Skip to main content

Macro to export SOLIDWORKS file to multiple formats

Save File dialog with the list of supported formats{ width=500 }

This VBA macro allows exporting active SOLIDWORKS document to multiple formats supported by SOLIDWORKS. Macro supports flexible options for specifying file path and allows to export to multiple formats at the same time.

Macro will automatically create directories if not exist.

Configuration​

Macro can be configured by modifying the OUT_NAME_TEMPLATES, OUT_FOLDER and ALL_CONFIGS constants

Output Name Template​

This constant allows to specify template for the output path of the export files. It should contain extension which defines the export format.

This can be either absolute or relative path. If later, result will be saved relative to the file directory or to the directory specified in OUT_FOLDER constant if not empty.

OUT_FOLDER can be passed as the parameter to the macro

The following placeholders are supported

  • <_FileName_> - name of the document file (without extension)
  • <_ConfName_> - name of the active configuration of this file. This changes if ALL_CONFIGS option is set to True
  • <[PropertyName]> - any name of the custom property to read value from, e.g. \<PartNo> is replaced with the value of custom property PartNo. Property will attempt to be read from configuration and if not available, generic property is used.

Placeholders will be resolved for at runtime.

Configure the values in the beginning of the macro, by filling the constant with Array function. Specify as many array elements as required.

Following example exports active document to PDF, DXF and JPG and names the output file after the PartNo custom property. Files will be saved to the same folder as original file

Sub main()
        
    OUT_NAME_TEMPLATES = Array("<PartNo>.pdf", "<PartNo>.dxf", "<PartNo>.jpg")

Following example exports active file to parasolid format into the D:\Exports folder. File is named with the name of the original file.

Sub main()
        
    OUT_NAME_TEMPLATES = Array("D:\Exports\<_FileName_>.x_t")

Export Options​

Export options for STEP format can be configured by changing the value of the STEP_VERSION constant. Set it to 214 for AP214 format or to 203 to AP203 format.

Const STEP_VERSION As Long = 214 '203 or 214

To export 3D PDF set the PDF_3D constant to True

Const PDF_3D As Boolean = True

Include Component Quantity Into File Name​

If this macro is run for all components of the assembly, it might be required to include the BOM quantity into the file name. Use the Write component quantity in the SOLIDWORKS assembly to custom property macro. Run this macro for the assembly before exporting to create custom property with the quantity value and then use \<Qty> placeholder in order to include this into the output file name.

Process All Configuration​

If ALL_CONFIGS constant is set to True macro will activate all configuration (for assembly and part) or all sheets (for drawing) one-by-one and run export command.

Troubleshooting​

If macro reports an error, in some cases it might not be immediately evident what is causing an error as the error details are 'swallowed' by exception handler. In order to disable errors handling and reveal the exact line causing the error comment all On Error GoTo catch_ lines in the code by placing the apostrophe ' symbol at the beginning of the line as shown below.

Sub main()
        
    Set swApp = Application.SldWorks
    
try_:
    'On Error GoTo catch_

Please submit the bug report and attach snapshot of this error and model used to reproduce (if possible)

Const ALL_CONFIGS As Boolean = False
Const OUT_FOLDER As String = ""
Const STEP_VERSION As Long = 214 '203 or 214
Const PDF_3D As Boolean = False 'True to export 3D PDF

Dim OUT_NAME_TEMPLATES As Variant

Dim swApp As SldWorks.SldWorks

Sub main()
        
    Dim origStepVersion As Long
        
    OUT_NAME_TEMPLATES = Array("PDFs\<_FileName_>_<_ConfName_>_<PartNo>.pdf", "IMGs\<_FileName_>_<_ConfName_>_<PartNo>.jpg")
    
    Set swApp = Application.SldWorks
    
try_:
    On Error GoTo catch_
    
    Dim swModel As SldWorks.ModelDoc2
    Set swModel = swApp.ActiveDoc
    
    If swModel Is Nothing Then
        Err.Raise vbError, "", "Please open document"
    End If
    
    If swModel.GetPathName() = "" Then
        Err.Raise vbError, "", "Please save the model"
    End If
    
    Dim outFolder As String
    
    If Not TryGetOutDirFromArguments(outFolder) Then
        outFolder = OUT_FOLDER
    End If
    
