How to use Sharepoint / OneDrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox to manage your CAD files? Read below!
According to a recent poll I did for SolidWorks users, 64% of them were not using SolidWorks PDM. A majority of this group leveraged cloud storage solutions like Sharepoint or Google Drive, or their own server to work on their CAD files.
Why is this? Unlike the high implementation cost of setting up SolidWorks PDM, cloud storage solutions come for “free” with your workspace accounts, and so it seems like a natural step — and especially for small to medium sized teams, it works alright! But there are some steps you should take to ensure you don’t run into problems like slow syncing speeds or broken SolidWorks file references. Working with many different companies in the space, I’ve compiled a list of tips that I’d recommend you follow if you’re using Sharepoint / OneDrive, Dropbox, or Google Drive:
🔹 [For Sharepoint only] There are two options to add your Sharepoint Document Library to your OneDrive so you can access your files on your local computer: Add shortcut to OneDrive or Sync. I recommend using Sync as that typically provides faster synchronization from your changes on your local computer.
🔹 Ensure a common path for all users to avoid build errors with missing references in SolidWorks. The way to do this is to install OneDrive / Dropbox in a file path that is the same for all users. However, by default, OneDrive / Dropbox is installed in a file path that contains your user name, so the default location doesn’t work. Please DM me if you want to know how to install OneDrive / Dropbox in a common location.
🔹 Enable multi-user environment settings in SolidWorks. Go to System Options > Collaboration, and check “Enable multi-user environment”, “Add shortcut menu items for multi-user environment”, and “Check if files opened read-only have been modified by other users”. For the “check files every” dialog, I’d recommend selecting 5 or 10 minutes.
🔹 Set SolidWorks to open referenced documents with read-only access. Go to System Options > External References, and check “Open referenced documents with read-only access.”
This will prevent unknowingly making changes to files that others may be working on.
🔹 Integrate ProdTrace with your cloud storage to easily manage your file revisions and check-in / check-out :)
What other tips & tricks would you recommend when using cloud storage to manage your CAD files?