SmarTeam has issued a hot fix for V5R17 SP8.
We have been looking forward to this Hot Fix, and it should fix the issue we reported on March 25th (The client server issue).
If you are an Inflow-Technology customer, please contact us for information. If you are not a customer, you should be! All kidding aside (No seriously, you should be!), contact your local VAR for details.
"...CIMdata defines a mindshare leader as the company end-users most readily identified with the term “PLM.” It is Dassault Systèmes’ third straight year at the top of the industry mindshare rankings. "
Source: http://www.3ds.com/news-events/press-releases/release/1758/1/?no_cache=1
Inflow-Technology, of course, deploys solutions based on Dassault's product. So, if Dassault is PLM, then Inflow-Technology is the PLM Solution! Chant that three times and tell your friends!
With the SmarTeam integration loaded in SolidWorks, do your icons look like this?
Doesn't quite look right, does it?
A quick way to fix this is to look in your Icon directory and delete these two files (back them up first!):
SWSmallToolbar.bmp
SWLargeToolbar.bmp
Deleting these files will force the SmarTeam integration to look at the icons stored in the actual application. Your icons will now look like this:
Much better, I think!
Based on the above information, it is possible for you to create your own icons, and put them into your icon directory. Just use the correct naming convention.
We did notice, however, using large icons still look incorrect. We will submit that to SmarTeam.
Contact Inflow-Technology for more information.
SmarTeam has released the long awaited service pack for V5R18.
It is long awaited because it introduces the support for SolidWorks 2008.
The service pack can be downloaded from the SmarTeam support web site.
If you are a SolidWorks organization, it is imperative that you read the release notes!
Please note: See the release notes for details on working with SolidWorks 2008 "Virtual Components".
Please contact Inflow Technology for more information.
SmarTeam has released service pack 8 for V5R17.
It can be downloaded from the SmarTeam support site.
SP8 boasts many enhancements, fixes to the SolidWorks integration, and is being anticipated quite heavily by many of Inflow's customers.
Inflow has done some testing of this service pack and would like to issue a caution to customers that may want to install this Service Pack.
We have found that in some cases when the server and client are using different Operating Systems (OS) the client can no longer communicate correctly with the server. SmarTeam has confirmed our findings, and they are issuing a “hotfix” for this issue. We believe this affects most SmarTeam customers. Please test before deploying!
The service pack requires that the server and all clients be at the same version (SP8). This, of course, is how SmarTeam always supports the product. However, we have found that customers will sometimes update the clients and then upgrade the server when time permits. You will not be able to communicate with the server if the versions are mismatched.
We will keep you posted on any other findings! Please visit Inflow Technology for more information.
****Update**** Please this post. SmarTeam has issued a HF for SP8.
The SPI Integration provides a link to SmarTeam embedded in the Pro/Engineer session. See screenshots below. Questions: visit InFlow Technology
When I create a link, how can I avoid having the Object be secured by the Project by default?
A newly added System Configuration key enables you to change this default setting. To implement this key, do the following: 1. Open the SMARTEAM System Configuration Editor. 2. Search for the key: DefaultSecuredByAuthorizationContext. 3. Set the value to FALSE. As a result, the Secured by checkbox in the link confirmation message is cleared by default.
We are pleased to invite you and your customers to the inaugural Dassault Systèmes ENOVIA Americas Customer Conference (EACC) to be held at the Marriott Orlando World Center Resort in Orlando Florida, May 6 - 9, 2008.
EACC 2008 will build on the best practices of the PLM industry leading MatrixOne Global Customer Conference (GCC) which was held for eight years prior to MatrixOne joining Dassault Systèmes ENOVIA family of PLM solutions. EACC 2008 builds on those traditions, expanding the networking, educational and strategic business planning opportunities to you and all ENOVIA SmarTeam, ENOVIA VPLM and ENOVIA MatrixOne customers.
This is a valuable opportunity to share your services and solutions with ENOVIA SmarTeam, ENOVIA VPLM and ENOVIA MatrixOne customers, executives, business planners, IT professionals, systems integrators and more.
