Did DDM say they will continue support SolidWorks past the 2026 date, even if no longer part of the partner program?
DDM told me that I have to stay stick to 2026 for SW only. DDM CAD will continue to have enhancement but with limited support to SW 2026.
This is a bad omen. Hopefully they won’t be doing something stupid…
Do you seriously expect Dassault not to do something stupid? ![[stir]](/uploads/default/original/2X/4/44ae3c6936b6990a699b38c89605e9d862893bef.gif "Stir-the-pot")
. I became suspicious a couple of years ago then they removed PCBworks (Altium) integration from the license manager. I warned the boss then that it is worthwhile being aware of other CAD systems if ultimately SW is going to force users into the cloud. That was when I became interested in SE.
No…
Unfortunately, I fully expect the worst.
At this point in the game, though I really have interest.
I’m retired, off of subscription using v2023 sp5.0
As long as it activates, I don’t really care.
Cheers
I would be suggesting that halting development of the SolidWorks interface is now a decision by CSI. As others have pointed out PTC, PULSE, Autodesk and others all have PDM / PLM platforms that Support SolidWorks whilst not being partner products. How do they get access to the API to write their integrations / test and support? they buy a copy of SolidWorks to do so. Gold Partners get early access to new releases and possibly free licenses, but CSI wouldn’t be blocked from continuing to develop their interface, it would just impact their bottom line.
Afaik, doc.manager API is tied only for your subscription, not to partner program. On the other hand, if you’re not a partner, you don’t get a free development license for SW.
In a different convo we had with SolidWorks for some internal dev work, someone from SolidWorks did confirm that not being a partner doesn’t give you a license key for the doc manger api and, like you said, you don’t get a development license.
I suppose DDM could buy a license of SolidWorks and get the doc manager key, but there may be some “terms” for using it for developing a commercial product. Maybe internal use only kind of thing.
Looking at how Windchill’s WGM app works, I don’t think its editing custom properties or getting internal data without the files open. When you edit a Windchill attribute that is linked to a SolidWorks custom property, it only updates that custom property after the files open. This has the side effect of taking longer to open some assemblies as its going through the tree structure and updating custom properties in any files that have changed after they were checked in. So its possible they don’t have access to the doc manager api.
That’s similar to how Pulse works too. Custom properties are only ever updated when the file is open and not read-only. Maybe we’ll be okay moving forward.
I haven’t looked at the detail in a while, but it used to be that you could have the key in compiled code that you distribute, you just can’t distribute in a plain text macro.
If not, I’m pretty sure that anyone could write their application in a way that it reads a license key from a text file or something. It would add a layer of friction for the end-user to have to request their own key from SW during setup, but that’s hardly insurmountable.
I wasn’t sure about the legality of the doc manager key for selling a commercial app. Any SolidWorks user that has a license can request a key for internal development. We’ve done it for years and you must request a new key for each version.
Reading the terms on the request site, it appears that you cannot distribute software using the doc manager api unless you are part of the partner program.
https://www.solidworks.com/support/subscription/key-request/
Any developments on this? 3DXW has been and gone, any information from there at all?
I did not hear anything about this at World, but my manager did recently hear that Dassault has taken issue with Aras’ EPDM integration, which seems to dovetail with what we’re hearing about their new tack towards 3rd-party PDMs and integration. I don’t have good details on what the exact issue is but will try to find out more.
Please do. We also use Aras in house and have been evaluating spending money on the SW integration for it. Which sounds like it might be money wasted soon.
Per my boss this information came from one of the Indian IT contractor firms that we work with, they are a Teamcenter and Aras implementer. Feel free to DM me on the topic.
I took the step of directly asking my VAR about this. They have no knowledge of any changes to the PDM partner products program. Also confirmed that neither Pulse or Aras (Innovator) are part of the partner program so would be unaffected by any changes.
So, bit of mystery as to what’s going on with DDM, but seems like other software may not be affected.
For now???
Interesting. I sometimes get the feeling that the VARs are just as in the dark as to Dassault’s moves and intentions as the customers are.