SOLIDWORKS PDM can update the content of SOLIDWORKS and AutoCAD document title blocks during a workflow transition without the presence of the authoring application and without opening the document. However, not all file formats support this type of behaviour.
The Document Update tool is a custom PDM Professional add-in which can be deployed to update fields in Word and Excel documents as they are transitioned via a workflow. The tool is configurable to cater for any customer workflows and can be configured to update the following formats:
- Microsoft Office (.doc, .docx and .docm only)
- Microsoft Excel (.xls, .xlsx and .xlsm only)
The implementation of this add-in includes the addition of a new ‘DocUpdate’ Workflow.
Upon approval in the source Document's workflow, the Document is sent, via a Workflow link, into the DocUpdate process.
This triggers the add-in to silently checkout, open, refresh, save, close and check in the document, before an automatic transition returns it to the approved state.
As well as updating PDM Variable driven fields in the header, footer and body of the text, the DocUpdate tool also has the ability to add ‘wet’ signatures to the document by replacing the content of bookmarked fields with a bitmap image.