EACC 2008 promises to bring together several hundred attendees across eleven industries -- providing a venue to network and learn about both partner and ENOVIA solutions, services and educational opportunities. At EACC, you and your customers will:
Sponsorship Opportunities
A variety of EACC sponsorship opportunities are available to make your participation even more valuable. For more information, please email us today at: http://www.3ds.com/enovia/eacc, or visit us on the Web at: www.3dsplm/enovia/eaccRegistration
Registration opens for EACC in January 2008.
We hope to see you May 6 - 9, 2008 in Orlando, Florida!
With SmarTeam R18, the users will get a new updated interface and I thought I would share a few of these with you.
The tabs on the right pane are fully movable as well and let you dock them on any side you prefer.
There are saved default color schems for the users to chose from now as well.
If you are using Windows Vista, it will be even nicer and conforms to the new Vista graphics (Gradiant bars and icons), otherwise this is what it looks like with XP or Windows2003
So at least it is a refreshing change for the users
Scott Evans
Inflow Technology
V5R18 has now been released! Below is a nice little video that explains how SmarTeam can empower your organization.
http://www.3ds.com/products-solutions/plm-solutions/enovia/v5r18/
I have been answering this question a lot lately, so I thought I would take a moment and document it.
In the past, PRE V5R17, you could change the foundation location on a client by modifying the xml in the Machine.config file. The file is located in the "C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\CONFIG" directory. That location could change based on what version of .NET you had installed and working with SmarTeam.
It has now been moved, to what I believe is a much better location. You can find the settings in the file: "SmarTeam.Std.LocalConfiguration.dll.config" in the "C:\Program Files\SMARTEAM\Bin" directory.
This config file is also an XML file and you will need a text editor or your favorite xml editor to make the changes. WARNING! Don't try to use MS Word or Wordpad.
Look for the machine name, or IP address, of your foundation server in the config file. The XML will begin with URL -> <Url>tcp://m90-tech8:5606/
You need to change the Machine name between the forward slashes (//) and the colon (:)
Also note that there are 3 places in the file where this needs to be changed.
So there you have it... If you ever need to point your SmarTeam client to a new, or different, foundation server just follow the directions above.
This little tip has been around for a while and should work with older versions of SmarTeam.
If you hold down the control key while starting SmarTeam, you will get a dialog to choose what database you want to log into.
For those that don't have multiple databases, this tip won't do much for you. However, those that do have multiple databases might find it useful.
Anyone else have any little tricks they want to share?
With the release of Service Pack 4 for V5R17, Dassault Systemes introduces a new milestone regarding Bill Of Material (BOM) handling with its flagship product SmarTeam. This article introduces you to some of the new features and capabilities in this long awaited update.
The first feature to introduce is the Item Tree synchronization capability with CAD. In the past, users were left to their own devices to create an Item structure in SmarTeam. This may have been done by script or some other copy tree mechanism. An Item Tree structure can now be created automatically based on your CAD definition and kept in sync as your CAD data changes. You can now easily create and maintain your EBOM, or “As Designed” BOM, as a starting point for other BOM structures.
SmarTeam doesn’t stop there with the CAD synchronization capabilities. SmarTeam also provides the flexibility to allow if your CAD component should be part of the BOM in the first place. As you can see from the graphic below, a simple dropdown allows you to choose between Yes, No, or even a Phantom. Setting your CAD assembly file to Phantom will allow the children to show in the BOM, but not the actual assembly itself.
In the synchronizing process attribute information is carried over, or mapped, to the Item being created or updated. The mapping information is kept in an XML configuration file and easily administered from the SmarTeam BOM mapping tool. Below you can see a snapshot of the tool and how intuitive it appears to use. The administrator simply selects what the source attribute should be mapped to the Target attribute.
The SmarTeam V5R17 BOM module now includes a very robust Bill of Material Editor. The Editor allows for quick and easy BOM management and configuration. You can Drag and drop your BOM objects as well as copy and paste to achieve your various BOM views (i.e. “As Built”, “As Manufactured”, etc). The editor allows you to filter your results and in some cases allow you to edit attribute information directly in the editor.
