyzing time and focusing on the actual issue.

Since you don’t need to restart CAD application to enable log creation, we strongly suggest to prepare the environment before activating the log.

In the end, after have the problem logged, disable the tracing by running again the Activate_debug_logging script.

DBWAclServer log files

In case the issue involves DBWACLServer or you have been asked by Mechworks Support Team to provide log for it, you’ve to send -together with standard log- also specific client and server log.

Before start recording the issue, on the server, please delete the current logifle so to track necessary actions only:

%PROGRAMDATA%\Mechworks\DBWACLServer\Logs\DBWAclServer.log

The client log is in the client temporary folder:

%TMP%\DBWAclClient_<DATE>_<TIME>.LOG

If present, please send also:

%TMP%\DBWMSG.log

If present, please remember to send together with the logs also the DBWACLServerADM.txt file that’s located in

%ProgramData%\MechWorks\DBWAclServer

or in the same folder of the executable of the service.

TaskManager log files

In case the issue involves TAskManager or you have been asked by Mechworks Support Team to provide log for it, you’ve to send -together with standard log- also specific server log and a dump of TaskManager involved database tables (DBW_TASK_COMMANDS, DBW_TASK_EXEC_NODES, DBW_TASKS, DBW_TASKS_LOG); a zipped backup of the whole database (if not excessively large) is fine.

License Manager log files

Please note 2 logfiles are created:

• Server log: in the same folder of the MwLicenseManager.exe, named like MwLicenseManager_<yyyymmdd>.LOG
• Client log: in the %tmp% (temporary folder for current user), named like MwClientManager_<yyyymmdd>_<hhmmss>.LOG

In case no logfile is created on the server, it could be due to the fact the location of the service executable does not grant write permission to the service personality.
Often the %programfiles% and %programfiles(x86)% are not writable. In such cases try to install the service having the executable on a different location.

Installation log files

For issues occurred during installation process, please send us following logs created in the %tmp% folder:

• Dbw_msi_log.txt
• Dbw_msi_Exception_log.txt
• MSIxxxxxx.LOG (where xxxxx is a number)

Typical step by step procedure to log an issue

Suppose the issue is related to DBWAclServer so you need to provide both standard log and DBWAclServer specific log.

1. Make sure tracing is disabled
2. Close the CAD application
3. [*] On the file server remove/rename the file %PROGRAMDATA%\Mechworks\DBWACLServer\Logs\DBWAclServer.log
4. Open the CAD application
5. Prepare the environment to track the single(s) action that creates the issue (i.e. open the browser, search for the right project/record in the tree)
6. Enable tracing as shown before
7. Perform the action(s) that reproduces the issue
8. Close the CAD application
9. Collect the created logs and send to Mechworks Support:
   • If running R20sp1.0 or newer, run the script from Start-Programs-Mechworks-Capture Mechworks PDM Log to collect the created logs (server logs must be provided manually)
   • If running older builds: collect, zip and send Mechworks the following files + server logs:
     • On the client %TMP%\DBWORKS_<date>_<time>.LOG
     • [*] On the client %TMP%\DBWACLClient_<date>_<time>.LOG
     • [*] On the server %PROGRAMDATA%\Mechworks\DBWACLServer\Logs\DBWAclServer.log

please note step marked with [*] are intended to be DBWAclServer specific; skip such steps in case the feature is not active or you were not asked to provide DBWAclServer specific logs.

Introduction to issue tracing

If you ever encounter a problem, a malfunctioning or a possible bug, please contact your reseller and where necessary send an e-mail with a description of your problem and of your current configuration at support @mechworks.com

MechworksPDM execution tracing

A set of parameters is available in Mechworks PDM so as to debug working sessions that have problems not solvable with the normal email support provided by MechWorks. If you experience unexpexted behaviour, the best way to send information to the MechWorks support is to describe the problem with an e-mail, and to attach the log file that will be generated when the Execution Tracing is enabled.

The standard log file are named:

DBWORKS_<DATE>_<TIME>.LOG

and starting from R20 also

DBW_FilePathMonitor_<DATE>.LOG

they are both necessary and they are written in the %TEMP% directory of the computer.

Having separate log files for different dates allowing for multisession log files.

Collecting logfiles

Starting from R20sp1.0 the script Start-Programs-Mechworks-Capture Mechworks PDM Log has been enhanced to automatically collect all the required CLIENT logs and create a single package of files.
Once created the logs and then executed this script, the user has to send it to Mechworks support for being analyzed.

Previous build users have to manually collect single functionality log files as explained below.

In any case, SERVER logs (DBWAclServer and/or MWLicenseManager) must be added manually since they require access to different server/workstation from the current one.
Please refer to single chapters to know which server log files are required.

Enable tracing

To enable the logging process from the MechworksPDM menu in the CAD interface, choose Activate_debug_logging script.
Here below are different CAD representation:

DBInventor toolbar

A dialog informs about the current state of the logging (enabled or disabled)

Then a confirmation of disabling/enabling is shown

Finally another dialog tells you where to find the generated log and last, such temp folder is opened for your ease

After that you can start performing actions that lead to the issue reproducing.

Please note it’s very important to log as few actions as possible to reduce the analyzing time and focusing on the actual issue.

Since you don’t need to restart CAD application to enable log creation, we strongly suggest to prepare the environment before activating the log.

In the end, after have the problem logged, disable the tracing by running again the Activate_debug_logging script.

DBWAclServer log files

In case the issue involves DBWACLServer or you have been asked by Mechworks Support Team to provide log for it, you’ve to send -together with standard log- also specific client and server log.

Before start recording the issue, on the server, please delete the current logifle so to track necessary actions only:

%PROGRAMDATA%\Mechworks\DBWACLServer\Logs\DBWAclServer.log

The client log is in the client temporary folder:

%TMP%\DBWAclClient_<DATE>_<TIME>.LOG

If present, please send also:

%TMP%\DBWMSG.log

If present, please remember to send together with the logs also the DBWACLServerADM.txt file that’s located in

%ProgramData%\MechWorks\DBWAclServer

or in the same folder of the executable of the service.

TaskManager log files

In case the issue involves TAskManager or you have been asked by Mechworks Support Team to provide log for it, you’ve to send -together with standard log- also specific server log and a dump of TaskManager involved database tables (DBW_TASK_COMMANDS, DBW_TASK_EXEC_NODES, DBW_TASKS, DBW_TASKS_LOG); a zipped backup of the whole database (if not excessively large) is fine.

License Manager log files

Please note 2 logfiles are created:

• Server log: in the same folder of the MwLicenseManager.exe, named like MwLicenseManager_<yyyymmdd>.LOG
• Client log: in the %tmp% (temporary folder for current user), named like MwClientManager_<yyyymmdd>_<hhmmss>.LOG

In case no logfile is created on the server, it could be due to the fact the location of the service executable does not grant write permission to the service personality.
Often the %programfiles% and %programfiles(x86)% are not writable. In such cases try to install the service having the executable on a different location.

Installation log files

For issues occurred during installation process, please send us following logs created in the %tmp% folder:

• Dbw_msi_log.txt
• Dbw_msi_Exception_log.txt
• MSIxxxxxx.LOG (where xxxxx is a number)

Typical step by step procedure to log an issue

Suppose the issue is related to DBWAclServer so you need to provide both standard log and DBWAclServer specific log.

1. Make sure tracing is disabled
2. Close the CAD application
3. [*] On the file server remove/rename the file %PROGRAMDATA%\Mechworks\DBWACLServer\Logs\DBWAclServer.log
4. Open the CAD application
5. Prepare the environment to track the single(s) action that creates the issue (i.e. open the browser, search for the right project/record in the tree)
6. Enable tracing as shown before
7. Perform the action(s) that reproduces the issue
8. Close the CAD application
9. Collect the created logs and send to Mechworks Support:
   • If running R20sp1.0 or newer, run the script from Start-Programs-Mechworks-Capture Mechworks PDM Log to collect the created logs (server logs must be provided manually)
   • If running older builds: collect, zip and send Mechworks the following files + server logs:
     • On the client %TMP%\DBWORKS_<date>_<time>.LOG
     • [*] On the client %TMP%\DBWACLClient_<date>_<time>.LOG
     • [*] On the server %PROGRAMDATA%\Mechworks\DBWACLServer\Logs\DBWAclServer.log

please note step marked with [*] are intended to be DBWAclServer specific; skip such steps in case the feature is not active or you were not asked to provide DBWAclServer specific logs.

Description

One user cannot print/plot from the MechworksPDM with their Standard PlotSetup, although the same plotters are registered on all the machines.

This issue is mainly caused by the fact the printer/plotter is declared on such machine with a case that’s different than the server declaration.

for example the client declaration of the printer

Dell Color Laser 1320c

could be not recognized if on the server is declared with a different case, like

DELL COLOR Laser 1320c

more, different printer/plotter declaration are stored in the registry, so it could happen you find more than one printer/plotter name for the same device.

The registry key is

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionPrintProvidersClient Side Rendering Print Provider

Solution

Once removed the wrongly spelled (cased) keys and restarted the printer spooler on the server, the issue should be fixed.

Here is an external blog article talking about this issue.

Description

One user cannot print/plot from the MechworksPDM with their Standard PlotSetup, although the same plotters are registered on all the machines.

This issue is mainly caused by the fact the printer/plotter is declared on such machine with a case that’s different than the server declaration.

for example the client declaration of the printer

Dell Color Laser 1320c

could be not recognized if on the server is declared with a different case, like

DELL COLOR Laser 1320c

more, different printer/plotter declaration are stored in the registry, so it could happen you find more than one printer/plotter name for the same device.

The registry key is

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionPrintProvidersClient Side Rendering Print Provider

Solution

Once removed the wrongly spelled (cased) keys and restarted the printer spooler on the server, the issue should be fixed.

Here is an external blog article talking about this issue.

Description

When upgrading from express to enterprise license type or when changing the CAD serial/machine code, you’ve to enter a new serial number for the application.

Since it’s not the first time you install the software, no serial number will be asked at runtime.

Solution

you can remove the current serial number file (different for each CAD integration) so to make the system ask you again, or you can edit the file content (with a text editor) to update the serials manually.

Serial number are contained in following files:

c:Program FilesCommon FilesMechworksDBWorks.SN
c:Program FilesCommon FilesMechworksDBInventor.SN
c:Program FilesCommon FilesMechworksDBSolidEdge.SN

or

c:Program Files (x86)Common FilesMechworksDBWorks Standalone.SN

Description

When upgrading from express to enterprise license type or when changing the CAD serial/machine code, you’ve to enter a new serial number for the application.

Since it’s not the first time you install the software, no serial number will be asked at runtime.

Solution

you can remove the current serial number file (different for each CAD integration) so to make the system ask you again, or you can edit the file content (with a text editor) to update the serials manually.

Serial number are contained in following files:

c:Program FilesCommon FilesMechworksDBWorks.SN
c:Program FilesCommon FilesMechworksDBInventor.SN
c:Program FilesCommon FilesMechworksDBSolidEdge.SN

or

c:Program Files (x86)Common FilesMechworksDBWorks Standalone.SN

BOM_ GROUP children can be positioned either at the location assigned according to their position number or at the bottom of the list of the siblings.

In the first case you can ensure that they take the position of the parent inside the BOM, but mind that duplicate positions are possible if you donàt assign the positions carefully.

In the latter case, duplicates will be avoided but you will not find the childre at the position where the fake parent would was located.

In both cases if the same item is found at the parent’s level, items are joined and quantities are added.

The standard behavior is to add the children at the bottom of the list, ensuring that no errors are possible, but you can decide otherwise for a specific BOM template.

The option that determines this behavior is

AVOID_REASSIGN_BOM_GROUP_CHILDREN

And must be added to the options section of the BOM parameter file

 The two approaches compared:

An example in which children are repositioned at the bottom:

And the final result:

BOM_ GROUP children can be positioned either at the location assigned according to their position number or at the bottom of the list of the siblings.

In the first case you can ensure that they take the position of the parent inside the BOM, but mind that duplicate positions are possible if you donàt assign the positions carefully.

In the latter case, duplicates will be avoided but you will not find the childre at the position where the fake parent would was located.

In both cases if the same item is found at the parent’s level, items are joined and quantities are added.

The standard behavior is to add the children at the bottom of the list, ensuring that no errors are possible, but you can decide otherwise for a specific BOM template.

The option that determines this behavior is

AVOID_REASSIGN_BOM_GROUP_CHILDREN

And must be added to the options section of the BOM parameter file

 The two approaches compared:

An example in which children are repositioned at the bottom:

And the final result:

Question

how to update the R15 license manager if a new version is released?
(for environments where the new R15 license manager is already installed)

Solution

the license manager executable is updated together with the main application, so you can find it within the installer MechWorks_Pdm_Msi_R15_SPx_x.exe

Once installed the main application you’ll find it as

C:Program Files (x86)MechWorksMechWorks_PdmbinMwLicenseManagerServerMwLicenseManager.exe

So to update the license manager you’ve to

1. stop the service on the server
2. copy the MwLicenseManager.exe from the just updated client overwriting the old one
3. restart the service on the server

Question

how to update the R15 license manager if a new version is released?
(for environments where the new R15 license manager is already installed)

Solution

the license manager executable is updated together with the main application, so you can find it within the installer MechWorks_Pdm_Msi_R15_SPx_x.exe

Once installed the main application you’ll find it as

C:Program Files (x86)MechWorksMechWorks_PdmbinMwLicenseManagerServerMwLicenseManager.exe

So to update the license manager you’ve to

1. stop the service on the server
2. copy the MwLicenseManager.exe from the just updated client overwriting the old one
3. restart the service on the server

Description

If a component is checked-in and a user has that file open in Solidworks while another user attempts to release the file obviously the file is not going to be able to be deleted from the check-in folder.
So the user gets the following message:

more,  after the approval the file that was left in the check-in folder has an additional permission added:

then the user that performed the Approve command now has full control on the document.

Solution

The issue is caused by the fact that Solidworks locks the components even when they are in read-only state.

The only valid way for making concurrent engineering with the Local Checkout Mode over a network is to enable the Read-Only Local Copies, for avoiding that locking issues may block the file delete/copy required by the LCM.

The use of the “Read-only” local copies should also “mitigate” such kind of concurrent engineering issues, because being the files copied in the “read-only” local directory, Solidworks will not lock the shared checked-in copy, but instead the “local read-only” copy.

Of course, the loading of components in light-weight mode is also recommended (because less locks will be applied by SW when loading assemblies):

This option will force Solidworks to NOT load the components in memory until they need to be modified.

The issue can be easily tested even without DBWAclServer.
When DBWAclServer is involved, there will be a specific moment where the file becomes writeable with full control from the user that makes the approve – in that exact time, maybe the “concurrent” Solidworks locks the same files and stops the ability of the original user to delete the copy in the shared checked-in directory.

Description

If a component is checked-in and a user has that file open in Solidworks while another user attempts to release the file obviously the file is not going to be able to be deleted from the check-in folder.
So the user gets the following message:

more,  after the approval the file that was left in the check-in folder has an additional permission added:

then the user that performed the Approve command now has full control on the document.

Solution

The issue is caused by the fact that Solidworks locks the components even when they are in read-only state.

The only valid way for making concurrent engineering with the Local Checkout Mode over a network is to enable the Read-Only Local Copies, for avoiding that locking issues may block the file delete/copy required by the LCM.

The use of the “Read-only” local copies should also “mitigate” such kind of concurrent engineering issues, because being the files copied in the “read-only” local directory, Solidworks will not lock the shared checked-in copy, but instead the “local read-only” copy.

Of course, the loading of components in light-weight mode is also recommended (because less locks will be applied by SW when loading assemblies):

This option will force Solidworks to NOT load the components in memory until they need to be modified.

The issue can be easily tested even without DBWAclServer.
When DBWAclServer is involved, there will be a specific moment where the file becomes writeable with full control from the user that makes the approve – in that exact time, maybe the “concurrent” Solidworks locks the same files and stops the ability of the original user to delete the copy in the shared checked-in directory.

Description

when starting the PDM, you could be notified with this console message:

or

this is because starting from R15 version, the STOP/START statement is not supported anymore, so you can obtain the same result by programming a vbscript that queries an external database through classic vbscript methods (e.g. ADO).

