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Solidworks Cam Techdb Settings Guide
Solidworks Cam Techdb Settings Guide
SOLIDWORKS CAM
2018
Copyright
© 1995-2017, Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Corporation, a Dassault Systèmes SE company, 175
Wyman Street, Waltham, Mass. 02451 USA. All Rights Reserved.
Disclaimers
The information and the software application discussed in this document are subject to change without
prior notice and are not commitments by Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Corporation (DS SolidWorks).
No material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or manually, for
any purpose without the express written permission of DS SolidWorks.
The software discussed in this document is furnished under a license and may be used or copied only in
accordance with the terms of the license. All warranties given by DS SolidWorks as to the software and
documentation are set forth in the license agreement, and nothing stated in, or implied by, this document
or its contents shall be considered or deemed a modification or amendment of any terms, including
warranties, in the license agreement.
Trademarks
SOLIDWORKS, 3D ContentCentral, 3D PartStream.NET, eDrawings, and the eDrawings logo are
registered trademarks and FeatureManager is a jointly owned registered trademark of DS SolidWorks.
CircuitWorks, FloXpress, PhotoView 360, and TolAnalyst are trademarks of DS SolidWorks.
FeatureWorks is a registered trademark of Geometric Americas, Inc.
Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, the Adobe PDF logo, Distiller and Reader are registered trademarks
or trademarks of Adobe Systems Inc. in the U.S. and other countries.
Other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Technology Database Basics ............................................................... 4
What is Technology Database (TechDB)? .........................................................4
Why are TechDB settings important?.................................................................4
Flowchart illustrating TechDB Settings for first-time users of SOLIDWORKS
CAM ...................................................................................................................5
Supported MS Access Versions for running TechDB ........................................6
Default Folder Location of the TechDB files .......................................................6
Installed TechDB files and their Functions .........................................................7
Default TechDB mode on installing SOLIDWORKS CAM .................................8
Changing settings to open TechDB in 32-bit or 64-bit mode .............................8
Changing the Settings of TechDB in SOLIDWORKS CAM Options ....................... 8
Opening TechDB in 32-bit or 64-bit mode ..........................................................9
Method 1: Opening TechDB from the SOLIDWORKS CAM Interface .................... 9
Method 2: Opening TechDB using Windows Explorer .......................................... 10
Method 3: Opening TechDB from the Windows Start menu ................................. 10
Customizing Technology Database ................................................................ 10
2. Technology Database Settings .......................................................... 11
Sharing the TechDB on a Network Drive ........................................................ 11
Pre-requisite for Sharing TechDB/ Report Database on a Network Drive ............. 11
Steps to move the TechDB and Report Database to a shared location ................ 11
Steps for creating a common TechDB repository on a Floating Network ....... 12
Verifying the successful linking of the TechDB ..................................................... 13
Creating and Using a SQL-based TechDB ..................................................... 13
Pre-requisites for creating a SQL-based TechDB ................................................. 14
Creating a SQL-based TechDB for SOLIDWORKS CAM ..................................... 14
Linking the SQL Database .......................................................................................... 14
Table of Contents 3
Technology Database Setting Guide
Please refer the flowcharts given on the next page to gain an understanding of
the various Technology Database (TechDB) settings.
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Technology Database Setting Guide
Install
SOLIDWORKS CAM
Refer Installation
Guide
Have you
installed a
Floating network Standalone Single User
License License or License
Floating Network
License?
Do you
Do you want share the
want a TechDB on the
MS-Access No Network?
MS-Access
based TechDB or (ideal in situation where
SQL-based Based multiple single user
TechDB? TechDB licenses are
present)
SQL-based Yes
TechDB
Share the TechDB on a
Create a common TechDB network drive
repository on the Floating
Network
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Technology Database Setting Guide
Note: If you want to share TechDB over a Network Drive, then the minimum
supported version of MS Access required is MS Access 2010 SP2.
