Rename Folder, find newly broken links?

[brrian]

All of my individual projects are stored in a master folder called "DRAFT". In most cases (95%) all project files are located only within the project subfolder, so I could rename that master folder until the cows come home--the references would fix themselves (find the files in the folder).

But for the other five percent, files in one project folder might reference files in a different project folder. In those cases, renaming the master folder would permanently break the links, and mayhem would ensue.

Is there a way (in vanilla SW or with a macro somebody has written) to either LIST references or FIX references? If they're listed, I could manually fix after renaming the master folder; if they're fixed, then it's even easier.

Why would I do that, you ask? Because I didn't plan my folder structure properly when I implemented SW and I'd like to redo it now before we get too far down the road.

Also--I know about PDMWorks and what it's capable of; it's just not a fit for our company.

I look forward to your responses. Thanks!

Brian

 

[PDMAdmin]

SolidWorks Explorer is probably your best bet. Alternatively, you could select the "References" button in the Open dialog box when loading the assembly.

 

[J-C]

Go to Tools/Options/File Locations. Select "Referenced Documents" from the pull down menu and add your new top level folder name to the list.

Jason

UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2005 SP5.0 on WinXP SP2
SolidWorks 2006 SP3.0 on WinXP SP2

 

[brrian]

Hmm... interesting.

I've been testing this... I haven't even gotten to the point of adding the new top-level folder in "Referenced Folders" because it's fixed it every time. If I click the "References" button in the file Open dialog, the references are already fixed. I assume then that clicking that button runs through the reference checks just as opening the file would?

I'll try this with the real data at work tomorrow. I see that I have much to learn about file references. Thanks for the info...

Brian

 

[SnowCrash]

Yabbutt, to straighten all this out you may want to do a save as on the referenced items to put them where they belong.
I fight a similar battle as a one man band working from a server. The boss wants me to work locally until the project is released to the shop, then move to the server, but I lose some structure when I do this, plus I end up with two copies.
Yeah, I know how to fix that last one, but "Unable to find file because you deleted it you nitwit" is not a message I want to hear.

--
Hardie "Crashj" Johnson
SW 2005 SP 4.0 (reluctant to change)
Matrox Millenium G550
AMD Athalon 1.8 GHz 512 Meg RAM

 

[TateJ]

Try searching the help menus for this:
"searching for referenced documents"

Windows 2000 Professional / Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer
SolidWorks 2006 SP02.0 / SpaceBall 4000 FLX
Diet Coke with Lime / Dark Chocolate
Lava Lamp
www.Tate3d.com​

 

[brrian]

I have, and I know about the sequence SW goes through when checking for referenced documents. I found it confusing at first--I need to take a better look at it... study it.