Solution

The easiest way it’s to put the database name in the SQL query such as

.SQL
.KEY 0

SELECT [FIELD] FROM [EXTERNAL_DB].[DBO].[TABLE] WHERE ...

On the other hand, in case you need to rearrange the user interface,  Mechworks PDM standard library provides functions to do that, such as DBWListFromQuery1 and DBWFilterSelect3.

Here below are 2 examples of conversion from initial .SQL script to .VBSCRIPT code.

Original .SQL script

.SQL
.KEY 0
STOP;
SET DB MY_EXTERNAL_DB;
SET USER Mylogin;
SET PASSWORD Mypwd;
START;
SELECT * FROM MY_EXT_TABLE;
STOP;
SET DB DBWORKS;
SET USER MyDBWlogin;
SET PASSWORD MyDBWpwd;
START;

First solution

The easiest way to solve it is to include the external table in the main Mechworks PDM database so to avoid the need of disconnecting from one db and connect to another (and finally to set it back);
Of course it’s not always possible to perform such inclusion, for this reason we provide 2 more alternatives rewriting code in vbscript.

Second solution

vbscript file with DBWListFromQuery1 function (simpler, suggested for choosing among few results):

.VBSCRIPT
dim sResult

Sub main()
   datasource = "MY_EXTERNAL_DB"
   login = "Mylogin"
   pwd = "MyPwd"
   ColumnToChooseFrom = 1 
   Title = "Select a value"
   SQLQuery = "SELECT * FROM MY_EXTERNAL TABLE"
   ok = DBWListFromQuery1(datasource, SQLQuery, ColumnToChooseFrom, Title, login, pwd, sResult)
   dbwoutput "MY_FIELD",sresult,ForWriting
end sub

Here is the dialog shown:

Third solution

vbscript with DBWFilterSelect3 function (allows to further filter on results)

.VBSCRIPT
dim sResult
Sub main()
   datasource = "MY_EXTERNAL_DB"
   login = "MyLogin"
   pwd = "MyPwd"
   Title = "Select a value"
   SQLQuery = "SELECT * FROM MY_EXT_TABLE"
   FieldToRead = "FIELD2"
   FieldToFilterOn = "FIELD3"
   FilterValue = "value"
   position = 0
   ok = DBWFilterSelect3(title,datasource,login,pwd,SQLQuery,FieldtoRead,FieldToFilterOn, FilterValue, sResult, position)
   dbwoutput "MY_FIELD",sresult,ForWriting
end sub

Here is the dialog shown:

Description

when starting the PDM, you could be notified with this console message:

or

this is because starting from R15 version, the STOP/START statement is not supported anymore, so you can obtain the same result by programming a vbscript that queries an external database through classic vbscript methods (e.g. ADO).

Solution

The easiest way it’s to put the database name in the SQL query such as

.SQL
.KEY 0

SELECT [FIELD] FROM [EXTERNAL_DB].[DBO].[TABLE] WHERE ...

On the other hand, in case you need to rearrange the user interface,  Mechworks PDM standard library provides functions to do that, such as DBWListFromQuery1 and DBWFilterSelect3.

Here below are 2 examples of conversion from initial .SQL script to .VBSCRIPT code.

Original .SQL script

.SQL
.KEY 0
STOP;
SET DB MY_EXTERNAL_DB;
SET USER Mylogin;
SET PASSWORD Mypwd;
START;
SELECT * FROM MY_EXT_TABLE;
STOP;
SET DB DBWORKS;
SET USER MyDBWlogin;
SET PASSWORD MyDBWpwd;
START;

First solution

The easiest way to solve it is to include the external table in the main Mechworks PDM database so to avoid the need of disconnecting from one db and connect to another (and finally to set it back);
Of course it’s not always possible to perform such inclusion, for this reason we provide 2 more alternatives rewriting code in vbscript.

Second solution

vbscript file with DBWListFromQuery1 function (simpler, suggested for choosing among few results):

.VBSCRIPT
dim sResult

Sub main()
   datasource = "MY_EXTERNAL_DB"
   login = "Mylogin"
   pwd = "MyPwd"
   ColumnToChooseFrom = 1 
   Title = "Select a value"
   SQLQuery = "SELECT * FROM MY_EXTERNAL TABLE"
   ok = DBWListFromQuery1(datasource, SQLQuery, ColumnToChooseFrom, Title, login, pwd, sResult)
   dbwoutput "MY_FIELD",sresult,ForWriting
end sub

Here is the dialog shown:

Third solution

vbscript with DBWFilterSelect3 function (allows to further filter on results)

.VBSCRIPT
dim sResult
Sub main()
   datasource = "MY_EXTERNAL_DB"
   login = "MyLogin"
   pwd = "MyPwd"
   Title = "Select a value"
   SQLQuery = "SELECT * FROM MY_EXT_TABLE"
   FieldToRead = "FIELD2"
   FieldToFilterOn = "FIELD3"
   FilterValue = "value"
   position = 0
   ok = DBWFilterSelect3(title,datasource,login,pwd,SQLQuery,FieldtoRead,FieldToFilterOn, FilterValue, sResult, position)
   dbwoutput "MY_FIELD",sresult,ForWriting
end sub

Here is the dialog shown:

Here is a procedure to create a backup file of a running database on SQLServer.

When sending a database backup file to Mechworks’ support take care of zipping it first.

1. open SQLServer Management Studio
2. Right Mouse Button (RMB) on the database to be backupped:
   
3. choose a file name/location and make sure it’s a full type backup:
   
4. make sure it’s not appending but it’s overwriting old backups (in case you have any):
   
5. click OK and verify the backup is properly created:
   

Here is a procedure to create a backup file of a running database on SQLServer.

When sending a database backup file to Mechworks’ support take care of zipping it first.

1. open SQLServer Management Studio
2. Right Mouse Button (RMB) on the database to be backupped:
   
3. choose a file name/location and make sure it’s a full type backup:
   
4. make sure it’s not appending but it’s overwriting old backups (in case you have any):
   
5. click OK and verify the backup is properly created:
   

this article is taken from Dell support workspace

Description

Upon trying to install/upgrade vWorkspace, a support person may encounter error…

"Can't find script engine VBScript"

Issue may be caused either by a broken VBScript registration or by McAfee antivirus.

Resolution

– Open a command prompt in elevated mode (run as administrator).
– Type

regsvr32 vbscript.dll

– Open regedit and verify that

HKLMSOFTWAREClassesCLSID{B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}InprocServer32

is pointing to vbscript.dll
On a 64-bit machines the key is

HKLMSOFTWAREWow6432NodeClassesCLSID{B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}InprocServer32

There’s a specific scenario when the key is overwritten by McAfee software, which change the key’s value to McAfee script scanning DLL. In such a case please either uninstall McAfee then re-register vbscript.dll or contact McAfee support.

It’s also possible that the same key may exist in HKCU hive.
Please delete the whole HKCUSOFTWAREClassesCLSID{B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8} tree in such case.

Additional workaround: Please remove traces of McAfee using MCPR tool:
http://service.mcafee.com/FAQDocument.aspx?id=TS101331

this article is taken from Dell support workspace

Description

Upon trying to install/upgrade vWorkspace, a support person may encounter error…

"Can't find script engine VBScript"

Issue may be caused either by a broken VBScript registration or by McAfee antivirus.

Resolution

– Open a command prompt in elevated mode (run as administrator).
– Type

regsvr32 vbscript.dll

– Open regedit and verify that

HKLMSOFTWAREClassesCLSID{B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}InprocServer32

is pointing to vbscript.dll
On a 64-bit machines the key is

HKLMSOFTWAREWow6432NodeClassesCLSID{B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}InprocServer32

There’s a specific scenario when the key is overwritten by McAfee software, which change the key’s value to McAfee script scanning DLL. In such a case please either uninstall McAfee then re-register vbscript.dll or contact McAfee support.

It’s also possible that the same key may exist in HKCU hive.
Please delete the whole HKCUSOFTWAREClassesCLSID{B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8} tree in such case.

Additional workaround: Please remove traces of McAfee using MCPR tool:
http://service.mcafee.com/FAQDocument.aspx?id=TS101331

To verify that the system is properly reading and recognizing your Mechworks product serial, you can use the following procedure.

1. Unzip and copy [download id=”1455″] in the installation folder,
   usually

   C:Program Files(x86)MechWorksMechWorks_PDM

2. open a MSDOS console in such folder
3. run command specifying the product you’re testing against:

   SecuTest.exe DBWorks >out.txt

   or

   SecuTest.exe DBInventor >out.txt

   or

   SecuTest.exe DBSolidEdge >out.txt

4. send the created out.txt file to MechWorks support for investigation

To verify that the system is properly reading and recognizing your Mechworks product serial, you can use the following procedure.

1. Unzip and copy [download id=”1455″] in the installation folder,
   usually

   C:Program Files(x86)MechWorksMechWorks_PDM

2. open a MSDOS console in such folder
3. run command specifying the product you’re testing against:

   SecuTest.exe DBWorks >out.txt

   or

   SecuTest.exe DBInventor >out.txt

   or

   SecuTest.exe DBSolidEdge >out.txt

4. send the created out.txt file to MechWorks support for investigation

Some users reported to have a lot more crashes than before, or performance problems increasing.

We verified it is often caused by a problem in the Active Directory of Windows, that appears when the SQLServer Service Account is changed from i.e. Local System to a dedicated Domain Account (which is not so unusual).

In short: the active Directory then has two entries, that cannot be differentiated during Kerberos authentication (see Wikipedia or MIT about the topic).

Take a look at following screenshot of the related Windows Event Log of the CAD Clients:

Please note usually it’s possible to find a correspondence between the exact crash time and a failure event in the windows event logs on the client.

Then search Google about solution.

Some users reported to have a lot more crashes than before, or performance problems increasing.

We verified it is often caused by a problem in the Active Directory of Windows, that appears when the SQLServer Service Account is changed from i.e. Local System to a dedicated Domain Account (which is not so unusual).

In short: the active Directory then has two entries, that cannot be differentiated during Kerberos authentication (see Wikipedia or MIT about the topic).

Take a look at following screenshot of the related Windows Event Log of the CAD Clients:

Please note usually it’s possible to find a correspondence between the exact crash time and a failure event in the windows event logs on the client.

Then search Google about solution.

Inventor 2020 users please refer to this page.

As known issue, the full preview on Inventor models doesn’t work due to a change in the viewer control:

It’s a behavior related to other already known issues about Inventor view Control.

Here below it’s a procedure to manually make it working properly.

Please note this procedures fixes the x64 operating system case only.

1. register the 32bit ocx control for 2015-2017 version or 64bit ocx control for 2018-2019 versions;
   open a MSDOS prompt as administrator and type the line corresponding to  the Inventor version you’re running:

   C:\Windows\SysWOW64\regsvr32.exe "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2015\Bin\Bin32\InventorViewCtrl.ocx"
   C:\Windows\SysWOW64\regsvr32.exe "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2016\Bin\Bin32\InventorViewCtrl.ocx"
   C:\Windows\SysWOW64\regsvr32.exe "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2017\Bin\Bin32\InventorViewCtrl.ocx"
   C:\Windows\SysWOW64\regsvr32.exe "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2018\Bin\InventorViewCtrl.ocx"
   C:\Windows\SysWOW64\regsvr32.exe "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2019\Bin\InventorViewCtrl.ocx"

2. add some missing keys to the registry:

   [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTInventor.ViewControl.1]
   @="Autodesk Inventor View Control"
   
   [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTInventor.ViewControl.1CLSID]
   @="{A6336AB8-D3E1-489A-8186-EE40F2E027FE}"
   
   [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTInventor.ViewControl.1Insertable]
   @=""

3. add -if not already defined- the 32bit ocx path to the current PATH system variable (pay attention to the Inventor path 2015 / 2016 / 2017):
   

Inventor 2020 users please refer to this page.

As known issue, the full preview on Inventor models doesn’t work due to a change in the viewer control:

It’s a behavior related to other already known issues about Inventor view Control.

Here below it’s a procedure to manually make it working properly.

Please note this procedures fixes the x64 operating system case only.

1. register the 32bit ocx control for 2015-2017 version or 64bit ocx control for 2018-2019 versions;
   open a MSDOS prompt as administrator and type the line corresponding to  the Inventor version you’re running:

   C:\Windows\SysWOW64\regsvr32.exe "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2015\Bin\Bin32\InventorViewCtrl.ocx"
   C:\Windows\SysWOW64\regsvr32.exe "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2016\Bin\Bin32\InventorViewCtrl.ocx"
   C:\Windows\SysWOW64\regsvr32.exe "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2017\Bin\Bin32\InventorViewCtrl.ocx"
   C:\Windows\SysWOW64\regsvr32.exe "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2018\Bin\InventorViewCtrl.ocx"
   C:\Windows\SysWOW64\regsvr32.exe "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2019\Bin\InventorViewCtrl.ocx"

2. add some missing keys to the registry:

   [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTInventor.ViewControl.1]
   @="Autodesk Inventor View Control"
   
   [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTInventor.ViewControl.1CLSID]
   @="{A6336AB8-D3E1-489A-8186-EE40F2E027FE}"
   
   [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTInventor.ViewControl.1Insertable]
   @=""

3. add -if not already defined- the 32bit ocx path to the current PATH system variable (pay attention to the Inventor path 2015 / 2016 / 2017):
   

Description

While running a script from StandaloneClient or the Integrated Addins, when you move the mouse over the sub form area, the form will disappear and the main app will crash.

The form works properly under old operating system (such as WindowsXP) while it crashes under Windows10 or Windows8.1

Solution

Under installationPathbin folder is distributed an alternative DLL that can be used to solve this issue in most of cases.

• make a backup copy of the current library binModalViewer.DLL
• rename the file
  binModalViewer_20030228.DLL
  to
  binModalViewer.DLL

Description

When starting Standalone Client you may receive a couple of messages like followings:

DBWorks security manager:
error [x] = The operation completed successfully.
line = nnn

usually it’s reported on Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 operating systems.

Solution

A way to solve this issue is taking the default user account on the Windows 8 machine and change it to a Standard account.
Then reboot and log back in.
Last, change it back to an Administrator account and reboot again.

Next time you log in you should be able to install MechWorks PDM and run Standalone without any issues.

Description

When starting Standalone Client you may receive a couple of messages like followings:

DBWorks security manager:
error [x] = The operation completed successfully.
line = nnn

usually it’s reported on Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 operating systems.

Solution

A way to solve this issue is taking the default user account on the Windows 8 machine and change it to a Standard account.
Then reboot and log back in.
Last, change it back to an Administrator account and reboot again.

Next time you log in you should be able to install MechWorks PDM and run Standalone without any issues.

Description

When registering Drawing and Part into MechworksPDM database and approve the
documents, then when approving from Solidworks, the dimensions on the drawing could be modified (e.g. a dimension could be moved to another bend line).
Closing and reopening usually corrects the issue.
It doesn’t happen when DBWorks addin is not active.

e.g.

Solution

Despite of the fact this issue seems strictly related (and caused) by DBWorks, it’s actually due to modification happened in the model (e.g. changing of material).

Solidworks statement is as followings:

This is a known issue , the refer is SPR# 719641 
F.O. SPR 680460: Dimensions to bend lines in flat pattern drawing view becomes dangling after sheet metal part changes; particularly saving to DWG/DXF.
For this issue there is no good workaround for it until now,
you need to recreate the dimension.

Description

When registering Drawing and Part into MechworksPDM database and approve the
documents, then when approving from Solidworks, the dimensions on the drawing could be modified (e.g. a dimension could be moved to another bend line).
Closing and reopening usually corrects the issue.
It doesn’t happen when DBWorks addin is not active.

e.g.

Solution

Despite of the fact this issue seems strictly related (and caused) by DBWorks, it’s actually due to modification happened in the model (e.g. changing of material).

Solidworks statement is as followings:

This is a known issue , the refer is SPR# 719641 
F.O. SPR 680460: Dimensions to bend lines in flat pattern drawing view becomes dangling after sheet metal part changes; particularly saving to DWG/DXF.
For this issue there is no good workaround for it until now,
you need to recreate the dimension.

Description

You are  creating a PDF output on approval and the results you are getting is that the PDF is missing your logo on their title block.

Solution

This issue has been addressed by Autodesk as 1517-587, specific for Inventor 2014 sp2.
It has been verified as solved in sp2 Update 1.

