PDM Major Minor Revisions
SOLIDWORKS PDM Revision Numbers can be configured to meet a variety of industry or company specific needs, including single character alpha or numeric values as well as major and minor revision schemes.
This article details how to configure PDM Revisions Numbers to manage Major and Minor revisions. For example, a revision scheme that uses alphabetical major revisions and numeric minor revisions as shown here A-01, B-01, B-02, C-01… or any other combination of major or minor schemes. The general example steps detailed below can be modified to fit your company’s specific needs.
Note: PDM Standard is limited to two Revision Components. Major and Minor will utilize both available components.
Create Revision Number Components.
Create the Revision Numbers and link
SOLIDWORKS PDM Administration tool > Revisions > Revision Numbers, right-click and then select New Revision number.
Name the new revision number as Major Minor REV System and then add both revision number components created in Step 1 separated by a hyphen (-) as shown at the yellow arrow below.
Configure the Workflow
SOLIDWORKS PDM Administration tool > Workflows, edit the specific workflow.
Workflow Change #1
Workflow change #1, configure the state where the revision is first applied. In this example, the state named Approved.
• Edit the state’s properties.
• Revision Numbers tab.
• From the revision numbers dropdown, select Major Minor REV System. Note that both the Major and Minor REV Components display in the name column.
• Leave the values blank for Increment by and Reset to.
• Click OK to save the changes to the state.
Workflow Change #2
Workflow change #2, configure the transition which precedes the Approved state from above. In this example, transition named Passed Approval.
• Edit the transition’s properties.
• Revision Numbers tab.
• The Major and Minor REV Components will be displayed under the name column automatically since they exist in the State being transitioned to.
• For both Major and Minor REV Components, set the Reset to value to 1.
• The preview column will reflect the corresponding values (Major REV Component = A, Minor REV Component = 01).
• Click OK to save the changes to the transition.
Workflow Change #3
Workflow change #3, create a new transition named Major REV Change from the Change Pending Approval state to Approved state.
• For the Major REV Component, set the Increment by value to 1.
• Click OK to save the transition.
Workflow Change #4
Workflow change #4, create a new transition named Minor REV Change from Change Pending Approval state to Approved state.
• For the Minor REV Component, set the Increment by value to 1.
• Click OK to save the transition.
• Save the workflow.
Test the Workflow
Transition a test file through the modified workflow, testing each major and minor transition. Review the test file’s history to confirm the revision is incrementing correctly (right-click a file and select History).
Revision: A-01 was the initial revision when the file transitioned through Passed Approval to Approved.
Revision: B-01 is a major revision when the file was transitioned through Major REV Change to Approved.
Revision: B-02 is a minor revision change when the file was transitioned through Minor REV Change to Approved.
Revision: C-02 is another major revision change when the file transitioned through Major REV Change to Approved.
If you have any questions about configuring Revision Numbers, feel free to reach out to MLC CAD Systems, and we will be happy to assist you.