At my company before we start a new job we pack and go a default job "template" consisting of a main drawing, the main assembly, and a copy of all our standard items from our server to a job folder on our local drive. Currently I am trying to add an excel document(XXXX-Job Info.xlsx) to the design binder to serve as job documentation.

I have discovered that pack and go will not copy linked attachments in the design binder or external design tables for that matter if run from SolidWorks explorer or Windows explorer( RMB -> Pack and Go).

It will however copy the files if run via SolidWorks( File -> Pack and go ).

Why the difference in behavior?

If I embed the excel file in the SolidWorks document instead of linking it then the file is copied with no problems except during the initial pack and go we rename the XXXX to whatever the job number is so when our designer prints to PDF the save as name is already correct.

Do we really need to start SolidWorks just to get a proper pack and go or am I missing a setting somewhere?