Description

You are  creating a PDF output on approval and the results you are getting is that the PDF is missing your logo on their title block.

Solution

This issue has been addressed by Autodesk as 1517-587, specific for Inventor 2014 sp2.
It has been verified as solved in sp2 Update 1.

Here below is explained a process flow during a scripting action on files

1. Client: issues a FileDelete/FileCopy command
2. Server: it executes the FileDelete/FileCopy command
3. In this exact time, Client’s Windows Explorer has no notification about the no more existing or just created file – any script command like “if file exist then” or “SolidWorks → Open” the files will fail
4. the Client’s Windows Explorer waits a fixed amount of time before REFRESHING its file cache – this time is by default 10 seconds
5. After such delay the file appears on the Client’s side, so allowing any further processing based on the file status

Since Mechworks PDM cannot know if the script wants to check if the file exists or not, if the script wants to open the file or not, etc., the application WAITS until the file status is SYNCHRONIZED with the Client’s Window Explorer.

For further information about the topic you can read the Microsoft technical article SMB2 Client Redirector Caches Explained.

In order to modify the WAIT TIMEs for such synchronization, on each W10 client you can:

access the registry and create the DWORD values in the following key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Lanmanworkstation\Parameters

with following values:

so to obtain these settings:

Thanks to such settings, the TIME that Mechworks PDM needs to wait (under special circumstances) after a server file operation for syncing the client Windows Explorer file cache has been greatly reduced from about 5 seconds (the default value of the FileNotFoundCacheLifeTime) to 1 second .

As explained in the article notes at the bottom:

[…]
Disabling the File information cache can have significant effect on client performance and show an increase in the number of metadata requests that are sent to the server
[…]

so our suggestion is avoiding to set the values to ZERO, leaving a bit of time to wait before refreshing the cache.

Here below is explained a process flow during a scripting action on files

1. Client: issues a FileDelete/FileCopy command
2. Server: it executes the FileDelete/FileCopy command
3. In this exact time, Client’s Windows Explorer has no notification about the no more existing or just created file – any script command like “if file exist then” or “SolidWorks → Open” the files will fail
4. the Client’s Windows Explorer waits a fixed amount of time before REFRESHING its file cache – this time is by default 10 seconds
5. After such delay the file appears on the Client’s side, so allowing any further processing based on the file status

Since Mechworks PDM cannot know if the script wants to check if the file exists or not, if the script wants to open the file or not, etc., the application WAITS until the file status is SYNCHRONIZED with the Client’s Window Explorer.

For further information about the topic you can read the Microsoft technical article SMB2 Client Redirector Caches Explained.

In order to modify the WAIT TIMEs for such synchronization, on each W10 client you can:

access the registry and create the DWORD values in the following key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Lanmanworkstation\Parameters

with following values:

so to obtain these settings:

Thanks to such settings, the TIME that Mechworks PDM needs to wait (under special circumstances) after a server file operation for syncing the client Windows Explorer file cache has been greatly reduced from about 5 seconds (the default value of the FileNotFoundCacheLifeTime) to 1 second .

As explained in the article notes at the bottom:

[…]
Disabling the File information cache can have significant effect on client performance and show an increase in the number of metadata requests that are sent to the server
[…]

so our suggestion is avoiding to set the values to ZERO, leaving a bit of time to wait before refreshing the cache.

As behavior change, starting from build 20140424 and only in MechworksPDM Express edition, following functionalities have been denied by default:

• Open for updating
• Full options editing

The behavior is controlled by a environment variable named

MECHWORKSPDMADMINMODE

If is not existing or it is existing and not set to the value “1”, the feature are denied.

The MechWorks PDM Setup program automatically creates and set this environment variable when the option for installing the Administration Tools is checked during the setup procedure.

When in no admin mode:

1) the “Open for Updating” is not available as menu entry for the SolidWorks integration; for all the other integrations the menu entry is available but a message pops up stating that the functionality is allowed only to the PDM Administrators.

2) the “Options” functionality permits the editing only of the USER and PLOT options:

As behavior change, starting from build 20140424 and only in MechworksPDM Express edition, following functionalities have been denied by default:

• Open for updating
• Full options editing

The behavior is controlled by a environment variable named

MECHWORKSPDMADMINMODE

If is not existing or it is existing and not set to the value “1”, the feature are denied.

The MechWorks PDM Setup program automatically creates and set this environment variable when the option for installing the Administration Tools is checked during the setup procedure.

When in no admin mode:

1) the “Open for Updating” is not available as menu entry for the SolidWorks integration; for all the other integrations the menu entry is available but a message pops up stating that the functionality is allowed only to the PDM Administrators.

2) the “Options” functionality permits the editing only of the USER and PLOT options:

When the DBWserver.exe file is located in a folder different than

<installation folder>\bin\

and it’s registered as service from there, please note the DBWGzip.exe must be placed on the same folder, otherwise revision .gz files won’t be created.

When the DBWserver.exe file is located in a folder different than

<installation folder>\bin\

and it’s registered as service from there, please note the DBWGzip.exe must be placed on the same folder, otherwise revision .gz files won’t be created.

Description

If the scripting engine is 64bit version, it will refer -in the registry- to the 64bit version of the controls.
Sometimes the controls are not available in both 32bit and 64bit mode

Because of this, to run scripts properly in Mechworks environment you have to instantiate a 32bit version of the scripting engine for running the script.

Solution

To test it, on a 64bit workstation, with both Standalone 32bit and 64bit installed:

• open the task manager and be sure that no DBWAlone*.exe process is running – if yes, please kill them
• create a C:test.vbs file as follows:

  Call main
  Sub main()
    Set DBWApp = CreateObject("DBWAlone.Api")
    okDBW = DBWApp.CallBack("@StartApplication")
    MsgBox "done, check task manager"
    Set DBWApp = nothing
  End Sub

• from the command window run:

  C:>cscript c:test.vbs

• when the msgbox appears, look at the task manager: you will see the DBWAlone64.exe process running:
  
• click ok in the msgbox and the DBWAlone64.exe process will disappear
• run now the following command:

  C:>C:WindowsSysWOW64cscript.exe c:test.vbs

• when the msgbox appears, look at the task manager: you will see the DBWAlone.exe (32-bit) process running:
  
• click ok in the msgbox and the DBWAlone.exe process will disappear

Description

If the scripting engine is 64bit version, it will refer -in the registry- to the 64bit version of the controls.
Sometimes the controls are not available in both 32bit and 64bit mode

Because of this, to run scripts properly in Mechworks environment you have to instantiate a 32bit version of the scripting engine for running the script.

Solution

To test it, on a 64bit workstation, with both Standalone 32bit and 64bit installed:

• open the task manager and be sure that no DBWAlone*.exe process is running – if yes, please kill them
• create a C:test.vbs file as follows:

  Call main
  Sub main()
    Set DBWApp = CreateObject("DBWAlone.Api")
    okDBW = DBWApp.CallBack("@StartApplication")
    MsgBox "done, check task manager"
    Set DBWApp = nothing
  End Sub

• from the command window run:

  C:>cscript c:test.vbs

• when the msgbox appears, look at the task manager: you will see the DBWAlone64.exe process running:
  
• click ok in the msgbox and the DBWAlone64.exe process will disappear
• run now the following command:

  C:>C:WindowsSysWOW64cscript.exe c:test.vbs

• when the msgbox appears, look at the task manager: you will see the DBWAlone.exe (32-bit) process running:
  
• click ok in the msgbox and the DBWAlone.exe process will disappear

Some special characters (e.g. in polish language) maybe shown in a wrong way inside the Input Data Form and in the PDM grids.

Please note that Mechworks PDM is not a UNICODE application
It inherits the current “Local” settings for the ANSI CODE PAGE and the current COLLATION of SQL Server.

Because of this, some bad visualization effect could be caused by a not unicode language pack (e.g. Chinese) installed on the pc.

Some special characters (e.g. in polish language) maybe shown in a wrong way inside the Input Data Form and in the PDM grids.

Please note that Mechworks PDM is not a UNICODE application
It inherits the current “Local” settings for the ANSI CODE PAGE and the current COLLATION of SQL Server.

Because of this, some bad visualization effect could be caused by a not unicode language pack (e.g. Chinese) installed on the pc.

Often when installing an application you should be physically logged in as Administrator.
Of course this is not always possible.

Here is a setting to allow the application to be installed as Administrator as well.

1. In the Start→Run command type

   SECPOL.msc

   and press ENTER
   

2. In the Local Security Policy dialog select Local Policies→Security Options
3. In the panel on the right double click User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode (default value is Enabled)
   
4. In the displayed dialog set the Disable option and click OK
   
5. Reboot the workstation

Often when installing an application you should be physically logged in as Administrator.
Of course this is not always possible.

Here is a setting to allow the application to be installed as Administrator as well.

1. In the Start→Run command type

   SECPOL.msc

   and press ENTER
   

2. In the Local Security Policy dialog select Local Policies→Security Options
3. In the panel on the right double click User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode (default value is Enabled)
   
4. In the displayed dialog set the Disable option and click OK
   
5. Reboot the workstation

Description

You got a

'Not enough main memory.: 'DBWApp.CallBack''

error while performing a CAD operation (such as creating a part locally in an assembly):

Cause

A possible cause for this issue is the use of offline data feature of the operating system

Solution

if the issue is caused by offline data, you can solve the issue by disabling it:

Description

You got a

'Not enough main memory.: 'DBWApp.CallBack''

error while performing a CAD operation (such as creating a part locally in an assembly):

Cause

A possible cause for this issue is the use of offline data feature of the operating system

Solution

if the issue is caused by offline data, you can solve the issue by disabling it:

Description

If you update Windows8 to Windows8.1 in an environment where Inventor2014 sp0 is already installed, you would probably experience a crash every time you click right-mouse-button on a windows explorer related interface element.

Solution

Updating Inventor2014sp0 to sp1 is reported as fixing action for this issue.

Description

If you update Windows8 to Windows8.1 in an environment where Inventor2014 sp0 is already installed, you would probably experience a crash every time you click right-mouse-button on a windows explorer related interface element.

Solution

Updating Inventor2014sp0 to sp1 is reported as fixing action for this issue.

Description

When installing, once you run the setup as administrator you will see that no network drives are available, so it won’t be possible to perfomr a Client installation type:

this behavior is caused by the fact you run the setup as administrator but you do not have same drives both in current account and in administrator account

Solution

By temporary mapping drives in administrator account too, it’s possible to complete installation even from current user account.

1. open a MSDOS prompt as administrator rights:
   

   

2. Type the command

   net use

   to verify which drive has to be mapped as admin too; please note you’ll see the same drive available from current account but with unavailable status
   

3. type

   net use Z: \MyServerMyShare

   where Z: is the drive to be mapped

4. Type again the command

   net use

   to verify that now the drive is available (its status is now OK)

5. Now restart the setup and the option Client and Client&Server is now available:
   

Description

When installing, once you run the setup as administrator you will see that no network drives are available, so it won’t be possible to perfomr a Client installation type:

this behavior is caused by the fact you run the setup as administrator but you do not have same drives both in current account and in administrator account

Solution

By temporary mapping drives in administrator account too, it’s possible to complete installation even from current user account.

1. open a MSDOS prompt as administrator rights:
   

   

2. Type the command

   net use

   to verify which drive has to be mapped as admin too; please note you’ll see the same drive available from current account but with unavailable status
   

3. type

   net use Z: \MyServerMyShare

   where Z: is the drive to be mapped

4. Type again the command

   net use

   to verify that now the drive is available (its status is now OK)

5. Now restart the setup and the option Client and Client&Server is now available:
   

Suppose that your DWG titleblock is shown like this:

If you create a PDF output and it appears like followings

Often it’s because the needed fonts haven’t been copied in the folder defined by option:

After the font is existing in such location, the PDF output will be improved:

Suppose that your DWG titleblock is shown like this:

If you create a PDF output and it appears like followings

Often it’s because the needed fonts haven’t been copied in the folder defined by option:

After the font is existing in such location, the PDF output will be improved:

Description

You could experience to encounter the following message during Mechworks PDM installation

Here is some info on Microsoft forum:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2010-office_install/error-1402-setup-cannot-open-the-registry-key/42f5ea53-c3a5-49e0-b5e5-0eca72659eed?msgId=a5bebe12-108d-423e-ba2f-02e69bd91687

Solution

Here below a couple of links with some reference to tools that fix the issue:

http://www.smartestcomputing.us.com/topic/51422-vistaseven-the-registry-editor-could-not-set-security-in-the-key-currently-selected-or-some-of-its-subkeys-error-fix/

http://www.okino.com/conv/changing_windows_registry_permissions.htm

Description

You could experience to encounter the following message during Mechworks PDM installation

Here is some info on Microsoft forum:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2010-office_install/error-1402-setup-cannot-open-the-registry-key/42f5ea53-c3a5-49e0-b5e5-0eca72659eed?msgId=a5bebe12-108d-423e-ba2f-02e69bd91687

Solution

Here below a couple of links with some reference to tools that fix the issue:

http://www.smartestcomputing.us.com/topic/51422-vistaseven-the-registry-editor-could-not-set-security-in-the-key-currently-selected-or-some-of-its-subkeys-error-fix/

http://www.okino.com/conv/changing_windows_registry_permissions.htm

Description

Under Windows8, the Solidworks type icons are not shown properly and a generic file icon is displayed instead:

This is caused by Solidworks not registering the file types correctly
We’ve already forwarded this issue to them for resolution.

Solution

The issue can be easily addressed by assigning the file type again to a default application at operating system level:

then the icon for that specific type is properly shown
(please note in Solidworks case you’ve to prefer the SW launcher to the main SW app)

Then you’ve to repeat the same procedure for each CAD file type that still shown incorrect icons yet.

Description

Under Windows8, the Solidworks type icons are not shown properly and a generic file icon is displayed instead:

This is caused by Solidworks not registering the file types correctly
We’ve already forwarded this issue to them for resolution.

Solution

The issue can be easily addressed by assigning the file type again to a default application at operating system level:

then the icon for that specific type is properly shown
(please note in Solidworks case you’ve to prefer the SW launcher to the main SW app)

Then you’ve to repeat the same procedure for each CAD file type that still shown incorrect icons yet.

Description

Adobe Reader 10 (X) & 11 (XI) come with enhanced security settings (which are automatically enabled upon installation or during an update).
Unfortunately these settings are causing issues with creating PDF’s via scripts, in details Mechworks PDM Master Drawing Mode is affected by this.

Solution

The following option settings in X & XI are equivalent to Adobe Reader 9.0.
To solve the issue ensure yellow highlighted options are disabled.

Description

Adobe Reader 10 (X) & 11 (XI) come with enhanced security settings (which are automatically enabled upon installation or during an update).
Unfortunately these settings are causing issues with creating PDF’s via scripts, in details Mechworks PDM Master Drawing Mode is affected by this.

Solution

The following option settings in X & XI are equivalent to Adobe Reader 9.0.
To solve the issue ensure yellow highlighted options are disabled.

The following request list has the goal to make our support properly understanding the overall situation/environment so to provide the proper direction.

Working with large databases means that overall performance is always an important consideration.
There are so many variables that can affect performance (OS, hardware, version of SQL, 32 bit vs. 64 bit, physical folder structure, application version, options, etc.).

So, when submitting a support request about performances, if possible, please provide the following info:

• What are the hardware and software specifications of each SQL server that is participating in replication (OS, SQL Version, physical memory, etc.)?
• What is the version of CAD/PDM deployed for each site?
• What is the standard practice (maintenance process) for SHRINKING the DBWorks database at your sites?
• What is the standard practice (maintenance process) for rebuilding the INDEXES against the primary DBWorks tables?
• Is it safe to assume that this performance concern is something that did not exist (at least to this type of an extreme) a year ago? When did it become more of an issue?
• When configuring your ODBC connections, do you provide the DNS name to the SQL server or the IP address to the SQL server?
  (this because we have seen that the process for qualifying the DNS name has caused some hardships within larger organizations)
• If you have not provided the following, would it be possible to provide them:
  • A copy of the main database from each participating site.
  • If different from main db, a copy of the DBWcust database from one site.
  • If different from main db, a copy of the DBWmat database from one site.
  • A copy of DBWORKS_SERVER folder from one site.
• After rebooting a workstation, please create an RX recording along with a DBWorks LOG file of the expected SAVE behavior – something that taxes the environment heavily so we can investigate the problem.
• Please provide any relative information/details from the user’s perspective.
• It would also be good to provide an RX recording of the same exact SAVE (same design) – but without DBWorks as an ADD-IN.
  This would require a REBOOT of the workstation in question before executing this SAVE test/process to have the most accurate information within the RX data.