Other added features of the BOM enhancements are the addition of the custom states and the demotion of BOM objects in SmarTeam. You are not limited to the predefined states of your Items. As an administrator, you can add states as needed by your business processes and visually set the state transitions. Item objects in SmarTeam can also now be demoted in the system. This is a powerful addition that adds a lot of flexibilities to how information is traveled in your organization. You are no longer forced to only move forward in your transitions. If you feel an Item that was promoted from “Pending” to “Release” wrongfully or some other reason, you can now move it back to “Pending”.
This has been just a small introduction to the new capabilities in V5R17 SP4. SmarTeam has taken the Bill Of Material capabilities to the next level and, in our opinion, is just the beginning of the features we are going to see developed for the platform. With the new CAD synchronization, SmarTeam has closed the gap on getting your intellectual property into manageable BOM structures. The new BOM editor has made it incredibly easy to create, copy, and maintain your various BOM structures for consumption throughout the organization. We are very proud to discuss the enhancements Dassault Systemes has made recently. If you would like to see the new capabilities up close, just give Inflow Technology a call and we will arrange a demonstration.
Smarteam users need to understand the importance of using smarteam file explorer. This feature is NOT the same as using Windows explorer.
By using smarteam file explorer, Smarteam knows the status of a object - whether it is New, Copied, Referenced or Checked-out. Windows Explorer doesn't. Using smarteam file explorer - Smarteam WILL NOT allow the user to delete a file which is in "new" or "checked out" state. Reason - This is the only version of the file the user has. It is not available anywhere else. Windows explorer on the other hand will treat this file as any other. So, when the file is deleted, smarteam will still show the object in file explorer with a red ! status. It does not know what happened to the file. It had a record of it and now it cannot see it in the system.
It is also recommended to clean smarteam file explorer regularly. Every time a user checks a file out all of its references could be copied out to enable the cad application to open the file. Over a period of time, these files get accumulated and the user ends up with hundred's of files. The user can select "all copied -referenced " and "all copied - not referenced" files and SAFELY delete them using SMARTEAM file explorer thus ensuring a clean workspace.
Definition : Only an object explicitly assigned Check Out or New Release will be checked out. The configurations referring to the checked out object will be locked. Other users cannot checkout the locked configurations but can only copy them.
Example : A solidworks part with 2 configurations - "Default" and "Flat_pattern" is in released state. "joe" needs to modify the part.
1. Login as user "joe"
2. In the "new release" lifecycle screen below, on clicking OK, Default configuration will be "new released" and flat_pattern will be copied. (see fig.1)
3. When user "ann" wants to make changes to "Flat_pattern" configuration - the option to check-out will be grayed out. "ann" can still copy the part. (see fig.2)
The "Lock" option gives "joe" total control on his part and its configurations until he performs "check-in" or "release" operation.
Just a quick word on a bit of recent SmarTeam success…
We have a customer that is now running 3 SQL SmarTeam sites. (Inflow now has many other Oracle multi-site SmarTeam customers)
This is the SQL server with replicated Vault files only (DB is not replicated)
The quick performance scoop is:
- An assembly that takes about 2 minutes @ Site1 to Open
- Was about 24 minutes @ Site2 and is now under 2.5 minutes
- At Site3, it simply failed before and is now about 3 minutes or less (Slower line for the DB info)
- Login times and general object searching also decreased significantly since we now have a configuration server at each site
If you are interested in this type of solution for your company, please contact Inflow Technology @
800.875.3009 for more information
You can download the service pack from SmarTeam's support site here.
Services from Inflow Technology can help you implement the service pack within your organizaion. Just give us a call at 800-875-3009 x 230. We would be happy to help you with this solution!
According to our sources, SmarTeam will support the new Microsoft Vista operating system with the version V5R18. We have also been told they are discussing the escalation of Vista support for the current versions. Nothing firm though.
...
SolidWorks just announced in a bulletin stating that a Vista supported version is available as a pre-release. However, since none of the major graphic card vendors have OpenGL drivers available yet, SolidWorks will run in SoftwareGL only.