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Technology Database Setting Guide
ReportDatabase.mdb: This file contains the templates and data for the MS
Access based Setup Sheet function. All the customization done to MS Access
based Setup Sheets are stored in the ReportDatabase.mdb file. By default,
this file is installed in the same location as TechDB.mdb. This file must be
located in the same folder as the TechDB.mdb. If the TechDB.mdb file moved
to a shared location, then the ReportDatabase.mdb file must also be moved to
the same location.
TechDBForms.mde/ TechDBFormsx64.mde:
These files provide the User Interface for all the forms of TechDB.
o The TechDBForms.mde is used to open the TechDB in 32-bit Microsoft
Access version.
o On 64-bit systems, the TechDBFormsx64.mde is used to open the TechDB
in 64-bit Microsoft Access version.
When the TechDB is shared on a Network Drive, the TechDB.mdb and
ReportDatabase.mdb files are moved from the default location to the shared
location. However, the TechDBForms.mde and TechDBFormsx64.mde files must
still remain the \2018\lang\xxx folder of the SOLIDWORKSCAMData data folder
(where xxx defines the language).
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Technology Database Setting Guide
this file is required for creating the SQL-based database. For more details,
read: Creating and Using an SQL-based TechDB
Options button .
3. The Options dialog box will be displayed. Click on the File Locations tab.
4. In the TechDB forms dropdown list:
Select TechDBForms.mde (32bit) to run TechDB in 32-bit mode.
Select TechDBFormsx64.mde (64bit) to run TechDB in 64-bit mode.
5. Click OK to apply the changes and close the dialog box.
6. Restart SOLIDWORKS.
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Technology Database Setting Guide
Selecting the TechDB Forms format from the dropdown list in the Options dialog box
Note: The TechDB Forms setting within SOLIDWORKS CAM Options will be
applied whenever you access TechDB from the SOLIDWORKS CAM
Interface.
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Technology Database Setting Guide
Note: This method to open the TechDB can be used only for the English
language version of SOLIDWORKS CAM. For non-English language
versions, use either Method 1 or Method 2 mentioned in this section.
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Technology Database Setting Guide
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Technology Database Setting Guide
1. Identify the client system that has the TechDB files containing customized
TechDB data. In case no customized TechDB data has yet been generated,
then select any client on the floating network to begin the process.
2. On the selected client system, complete all the as given in the previous
section: Steps to move the TechDB to a shared location.
3. On each of these remaining clients systems, perform the following actions:
a. Open the Technology Database.
b. A message window will display indicating that the database files
cannot found and the Database Link Wizard will then be displayed.
c. In the Database Link Wizard, read the information in Step 1 of the
Wizard and then click the Next button.
d. Use the Browse button to locate the TechDB.mdb file that you moved
to a shared folder on the network and then click Next.
e. Click the Start Linking button.
f. When the linking is completed, click the Finish button.
g. Click the Exit button to close the TechDB.
h. Verify the successful linking of the shared TechDB as explained below.
All the clients on the floating network now access a common TechDB.
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Technology Database Setting Guide
Note: ‘SQL Server’ is a Microsoft product. The purchase and installation of this
software is separate from SOLIDWORKS CAM. Support for installation, setup
and database creation for SQL is not provided.
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Technology Database Setting Guide
LEGAL NOTICES
Patent Notices
SOLIDWORKS® 3D mechanical CAD and/or Simulation software is protected by U.S. Patents
6,219,049; 6,219,055; 6,611,725; 6,844,877; 6,898,560; 6,906,712; 7,079,990; 7,477,262; 7,558,705;
7,571,079; 7,590,497; 7,643,027; 7,672,822; 7,688,318; 7,694,238; 7,853,940; 8,305,376; 8,581,902;
8,817,028; 8,910,078; 9,129,083; 9,153,072; 9,262,863; 9,465,894; and foreign patents, (e.g., EP
1,116,190 B1 and JP 3,517,643).
eDrawings® software is protected by U.S. Patent 7,184,044; U.S. Patent 7,502,027; and Canadian
Patent 2,318,706.
U.S. and foreign patents pending.
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Technology Database Setting Guide
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