The following request list has the goal to make our support properly understanding the overall situation/environment so to provide the proper direction.

Working with large databases means that overall performance is always an important consideration.
There are so many variables that can affect performance (OS, hardware, version of SQL, 32 bit vs. 64 bit, physical folder structure, application version, options, etc.).

So, when submitting a support request about performances, if possible, please provide the following info:

• What are the hardware and software specifications of each SQL server that is participating in replication (OS, SQL Version, physical memory, etc.)?
• What is the version of CAD/PDM deployed for each site?
• What is the standard practice (maintenance process) for SHRINKING the DBWorks database at your sites?
• What is the standard practice (maintenance process) for rebuilding the INDEXES against the primary DBWorks tables?
• Is it safe to assume that this performance concern is something that did not exist (at least to this type of an extreme) a year ago? When did it become more of an issue?
• When configuring your ODBC connections, do you provide the DNS name to the SQL server or the IP address to the SQL server?
  (this because we have seen that the process for qualifying the DNS name has caused some hardships within larger organizations)
• If you have not provided the following, would it be possible to provide them:
  • A copy of the main database from each participating site.
  • If different from main db, a copy of the DBWcust database from one site.
  • If different from main db, a copy of the DBWmat database from one site.
  • A copy of DBWORKS_SERVER folder from one site.
• After rebooting a workstation, please create an RX recording along with a DBWorks LOG file of the expected SAVE behavior – something that taxes the environment heavily so we can investigate the problem.
• Please provide any relative information/details from the user’s perspective.
• It would also be good to provide an RX recording of the same exact SAVE (same design) – but without DBWorks as an ADD-IN.
  This would require a REBOOT of the workstation in question before executing this SAVE test/process to have the most accurate information within the RX data.

Description

When you set options to create a TIF type revision output running on Inventor 2011 or previous versions, DBInventor creates a screenshot of the screen rather than properly open and save the model/drawing view.

Despite of the fact that Inventor exposes TIFF as supported output format through the user interface, its creation is not implemented via API before 2012 version, so none of the not native “saveAs TIF” will create a proper output:

Solution

At the moment there’s no definitive solution that we can provide, since the issue is deeply depending on Autodesk environment.

As workaround, we suggest you to create a TIF printer and then use it to obtain a TIF output.

Description

When you set options to create a TIF type revision output running on Inventor 2011 or previous versions, DBInventor creates a screenshot of the screen rather than properly open and save the model/drawing view.

Despite of the fact that Inventor exposes TIFF as supported output format through the user interface, its creation is not implemented via API before 2012 version, so none of the not native “saveAs TIF” will create a proper output:

Solution

At the moment there’s no definitive solution that we can provide, since the issue is deeply depending on Autodesk environment.

As workaround, we suggest you to create a TIF printer and then use it to obtain a TIF output.

Description

Due to a Microsoft Office update (KB2597986), the AssemblyDuplicationWizard won’t start and it raises the following errors:

and also

VBA failure test

This behavior affects all the VBA forms containing a Tree View Control version 6.0 (MSCOMCTL.OCX).
you can create a new form and try adding such control.
The result is a Library not registered error.

Solution

The tool “Microsoft Office Diagnostic” usually solves the issue.

If the problem persists, after the diagnostic try to re-register the proper ocx.

Open an MS-DOS prompt as administrator and type:

• 32 bit

  regsvr32 "C:Windowssystem32mscomctl.ocx"

• 64 bit

  regsvr32 "C:WindowsSysWOW64mscomctl.ocx"

Description

Due to a Microsoft Office update (KB2597986), the AssemblyDuplicationWizard won’t start and it raises the following errors:

and also

VBA failure test

This behavior affects all the VBA forms containing a Tree View Control version 6.0 (MSCOMCTL.OCX).
you can create a new form and try adding such control.
The result is a Library not registered error.

Solution

The tool “Microsoft Office Diagnostic” usually solves the issue.

If the problem persists, after the diagnostic try to re-register the proper ocx.

Open an MS-DOS prompt as administrator and type:

• 32 bit

  regsvr32 "C:Windowssystem32mscomctl.ocx"

• 64 bit

  regsvr32 "C:WindowsSysWOW64mscomctl.ocx"

Issue description

An error reporting “Data passed to a system call is too small” is raised when performing a checkout or save action.

Usually this error is reported on DBWServer managed environment.

Cause

The Windows group (not DBWARM group) the users belongs to, has not enough rights on the specified folder.

Solution

Give the group enough rights to access such folder

Issue description

An error reporting “Data passed to a system call is too small” is raised when performing a checkout or save action.

Usually this error is reported on DBWServer managed environment.

Cause

The Windows group (not DBWARM group) the users belongs to, has not enough rights on the specified folder.

Solution

Give the group enough rights to access such folder

eDrawings issue

eDrawings2012 is not registering its x86 component in a proper way, so when click the FullPreview tab of the TreePage, a message asks you to install eDrawing x86, even if it’s already installed and running.

Solution

You can solve the issue by manual register the eDrawings main dll as follows;
Open as administrator a MSDOS command prompt and type:

"C:\WindowsSysWOW64\regsvr32.exe" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\eDrawings2012\EModelView.dll"

Inventor issue

• Inventor 2012 out of the box is not able to properly show the Full Preview of a model.
  
  We’ve already reported this issue to Autodesk support and we’re waiting for a fix.
• If you receive a “viewer not installed” error while trying the DBInventor FullPreview in a x64 environment, you’ve to manually register a 32bit Autodesk control provided with Inventor installation.
  
  or
  
  or

Solution

For all of the above cases, open a MSDOS command prompt as administrator and type:

regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2014\bin\Bin32\InventorViewCtrl.ocx"

(please note the above path may change according with the Inventor version and installation path).

For previewing DWG files in an environment where no eDrawings is installed (common Autodesk users), open a MSDOS command prompt as administrator and type:

regsvr32 "C:\Program Files (x86)\DWG TrueView 2014\acctrl.dll"

If the above solution is still not effective (especially on windows 8.1), in order to use the just registered control you’ve to add following entries to the registry:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Inventor.ViewControl.1]
@="Autodesk Inventor View Control"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Inventor.ViewControl.1CLSID]
@="{A6336AB8-D3E1-489A-8186-EE40F2E027FE}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Inventor.ViewControl.1Insertable]
@=""

For your convenience you can download [download id=”507″] that does the job.

Inventor 2020

please refer to the specific FAQ

eDrawings issue

eDrawings2012 is not registering its x86 component in a proper way, so when click the FullPreview tab of the TreePage, a message asks you to install eDrawing x86, even if it’s already installed and running.

Solution

You can solve the issue by manual register the eDrawings main dll as follows;
Open as administrator a MSDOS command prompt and type:

"C:\WindowsSysWOW64\regsvr32.exe" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\eDrawings2012\EModelView.dll"

Inventor issue

• Inventor 2012 out of the box is not able to properly show the Full Preview of a model.
  
  We’ve already reported this issue to Autodesk support and we’re waiting for a fix.
• If you receive a “viewer not installed” error while trying the DBInventor FullPreview in a x64 environment, you’ve to manually register a 32bit Autodesk control provided with Inventor installation.
  
  or
  
  or

Solution

For all of the above cases, open a MSDOS command prompt as administrator and type:

regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2014\bin\Bin32\InventorViewCtrl.ocx"

(please note the above path may change according with the Inventor version and installation path).

For previewing DWG files in an environment where no eDrawings is installed (common Autodesk users), open a MSDOS command prompt as administrator and type:

regsvr32 "C:\Program Files (x86)\DWG TrueView 2014\acctrl.dll"

If the above solution is still not effective (especially on windows 8.1), in order to use the just registered control you’ve to add following entries to the registry:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Inventor.ViewControl.1]
@="Autodesk Inventor View Control"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Inventor.ViewControl.1CLSID]
@="{A6336AB8-D3E1-489A-8186-EE40F2E027FE}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Inventor.ViewControl.1Insertable]
@=""

For your convenience you can download [download id=”507″] that does the job.

Inventor 2020

please refer to the specific FAQ

Description

When you try to save an Excel workbook to the UNC share in MSExcel2010, you receive the following error message:

This issue occurs because Excel 2010 tries to delete the temporary copy of the original workbook on the UNC share.

Solution

To resolve this issue, apply the following update:
2553034 Description of the Office 2010 hotfix package (Mso-x-none.msp): August 30, 2011

Here you can find detailed information on how to proceed

Description

When you try to save an Excel workbook to the UNC share in MSExcel2010, you receive the following error message:

This issue occurs because Excel 2010 tries to delete the temporary copy of the original workbook on the UNC share.

Solution

To resolve this issue, apply the following update:
2553034 Description of the Office 2010 hotfix package (Mso-x-none.msp): August 30, 2011

Here you can find detailed information on how to proceed

Description

Antivirus reports as harming the two files

BINDBWSend.exe
BINDBWPth.exe

Solution

Since they’re legacy files not used anymore, you can put them into quarantene and then eliminate them.

Description

Antivirus reports as harming the two files

BINDBWSend.exe
BINDBWPth.exe

Solution

Since they’re legacy files not used anymore, you can put them into quarantene and then eliminate them.

Description

A browser crash on doing the static preview of an assembly in DBSolidEdge (specific process DBWSEThumbnailExtractor.exe).
It could be caused by SeThumbnail.dll that’s not properly registered.

Solution

Open a MSDOS command prompt as administrator and type:

regsvr32 "C:Program FilesSolid Edge ST4ProgramSeThumbnail.dll"

(please note the above path may change according with the Solid Edge version and installation path).

Description

A browser crash on doing the static preview of an assembly in DBSolidEdge (specific process DBWSEThumbnailExtractor.exe).
It could be caused by SeThumbnail.dll that’s not properly registered.

Solution

Open a MSDOS command prompt as administrator and type:

regsvr32 "C:Program FilesSolid Edge ST4ProgramSeThumbnail.dll"

(please note the above path may change according with the Solid Edge version and installation path).

Description

When saving a document with DBWorks addin activated, this message could be raised (even for checked-out models):

This is specific to the SolidWorks Settings and is caused by the following dismissed message.
Perhaps the convert message was “cancelled” with “don’t ask me again” flag.

Solution

Enabling this will allow the user(s) to save.

Description

When saving a document with DBWorks addin activated, this message could be raised (even for checked-out models):

This is specific to the SolidWorks Settings and is caused by the following dismissed message.
Perhaps the convert message was “cancelled” with “don’t ask me again” flag.

Solution

Enabling this will allow the user(s) to save.

Description

After updating Microsoft Office 2007 to Office 2010 or after a windows update some custom VBA scripts embedded in our software failed to compile with the following error message:

This error is a result of a security update from Microsoft (Microsoft Security Advisory 960715).
When adding ActiveX-controls to VBA scripts, information about the controls are stored in cache files on the local hard drive (.exd-files).
The security update modified some of these controls, but the .exd-files were not automatically updated. When the VBA scripts try to load the old versions of the controls stored in the cached files, the error occurs.
These cache-files must be removed from the hard drive in order for the controls to load successfully (which will create new, updated .exd-files automatically).

Solution #1

Register an ocx through opening MS-DOS prompt and type:

• 32 bit

  regsvr32 "C:Windowssystem32mscomctl.ocx"

• 64 bit

  regsvr32 "C:WindowsSysWOW64mscomctl.ocx"

Solution #2

Find and delete all files with .exd extension in one of the two following locations where USER is your Windows username:

for Windows XP:

c:documents and seettingsUSERApplication DataMicrosoftForms

for Windows 7 or Vista:

C:UsersUSERAppDataMicrosoftForms

Alternatively, do a search for *.exd on the C: drive if you are having trouble locating those files in the above locations.

Description

After updating Microsoft Office 2007 to Office 2010 or after a windows update some custom VBA scripts embedded in our software failed to compile with the following error message:

This error is a result of a security update from Microsoft (Microsoft Security Advisory 960715).
When adding ActiveX-controls to VBA scripts, information about the controls are stored in cache files on the local hard drive (.exd-files).
The security update modified some of these controls, but the .exd-files were not automatically updated. When the VBA scripts try to load the old versions of the controls stored in the cached files, the error occurs.
These cache-files must be removed from the hard drive in order for the controls to load successfully (which will create new, updated .exd-files automatically).

Solution #1

Register an ocx through opening MS-DOS prompt and type:

• 32 bit

  regsvr32 "C:Windowssystem32mscomctl.ocx"

• 64 bit

  regsvr32 "C:WindowsSysWOW64mscomctl.ocx"

Solution #2

Find and delete all files with .exd extension in one of the two following locations where USER is your Windows username:

for Windows XP:

c:documents and seettingsUSERApplication DataMicrosoftForms

for Windows 7 or Vista:

C:UsersUSERAppDataMicrosoftForms

Alternatively, do a search for *.exd on the C: drive if you are having trouble locating those files in the above locations.

If you notice that PDF files created through recent (R12 and newer) release are wrong or even different than other ones created through old (R11) releases, it could depend on the OpenDWG library we introduced in R12.

In R12 sp2 the issue should be fixed since library developers have already announced the fix; in the meantime, as a workaround, you may try to place the files from the R11 build into the R12 installation paths.

In particular, you have to substitute following files and folder (of course make a backup copy first!):

BINDBWDWGCONV.EXE

and

binDBWDwg2Pdf

with the equivalent from the R11 installation

If you notice that PDF files created through recent (R12 and newer) release are wrong or even different than other ones created through old (R11) releases, it could depend on the OpenDWG library we introduced in R12.

In R12 sp2 the issue should be fixed since library developers have already announced the fix; in the meantime, as a workaround, you may try to place the files from the R11 build into the R12 installation paths.

In particular, you have to substitute following files and folder (of course make a backup copy first!):

BINDBWDWGCONV.EXE

and

binDBWDwg2Pdf

with the equivalent from the R11 installation

Update/Installation of Office 2010 unregisters mscomctl.ocx so any application using VBA treeview fails load.

To solve re-register the file

32 bit

C:Windowssystem32>regsvr32 mscomctl.ocx

64 bit

C:WindowsSysWOW64>regsvr32 mscomctl.ocx

Update/Installation of Office 2010 unregisters mscomctl.ocx so any application using VBA treeview fails load.

To solve re-register the file

32 bit

C:Windowssystem32>regsvr32 mscomctl.ocx

64 bit

C:WindowsSysWOW64>regsvr32 mscomctl.ocx

Set the Options→Revisions→Outputs in this way:

If the Preview Image displays as below with text appearing as grey andor when the PDF is plotted and the text is not legible due to what appears to be a line weight issue, additional files are needed in the network shared resources location.

Create a new directory within the …DBWORKS_SERVERPAR directory named ACAD. Copy the txt.shx file from the local AutoCAD installation directory Fonts to the …DBWORKS_SERVERPARACAD directory. If this does not resolve the problem, copy all the .shx files from the Fonts directory to the ACAD directory.

Please note you must also disable the Options→General→More… [ ] Drawing→PDF: create full color PDF

If using Master Drawing Mode to create PDF files, the PDF’s may be created in color and as a rasterized image. (see below)

In order to resolve this you must perform the following:

• Enable the DBWorks Options→General→More…[X] Drawing→PDF: Create full color PDF
• Create a directory named ACAD within the …DBWORKS_SERVERPAR directory
• Copy the monochrome.stb and monochrome.ctb files into the ACAD directory

  AutodeskACADM 2011UserDataCachePlottersPlot Styles

• Copy the txt.shx file (or all .shx files) into the ACAD directory

  AutodeskACADM 2011Fonts

• Update the OnCreateMasterDrawing.lst to eliminate the resolutionFactor (highlighted below in blue):

  DBWShell("MDConvert " & replace(originalFullFileName," ","|") & " " & replace(masterDrawingFileName," ","|") & " " & resolutionFactor)

Set the Options→Revisions→Outputs in this way:

If the Preview Image displays as below with text appearing as grey andor when the PDF is plotted and the text is not legible due to what appears to be a line weight issue, additional files are needed in the network shared resources location.

