Table of Contents

Change Drawing Sheet Format

This script checks out the matching SOLIDWORKS drawing for the selected file, runs a macro that replaces drawing sheet formats, and checks the drawing back into SOLIDWORKS PDM.

Tip

You can download this script directly from the PDMShell Script Library. Open PDMShell, open the Script Library, choose Change Drawing Sheet Format, and load the script into the active session.

The target drawing is resolved from the selected file name:

$folderPath\$fileNameWithoutExtension.slddrw

Script

checkout -filePath "$folderPath\$fileNameWithoutExtension.slddrw"

cd -directory "$folderPath"

runswmacro -filePath "$tempFolder\ChangeSheetFormat.swb" -search "Name=$fileNameWithoutExtension.slddrw" -timeout 500

checkin -filePath "$folderPath\$fileNameWithoutExtension.slddrw"

What it does

  • Checks out the drawing with the same base name as the selected file.
  • Changes the PDMShell working directory to the selected file folder.
  • Runs a SOLIDWORKS macro against the matching drawing.
  • Prompts once for the original and replacement sheet formats if no saved settings exist.
  • Saves those settings beside the macro as ChangeSheetFormat.ini.
  • Reuses the saved settings for subsequent files in a batch.
  • Checks the drawing back into PDM.

Requirements

  • SOLIDWORKS must be installed on the machine running PDMShell.
  • The user must have permission to check out and check in the drawing.
  • The matching drawing must exist beside the selected file.
  • The selected file should have a same-name .slddrw drawing in the same folder.
  • The macro is downloaded to $tempFolder\ChangeSheetFormat.swb.

Macro code

Option Explicit

Const swDocDRAWING As Long = 3
Const swSaveAsOptions_Silent As Long = 1

Dim swApp As SldWorks.SldWorks
Dim swModel As SldWorks.ModelDoc2
Dim swDraw As SldWorks.DrawingDoc

Sub main()

    Set swApp = Application.SldWorks
    Set swModel = swApp.ActiveDoc

    If swModel Is Nothing Then Exit Sub
    If swModel.GetType <> swDocDRAWING Then Exit Sub

    Set swDraw = swModel

    Dim configPath As String
    configPath = GetConfigPath()

    Dim oldFormat As String
    Dim newFormat As String

    LoadSettings configPath, oldFormat, newFormat

    oldFormat = Trim(oldFormat)
    newFormat = Trim(newFormat)

    If oldFormat = "" Or newFormat = "" Then

        oldFormat = InputBox("Enter the original sheet format name or path to replace.", "Change Sheet Format")
        If Trim(oldFormat) = "" Then Exit Sub

        newFormat = InputBox("Enter the new sheet format path.", "Change Sheet Format")
        If Trim(newFormat) = "" Then Exit Sub

        SaveSettings configPath, oldFormat, newFormat

    End If

    Dim sheetNames As Variant
    sheetNames = swDraw.GetSheetNames

    If IsEmpty(sheetNames) Then Exit Sub

    Dim changed As Boolean
    changed = False

    Dim i As Long
    For i = LBound(sheetNames) To UBound(sheetNames)

        swDraw.ActivateSheet CStr(sheetNames(i))

        Dim swSheet As SldWorks.Sheet
        Set swSheet = swDraw.GetCurrentSheet

        If Not swSheet Is Nothing Then

            Dim currentFormat As String
            currentFormat = swSheet.GetTemplateName

            If ShouldReplaceFormat(currentFormat, oldFormat) Then

                swSheet.SetTemplateName newFormat
                swSheet.ReloadTemplate True

                changed = True

            End If

        End If

    Next i

    If changed Then

        swModel.ForceRebuild3 True

        Dim errors As Long
        Dim warnings As Long

        swModel.Save3 swSaveAsOptions_Silent, errors, warnings

    End If

End Sub

Function ShouldReplaceFormat(ByVal currentFormat As String, ByVal oldFormat As String) As Boolean

    Dim currentLower As String
    Dim oldLower As String

    currentLower = LCase(Trim(currentFormat))
    oldLower = LCase(Trim(oldFormat))

    If currentLower = oldLower Then
        ShouldReplaceFormat = True
        Exit Function
    End If

    If GetFileNameOnly(currentLower) = GetFileNameOnly(oldLower) Then
        ShouldReplaceFormat = True
        Exit Function
    End If

    ShouldReplaceFormat = False

End Function

Function GetConfigPath() As String

    Dim macroPath As String
    macroPath = swApp.GetCurrentMacroPathName

    If Trim(macroPath) = "" Then
        GetConfigPath = Environ$("TEMP") & Chr(92) & "ChangeSheetFormat.ini"
    Else
        GetConfigPath = Left(macroPath, InStrRev(macroPath, Chr(92))) & "ChangeSheetFormat.ini"
    End If

End Function

Sub LoadSettings(ByVal configPath As String, ByRef oldFormat As String, ByRef newFormat As String)

    oldFormat = ""
    newFormat = ""

    If Dir(configPath) = "" Then Exit Sub

    Dim fileNo As Integer
    fileNo = FreeFile

    Open configPath For Input As #fileNo

    Do Until EOF(fileNo)

        Dim line As String
        Line Input #fileNo, line

        If LCase(Left(line, 10)) = "oldformat=" Then
            oldFormat = Mid(line, 11)
        ElseIf LCase(Left(line, 10)) = "newformat=" Then
            newFormat = Mid(line, 11)
        End If

    Loop

    Close #fileNo

End Sub

Sub SaveSettings(ByVal configPath As String, ByVal oldFormat As String, ByVal newFormat As String)

    Dim fileNo As Integer
    fileNo = FreeFile

    Open configPath For Output As #fileNo

    Print #fileNo, "OldFormat=" & oldFormat
    Print #fileNo, "NewFormat=" & newFormat

    Close #fileNo

End Sub

Function GetFileNameOnly(ByVal path As String) As String

    Dim slashPos As Long
    slashPos = InStrRev(path, Chr(92))

    If slashPos > 0 Then
        GetFileNameOnly = Mid(path, slashPos + 1)
    Else
        GetFileNameOnly = path
    End If

End Function

Settings file

The macro creates and reuses this file beside the macro:

OldFormat=OldSheetFormat.slddrt
NewFormat=C:\SOLIDWORKS Sheet Formats\NewSheetFormat.slddrt

Placeholders used

Placeholder Description
$folderPath Local folder path of the selected file
$fileNameWithoutExtension Selected file name without its extension
$tempFolder Temporary folder in your Windows session
Edit this page