Read only state of SW documents in concurrent engineering

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Read only state of SW documents in concurrent engineering

Read only state of SolidWorks documents in concurrent engineering

About proper usage of the SolidWorks options in SolidWorks, Tools, Options, External references, Open referenced documents with read-only access option

If the file of a component is writeable (for example, while in check out), the file is automatically locked when an assembly referencing the component is opened.
To understand the file locking both of MechworksPDM and of the CAD, please consider the following example and read the section that reflects your current installation

Example

 
Users: CIRO and GAETANO

Hierarchy

Description

State

A1

assembly A1

Released

+ P1

component: part P1

Checked out by Gaetano

+ P2

component: part P2

Released

MechworksPDM not in Local Checkout mode

DBWServer not running

SW option 'Open referenced documents with read-only access' unchecked

No light-weight components

User: CIRO

Ciro loads the assembly A1
file P1 is automatically LOCKED

User: GAETANO

Gaetano loads the assembly A1
since P1 is LOCKED by Ciro, he cannot work on the part checked-out by himself

Note:

If the components are loaded in light-weight mode (SW, Tools, Options, Performance, Assemblies, Automatically load parts light-weight),
the parts are not locked, but as soon as the light-weight component is resolved, the file is automatically locked, making it impossible to access it from another workstation.

Remember that to keep MechworksPDM from setting the above option, you also need to check the Options, Advanced, Avoid Solidworks User Preferences setting option.

SW option 'Open referenced documents with read-only access' checked

No light-weight components

User: CIRO

Ciro loads the assembly A1
files P1 is not locked

if Ciro tries to open the P1, MechworksPDM will set the same as Read-Only since it is checked-out by someone else

User: GAETANO

Gaetano loads the assembly A1

he can safely open and work on the part P1

DBWServer running

Option Advanced, DBWServer, Enable DBWServer file locking checked
SW option External references, Open referenced documents with read-only access unchecked
No light-weight components

User: CIRO

Ciro loads the assembly A1
files P1 is NOT LOCKED because the DBWServer assigned only READ permissions to anyone different from the user that checked-out the file (Gaetano)

User: GAETANO

Gaetano loads the assembly A1

he can safely open and work on the part P1: DBWServer has made the file writeable only by Gaetano

MechworksPDM in Local Checkout mode

While working in Local Checkout Mode, all the checked-out files are never shared as they are copied to the local workstation, so no locking problems can arise, and in this case we suggest to work with the SW option External references, Open referenced documents with read-only access unchecked.

Safe schemes with different versions of MechworksPDM

Mind that the Local Checkout Mode is available only with the Enterprise version, and so the only existing safe schemes are:

MechworksPDM level: Enhanced

SolidWorks option External references, Open referenced documents with read-only access must be checked

MechworksPDM level: Enterprise

SolidWorks option External references, Open referenced documents with read-only access can be checked (no DBWServer running)

or unchecked (DBWServer running or Local Checkout Mode on)