Create a new directory within the …DBWORKS_SERVERPAR directory named ACAD. Copy the txt.shx file from the local AutoCAD installation directory Fonts to the …DBWORKS_SERVERPARACAD directory. If this does not resolve the problem, copy all the .shx files from the Fonts directory to the ACAD directory.

Please note you must also disable the Options→General→More… [ ] Drawing→PDF: create full color PDF

If using Master Drawing Mode to create PDF files, the PDF’s may be created in color and as a rasterized image. (see below)

In order to resolve this you must perform the following:

• Enable the DBWorks Options→General→More…[X] Drawing→PDF: Create full color PDF
• Create a directory named ACAD within the …DBWORKS_SERVERPAR directory
• Copy the monochrome.stb and monochrome.ctb files into the ACAD directory

  AutodeskACADM 2011UserDataCachePlottersPlot Styles

• Copy the txt.shx file (or all .shx files) into the ACAD directory

  AutodeskACADM 2011Fonts

• Update the OnCreateMasterDrawing.lst to eliminate the resolutionFactor (highlighted below in blue):

  DBWShell("MDConvert " & replace(originalFullFileName," ","|") & " " & replace(masterDrawingFileName," ","|") & " " & resolutionFactor)

The HP Universal Printing PCL 5 driver appears as a child process under SW and remains resident in memory after printing any document in SW.

When exiting SW, the driver remains resident in memory has a handle to the journal file and therefore when SW starts again, SW cannot actually create a new journal file because the driver has ownership of the file.

If you kill the hpmup091.bin process, then you will be able to start up SW without any issues.

The HP Universal Printing PCL 5 driver appears as a child process under SW and remains resident in memory after printing any document in SW.

When exiting SW, the driver remains resident in memory has a handle to the journal file and therefore when SW starts again, SW cannot actually create a new journal file because the driver has ownership of the file.

If you kill the hpmup091.bin process, then you will be able to start up SW without any issues.

During the installation as a Client, you may be alerted about the selected DBWORKS_SERVER shared folder that’s not recognized as a Mechworks server directory:

The check is performed against the following files:

• LSTSYSTEMDBWORKS_CONVERSION_WIZARD.VBS
• SCHEMATABLES2.DFL

if one of such files is missing the alert is shown.

During the installation as a Client, you may be alerted about the selected DBWORKS_SERVER shared folder that’s not recognized as a Mechworks server directory:

The check is performed against the following files:

• LSTSYSTEMDBWORKS_CONVERSION_WIZARD.VBS
• SCHEMATABLES2.DFL

if one of such files is missing the alert is shown.

We have had some reporting about Microsoft update KB982802 that can destroy Windows scripting host functionality.

In case of repeated scripting errors in DBWorks, the coherence to KB982802 can be tested by using this script.
If the problems are related to KB982802, the script will crash with error code 800706C6 and the message “The array bounds are invalid”, otherwise you will get the message “Windows Scripting Host: Working!”.

In case of an affected machine, so far the only way to fix the issue is remove the update (by using %systemroot%$NtUninstallKB982802$spuninstspuninst.exe).

Further information:

• Read about it on Microsoft Support

We have had some reporting about Microsoft update KB982802 that can destroy Windows scripting host functionality.

In case of repeated scripting errors in DBWorks, the coherence to KB982802 can be tested by using this script.
If the problems are related to KB982802, the script will crash with error code 800706C6 and the message “The array bounds are invalid”, otherwise you will get the message “Windows Scripting Host: Working!”.

In case of an affected machine, so far the only way to fix the issue is remove the update (by using %systemroot%$NtUninstallKB982802$spuninstspuninst.exe).

Further information:

• Read about it on Microsoft Support

The current version of R11sp2.x is not suitable for Solidworks 2011 (whom beta build has been recently released) because it’s not compliant with vs2008 compiler yet.

Mechworks plans for supporting such version are about distributing a specific R11sp3. No date about publishing has been fixed yet.

This page will be updated according with plans development.

The current version of R11sp2.x is not suitable for Solidworks 2011 (whom beta build has been recently released) because it’s not compliant with vs2008 compiler yet.

Mechworks plans for supporting such version are about distributing a specific R11sp3. No date about publishing has been fixed yet.

This page will be updated according with plans development.

When opening the DBWorks options you may experience an hanging of the CAD application.

It seems to be an issue that can be verified on systems with NVIDIA graphic cards only, and so far the updating of the card driver has solved the problem.

When opening the DBWorks options you may experience an hanging of the CAD application.

It seems to be an issue that can be verified on systems with NVIDIA graphic cards only, and so far the updating of the card driver has solved the problem.

Description

When using VMWare virtual machines, you may experience to see the application (in this case Autodesk Inventor) user interface labels missing

Ribbon bars:

Menus:

This issue is caused by 3D acceleration on in VMWare environment (here is a thread about).

Disabling the 3d acceleration solves the issue

More, here is some futher info about how to disable vmware 3d acceleration

Description

When using VMWare virtual machines, you may experience to see the application (in this case Autodesk Inventor) user interface labels missing

Ribbon bars:

Menus:

This issue is caused by 3D acceleration on in VMWare environment (here is a thread about).

Disabling the 3d acceleration solves the issue

More, here is some futher info about how to disable vmware 3d acceleration

During installations on Windows7 platform, it may occur to receive the following alert:

• If you’re installing for the 1^st time (so no other build is present on the workstation), please send immediately the Microsoft log plus the Mechworks log to support@mechworks.com
  Both logs are located in the user temporary folder (if you type %TMP% or %TEMP% you will be brought there):
  • Microsoft log is a file named like MSI*****.LOG (where ***** are random characters)
  • Mechworks log is a file named exactly DBW_MSI_LOG.TXT
• if you’re updating an existing installation (or other builds were previously installed on the workstation), you’ve to uninstall completely the DBWorks/DBInventor/Mechworks_PDM application through the Windows installer clean up (msicuu.exe, you can download it from here):
  
  Then try install again

Summary of the step by step procedure

1. uninstall program through the control panel
2. use the Windows installer clean up tool as described above in this page to verify that no program is still present

then remove, if existing, following folders and subfolders:

3. %programfiles%MechworksMechworks_PDM

4. %programfiles%DBWorks

5. %programfiles%DBWorks Standalone

6. %programfiles(x86)%DBWorks

7. %commonprogramfiles%Mechworks

8. %commonprogramfiles(x86)%Mechworks

then rename/remove registry entries:

9. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMechworks

10. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWow6432NodeMechWorks

finally

11. reboot and install again

During installations on Windows7 platform, it may occur to receive the following alert:

• If you’re installing for the 1^st time (so no other build is present on the workstation), please send immediately the Microsoft log plus the Mechworks log to support@mechworks.com
  Both logs are located in the user temporary folder (if you type %TMP% or %TEMP% you will be brought there):
  • Microsoft log is a file named like MSI*****.LOG (where ***** are random characters)
  • Mechworks log is a file named exactly DBW_MSI_LOG.TXT
• if you’re updating an existing installation (or other builds were previously installed on the workstation), you’ve to uninstall completely the DBWorks/DBInventor/Mechworks_PDM application through the Windows installer clean up (msicuu.exe, you can download it from here):
  
  Then try install again

Summary of the step by step procedure

1. uninstall program through the control panel
2. use the Windows installer clean up tool as described above in this page to verify that no program is still present

then remove, if existing, following folders and subfolders:

3. %programfiles%MechworksMechworks_PDM

4. %programfiles%DBWorks

5. %programfiles%DBWorks Standalone

6. %programfiles(x86)%DBWorks

7. %commonprogramfiles%Mechworks

8. %commonprogramfiles(x86)%Mechworks

then rename/remove registry entries:

9. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMechworks

10. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWow6432NodeMechWorks

finally

11. reboot and install again

In SW2010sp3.1 there’s an issue that freezes the application if –through an API call (as DBWorks does)– you open a drawing of a part that’s already opened in the CAD.
Usually it’s verified through PDM applications and on 32bit environments.

This behavior is caused by OpenDoc6 API call that makes SolidWorks hanging on successive calls
The reference is SPR 562729

As workaround you can close the part before opening the drawing or rollback to SW2010sp2.1

In SW2010sp3.1 there’s an issue that freezes the application if –through an API call (as DBWorks does)– you open a drawing of a part that’s already opened in the CAD.
Usually it’s verified through PDM applications and on 32bit environments.

This behavior is caused by OpenDoc6 API call that makes SolidWorks hanging on successive calls
The reference is SPR 562729

As workaround you can close the part before opening the drawing or rollback to SW2010sp2.1

Some users reported us a Solidworks crash on Windows7 platform after opening an assembly

An HotFix that is available to resolve this issue within SolidWorks 2010 SP 2.1 and implemented into SolidWorks 2010 SP 3.0.
The HotFix reference is 537666 and the SolidWorks Solution ID is S-047064.

Some users reported us a Solidworks crash on Windows7 platform after opening an assembly

An HotFix that is available to resolve this issue within SolidWorks 2010 SP 2.1 and implemented into SolidWorks 2010 SP 3.0.
The HotFix reference is 537666 and the SolidWorks Solution ID is S-047064.

It’s possible to program .NET scripts (C# and VBNET) to be run as usual .lst scripts

In case, here is the manual procedure to enable .NET scripting support:

1. execute

   %CommonProgramFiles%MechworksSharedDBWLibSetupregister_dot_net_scripting.bat

   or

   %CommonProgramFiles(x86)%MechworksSharedDBWLibSetupregister_dot_net_scriptingx64.bat

   depending on the platform (x86 vs x64)

2. execute

   %CommonProgramFiles%MechworksSharedDBWLibSetupDBWCSSUIinstall.cmd

   or

   %CommonProgramFiles(x86)%MechworksSharedDBWLibSetupDBWCSSUIinstall.cmd

   depending on the platform (x86 vs x64)

To test it, just enable the option for OnOk.LST script and copy the LSTDEMO_CSOnOK.LST.CS in LST folder, then when clicking the OK button in the input data form, you should see a messagebox that returns the filename.

It’s possible to program .NET scripts (C# and VBNET) to be run as usual .lst scripts

In case, here is the manual procedure to enable .NET scripting support:

1. execute

   %CommonProgramFiles%MechworksSharedDBWLibSetupregister_dot_net_scripting.bat

   or

   %CommonProgramFiles(x86)%MechworksSharedDBWLibSetupregister_dot_net_scriptingx64.bat

   depending on the platform (x86 vs x64)

2. execute

   %CommonProgramFiles%MechworksSharedDBWLibSetupDBWCSSUIinstall.cmd

   or

   %CommonProgramFiles(x86)%MechworksSharedDBWLibSetupDBWCSSUIinstall.cmd

   depending on the platform (x86 vs x64)

To test it, just enable the option for OnOk.LST script and copy the LSTDEMO_CSOnOK.LST.CS in LST folder, then when clicking the OK button in the input data form, you should see a messagebox that returns the filename.

During the installation from a dbworks.exe, dbinventor.exe, dbwalone.exe (not dbworksMSI.exe) installer, you could be asked for a disk to be inserted since some file is missing.

The following fixing is provided by InstallShield.

The -a and -deleter command-line options prevent the installation from cleaning up too early. Pass the -a and -deleter command-line options to the installation file through the command line. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Determine the location of the installation:
   • If the installation is being run from a CD, using Windows Explorer browse to the CD-ROM drive and locate the installation file. The typical names for installation files are setup.exe, update.exe, installer.exe, etc.
   • If the installation was downloaded from the Internet and saved to your computer (e.g., your Desktop), using Windows Explorer, browse to the location where you have saved the executable file package.

   

2. Copy the location and file name, for example:

   C:WINNTProfilesAdministratorDesktopYourApplicationName.exe

3. Select Start > Run and paste or type the location and file name surrounded by double quotes into the Open field:
   
4. Add the -a and -deleter command-line options, making sure to have spaces before each ‘-‘:
   
5. Click OK. The installation should extract and run without errors.

During the installation from a dbworks.exe, dbinventor.exe, dbwalone.exe (not dbworksMSI.exe) installer, you could be asked for a disk to be inserted since some file is missing.

The following fixing is provided by InstallShield.

The -a and -deleter command-line options prevent the installation from cleaning up too early. Pass the -a and -deleter command-line options to the installation file through the command line. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Determine the location of the installation:
   • If the installation is being run from a CD, using Windows Explorer browse to the CD-ROM drive and locate the installation file. The typical names for installation files are setup.exe, update.exe, installer.exe, etc.
   • If the installation was downloaded from the Internet and saved to your computer (e.g., your Desktop), using Windows Explorer, browse to the location where you have saved the executable file package.

   

2. Copy the location and file name, for example:

   C:\WINNT\Profiles\Administrator\Desktop\YourApplicationName.exe

3. Select Start > Run and paste or type the location and file name surrounded by double quotes into the Open field:
   
4. Add the -a and -deleter command-line options, making sure to have spaces before each ‘-‘:
   
5. Click OK. The installation should extract and run without errors.

Description

During the installation, you may be prompted with an error message like:

The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package.
This may indicate a problem with this package. The error code is 2738

Solution

• Windows XP
  1. if missing, download the latest VBScript engine from Microsoft.
  2. On the Start menu, click Run
  3. In the dialog enter the following command and click “OK”

     regsvr32 vbscript.dll

  4. A message should appear stating that the “DllRegisterServer in vbscript.dll succeeded.”
  5. Finally restart the installer

   

• Windows Vista, Windows 7
  1. In the Start menu, type cmd in the Start Search field.
  2. Right-click on cmd in the list of search results and click Run as administrator in the pop-up menu. If Windows needs your permission to continue, click Continue (If you are not logged in as an administrator, you will need to authenticate with an administrator login and password).
  3. In the Command Prompt window, enter the following command:

     regsvr32 vbscript.dll

  4. Type Enter on the keyboard. A message should appear stating: “DllRegisterServer in vbscript.dll succeeded.”
     Note: If you see a message with “error code 0x80004005”, the command window was not opened as an administrator.
  5. Finally restart the installer

   

• Windows 7
  If the above procedure is not effective or if the error message is Could not access VBScript Runtime you can read the alternative fix provided by Microsoft IT for the issue.

Description

During the installation, you may be prompted with an error message like:

The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package.
This may indicate a problem with this package. The error code is 2738

Solution

• Windows XP
  1. if missing, download the latest VBScript engine from Microsoft.
  2. On the Start menu, click Run
  3. In the dialog enter the following command and click “OK”

     regsvr32 vbscript.dll

  4. A message should appear stating that the “DllRegisterServer in vbscript.dll succeeded.”
  5. Finally restart the installer

   

• Windows Vista, Windows 7
  1. In the Start menu, type cmd in the Start Search field.
  2. Right-click on cmd in the list of search results and click Run as administrator in the pop-up menu. If Windows needs your permission to continue, click Continue (If you are not logged in as an administrator, you will need to authenticate with an administrator login and password).
  3. In the Command Prompt window, enter the following command:

     regsvr32 vbscript.dll

  4. Type Enter on the keyboard. A message should appear stating: “DllRegisterServer in vbscript.dll succeeded.”
     Note: If you see a message with “error code 0x80004005”, the command window was not opened as an administrator.
  5. Finally restart the installer

   

• Windows 7
  If the above procedure is not effective or if the error message is Could not access VBScript Runtime you can read the alternative fix provided by Microsoft IT for the issue.

The full management of Solidworks detached drawings is planned for next major release of DBWorks (R12)

Meanwhile -as a workaround- it’s possible to do a couple of steps that allows the user to use such feature as well:

0. the drawing, even if detached, appears as a common drawing in DBWorks
   
   
   
   
1. Open the drawing in View-only mode
   
   
2. Once opened, no data is available since it’s view-only
   
   
   
   so click rmb→Load sheet
   
   
   
   to obtain the loading of the drawing without the model (detached).

The full management of Solidworks detached drawings is planned for next major release of DBWorks (R12)

Meanwhile -as a workaround- it’s possible to do a couple of steps that allows the user to use such feature as well:

0. the drawing, even if detached, appears as a common drawing in DBWorks
   
   
   
   
1. Open the drawing in View-only mode
   
   
2. Once opened, no data is available since it’s view-only
   
   
   
   so click rmb→Load sheet
   
   
   
   to obtain the loading of the drawing without the model (detached).

