Setting Up Solid Edge Data Management
Setting Up Solid Edge Data Management
Edge data
management
Contents
Solid Edge data management can be used to manage files on a local workstation by a single user, or on
a central shared location for one or more users.
You can back up, share with specified users, and synchronize your Solid Edge files using file-sharing
software, such as Dropbox and OneDrive. For example, when working with a distributed design team,
you can use Design Manager you can copy the Solid Edge files for an entire design project to Dropbox.
Solid Edge works closely with file replication services, by providing a locking mechanism that prevents
multiple users from editing the same component. For information on locking files shared in the cloud,
see the help topic, Manage tab, Solid Edge Options dialog box.
If you are new to Solid Edge, consider storing your files on a file share to ensure routine backup. This
location should be a single share on the root of the server volume. This folder location will be
considered the vault in the following configuration instructions.
A common search is a where-used search, which helps you find where a component is used. Searching
for properties is also a very useful search. If you build parts for specific customers, you may want to
search from a customer list or a supplier list. For more information, see Search based on properties.
Solid Edge always creates new files from existing templates files. An example is a draft file that always
uses your title blocks and dimension standards. Because templates help to define standards, they should
be centrally located.
The file name control functionality provides a number generator to ensure that a unique document
number (part number) and a matching unique filename is generated for each new document. When a
file is first saved, this functionality captures properties without additional effort from your designers.
Capturing this data and enforcing integrity through your design process significantly reduces the
growing pains of 3D modeling by ensuring the correct models are easily found for downstream
consumers.
If you are an existing Solid Edge user, you may have defined processes that are not consistent with the
naming rules. For this reason, you may choose to simply define your existing storage locations as a vault
for indexing. For more information, see Define a Solid Edge vault.
Deployment scenarios
If you have a single-user deployment and are storing files on your local workstation, Solid Edge
automatically installs Fast Search on your local machine. To use all of the Solid Edge data management
functionality, complete the following steps:
If you have a multiple-user deployment or are storing files on a central file share, complete the following
steps to set up Solid Edge data management:
If you encounter any issues when setting up Solid Edge data management, see Troubleshooting Fast
Search and Diagnose the Solid Edge data management configuration.
If you are an advanced user who works on different projects and standards, you may find it useful to use
the Settings and Preferences Wizard to collect information associated with settings and preferences
Regardless of your deployment configuration, Solid Edge data management provides three levels of
capabilities:
• Search instantly.
You can search for the files you need from Windows Explorer or from Solid Edge using file names and
standard or custom properties. You can also run where-used searches to find where a part is used in
assemblies and drawings, so you can assess the impact of planned changes on existing assemblies.
For more information, see Define a Solid Edge vault and Create custom document properties.
When you save a document, Solid Edge captures the document number, the revision number, and a
descriptive title. Solid Edge also checks document numbers for uniqueness before save or save as.
For more information, see Define unique document numbers.
You can move documents through the release cycle using locations for Pre-Released, Released, or
Obsolete status files. The benefit to moving files after status is applied, is to restrict access based on
status. For example, manufacturing should only see files that have been released for production.
For more information, see Define file locations for release management.
• Release documents
Using the workflow functionality, Solid Edge data management users can quickly go through the
engineering change management process.
For more information, see Define workflow options.
Install Fast Search on each machine running Solid Edge and any servers that will host Solid Edge files.
5. Click Next.
• To change the default installation location, click Change. Select a new location and click Next.
7. Click Install.
8. Click Finish.
The system displays the Fast Search Configuration dialog box. Configure the search as explained
in Configure Fast Search.
1. If you have custom properties already defined in your Solid Edge files, select I have custom
properties in my Solid Edge files that I want to perform fast search on. I have defined them in
the following locations:
a. Define a shared location for the property seed file (propseed.txt) or user templates by
browsing to the location of each type of file.
b. To collect all custom properties from the default templates and property seed file, click Set
Custom Properties.
Note:
The property seed text file and user templates can be centrally stored on a network
share. Users on client machines should have local administrator permissions and write
access to the share. If permissions are not available, a domain account should be
created that has write permissions to the share, as well as local administrator
permissions. When setting options on a client machine, the system will prompt users for
the administrator credentials.
c. To validate that all your common properties are captured, click View Custom Properties.
To learn more about custom properties, see Create custom document properties.
2. To specify a different FastSearchScope.txt file than the one displayed in the Vault Definition box,
click the Browse button , and then select a new file.
For more information about the FastSearchScope.txt, see Define a Solid Edge vault.
3. To add a vault location, click Add and then select the file locations that contain Solid Edge files.
It is best to simply choose the top-level folder that contains all of your Solid Edge files.
We recommend that you do not add any shared locations as mapped drives. Instead, enter the UNC
path to those shared locations, such as \\<server_name>\<shared_location>. For example, \
\MyServer\Engineering\, not Z:\Engineering\.
If not already indexed, Solid Edge automatically indexes the newly added location.
a. In Windows Explorer, right-click the top-level folder you chose to index, and then select
Properties.
b. Click Advanced.
c. Select Allow files in this folder to have contents indexed in addition to the properties and
then click OK.
