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"Pack and Go" -- Best Practices?

Question asked by John Willett on May 4, 2020
Latest reply on May 7, 2020 by John Stoltzfus

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I guess my central question is, what is the best way to make non-destructive changes to an assembly/simulation structure?

Sorry if this is "old hat" to most of you! I've been out of Solidworks for a few years, and I'm now struggling to get back up to speed. I'm still running Solidworks Premium 2017 SP05, with the static-simulation capability, in a single-computer configuration -- no PDM here.

What I've done in the past (as near as I can reconstruct) has been to use "Pack and Go," changing all of the file names appropriately with Search/Replace and saving them to some new folder in hopes of severing all connections to the previous version while preserving all the linkages. (I do use a fair amount of in-context designing, so the linkages between parts and assemblies must be preserved!) Then I would make my changes to the new files within the new folder, thereby creating a trail of independent revisions.

My recollections are a bit confused, however, because I've worked with 2014, 2015, and 2016 before this version. I have a vague recollection that Dassault managed to "break" Pack and Go and repair it several times over those years, and I'm not sure where I am with 2017. (I do remember that Pack and Go crashes SolidWorks 2017 if you tell it to save to ZIP file, and that it cannot be prevented from saving all the simulation study results unless there is only one study in 2017.) I also have a vague recollection of using Solidworks Explorer change file names while preserving links, but I'm not sure in what version I needed to do this.

Any clarity on the history and, especially, on how best to accomplish my goal in 2017, would be most appreciated -- John Willett

Glenn Schroeder May 5, 2020 9:09 AM

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It sounds to me like you have a good plan in place. The only major I remember was for a few years I had trouble with SW losing virtual Parts during Pack and Go. I think that was more recent than SW2017, but I'm not at all sure about that.

I can't help with the question about SW Explorer since I rarely used it. I usually did the Pack and Go directly from the Solidworks file, and occasionally by right-clicking on a file in File Explorer and choosing "Solidworks > Pack and Go" from the drop-down.

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Glenn Schroeder May 5, 2020 9:09 AM

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Dave Laban @ Glenn Schroeder on May 5, 2020 10:13 AM

Glenn Schroeder wrote:

The only major I remember was for a few years I had trouble with SW losing virtual Parts during Pack and Go. I think that was more recent than SW2017, but I'm not at all sure about that.

2018 has been a bit flaky for me from that point of view.

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John Willett @ Glenn Schroeder on May 6, 2020 2:06 PM

Thanks, Glenn -- Seems to work. Best Regards -- John Willett

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Andy Sanders May 6, 2020 2:32 PM

One of the most important things I found is to utilize the "file locations" setup.

If your files are spread around many different directories, if you want Pack/Go to fix them you have to provide the path to all affected files. If they're spread out everywhere, you may have to hit the top level directory and all subs. Then go get a coffee, walk around the shop, talk to some people, read a magazine and it might be halfway thorugh.

If you don't tell Solidworks where all the files you want affected are, they won't get updated. Then they're broken.

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John Willett @ Andy Sanders on May 6, 2020 5:27 PM

>>One of the most important things I found is to utilize the "file locations" setup.<<

Andy -- Sorry, I don't know what you mean by this. If it doesn't relate specifically to PDM usage, then could you please explain? -- John Willett

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Andy Sanders @ John Willett on May 7, 2020 11:00 AM

Sorry if I wasn't clear. If you want to maintain file links and context relationships, and your files are spread out in many different directories, using Solidworks Explorer (not pack and go) can make sure the links and relationships are intact.

Explorer has "references/where used" tab to do this. I was writing from memory before and I called it "file locations".

Here, you can tell explorer where all your files that need to be updated are.

I don't think pack and go has this function.

If everything is in one folder, you won't need to specify folder paths because it's just looking at the one.

FYI Solidworks 2020 has removed Explorer altogether. It's replaced by Windows Explorer right clicks. But this functionality is still there.