For sending or receiving (large) files we provide our customer and resellers an FTP site.

Here below is the data for accessing it:

• ftp: mechworks.smartfile.com
• login: dbw_support
• password: dbworks

Once logged you’ve to enter the Upload folder and place there your files.
Please note once uploaded, files cannot be downloaded or deleted by anyone but MechWorks staff.

(!) Please remember to notify MechWorks when the upload of files has finished so to optimize the issue scheduling time.

For sending or receiving (large) files we provide our customer and resellers an FTP site.

Here below is the data for accessing it:

• ftp: mechworks.smartfile.com
• login: dbw_support
• password: dbworks

Once logged you’ve to enter the Upload folder and place there your files.
Please note once uploaded, files cannot be downloaded or deleted by anyone but MechWorks staff.

(!) Please remember to notify MechWorks when the upload of files has finished so to optimize the issue scheduling time.

Especially on x64 platforms, you can experience some crashes at Solidworks startup if you’re loading more than one addin at the same time.

To get the system more stable, a new feature (available starting from build 20090716) has been introduced for delaying the load of DBWorks addin.

To enable it you’ve to create this registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks 2009MechWorks-AddinStartupDelayTime

and a DWORD entry named AddinStartupDelayTime and containing the value (in seconds) of the delay.

this setting produces a delay of 5 seconds;

Especially on x64 platforms, you can experience some crashes at Solidworks startup if you’re loading more than one addin at the same time.

To get the system more stable, a new feature (available starting from build 20090716) has been introduced for delaying the load of DBWorks addin.

To enable it you’ve to create this registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks 2009MechWorks-AddinStartupDelayTime

and a DWORD entry named AddinStartupDelayTime and containing the value (in seconds) of the delay.

this setting produces a delay of 5 seconds;

Users that installed sw2009sp5.1 or sw2010sp1 (and often also sp2) are experiencing crashes when opening a document.

Mainly the two class of issues are:

• systematically reproduceable crashes using the OpenDoc6 API call
  it appears that the crash happens when DBW addin is installed (no crash without it)
• OpenDoc6 returning the control back to the add-in when it still has NOT finished to load the document
  this may also lead to further crash since the add-in does not expect that OpenDoc6 may return before having fully loaded the document (verified typically on sufficiently LARGE ASSEMBLIES)

According to Sw support, this issue has been fixed in sp2 plus the hotfix in Knowledge base solution S-046180 and S-047064

As reference please read

• SPR 449379 (Multiple OpenDoc6 calls crashes SolidWorks if SystemOption Performance ‘Automatically load components lightweight’ is SET)
• SPR 517452 from Knowledge base

Users that installed sw2009sp5.1 or sw2010sp1 (and often also sp2) are experiencing crashes when opening a document.

Mainly the two class of issues are:

• systematically reproduceable crashes using the OpenDoc6 API call
  it appears that the crash happens when DBW addin is installed (no crash without it)
• OpenDoc6 returning the control back to the add-in when it still has NOT finished to load the document
  this may also lead to further crash since the add-in does not expect that OpenDoc6 may return before having fully loaded the document (verified typically on sufficiently LARGE ASSEMBLIES)

According to Sw support, this issue has been fixed in sp2 plus the hotfix in Knowledge base solution S-046180 and S-047064

As reference please read

• SPR 449379 (Multiple OpenDoc6 calls crashes SolidWorks if SystemOption Performance ‘Automatically load components lightweight’ is SET)
• SPR 517452 from Knowledge base

Starting from SW2010 the DBWorks toolbar is hidden every time you start the CAD.

To fix the issue you’ve to create a specific registry entry:

• Solidworks 2010
  • x86 installations

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{1B7E4070-EE31-4B23-9CAE-34A5C06B8CE4}InProcServer32]
    @="C:\Program Files\DBWORKS\bin\VS2005\dbworks.dll"

  • x64 installations

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{1B7E4070-EE31-4B23-9CAE-34A5C06B8CE4}InProcServer32]
    @="C:\Program Files (x86)\DBWORKS\bin\x64\dbworks.dll"

• Solidworks 2011
  • x86 installations

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{1B7E4070-EE31-4B23-9CAE-34A5C06B8CE4}InProcServer32]
    @="C:\Program Files\DBWORKS\bin\VS2008\x86\dbworks.dll"

  • x64 installations

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{1B7E4070-EE31-4B23-9CAE-34A5C06B8CE4}InProcServer32]
    @="C:\Program Files (x86)\DBWORKS\bin\vs2008\x64\dbworks.dll"

This issue has been fixed starting from R11 build 20100108 (DBWorksMSI.exe installer only)

Starting from SW2010 the DBWorks toolbar is hidden every time you start the CAD.

To fix the issue you’ve to create a specific registry entry:

• Solidworks 2010
  • x86 installations

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{1B7E4070-EE31-4B23-9CAE-34A5C06B8CE4}InProcServer32]
    @="C:\Program Files\DBWORKS\bin\VS2005\dbworks.dll"

  • x64 installations

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{1B7E4070-EE31-4B23-9CAE-34A5C06B8CE4}InProcServer32]
    @="C:\Program Files (x86)\DBWORKS\bin\x64\dbworks.dll"

• Solidworks 2011
  • x86 installations

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{1B7E4070-EE31-4B23-9CAE-34A5C06B8CE4}InProcServer32]
    @="C:\Program Files\DBWORKS\bin\VS2008\x86\dbworks.dll"

  • x64 installations

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{1B7E4070-EE31-4B23-9CAE-34A5C06B8CE4}InProcServer32]
    @="C:\Program Files (x86)\DBWORKS\bin\vs2008\x64\dbworks.dll"

This issue has been fixed starting from R11 build 20100108 (DBWorksMSI.exe installer only)

In order to get WebClient to not crash out in IE8 due to DEP (Data Execution Prevention) the following setting must be unchecked

(italian settings)

and then IE8 must be restarted.

In order to get WebClient to not crash out in IE8 due to DEP (Data Execution Prevention) the following setting must be unchecked

(italian settings)

and then IE8 must be restarted.

Starting from SW2010sp0.0 only, when inserting a part into an assembly, the FOCUS immediatley goes from the assembly to the in-session part.

It happens if the folder that the in-session file is from does not have BROWSE functionality.

DBWorks users can experience it from the no-browse functionality of DBWServer (but this issue can be recreated without DBWorks and without DBWServer).

An issue has been opened to sw support:
SPR 529730: (Inserting active part from directory with denied List folder contents / read data permission loses focus when inserted into assembly.)

As a workaround users can insert components into assemblies from DBWorks Browser or from another active component window

Starting from SW2010sp0.0 only, when inserting a part into an assembly, the FOCUS immediatley goes from the assembly to the in-session part.

It happens if the folder that the in-session file is from does not have BROWSE functionality.

DBWorks users can experience it from the no-browse functionality of DBWServer (but this issue can be recreated without DBWorks and without DBWServer).

An issue has been opened to sw support:
SPR 529730: (Inserting active part from directory with denied List folder contents / read data permission loses focus when inserted into assembly.)

As a workaround users can insert components into assemblies from DBWorks Browser or from another active component window

To obtain a correct PDF creation through the MDConvert function (tipically used in Master Drawing Mode) you have to copy all the needed *.SHX and *.CTB files (from the Autocad installation) in the shared <GlobalParametersPath>PAR sub-directory.

Typical issues produced by such files missing (under the PAR folder) are:

• wrong/uncomplete character set
• wrong/different line widths

To obtain a correct PDF creation through the MDConvert function (tipically used in Master Drawing Mode) you have to copy all the needed *.SHX and *.CTB files (from the Autocad installation) in the shared <GlobalParametersPath>PAR sub-directory.

Typical issues produced by such files missing (under the PAR folder) are:

• wrong/uncomplete character set
• wrong/different line widths

Starting from R11 sp1.2 even in Inventor2010 the ribbon bar user interface is available for DBInventor.

This enhancement allows to overcome (almost completely) the issue introduced by Inventor 2010 sp1 that removes the icons from the common toolbar.

To access the buttons not included in the ribbon bar (Open for updating, About DBInventor…, …) yuo can add a textual toolbar as suggested in the previously quoted issue.
Let’s see step by step procedure:

1. Click customize from the Tools ribbon bar
   
2. In the Toolbar tab create a New toolbar
   
3. Then it’s time to fill the just created toolbar (that’s empty) with the missing functionalities:
   Go to Commands tab and select Add-ins category:
   
4. Then drag the desidered functionality from the Commands list and drop it on the toolbar
   
5. Finally you’ll have a toolbar (that won’t be emptied since it’s textual) for retrieve functionality not available directly from ribbon bar
   

Starting from R11 sp1.2 even in Inventor2010 the ribbon bar user interface is available for DBInventor.

This enhancement allows to overcome (almost completely) the issue introduced by Inventor 2010 sp1 that removes the icons from the common toolbar.

To access the buttons not included in the ribbon bar (Open for updating, About DBInventor…, …) yuo can add a textual toolbar as suggested in the previously quoted issue.
Let’s see step by step procedure:

1. Click customize from the Tools ribbon bar
   
2. In the Toolbar tab create a New toolbar
   
3. Then it’s time to fill the just created toolbar (that’s empty) with the missing functionalities:
   Go to Commands tab and select Add-ins category:
   
4. Then drag the desidered functionality from the Commands list and drop it on the toolbar
   
5. Finally you’ll have a toolbar (that won’t be emptied since it’s textual) for retrieve functionality not available directly from ribbon bar
   

After installing sp1 on Inventor 2010 (no matter the platform) the DBInventor toolbar icons disappear, even after the suggestions to keep the toolbar visible.

As workaround, at the moment, you can customize the toolbar by removing the icons and replacing them with correspondent textual button (dragging them from the Customize→Commands→Addin commands to the toolbar itself):

so to obtain a textual Toolbar that won’t disappear:

After installing sp1 on Inventor 2010 (no matter the platform) the DBInventor toolbar icons disappear, even after the suggestions to keep the toolbar visible.

As workaround, at the moment, you can customize the toolbar by removing the icons and replacing them with correspondent textual button (dragging them from the Customize→Commands→Addin commands to the toolbar itself):

so to obtain a textual Toolbar that won’t disappear:

In this page you’ll find information about the Microsoft Windows7 compatibility for Mechworks products.
Following contents will be updated according with new issues or information gained during our tests or thanks to users feedback.

Required software version

On Windows7 operating systems you can install only R11sp2 (and newer) releases of Mechworks products.
R10 and 2007 releases won’t allow you to install.

.NET porting

Since the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine is not supported under Microsoft Windows7 operating system anymore, we’ve made a porting under .NET platform for all the components that used java code.

UAC

In this page you’ll find information about the Microsoft Windows7 compatibility for Mechworks products.
Following contents will be updated according with new issues or information gained during our tests or thanks to users feedback.

Required software version

On Windows7 operating systems you can install only R11sp2 (and newer) releases of Mechworks products.
R10 and 2007 releases won’t allow you to install.

.NET porting

Since the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine is not supported under Microsoft Windows7 operating system anymore, we’ve made a porting under .NET platform for all the components that used java code.

UAC

DBWorksMsi.exe and MechWorks_Pdm_Ryy_SPx_x.exe

Here below are the specific Mechworks PDM parameters
(further info about msiexec command are available at this Microsoft KB topic).

parameter	description	possible values
ADD_LOCAL	the equivalent of:	ALL
REMOVE	the equivalent of:	Standalone AdminTools
GLOBAL_PARAMETERS_PATH	the path where to look for DBWAPP.PAR
INSTALLATION_TYPE	lets you choose the type of installation	Client Individual Server
DBW_LANG		EN IT FR ES DE
APPDIR	the local path to install the application
SOLIDWORKS_INSTALLED		Yes No
SOLIDWORKS_VERSION		2011 2012 2013 …

Command line example

rem features REMOVE=Standalone
rem features REMOVE=DBInventor
rem features DBSolidEdge
rem features DBWorks
rem features REMOVE=AdminTools 
rem parameters GLOBAL_PARAMETERS_PATH 
rem parameters INSTALLATION_TYPE valid values are Client,Individual,Server
rem parameters DBW_LANG valid values are EN,IT,FR,ES,DE
rem SOLIDWORKS_INSTALLED=Yes SOLIDWORKS_VERSION=2011
rem parameters APPDIR

MechWorks_Pdm_Msi_R13_SP1_0.exe /qb /l*vx %temp%installmsi.log ADDLOCAL=ALL REMOVE=DBSolidEdge,DBInventor GLOBAL_PARAMETERS_PATH=Y:dbworks_server_ger 
INSTALLATION_TYPE=Client DBW_LANG="DE" APPDIR="%programfiles(x86)%MechWorksMechWorks_Pdm" SOLIDWORKS_INSTALLED=Yes SOLIDWORKS_VERSION=2012

Proprietary command line switches

 /extract <path>

Mypackage.exe /extract:"C:My work"

/? and /help

/exenoui

/exebasicui

/listlangs

/exelang <langId>

DBWorksMsi.exe and MechWorks_Pdm_Ryy_SPx_x.exe

Here below are the specific Mechworks PDM parameters
(further info about msiexec command are available at this Microsoft KB topic).

parameter	description	possible values
ADD_LOCAL	the equivalent of:	ALL
REMOVE	the equivalent of:	Standalone AdminTools
GLOBAL_PARAMETERS_PATH	the path where to look for DBWAPP.PAR
INSTALLATION_TYPE	lets you choose the type of installation	Client Individual Server
DBW_LANG		EN IT FR ES DE
APPDIR	the local path to install the application
SOLIDWORKS_INSTALLED		Yes No
SOLIDWORKS_VERSION		2011 2012 2013 …

Command line example

rem features REMOVE=Standalone
rem features REMOVE=DBInventor
rem features DBSolidEdge
rem features DBWorks
rem features REMOVE=AdminTools 
rem parameters GLOBAL_PARAMETERS_PATH 
rem parameters INSTALLATION_TYPE valid values are Client,Individual,Server
rem parameters DBW_LANG valid values are EN,IT,FR,ES,DE
rem SOLIDWORKS_INSTALLED=Yes SOLIDWORKS_VERSION=2011
rem parameters APPDIR

MechWorks_Pdm_Msi_R13_SP1_0.exe /qb /l*vx %temp%installmsi.log ADDLOCAL=ALL REMOVE=DBSolidEdge,DBInventor GLOBAL_PARAMETERS_PATH=Y:dbworks_server_ger 
INSTALLATION_TYPE=Client DBW_LANG="DE" APPDIR="%programfiles(x86)%MechWorksMechWorks_Pdm" SOLIDWORKS_INSTALLED=Yes SOLIDWORKS_VERSION=2012

Proprietary command line switches

 /extract <path>

Mypackage.exe /extract:"C:My work"

/? and /help

/exenoui

/exebasicui

/listlangs

/exelang <langId>

On x64 system only, you can experience a different image quality (despite of the same parameters set) when previewing a DWG document in StandaloneClient and integrated version of Mechworks products.

Here below a clear example:

DWG preview in Integrated version (JPG)	DWG preview in StandaloneClient (vectorial)

This behavior depends on the option User Interface→Preview→Max file size for vectorial DWG preview:
If set to 0 it means “Use vectorial preview”, if set to 10 means “Always create a JPG image”

Since the vectorial viewer is a 32bit control, it won’t work on x64 environment; to make up for the lack of this, it’s forced to create a JPG image (better quality) for visualizing the preview as well. On the other hand, StandaloneClient is a 32bit process and it’s able to make the vectorial viewer working as expected: a vectorial preview (worse quality) is so created.

A workaround to this behavior it’s to set -for StandaloneClient only- the Max file size for vectorial DWG preview option as “10” value so to force the creation of a JPG image that will result better defined and consistent with Integrated version preview.

On x64 system only, you can experience a different image quality (despite of the same parameters set) when previewing a DWG document in StandaloneClient and integrated version of Mechworks products.

Here below a clear example:

DWG preview in Integrated version (JPG)	DWG preview in StandaloneClient (vectorial)

This behavior depends on the option User Interface→Preview→Max file size for vectorial DWG preview:
If set to 0 it means “Use vectorial preview”, if set to 10 means “Always create a JPG image”

Since the vectorial viewer is a 32bit control, it won’t work on x64 environment; to make up for the lack of this, it’s forced to create a JPG image (better quality) for visualizing the preview as well. On the other hand, StandaloneClient is a 32bit process and it’s able to make the vectorial viewer working as expected: a vectorial preview (worse quality) is so created.

