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Using Control Logic on SOLIDWORKS PDM Data Cards (PDM Professional Only)

SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional data cards have the option to use various control logic to dynamically hide, show, or disable other data controls by specifying one or more conditions.

 

The example shown is a basic use of control logic to control visibility (show/hide) of a field based on which radio button is selected. This example uses two radio buttons on the data card to display whether a design is in-process or approved for production. If Design Approved for Production is selected, then the control logic also shows the Approved By field and value. If the Design In-Process radio button is selected, then there is no need to show the blank approved by field. The steps below will show how to configure the control logic used in this example.

Using Control Logic on PDM Data Cards (PDM Professional Only)

Configuring the Data Card Variables

Using Control Logic on PDM Data Cards (PDM Professional Only)

When radio buttons are used, the caption of the selected radio button becomes the variable’s value. When the radio buttons are connected to the same variable, only one can be selected at a time. When editing a data card in PDM file explorer, enabling one of the radio buttons automatically disables the other. These example radio buttons are connected to variable Approved Status.

Using Control Logic on PDM Data Cards (PDM Professional Only)
Using Control Logic on PDM Data Cards (PDM Professional Only)

Applying Control Logic

Control logic can be accessed by selecting Control > Control Logic or by selecting the Control Logic gear/wrench icon from the toolbar as shown below. With either option, the desired control must be selected before Control Logic becomes available. If not, the control logic options will be greyed out.

Using Control Logic on PDM Data Cards (PDM Professional Only)

In this example, there are two controls for Approved By. The first is a static textbox to serve as a label. The second is an edit-box connected to the variable Approved By. The control logic will need to be applied to each control separately.

 

Select the static text ‘Approved By’ and then select Control Logic from the toolbar. In the Control Logic dialog box, select Click here to add an action. Options to Grey Out or Hide appear. For this example, we’ll be using the option to Hide and then selecting Click here to add a condition.

Using Control Logic on PDM Data Cards (PDM Professional Only)

Select the desired variable and add a condition. The example condition shown below will hide the static text Approved By control if the value of the Approved Status variable does not contain the text ‘Approved.’

Using Control Logic on PDM Data Cards (PDM Professional Only)

The process will need to be repeated for any other controls. For this example, the condition will be the same as the previous control logic applied to hide the ‘Approved By’ static text control, though since this ‘Approved By’ edit box control will have a variable value, the action will automatically have an additional option to Hide – Clear value or Hide – Retain value. This example uses Hide – Clear value to clear the Approved By value when the Approved for Production radio button is not selected. The value will clear when the file is checked into PDM.

Using Control Logic on PDM Data Cards (PDM Professional Only)

The PDM data card editor also contains an option to toggle the visibility of which controls have control logic applied. This can be useful to determine which controls already have logic applied.

Using Control Logic on PDM Data Cards (PDM Professional Only)

Save the data card.

Testing Control Logic

The image below displays the data card when Design In-Process is selected compared to when Design Approved for Production is selected.

Using Control Logic on PDM Data Cards (PDM Professional Only)

There are many potential uses for control logic depending on your company’s needs, and control logic is not limited to only radio buttons. It can be applied to images, text, frames, edit-boxes, buttons, radio-buttons, Combo boxes, List boxes, Tabs, Checkboxes, and Date fields. Give it a try!

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Get help from our team by Calling us at 800-364-1652 x 2. You can also get assistance by clicking the Technical Support button or the Email Our Experts button below. 

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Last Updated On
byRick Braine
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