5. To remove a vault location, select an entry from the list, and then click Remove.
Solid Edge also removes the location from the Windows Indexer.
6. To install and run the Solid Edge Monitor Windows Service and detect duplicate Solid Edge file
creation in real time, select Detect duplicates by tracking Copy and Paste in Windows Explorer.
b. Select the folder you are indexing, click Advanced, and then click the File Types tab.
c. Verify that the list of file types includes asm, psm, par, pwd, and dft, and if not included, add
them to the list.
8. Click OK.
When the system finishes indexing all files, it displays the message Indexing complete, in the
Indexing Options dialog box.
9. On the server, share the top-level folder you indexed so users have read and write access to it.
10. On the each client machine, create a mapped drive to the indexed folder and confirm that the map
is set up correctly:
a. Start Design Manager and open a file from the mapped drive.
11. Verify that Windows Search Service (WSS) is started on your system and Log On As is set to Local
System. We do not recommend to have the Startup Type set to Automatic (Delayed Start),
because that can delay the indexing process.
c. Click More.
• On the Manage page, several tabs you can use to specify options for fast search vault definition,
custom properties, file naming, and revision rules.
For more information, see Manage tab, Solid Edge Options dialog box.
• In the graphic window, the Data Management tab, which provides basic tools for document
search, status, revision, and sharing.
• Fast Search server version—This FastSearchScope.txt is stored locally and the vault definition is a local
path.
• Solid Edge client version—This FastSearchScope.txt is stored locally or at a shared location and the
vault definition is a UNC path.
Windows indexes all Solid Edge files in your vault locations. Windows uses indexing to extract content
from files and build an index catalog to facilitate fast and efficient searching. Note that indexing
locations with large numbers of files can take a long time.
Define a vault
2. If you want to use a FastSearchScope.txt file other than the one listed in the Vault Definition box,
click the Browse button and choose another file.
Note:
If you are using a shared location (UNC path) for your FastSearchScope.txt file, then all
defined vaults must also be shared. Local directories cannot be added as vault definitions.
If you are using a shared location, you can use the One step workflow to release documents
in Solid Edge and in Design Manager. Otherwise, you can only use the Quick release
workflow. For more information, see Release documents (Solid Edge data management).
3. To add a vault location, click Add and then select the file locations that contain Solid Edge files.
It is best to simply choose the top-level folder that contains all of your Solid Edge files.
We recommend that you do not add any shared locations as mapped drives. Instead, enter the UNC
path to those shared locations, such as \\<server_name>\<shared_location>. For example, \
\MyServer\Engineering\, not Z:\Engineering\.
4. To remove a vault location, select an entry from the list and click Remove.
5. Click OK.
The system updates the specified FastSearchScope.txt file with the listed entries and submits
those entries to the local Windows indexer. Solid Edge automatically indexes any newly added
locations and takes out of the Windows indexing database any removed locations.
To learn more about indexing, see the Microsoft Help, available from the links at the bottom of the
Indexing Options dialog box.
To consistently see the same columns in the folders and subfolders in the Solid Edge vault, you can use
the Windows functionality to customize the Windows Explorer columns. For example:
1. In Windows Explorer, navigate to the location of the Solid Edge vault (root folder).
3. Select any of the columns of interest. For example, Document Number, Revision Number, and
Title.
4. In Windows Explorer, right-click in empty space and select Customize this folder.
5. Set Optimize this folder for to General items, select Also apply this template to all subfolders,
and then click OK.
Because all document numbers are incremented from the number in this file, the file must not be
empty. The incremented number must only include numeric values. We recommend that you use the
Document Naming Rule options on the Manage tab (Solid Edge Options dialog box) to define the
increment value.
Where you store the NumberGenerator.dat file depends on your deployment scenario:
• For a single-user deployment, the NumberGenerator.dat file should be located on the local machine.
For a single-user deployment, for example, you could define the storage location as follows:
C:
Design data
Project1
Project2
Shared files
For a multiple-user deployment, for example, you could define the storage location as follows:
\\Design share
Support files
Propseed.txt
SE templates
Design data
Project1
Project2
Shared files
Note:
When defining a vault location on the Fast Search server, be sure to always define a local path as
well.
You can specify where to store files based on their status from the Application
menu→Settings→Options→Manage→Life Cycle tab. For more information, see Manage tab, Solid
Edge Options dialog box.
If statuses will drive locations, define locations for pre-released and Released files. If status will
automatically obsolete previously released parts, define a location for Obsolete files.
For the typical user, in the Solid Edge Administrator dialog box, set File Naming Rules to None. If you
defined locations for pre-released and Released documents, select the option Move documents to the
location specified.
\\Design share
Support files
PropSeed.txt
SE templates
Design data
Pre-Released
Project1
Project2
Shared files
Released
Solid Edge creates the files in the Pre-Released folder, and when Released status is applied, Solid Edge
moves the files to the Released folder. The system creates the relative directory structure as needed.
When files are revised, Solid Edge creates the new revisions in the Pre-Released folder.