A workaround to this behavior it’s to set -for StandaloneClient only- the Max file size for vectorial DWG preview option as “10” value so to force the creation of a JPG image that will result better defined and consistent with Integrated version preview.

After installing R11 release on a previous R10 one, you’ve to manually restore the DBWorks toolbar visibility since some changes were necessary to support the new SW2009 ribbon bar interface.

Suppose you had the R10 toolbar set as in the picture:

Right after the R11 installation, at the first SW run you’ll see the toolbar empty, like this:

To restore the previous layout, first of all you’ve to make the new R11 toolbar visible:

so to see the buttons again:

Then you’ve to remove the R10 empty toolbar by dragging it outside the docking area or by double clicking the docking border;
finally you’ve to make it not visible anymore by right clicking the dialog title and choosing “Hide”:

After installing R11 release on a previous R10 one, you’ve to manually restore the DBWorks toolbar visibility since some changes were necessary to support the new SW2009 ribbon bar interface.

Suppose you had the R10 toolbar set as in the picture:

Right after the R11 installation, at the first SW run you’ll see the toolbar empty, like this:

To restore the previous layout, first of all you’ve to make the new R11 toolbar visible:

so to see the buttons again:

Then you’ve to remove the R10 empty toolbar by dragging it outside the docking area or by double clicking the docking border;
finally you’ve to make it not visible anymore by right clicking the dialog title and choosing “Hide”:

The invalid argument error could be originated by several causes.

It’s quite difficult to recognize its specific cause since it’s the result of an internal exception.
At the moment Solidworks support has fixed lots of them, so the best way to get it fixed is:

1. update to Solidworks last service pack
2. report any still present invalid argument to SW support

The invalid argument error could be originated by several causes.

It’s quite difficult to recognize its specific cause since it’s the result of an internal exception.
At the moment Solidworks support has fixed lots of them, so the best way to get it fixed is:

1. update to Solidworks last service pack
2. report any still present invalid argument to SW support

A way to avoid the unknown save error while working in Solidworks is suggested by Microsoft support, since it’s caused by msxml60.

1. Apply Microsoft Recommendation of using the application with partial GC in place. To do this, add below registry key and set to a value of 1.

   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftmsxml60] 
   "NoFullGC"=dword:1

2. Apply Microsoft Recommendation about hotfix KB 960064
   An XML-based application uses lots of memory when multiple threads call the SelectSingleNode method at the same time in Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960064

Below are related articles for your reference:

• PRB: MSXML Performance Bottleneck in ShareMutex Under Stress – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297997
• Understanding the MSXML garbage collection mechanism – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304227

A way to avoid the unknown save error while working in Solidworks is suggested by Microsoft support, since it’s caused by msxml60.

1. Apply Microsoft Recommendation of using the application with partial GC in place. To do this, add below registry key and set to a value of 1.

   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftmsxml60] 
   "NoFullGC"=dword:1

2. Apply Microsoft Recommendation about hotfix KB 960064
   An XML-based application uses lots of memory when multiple threads call the SelectSingleNode method at the same time in Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960064

Below are related articles for your reference:

• PRB: MSXML Performance Bottleneck in ShareMutex Under Stress – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297997
• Understanding the MSXML garbage collection mechanism – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304227

If the DBWorks command bar in Solidworks is incomplete or empty, you need to reset some registry entries to restore it.

Very often this behavior is caused by:

• the modification of values in option User interface → Hidden toolbar buttons
• the enabling/disabling of the option General → Drawings → Use DBWorks variant notes

This is how it could appear:

or even like so:

Here is how the Solidworks API help explains the behavior

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks <version>User InterfaceCustom API Toolbars<index>
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks <version>User InterfaceToolbars
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks <version>User InterfaceToolbarsPartTool
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks <version>User InterfaceToolbarsAssemblyTool
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks <version>User InterfaceToolbarsDrawingTool

We experienced that there’s a specific sequence of actions that allows to made changes in the above option without getting the corrupted commandbar issue:

1. Set the DBWorks option as needed
2. close DBWorks and Solidworks
3. run the following .reg (sw2009 | sw2010 | sw2011 | sw2012 | sw2013 | sw2014) file to clear some entries from the registry
4. start Solidworks
5. show the DBWorks bar again:
   

More about the .reg file and the registry entries to be deleted

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks 2009User InterfaceCommandManager
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks 2009User InterfaceCustom API Toolbars
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks 2009User InterfaceGeneraluiCustomApiToolbars_cXXXXX
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks 2009User InterfaceToolbarsuiCustomApiToolbars_cXXXXX
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks 2009User InterfaceToolbarsAssemblyTooluiCustomApiToolbars_cXXXXX
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks 2009User InterfaceToolbarsDrawingTooluiCustomApiToolbars_cXXXXX
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks 2009User InterfaceToolbarsPartTooluiCustomApiToolbars_cXXXXX

If the DBWorks command bar in Solidworks is incomplete or empty, you need to reset some registry entries to restore it.

Very often this behavior is caused by:

• the modification of values in option User interface → Hidden toolbar buttons
• the enabling/disabling of the option General → Drawings → Use DBWorks variant notes

This is how it could appear:

or even like so:

Here is how the Solidworks API help explains the behavior

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks <version>User InterfaceCustom API Toolbars<index>
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks <version>User InterfaceToolbars
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks <version>User InterfaceToolbarsPartTool
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks <version>User InterfaceToolbarsAssemblyTool
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks <version>User InterfaceToolbarsDrawingTool

We experienced that there’s a specific sequence of actions that allows to made changes in the above option without getting the corrupted commandbar issue:

1. Set the DBWorks option as needed
2. close DBWorks and Solidworks
3. run the following .reg (sw2009 | sw2010 | sw2011 | sw2012 | sw2013 | sw2014) file to clear some entries from the registry
4. start Solidworks
5. show the DBWorks bar again:
   

More about the .reg file and the registry entries to be deleted

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks 2009User InterfaceCommandManager
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks 2009User InterfaceCustom API Toolbars
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks 2009User InterfaceGeneraluiCustomApiToolbars_cXXXXX
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks 2009User InterfaceToolbarsuiCustomApiToolbars_cXXXXX
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks 2009User InterfaceToolbarsAssemblyTooluiCustomApiToolbars_cXXXXX
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks 2009User InterfaceToolbarsDrawingTooluiCustomApiToolbars_cXXXXX
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks 2009User InterfaceToolbarsPartTooluiCustomApiToolbars_cXXXXX

The support for DWG format in AutoCAD2010 will be available for Mechworks products in the fourth quarter 2009, together with the release of OpenDWG 3.0.

Procedures affected by this issue are previews and DWG → PDF conversions.

The support for DWG format in AutoCAD2010 will be available for Mechworks products in the fourth quarter 2009, together with the release of OpenDWG 3.0.

Procedures affected by this issue are previews and DWG → PDF conversions.

During the update of a configuration record (e.g. Edit revision of a SW part with configurations), Solidworks could hang.
This behavior is caused by the SW2007 DocumentMgr.dll invoked by R10 sp2.4 or sp2.5.

Substituting that dll with a more recent one (we successfully tested on SW2009) will fix the problem.

During the update of a configuration record (e.g. Edit revision of a SW part with configurations), Solidworks could hang.
This behavior is caused by the SW2007 DocumentMgr.dll invoked by R10 sp2.4 or sp2.5.

Substituting that dll with a more recent one (we successfully tested on SW2009) will fix the problem.

With Novell network printers that use iprint services, in order to properly set the parameters, you’ve to modify manually the printer address suggested in the plot setup Sheet/Device association list

Suppose to have a printer LaserJet_5100 on server SXM, the suggested entry will be:


that won’t work properly.

This is the correct setting for such printer:

In the DBWAPP.PAR printer related section you’ve to make sure it’s set like followings:

SHEET_DEVICE_TABLE A4
SHEET_DEVICE_TABLE ipp://NDPSM.SXM/ipp/LaserJet_5100
SHEET_DEVICE_TABLE 1
SHEET_DEVICE_TABLE 1.0

With Novell network printers that use iprint services, in order to properly set the parameters, you’ve to modify manually the printer address suggested in the plot setup Sheet/Device association list

Suppose to have a printer LaserJet_5100 on server SXM, the suggested entry will be:


that won’t work properly.

This is the correct setting for such printer:

In the DBWAPP.PAR printer related section you’ve to make sure it’s set like followings:

SHEET_DEVICE_TABLE A4
SHEET_DEVICE_TABLE ipp://NDPSM.SXM/ipp/LaserJet_5100
SHEET_DEVICE_TABLE 1
SHEET_DEVICE_TABLE 1.0

If you cannot see the confirmation dialog anymore, after the creation of a project (or any other action that requires a confirmation dialog) could be due to the activation of the checkbox Do not show this message again:

To restore the default functionality (and be asked again about), there are 2 ways:

1. keep the SHIFT key pressed while clicking the OK button in the data input form
   
2. remove following registry key:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMechWorksDBWorks Standalone98dbwaloneMechWorks-CheckBoxes

   or

   HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks 2009MechWorks-CheckBoxes entries

If you cannot see the confirmation dialog anymore, after the creation of a project (or any other action that requires a confirmation dialog) could be due to the activation of the checkbox Do not show this message again:

To restore the default functionality (and be asked again about), there are 2 ways:

1. keep the SHIFT key pressed while clicking the OK button in the data input form
   
2. remove following registry key:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMechWorksDBWorks Standalone98dbwaloneMechWorks-CheckBoxes

   or

   HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks 2009MechWorks-CheckBoxes entries

On x64 platforms, it could happen that message boxes are not shown.

As first step you’ve to delete the USERS folder for the current user.

If the problem persist, please verify that in vbscripts run whithin DBWorks/DBInventor, all the default function msgbox have been replaced with the Mechworks standard library DBWmsgbox.

Some examples:

msgbox "hallo"

must be changed in

dbwmsgbox "hallo"

msgbox "hallo",vbYesNo

must be changed in

dbwmsgbox1 "hallo",vbYesNo

msgbox "hallo",vbYesNo,"title"

must be changed in

dbwmsgbox2 "hallo",vbYesNo,"title"

Please refer to standardLibrary documentation for further details about such functions.

On x64 platforms, it could happen that message boxes are not shown.

As first step you’ve to delete the USERS folder for the current user.

If the problem persist, please verify that in vbscripts run whithin DBWorks/DBInventor, all the default function msgbox have been replaced with the Mechworks standard library DBWmsgbox.

Some examples:

msgbox "hallo"

must be changed in

dbwmsgbox "hallo"

msgbox "hallo",vbYesNo

must be changed in

dbwmsgbox1 "hallo",vbYesNo

msgbox "hallo",vbYesNo,"title"

must be changed in

dbwmsgbox2 "hallo",vbYesNo,"title"

Please refer to standardLibrary documentation for further details about such functions.

When running scripts for zipping components, such as DBWorks→Utility→Zip_Selection

You may receive an error after entering the file name for the zip to be created:

To fix the issue, download from here the fixed scripts:

• DBWORKS_SERVERLSTZip_Selection.vbs
• DBWORKS_SERVERLSTMANAGEZip_all_documents_of_a_project.vbs
• DBWORKS_SERVERLSTDZIPCreateZipOfSubAssembliesPartsAndDrawings.vbs

For reporting similar script issues, please write to our support.

When running scripts for zipping components, such as DBWorks→Utility→Zip_Selection

You may receive an error after entering the file name for the zip to be created:

To fix the issue, download from here the fixed scripts:

• DBWORKS_SERVERLSTZip_Selection.vbs
• DBWORKS_SERVERLSTMANAGEZip_all_documents_of_a_project.vbs
• DBWORKS_SERVERLSTDZIPCreateZipOfSubAssembliesPartsAndDrawings.vbs

For reporting similar script issues, please write to our support.

Starting from SolidWorks2007 a different file locking policy has been implemented: every writable component of an already opened assembly will be open in read-only mode.

Suppose to have a simple structure like this one, in NEW (so writable) state, and to open the assembly MyAsm:

The assembly will be open in a writable way:

then, if you open the part with the assembly still opened

you’ll see that, even if it’s in NEW state, the part is opened in Read-Only mode:

Only DBWServer can grant a correct management of concurrent engineering.

Starting from SolidWorks2007 a different file locking policy has been implemented: every writable component of an already opened assembly will be open in read-only mode.

Suppose to have a simple structure like this one, in NEW (so writable) state, and to open the assembly MyAsm:

The assembly will be open in a writable way:

then, if you open the part with the assembly still opened

you’ll see that, even if it’s in NEW state, the part is opened in Read-Only mode:

Only DBWServer can grant a correct management of concurrent engineering.

Especially starting with Inventor2009 sp1, you could see that it’s not possible to keep the DBInventor toolbar shown beyond the current session: every time you close Inventor, at the next startup the DBInventor toolbar is not visible anymore.

As workaround, you can copy the DBInventor entry in the Tools → Customize → Toolbars menu:

and load the copied one rather than the original one:

If the problem persists (especially in Inventor2010), dock the toolbar.

Especially starting with Inventor2009 sp1, you could see that it’s not possible to keep the DBInventor toolbar shown beyond the current session: every time you close Inventor, at the next startup the DBInventor toolbar is not visible anymore.

As workaround, you can copy the DBInventor entry in the Tools → Customize → Toolbars menu:

and load the copied one rather than the original one:

If the problem persists (especially in Inventor2010), dock the toolbar.

Due to a Microsoft security update (released in the first half of February 2009), the AssemblyDuplicationWizard starts raising the following error:

To fix this issue you can download the new macro from here and place it in LST folder substituting the old one.

Due to a Microsoft security update (released in the first half of February 2009), the AssemblyDuplicationWizard starts raising the following error:

To fix this issue you can download the new macro from here and place it in LST folder substituting the old one.

Especially on x64 machines, you could encounter following message when running a macro (such as DuplicationWizard):

To avoid this message, you have to add this variable

"LoadControlsInForms"=dword:00000001

to the registry key

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftVBASecurity

Get here here a .reg file that will add required info to the registry simply double clicking it.

You can find further information about this issue (KB827742) at Microsoft support

Especially on x64 machines, you could encounter following message when running a macro (such as DuplicationWizard):

To avoid this message, you have to add this variable

"LoadControlsInForms"=dword:00000001

to the registry key

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftVBASecurity

Get here here a .reg file that will add required info to the registry simply double clicking it.

You can find further information about this issue (KB827742) at Microsoft support

If you cannot see properly the following tabs:

• Advanced Filter
• Full Preview
• Workflow

since a message is raised asking for finding or saving a .vbd file, it means some dll/exe registrations have been corrupted on your installation.

To solve this issue, you have to download a zipped .exe from here, unpack it and run it.

If the problem persists even after executing the above file:

1. Go to

   C:Program FilesCommon FilesSystemado

   (on x86 platforms)

   C:Program Files (x86)Common FilesSystemado

   (on x64 platforms)

2. make sure the file msado15.dll is existing (otherwise write to support@mechworks.com asking for it)
3. open a msdos command prompt on such folder and regsiter the dll by typing:

   regsvr32 msado15.dll

   (on x86 platforms)

   "C:WindowsSysWOW64regsvr32" msado15.dll

   (on x64 platforms)

   a message will inform you about the success of the registration
   

4. Finally go to

   C:Program FilesDBWorksbin

   (on x86 platforms)

   C:Program Files (x86)DBWorksbin

   (on x64 platforms)

   and execute (double click) the files DBWAx64.exe, DBWAx64FP.exe and DBWorkflowAx.exe.

If you cannot see properly the following tabs:

• Advanced Filter
• Full Preview
• Workflow

since a message is raised asking for finding or saving a .vbd file, it means some dll/exe registrations have been corrupted on your installation.

To solve this issue, you have to download a zipped .exe from here, unpack it and run it.