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John Stoltzfus May 7, 2020 11:47 AM

John Willett

My pack & go is always to break all links, in the past I had numerous P&G disasters, till I changed my workflow,

#1 Select/Replace part numbers

#2 Save as a Zip File

#3 Save all P&G in a folder that is on my desktop..

#4 Don't P&G any interchangeable items, if you always include those files, you'll end up with hundreds of the same version

Once I did that all P&G issues that I had went away

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John Willett @ John Stoltzfus on May 7, 2020 1:04 PM

John -- What version(s) of SW gave you broken links with P&G (if you remember)? I haven't seen that problem (but again, no PDM here). Problems I've had include being unable to prevent packing of simulation results (started in 2016, worse in 2017) and inability to pack to a ZIP file (started in 2017). If I remember correctly, 2014 and 2015 worked OK for me.

#1) -- In your step 1, I'm not sure if you're doing this inside or outside the P&G. If inside, that's been standard procedure for me and seems essential to separate the P&G model from the original. If outside, then I don't follow.

#2) Similar question about your step 2. If inside P&G, this won't work in 2017. Must do the ZIP as a separate step outside SW.

#3) Any idea why step 3 helps? Shorter path names? Can you later move the P&Gs to a directory of choice?

Considering how important this function is (at least to me -- couldn't live without it), it's incredible to me that Dassault can't get it right and keep from re-breaking it! -- John Willett

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John Stoltzfus @ John Willett on May 7, 2020 1:23 PM

John Willett wrote:

John -- What version(s) of SW gave you broken links with P&G (if you remember)? Thinking between 2010 and 2015 or so.... I haven't seen that problem (but again, no PDM here). Problems I've had include being unable to prevent packing of simulation results (started in 2016, worse in 2017) and inability to pack to a ZIP file (started in 2017). If I remember correctly, 2014 and 2015 worked OK for me.

#1) -- In your step 1, I'm not sure if you're doing this inside or outside the P&G. Inside If inside, that's been standard procedure for me and seems essential to separate the P&G model from the original. If outside, then I don't follow.
#2) Similar question about your step 2. If inside P&G, this won't work in 2017. Inside-see below Must do the ZIP as a separate step outside SW.

#3) Any idea why step 3 helps? Shorter path names? Can you later move the P&Gs to a directory of choice? Not sure why this helped, but in the old days you could save a zip file in the same directory and it wouldn't loose references, for my process I need to sever my linked references

Considering how important this function is (at least to me -- couldn't live without it), it's incredible to me that Dassault can't get it right and keep from re-breaking it! -- John Willett - Using the above process has saved my sanity, however I struggled many years with P&G

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9 Replies

Glenn Schroeder May 5, 2020 9:09 AM
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It sounds to me like you have a good plan in place. The only major I remember was for a few years I had trouble with SW losing virtual Parts during Pack and Go. I think that was more recent than SW2017, but I'm not at all sure about that.

I can't help with the question about SW Explorer since I rarely used it. I usually did the Pack and Go directly from the Solidworks file, and occasionally by right-clicking on a file in File Explorer and choosing "Solidworks > Pack and Go" from the drop-down.
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- Dave Laban @ Glenn Schroeder on May 5, 2020 10:13 AM
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  Glenn Schroeder wrote:
  
  The only major I remember was for a few years I had trouble with SW losing virtual Parts during Pack and Go. I think that was more recent than SW2017, but I'm not at all sure about that.
  2018 has been a bit flaky for me from that point of view.
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- John Willett @ Glenn Schroeder on May 6, 2020 2:06 PM
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  Thanks, Glenn -- Seems to work. Best Regards -- John Willett
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Andy Sanders May 6, 2020 2:32 PM
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One of the most important things I found is to utilize the "file locations" setup.

If your files are spread around many different directories, if you want Pack/Go to fix them you have to provide the path to all affected files. If they're spread out everywhere, you may have to hit the top level directory and all subs. Then go get a coffee, walk around the shop, talk to some people, read a magazine and it might be halfway thorugh.