"SolidWorks will qualify certified hardware OpenGL drivers as they are released from the graphics vendors." ... (SolidworksSupportBulletins)
Companies that contact InFlow are generally not looking to buy a PLM solution. Rather, they are looking to solve complex issues in their organization. Often times, the connection between the issue and the definition of PLM is somewhat cloudy. Therefore, my goal in this series is to discuss some of these challenges that InFlow has addressed with PLM and some of the measurable success that our customers have achieved.
I am a PLM sales person…and the title of this blog entry may imply that I am whining about my job. While I am not immune to the occasional emotional episode / mild tantrum, the title of this blog entry has a purpose. I assure you that this purpose has nothing to do with my emotional state.
"Reducing the number of pizza boxes on your desk"
…yes, this was a real problem for one of InFlow’s customers.
This customer could not easily track engineering changes throughout their organization. This company filled out a standard engineering change form and routed the form, stuffed in a manila envelope with accompanying drawings and documents, to the next reviewer/approver in the process. However, no one had any visibility as to who had the folder or how long it took him or her to get to the associated tasks.
To solve the issue of tracking where the change was in the approval process, this company bought a few pallets of large pizza boxes from a local restaurant. The manila folders were then glued to the bottom of the pizza box and routed inside the box. That way, anyone involved in the process could look around the facility at the desks that were cluttered by pizza boxes. Furthermore, it was a distraction (and somewhat of an embarrassment) to have a number of pizza boxes sitting on top of your desk, so there was additional incentive to address the change and move it on to the next person in line.
This idea worked…to a point. While it did speed the change process somewhat, the company was still unable to track the time that the change took in each department, discover methods to make the process more efficient, and someone was forced to scan all of the documents at the end of the process so that they could be filed on a server for future retrieval.
InFlow stepped in. Together, InFlow and its customer documented the existing change process and easily translated it in to an electronic workflow in Enovia SmarTeam PLM. This reduced the time the company spent in retrieving engineering changes by over 90% (from 2 days to 2 minutes). Since that time, the company has added over 30 workflow processes in to SmarTeam, creating a system that provides electronic notification, tracking, and history for processes such as, PPAP, Expense Reports, Vacation Requests, Corrective Actions, etc.
With less pizza boxes on their desks, this company is also helping to save paper. This in turn saves trees, which in turn make more oxygen, which in turn makes this a better world for all of us. So…is PLM the answer to the world’s environmental predicament? While there is no conclusive evidence, this PLM salesman believes it with all his heart.
I am a PLM sales person…and the title of this blog entry may imply that I am whining about my job. While I am not immune to the occasional emotional episode / mild tantrum, the title of this blog entry has a purpose. I assure you that this purpose has nothing to do with my emotional state. Companies that contact InFlow are generally not looking to buy a PLM solution. Rather, they are looking to solve complex issues in their organization. Often times, the connection between the issue and the definition of PLM is somewhat cloudy. Therefore, my goal in this series is to discuss some of these challenges that InFlow has addressed with PLM and some of the measurable success that our customers have achieved. "Creating a platform for centralized purchasing" One of our largest customers came to us before they decided to consolidate 12 locations on a new ERP platform. In the mean time, they desired a way to consolidate purchasing power. This company decided that by reporting on materials and parts that were being purchased for existing product, as well as those planned for newly developed products in all locations, they could receive deeper discounts and save a great deal of money. In order to do this, InFlow has consolidated 8 (soon to be all 12) of the locations in to a single SmarTeam PLM database. The company has not yet established a central purchasing group. However, when this is established, they will have the power to search all existing engineering projects, plan more appropriately for inventory levels, and negotiate greater discounts with its suppliers.
Users prefer using "lightweight" feature in solidworks while dealing with huge assemblies and parts for performance gains.
When you save a lightweight part in smarteam, it saves the data and creates the profile card but will show up with ! in the smarteam tree.
Even though smarteam is not showing the lightweight parts, they have been saved into smarteam.