If you defined a location for Obsolete status, releasing a revision B part causes a revision A part to
automatically get Obsolete status when the revision B part is set to Released status. Direct application
of Obsolete status simply applies the status and moves the file to the Obsolete folder.
The first box already displays the path to the Workflowsettings.txt file, ...Program Files\Siemens
\Solid Edge 2020\Preferences\Workflowsettings.txt. This text file stores the names of the reviewers
and the SMTP server information. You can share this file with other users so everyone has the same
information. You can use the Solid Edge Administrator dialog box to populate the file.
3. In the second box, add the email addresses of reviewers, and then click Add.
4. In the SMTP Server box, enter the name of the SMTP server.
5. Click OK.
You can restrict permissions on some of the vault folders, but you must make sure that all permissions
for users and the SYSTEM account are on the top folders defined as vault locations. You define
restrictions by breaking inheritance in subfolders. When you break inheritence on a subfolder, no
permissions are on that folder. You must add the SYSTEM account with full control, and add the
appropriate user permissions for that level and its sublevels. Before breaking inheritance, take note of
existing permissions in case you need to reapply them.
You assign and verify permissions to the vault or parts of the vault using the Windows Explorer
Properties dialog box, and establish inheritance using the option Replace all child permission entries
with inheritable permission entries from this object.
• Standard Solid Edge properties—For example, document number, revision number, project name, and
document status information.
• To validate your configuration, run the Solid Edge Data Management Diagnostic Application. For
details, see Diagnose the Solid Edge data management configuration.
• When sharing vault locations via Google Drive, the SYSTEM account user must have at least read
permissions for those vault locations. The local Google Drive location must be added in the Vault
Definition tab in the Solid Edge Options dialog box.
• If properties are registered correctly on the Solid Edge server and on the client, but mnemonics do not
turn blue and search results are incorrect, reboot the client to clear up this issue.
3. In the Details list, scroll down and verify that SE OLE Links is included in the list. If not included,
continue with the following step.
regsvr32 /s SEPropertyHandler.dll
• If at any time your system returns an error about api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll missing from your
computer, the issue most likely is that your operating system is not up to date on current required and
optional Windows updates. To correct the issue:
3. Download and install the Windows update from Update for Universal C Runtime in Windows
(https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2999226/update-for-universal-c-runtime-in-
windows).
If you have a single-user deployment, simply run the diagnostic application on your local system.
If you have a multiple-user deployment, run the diagnostic application on your local system as well as on
the server.
Note:
You must be a user with administrator privileges.
The system displays the Solid Edge Data Management Diagnostic Application, with all Validate
options already selected for you.
• Validate Search Service—Verifies that the Windows Search service (WSS) is running. We
recommend that Log On As is set to Local System. We do not recommend to have the Startup
Type set to Automatic (Delayed Start), because that can delay the indexing process.
For details on WSS, see Microsoft TechNet.
• Validate Service Account—Verifies that the Windows Search service is running on the local
system account.
• Export Property Handler Registry—Allows you to export the current Solid Edge property
handler registries to the local disk. This data is generated at the diagnostic application location.
• Validate Schema Path—Verifies the property schema registration for default Solid Edge
properties and registered custom properties.
• Validate Indexed SE Properties—Verifies that Solid Edge properties are indexed properly.
• Validate Fast Search Scope—Verifies that the vault definition is valid. To learn more, see
Define a Solid Edge vault.
• Validate Indexing Attributes—Verifies the Windows folder option that drives indexing contents
and attributes. To access the option, right-click a file, choose Properties, click Advanced, and
then in the Advanced Properties dialog box, select or clear the option Allow this file to have
contents indexed in addition to file properties. Selecting this option increases the time it
takes to validate your configuration.
3. Click Validate.
The application starts the validation process and if it identifies any issues, it displays the Repair
button. The application displays error messages in red text and information messages in blue text.
4. Click Repair.
5. If the application reports that not all files in the vault are indexed, this error may be caused by
differences in permissions in the folder structure, where the SYSTEM account, which runs the
Windows Search service, does not have adequate permissions to index files and properties. You can
resolve this error as follows:
• If you knowingly broke inheritance in NTFS permissions to certain subfolders, add the SYSTEM
account with full control to these subfolders, and allow changes to be propagated to all
subfolders.
• If you are not aware of inheritance in NTFS permissions being broken, assign permissions for the
entire vault location, as follows:
a. Right-click the top folder of the vault location, and then choose Properties.
c. Verify that the SYSTEM account has full control, and if it does not, assign it full control.
d. Click Advanced, and then select the option Replace all child permission entries with
inheritable permission entries from this object.
6. To enable or disable auditing on all Solid Edge property handler registries, click Enable Auditing or
Disable Auditing, respectively.
If you encounter any issues with the Solid Edge registry, we recommend that you enable auditing
to add an event watcher to the Solid Edge registries. Auditing identifies the user account or
application that modified the registry.
Asia-Pacific
Americas Suites 4301-4302, 43/F
Granite Park One AIA Kowloon Tower, Landmark East
5800 Granite Parkway 100 How Ming Street
Suite 600 Kwun Tong, Kowloon
Plano, TX 75024 Hong Kong
USA +852 2230 3308
+1 314 264 8499