Having backups or duplicate copies of files is crucial to any workflow. We cannot predict everything that will happen on a machine, but we can attempt to prepare for everything that will happen. SOLIDWORKS Electrical is managed by SQL, so we cannot just copy and paste files to a backup location. Instead (and luckily), SOLIDWORKS Electrical comes equipped with a backup process that saves all pertinent information (libraries, projects, etc.) to a single file. This can make life much easier for you should anything happen to your hardware.
Backing Up and Saving Electrical Data
- You’ll first need to open SOLIDWORKS Electrical and ensure you have a proper connection to the SQL instance that manages your data. This can be verified by clicking Tools > Application Settings and viewing the Databases tab:
Upon starting SOLIDWORKS Electrical, this is the database you have connected to – unless startup errors indicate that the client and server did not connect. Select the Cancel button to close this window.
Click to enlarge - Close any open projects.
- Next, you’ll want to click File > Archive Environment to start the backup process. An Archiving: Environment Wizard will appear and guide you through customizing what data you wish to include in your backup.
Click to enlarge - Every piece of information down to the individual symbols can be manually kept or removed from the backup. The type and quantity of information is displayed throughout each section of the process. For example, the screenshot shows 2372 symbols that will be included by default, so click Next to cycle through the various options.
- You can choose to include or exclude everything from a section, specify certain projects or symbols or only include data that has been modified during a specific time period. If you’ve never created a backup, make sure you go through each section in order to get the exact data you’re wanting.
- Once you have everything specified, you can click Finish to create the actual archived environment (*.tewzip file). This can be saved anywhere you like, though it should be in an accessible location.
Hopefully, you’ll never need to access the archived environment outside of moving your data from one machine to another. If, however, something happens to your hardware that requires a restoration of your data, you can open SOLIDWORKS Electrical and click File > Unarchive Environment to read the *.tewzip file that was previously created. This will load your archived environment to the SQL instance being used and restore full access for your users.
Need help protecting all your data? Watch this on-demand webinar to learn how to backup your files with SOLIDWORKS PDM Standard and Professional.
