AutoCAD EPDM Add-In Setup

Installing the AutoCAD Enterprise PDM Add-In

To install or the Enterprise PDM Add-In for AutoCAD you will need to modify the local installation of SolidWorks Enterprise PDM.

1. Open up the Windows “Programs and Features”
2. Select “SolidWorks Enterprise PDM” and choose to Change and Modify the installation.
3. Continue through the installation wizard until the Add-Ins window appears and make sure to check “AutoCAD” and select the currently installed version. There is no need to modify any other settings.
4. Continue through the installation wizard until finished.

Adding the Enterprise PDM Toolbars to AutoCAD

If the SolidWorks Enterprise PDM Add-In is installed, it will need to be activated inside of AutoCAD. This will also install two toolbars for checking files and XREF’s in and out of EPDM.

1. In AutoCAD, click Tools > Load Application (or type APPLOAD).
2. Select ConisioAcad.arx (located in the Support folder under the AutoCAD installation directory).
3. Click Load, then click Close.
4. Type CONISIO_INSTALL at the command prompt and press Enter.
5. Type MENULOAD.
6. Click Browse and select Conisio.mnu (located in the Support folder under the AutoCAD installation directory).
7. Click Load, then click Close.

If you cannot find the “Conisio.mnu” file when activating the Add-In, you can copy it from the Enterprise PDM program files.

Setting Up the AutoCAD XREF Search Paths

In order for AutoCAD XREF references to be found during open and check in, the necessary search paths must be updated inside of Enterprise PDM, AutoCAD and DWG TrueView

    Enterprise PDM XREF Search Path

1. Open the Enterprise PDM Administration tool.
2. Open “Settings” under the “Local Settings” section.
3. Select the “External Reference” tab.
4. Select the appropriate vault from the drop down menu and click the “Add” button.
5. Add the directory for each XREF folder location.

AutoCAD XREF Search Path

1. Open AutoCAD
2. Go to Tools > Options, or type Options in the command line.
3. Select the “Files” tab.
4. Expand “Support File Search Path“.
5. Click the “Add” button on the right.
6. Type or paste the directory of the XREF folder.
7. Repeat steps 6 & 7 for each XREF folder location.
8. Click “Apply” and Close AutoCAD

DWG TrueView Search Path

1. Open DWG TrueView
2. Open any document.
3. Expand the DWG TrueView icon in the top, right.
4. Click “Options“.
5. Select the “Files” tab.
6. Expand “Support File Search Path“.
7. Click the “Add” button on the right.
8. Type or paste the directory of the XREF folder.
9. Repeat steps 6 & 7 for each XREF folder location.
10. Click “Apply” and Close DWG TrueView

Setting Up DWG TrueView as the Enterprise PDM Previewer

This section will help you set up the Enterprise PDM preview tab so it will use the DWG TrueView to preview .dwg and .dxf files instead of using eDrawings.

1. Open up the Enterprise PDM Administration tool.
2. For each group, or the “All Users” group, right click and choose “Settings…“.
3. Click the “Viewers” section.
4. Under the “Installed Viewers:” section, click “Add”.
5. For “Extensions”, add DWG and DXF. The format is the extension with no decimal, separated by a comma and space (dwg, dxf, dwt).
6. For “Path and arguments to viewer program:”, add the location of the DWG TrueView program.
   1. The easiest way to do this is to open the Windows Start menu, type “TrueView”, right click on the TrueView program when it appears and select “Properties”. Copy the target path from the properties window.
7. Once the path is added, attach the text “%1%” including the quotation marks.
8. Click “OK” and Reboot the computer.