If the problem persists even after executing the above file:

1. Go to

   C:Program FilesCommon FilesSystemado

   (on x86 platforms)

   C:Program Files (x86)Common FilesSystemado

   (on x64 platforms)

2. make sure the file msado15.dll is existing (otherwise write to support@mechworks.com asking for it)
3. open a msdos command prompt on such folder and regsiter the dll by typing:

   regsvr32 msado15.dll

   (on x86 platforms)

   "C:WindowsSysWOW64regsvr32" msado15.dll

   (on x64 platforms)

   a message will inform you about the success of the registration
   

4. Finally go to

   C:Program FilesDBWorksbin

   (on x86 platforms)

   C:Program Files (x86)DBWorksbin

   (on x64 platforms)

   and execute (double click) the files DBWAx64.exe, DBWAx64FP.exe and DBWorkflowAx.exe.

A known bug (SPR 458328) in SW2009 makes not working the DBWorks variant notes (@DBW=…) present in templates created with previous versions of Solidworks.

When saving an old format drawing in sw2009, the variant note is lost:

SolidWorks support plans to solve such bug in SW2009 sp2

A known bug (SPR 458328) in SW2009 makes not working the DBWorks variant notes (@DBW=…) present in templates created with previous versions of Solidworks.

When saving an old format drawing in sw2009, the variant note is lost:

SolidWorks support plans to solve such bug in SW2009 sp2

If the the button bar entry   Add/remove the node and all the children from the project is not working properly, maybe it’s because for some reasons you chose to never confirm the add/remove to projects with a persistent check-box.

To solve the issue try to delete the following registry key

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks <your solidworks version>MechWorks-CheckBoxes

If the the button bar entry   Add/remove the node and all the children from the project is not working properly, maybe it’s because for some reasons you chose to never confirm the add/remove to projects with a persistent check-box.

To solve the issue try to delete the following registry key

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareSolidWorksSolidWorks <your solidworks version>MechWorks-CheckBoxes

If you create a BOM and you notice that more than 1 element has the same bom position number, it means some entry are wrongly set in the PARENT_CHILD table.

Unfortunately there is not an out-of-the-box solution for such behavior but you can run some check to get warned about wrong values so to avoid sending wrong BOMs along the production process.

1. Run the script UpdateDatabaseActiveDoc
   • Open an assembly (it doesn’t matter if its state is writeable or not)
   • Run the script
   • Close the assembly WITHOUT saving
2. Run the script Check for parent-child duplicated BOMpos that’s in the Analysis section of the shortcutbar

   

3. ExcelBOM embedded checkStarting from build 20081017 a new options is supported by the PARDBWBOM_*.TXT ExcelBOM parameter files:

   OPTIONS
   	...
   	ERROR_ON_DUPLICATE_POSITIONS	
   	...

   In case the created BOM contains duplicates in position, the creation fails and shows a clear error reporting the faulty position. This check is very important if you have a connected ERP system that reads data from the BOMs.

If you create a BOM and you notice that more than 1 element has the same bom position number, it means some entry are wrongly set in the PARENT_CHILD table.

Unfortunately there is not an out-of-the-box solution for such behavior but you can run some check to get warned about wrong values so to avoid sending wrong BOMs along the production process.

1. Run the script UpdateDatabaseActiveDoc
   • Open an assembly (it doesn’t matter if its state is writeable or not)
   • Run the script
   • Close the assembly WITHOUT saving
2. Run the script Check for parent-child duplicated BOMpos that’s in the Analysis section of the shortcutbar

   

3. ExcelBOM embedded checkStarting from build 20081017 a new options is supported by the PARDBWBOM_*.TXT ExcelBOM parameter files:

   OPTIONS
   	...
   	ERROR_ON_DUPLICATE_POSITIONS	
   	...

   In case the created BOM contains duplicates in position, the creation fails and shows a clear error reporting the faulty position. This check is very important if you have a connected ERP system that reads data from the BOMs.

Description

After installing security update 896358 or Windows Server 2003 SP1, you may find that you cannot view the topics in an HTML help (CHM) file.

solution 1

1. Download the CHM file.
2. Right-click on file, and choose Properties.
3. Click Unblock.
4. Open the file.

solution 2

• Read a PDF file that explain how to modify registry settings
• Download a .reg file to modify the registry (x86 and x64) automatically

solution 3

• Adding the machine IP to the IE trusted sites list is also helpful
  

Further information:

• Read about it on Microsoft Support

Description

After installing security update 896358 or Windows Server 2003 SP1, you may find that you cannot view the topics in an HTML help (CHM) file.

solution 1

1. Download the CHM file.
2. Right-click on file, and choose Properties.
3. Click Unblock.
4. Open the file.

solution 2

• Read a PDF file that explain how to modify registry settings
• Download a .reg file to modify the registry (x86 and x64) automatically

solution 3

• Adding the machine IP to the IE trusted sites list is also helpful
  

Further information:

• Read about it on Microsoft Support

If you encounter problems in running DBWForms (TreeMaterial, EditTreeMaterial, CustomProperties Manager, …) it could be a matter of an antivirus that’s blocking some files.

We had reports about that from users that installed

• G DATA Antivirus:
  A test to verify this is to try opening declare.bas library file (usually located in c:Program FilesCommon FilesMechWorksDBWORKS folder) with notepad: you should not be able to open it.
• McAfee Antivirus: In this case an error such as “Buffer overrun” could be raised
  Try to disable antivirus to verify it.

If you encounter problems in running DBWForms (TreeMaterial, EditTreeMaterial, CustomProperties Manager, …) it could be a matter of an antivirus that’s blocking some files.

We had reports about that from users that installed

• G DATA Antivirus:
  A test to verify this is to try opening declare.bas library file (usually located in c:Program FilesCommon FilesMechWorksDBWORKS folder) with notepad: you should not be able to open it.
• McAfee Antivirus: In this case an error such as “Buffer overrun” could be raised
  Try to disable antivirus to verify it.

When trying to run the installer for DBWorks, DBInventor or DBStandalone, you could be notified about a CRC error:
the downloaded file could be corrupted.

As first try, you can rename the InstallSheld folder has been created in Common Files directory (simply change its from InstallShield).
Then restart the installer executable.

If the above method doesn’t work, another workaround is to extract manually installation files in a temporary folder and to run setup.exe from there.

To do like so, open a MSDOS window and digit:

dbworks.exe /extract_all:c:tempdbw_install_folder

where c:tempdbw_install_folder is the folder to which extract all setup files.

then explore that folder run setup.exe file.

Once installed, you can delete the whole c:tempdbw_install_folder folder.

When trying to run the installer for DBWorks, DBInventor or DBStandalone, you could be notified about a CRC error:
the downloaded file could be corrupted.

As first try, you can rename the InstallSheld folder has been created in Common Files directory (simply change its from InstallShield).
Then restart the installer executable.

If the above method doesn’t work, another workaround is to extract manually installation files in a temporary folder and to run setup.exe from there.

To do like so, open a MSDOS window and digit:

dbworks.exe /extract_all:c:tempdbw_install_folder

where c:tempdbw_install_folder is the folder to which extract all setup files.

then explore that folder run setup.exe file.

Once installed, you can delete the whole c:tempdbw_install_folder folder.

If security settings on folders are not properly set, you may encounter such error at startup:

To properly install DBW2007 on Vista operating system follow these steps from an administrative login:

1. Disable UAC (User Account Control, click here to know how disable it)
   
2. Install DBWorks with DBWorks.exe installer (do not use DBWorks.msi)
3. Start Solidworks and DBWorks so to create USERS folders
4. Exit from DBWorks and Solidworks
5. for the following folders

   <drive>:program filescommon filesmechworks

   and

   <drive>:DBWORKS_SERVER

   give FULL CONTROL right to the EVERYONE user (create it if not already existing)

6. If needed, set readonly rights selectively on files or scripts under the DBWORKS_SERVER path
7. Then you can exit from the administrative login and start working loggin in with standard (non administrator) user login too

If security settings on folders are not properly set, you may encounter such error at startup:

To properly install DBW2007 on Vista operating system follow these steps from an administrative login:

1. Disable UAC (User Account Control, click here to know how disable it)
   
2. Install DBWorks with DBWorks.exe installer (do not use DBWorks.msi)
3. Start Solidworks and DBWorks so to create USERS folders
4. Exit from DBWorks and Solidworks
5. for the following folders

   <drive>:program filescommon filesmechworks

   and

   <drive>:DBWORKS_SERVER

   give FULL CONTROL right to the EVERYONE user (create it if not already existing)

6. If needed, set readonly rights selectively on files or scripts under the DBWORKS_SERVER path
7. Then you can exit from the administrative login and start working loggin in with standard (non administrator) user login too

If you got the following message when starting standalone client, it’s maybe because you’re running it for the first time on Vista OS and with UAC activated.

The resolution is as follows:

1. Disable UAC
2. Install Standalone Client (if it’s already installed you don’t need to re-install it)
3. Run Standalone Client
4. Enable UAC

If you got the following message when starting standalone client, it’s maybe because you’re running it for the first time on Vista OS and with UAC activated.

The resolution is as follows:

1. Disable UAC
2. Install Standalone Client (if it’s already installed you don’t need to re-install it)
3. Run Standalone Client
4. Enable UAC

Since of the change of the encoding schema used by SW 2007 sp1.x for text properties (changed from Single-byte to Multi-byte), German Umlaut characters as well as any character in the following list

ÀÁÂÃÄÅÆÇÈÉÊËÌÍÎÏÐÑÒÓÔÕÖ×ØÙÚÛÜÝÞßàáâãäåæçèéêëìíîïðñòóôõö÷øùúûüýþÿ½

were causing wrong properties to be written in the Structured Storage of the file itself.

The problem was visible when directly accessing the file Custom Properties (for example, after a Rename or Edit), with the model currently closed.
No problems were happening if the model was opened, since of the use of the SW custom properties manager.

Since of the change of the encoding schema used by SW 2007 sp1.x for text properties (changed from Single-byte to Multi-byte), German Umlaut characters as well as any character in the following list

ÀÁÂÃÄÅÆÇÈÉÊËÌÍÎÏÐÑÒÓÔÕÖ×ØÙÚÛÜÝÞßàáâãäåæçèéêëìíîïðñòóôõö÷øùúûüýþÿ½

were causing wrong properties to be written in the Structured Storage of the file itself.

The problem was visible when directly accessing the file Custom Properties (for example, after a Rename or Edit), with the model currently closed.
No problems were happening if the model was opened, since of the use of the SW custom properties manager.

If you install SolidWorks2008 on a machine on was already installed SolidWorks2007 you may encounter an error about DBWorks incompatibility with SW2008.

This is because DBWorks is a single application while SW2007 and SW2008 are two different ones. The DBWorks dll that has to be loaded is different according to the CAD version.

In SolidWorks addin list you’ve to enable the correct one:

Solidworks 2007 requires BINVS6DBWorks.dll library

Solidworks 2008 requires BINVS2005DBWorks.dll library

Keep both Solidworks2007 and 2008 version

You may also keep both versions (for SW2007 and SW2008) on the same machine.
To allow this, you need to open SW, disable the add-in, close SW, start the other SW, enable the add-in.

Examples:

from SW2008 to SW2007:

• open SW2008
• disable DBWorks for SW2008
• close SW2008
• open SW2007
• enable DBWorks for SW2007

from SW2007 to SW2008

• open SW2007
• disable DBWorks for SW2007
• close SW2007
• open SW2008
• enable DBWorks for SW2008

If you install SolidWorks2008 on a machine on was already installed SolidWorks2007 you may encounter an error about DBWorks incompatibility with SW2008.

This is because DBWorks is a single application while SW2007 and SW2008 are two different ones. The DBWorks dll that has to be loaded is different according to the CAD version.

In SolidWorks addin list you’ve to enable the correct one:

Solidworks 2007 requires BINVS6DBWorks.dll library

Solidworks 2008 requires BINVS2005DBWorks.dll library

Keep both Solidworks2007 and 2008 version

You may also keep both versions (for SW2007 and SW2008) on the same machine.
To allow this, you need to open SW, disable the add-in, close SW, start the other SW, enable the add-in.

Examples:

from SW2008 to SW2007:

• open SW2008
• disable DBWorks for SW2008
• close SW2008
• open SW2007
• enable DBWorks for SW2007

from SW2007 to SW2008

• open SW2007
• disable DBWorks for SW2007
• close SW2007
• open SW2008
• enable DBWorks for SW2008

Basics

Datasources

At the moment you can only connect the 64bit to an existing DBWorks database on SQLServer.

Technical details on DBWorks run under 64bit systems

• Core: DBWx64 can run ONLY on a machine were NO SW 32-bit is installed (only SW 64bit)
• DLLs: they are located in BINx64
• Registry: installer creates properly entries in both x32 registry and x64 registry
• 64bit: only the DLLs are compiled in native 64bit mode – all the accessory objects are still in 32bit mode
• Scripts: scripts runs in 32bit mode, by launching the 32bit WSCRIPT process
• DBWFRM: any .DBWFRM runs in 32bit mode
• eDrawings viewer: no 64bit version is available for eDrawings, so DBWx64 uses an out-of-process implementation – this is not really stable, since of problems in eDrawings itself
• WebClient: it is not affected by 32/64 bit issues
• Multisite: it is not affected by 32/64 bit issues
• Bugs report: please attach always a LOG of the session

Basics

Datasources

At the moment you can only connect the 64bit to an existing DBWorks database on SQLServer.

Technical details on DBWorks run under 64bit systems

• Core: DBWx64 can run ONLY on a machine were NO SW 32-bit is installed (only SW 64bit)
• DLLs: they are located in BINx64
• Registry: installer creates properly entries in both x32 registry and x64 registry
• 64bit: only the DLLs are compiled in native 64bit mode – all the accessory objects are still in 32bit mode
• Scripts: scripts runs in 32bit mode, by launching the 32bit WSCRIPT process
• DBWFRM: any .DBWFRM runs in 32bit mode
• eDrawings viewer: no 64bit version is available for eDrawings, so DBWx64 uses an out-of-process implementation – this is not really stable, since of problems in eDrawings itself
• WebClient: it is not affected by 32/64 bit issues
• Multisite: it is not affected by 32/64 bit issues
• Bugs report: please attach always a LOG of the session

Description

Views in SQL server database change owner when modified (for example, by adding a field).

Scenario (for this example)

• The domain name is SITE1.
• The login user on the machine is demo06.
• The group the user belongs to is SITE1DBWorksServer.
• The database name is DBWorks000.

 Conditions to reproduce the behavior

Originally the views in the database are correctly owned by dbo.

The ODBC connection accesses the database with a NT authentication using the network login.

This means that the personality used is the group SITE1DBWorksServer. The group rights are set as follows:

This group has the System Administration flag unchecked (usually the case to deny users the ability to modify any database on the server)

With these settings, a user opens the DBCustomizer and adds a field to a view (for example the field TEST000 to the view GENERIC)

As a consequence, the GENERIC view in the database structure has changed the owner to SITE1demo06.

Solution

First set the views owner back to dbo.
Then, for future modifications, use DBCustomizer 4.3.00 or better.

Description

Views in SQL server database change owner when modified (for example, by adding a field).

Scenario (for this example)

• The domain name is SITE1.
• The login user on the machine is demo06.
• The group the user belongs to is SITE1DBWorksServer.
• The database name is DBWorks000.

 Conditions to reproduce the behavior

Originally the views in the database are correctly owned by dbo.

The ODBC connection accesses the database with a NT authentication using the network login.

This means that the personality used is the group SITE1DBWorksServer. The group rights are set as follows:

This group has the System Administration flag unchecked (usually the case to deny users the ability to modify any database on the server)

With these settings, a user opens the DBCustomizer and adds a field to a view (for example the field TEST000 to the view GENERIC)

As a consequence, the GENERIC view in the database structure has changed the owner to SITE1demo06.

Solution

First set the views owner back to dbo.
Then, for future modifications, use DBCustomizer 4.3.00 or better.

Sometimes scripting or components stop working as expected and a Java Virtual machine reinstallation is required

• Remove completely (also from RecycleBin/not rename ) the file msjava.dll (usually c:system32msjava.dll)
• Download a java virtual machine installer
• Install by double click on the downloaded file

Sometimes scripting or components stop working as expected and a Java Virtual machine reinstallation is required

• Remove completely (also from RecycleBin/not rename ) the file msjava.dll (usually c:system32msjava.dll)
• Download a java virtual machine installer
• Install by double click on the downloaded file