If you don't tell Solidworks where all the files you want affected are, they won't get updated. Then they're broken.
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- John Willett @ Andy Sanders on May 6, 2020 5:27 PM
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  >>One of the most important things I found is to utilize the "file locations" setup.<<
  
  Andy -- Sorry, I don't know what you mean by this. If it doesn't relate specifically to PDM usage, then could you please explain? -- John Willett
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  - Andy Sanders @ John Willett on May 7, 2020 11:00 AM
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    Sorry if I wasn't clear. If you want to maintain file links and context relationships, and your files are spread out in many different directories, using Solidworks Explorer (not pack and go) can make sure the links and relationships are intact.
    
    Explorer has "references/where used" tab to do this. I was writing from memory before and I called it "file locations".
    Here, you can tell explorer where all your files that need to be updated are.
    I don't think pack and go has this function.
    
    If everything is in one folder, you won't need to specify folder paths because it's just looking at the one.
    
    FYI Solidworks 2020 has removed Explorer altogether. It's replaced by Windows Explorer right clicks. But this functionality is still there.
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John Stoltzfus May 7, 2020 11:47 AM
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John Willett

My pack & go is always to break all links, in the past I had numerous P&G disasters, till I changed my workflow,

#1 Select/Replace part numbers
#2 Save as a Zip File
#3 Save all P&G in a folder that is on my desktop..
#4 Don't P&G any interchangeable items, if you always include those files, you'll end up with hundreds of the same version

Once I did that all P&G issues that I had went away
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- John Willett @ John Stoltzfus on May 7, 2020 1:04 PM
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  John -- What version(s) of SW gave you broken links with P&G (if you remember)? I haven't seen that problem (but again, no PDM here). Problems I've had include being unable to prevent packing of simulation results (started in 2016, worse in 2017) and inability to pack to a ZIP file (started in 2017). If I remember correctly, 2014 and 2015 worked OK for me.
  
  #1) -- In your step 1, I'm not sure if you're doing this inside or outside the P&G. If inside, that's been standard procedure for me and seems essential to separate the P&G model from the original. If outside, then I don't follow.
  #2) Similar question about your step 2. If inside P&G, this won't work in 2017. Must do the ZIP as a separate step outside SW.
  #3) Any idea why step 3 helps? Shorter path names? Can you later move the P&Gs to a directory of choice?
  
  Considering how important this function is (at least to me -- couldn't live without it), it's incredible to me that Dassault can't get it right and keep from re-breaking it! -- John Willett
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  - John Stoltzfus @ John Willett on May 7, 2020 1:23 PM
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    John Willett wrote:
    
    John -- What version(s) of SW gave you broken links with P&G (if you remember)? Thinking between 2010 and 2015 or so.... I haven't seen that problem (but again, no PDM here). Problems I've had include being unable to prevent packing of simulation results (started in 2016, worse in 2017) and inability to pack to a ZIP file (started in 2017). If I remember correctly, 2014 and 2015 worked OK for me.
    
    #1) -- In your step 1, I'm not sure if you're doing this inside or outside the P&G. Inside If inside, that's been standard procedure for me and seems essential to separate the P&G model from the original. If outside, then I don't follow.
    #2) Similar question about your step 2. If inside P&G, this won't work in 2017. Inside-see below Must do the ZIP as a separate step outside SW.
    
    #3) Any idea why step 3 helps? Shorter path names? Can you later move the P&Gs to a directory of choice? Not sure why this helped, but in the old days you could save a zip file in the same directory and it wouldn't loose references, for my process I need to sever my linked references
    
    Considering how important this function is (at least to me -- couldn't live without it), it's incredible to me that Dassault can't get it right and keep from re-breaking it! -- John Willett - Using the above process has saved my sanity, however I struggled many years with P&G
    Like • Show 1 Like1
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"Pack and Go" -- Best Practices?

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