Adding domain value "YES" to "Solidworks.ResolveBeforeTree" key in smarteam system configuration forces the user to resolve the lightweight parts before smarteam save operation is performed. 
With the setting above, next time the user tries a "smarteam save" on a lightweight part, a message window will pop up forcing the user to resolve the lightweight components before the save operation is performed. This would prevent the ! from showing up.
LIKE MENTIONED ABOVE, SMARTEAM SAVES THE PARTS EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE LIGHTWEIGHT. IT IS MORE OF A GRAPHICAL ISSUE WHEREBY USERS SEE ! INSTEAD OF THE PARTS.
You can download the service pack from SmarTeam's support site here.
Services from Inflow Technology can help you implement the service pack within your organizaion. Just give us a call at 800-875-3009 x 230. We would be happy to help you with this solution!
If you haven't heard, the time to "Spring Ahead" is coming soon! This new change in daylight savings time may wreak havoc on many devices and software. The calls have begun to come in regarding how SmarTeam is going to handle this change. Enovia SmarTeam is hearing about it too. So much so, that they have issued us a statement to the event.
Here is what SmarTeam has sent Inflow Technology regarding the time change:
“This year time changes will move in a week earlier and leave a week later. This basically means that on most of the servers out there in the US, our customers will need to install Hotfixes (by Microsoft or Oracle or others), to make sure that the time is working accordingly.
By saying that, we are getting a lot of questions regarding those changes, and therefore, i would like to say that all those hotfixes by different parties are being tested by the ENOVIA SmarTeam QA department.
The tests will probably be done by the end of this week. if we will need to issues a global SmarTeam Hotfix we will do so, if not, we will probably send an announcement that those fixes are compatible with ENOVIA SmarTeam software.” (Noam Ktalav - Dassault Systemes)
SmarTeam is planning for the future and wants to know what their customers and 
VARs have to say. Inflow Technology was invited by Enovia SmarTeam to attend a summit in Israel regarding the future of the SolidWorks integration.
Scott Evans, our SmarTeam consulting manager, attended the gathering on behalf of Inflow an
d its customers. Before heading to Israel, Scott was able to touch base with some of our customers to get their input on what they would like to see in future versions.
SmarTeam showed off their new technologies (unfortunately "Top Secret" to us) and listened to what the VARs had to say.
This continues to showcase how SmarTeam is looking toward the future and looking to the community for input on the direction of their products.
You can download the service pack from SmarTeam's support site here.
Services from Inflow Technology can help you implement the service pack within your organizaion. Just give us a call at 800-875-3009 x 230. We would be happy to get you a quote!
To boost solidworks/smarteam performance, perform the following steps :
1. Open system configuration editor utility (Start/Programs/Smarteam/Administrative tools/System configuration editor)
2. In the search field, type "Solidworks.TRACE"
3. Click on "Add value", Select "Domain" override level and add "FALSE"
4. Save changes.
I have noticed significant performance boost when smarteam integration starts with the above setting.
You can download the service pack from SmarTeam's support site here.
Services from Inflow Technology can help you implement the service pack within your organizaion. Just give us a call at 800-875-3009 x 230. We would be happy to get you a quote!
Simplified Configuration Extension (SCE) is a suffix added to a configuration that allows users to display and use multiple configurations while maintaining only ONE profile card.
1. In solidworks, Select smarteam menu and click on options. Type [*] in the simplified configuration extension field.
2. Start System configuration editor [Start/All programs/ Smarteam/ Administrative tools/System configuration editor]
3. Search for "simplified" in system configuration editor
4. Click on legacy preferences.config setting
5. Select “Add Value”
6. Select “Domain” for the override level and add (*) for the value. Click on save changes
7. A part in solidworks with three configurations..
In this example, since asterix [*] is the simplified configuration, we can create multiple configurations with any text (Default, expl, flat) within the brackets. The name of the configuration itself should be the same. Case sensitivity MUST be followed. We cannot have Test, test, TEST…
8. Other than [ ] the following special characters are supported :
Special characters are:
! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) -
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