    ReadOptions origStepVersion
    SetupOptions STEP_VERSION
    
    ExportFile swModel, OUT_NAME_TEMPLATES, ALL_CONFIGS, outFolder
    
    GoTo finally_
    
catch_:
    swApp.SendMsgToUser2 Err.Description, swMessageBoxIcon_e.swMbStop, swMessageBoxBtn_e.swMbOk
finally_:

    SetupOptions origStepVersion

End Sub

Sub ReadOptions(ByRef stepVersion As Long)

    stepVersion = swApp.GetUserPreferenceIntegerValue(swUserPreferenceIntegerValue_e.swStepAP)
    
End Sub

Sub SetupOptions(stepVersion As Long)
    
    If False = swApp.SetUserPreferenceIntegerValue(swUserPreferenceIntegerValue_e.swStepAP, stepVersion) Then
        Err.Raise vbError, "", "Failed to set Step Export version to " & stepVersion
    End If
    
End Sub

Sub ExportFile(model As SldWorks.ModelDoc2, vOutNameTemplates As Variant, allConfigs As Boolean, outFolder As String)
    
    Dim i As Integer
    Dim j As Integer
    
    Dim curConf As String
    
    If model.GetType() = swDocumentTypes_e.swDocDRAWING Then
        Dim swDraw As SldWorks.DrawingDoc
        Set swDraw = model
        curConf = swDraw.GetCurrentSheet().GetName
    Else
        curConf = model.ConfigurationManager.ActiveConfiguration.Name
    End If
    
    Dim vConfs As Variant
    
    If allConfigs Then
        If model.GetType() = swDocumentTypes_e.swDocDRAWING Then
            vConfs = model.GetSheetNames()
        Else
            vConfs = model.GetConfigurationNames()
        End If
    Else
        Dim sConfs(0) As String
        sConfs(0) = curConf
        vConfs = sConfs
    End If
    
    For i = 0 To UBound(vConfs)
    
        If model.GetType() = swDocumentTypes_e.swDocDRAWING Then
            curConf = swDraw.ActivateSheet(CStr(vConfs(i)))
        Else
            model.ShowConfiguration2 CStr(vConfs(i))
        End If
                
        For j = 0 To UBound(vOutNameTemplates)
            
            Dim errs As Long
            Dim warns As Long
        
            Dim outNameTemplate As String
            outNameTemplate = vOutNameTemplates(j)
            
            Dim outFilePath As String
            outFilePath = ComposeOutFileName(outNameTemplate, model, outFolder)

            Dim outDir As String
            outDir = Left(outFilePath, InStrRev(outFilePath, "\"))
    
            CreateDirectories outDir
            
            Dim swExportData As Object
            
            If LCase(GetExtension(outFilePath)) = LCase("pdf") Then
                Dim swExportPdfData As SldWorks.ExportPdfData
                Set swExportPdfData = swApp.GetExportFileData(swExportDataFileType_e.swExportPdfData)
                swExportPdfData.ViewPdfAfterSaving = False
                swExportPdfData.ExportAs3D = PDF_3D
                Set swExportData = swExportPdfData
            Else
                Set swExportData = Nothing
            End If
            
            If False = model.Extension.SaveAs(outFilePath, swSaveAsVersion_e.swSaveAsCurrentVersion, swSaveAsOptions_e.swSaveAsOptions_Silent, swExportData, errs, warns) Then
                Err.Raise vberrror, "", "Failed to export to " & outFilePath
            End If
            
        Next
        
    Next
    
    If model.GetType() = swDocumentTypes_e.swDocDRAWING Then
        curConf = swDraw.ActivateSheet(curConf)
    Else
        model.ShowConfiguration2 curConf
    End If
    
End Sub

Function ComposeOutFileName(template As String, model As SldWorks.ModelDoc2, outFolder As String) As String

    Dim regEx As Object
    Set regEx = CreateObject("VBScript.RegExp")
    
    regEx.Global = True
    regEx.IgnoreCase = True
    regEx.Pattern = "<[^>]*>"
    
    Dim regExMatches As Object
    Set regExMatches = regEx.Execute(template)
    
    Dim i As Integer
    
    Dim outFileName As String
    outFileName = template
    
    For i = regExMatches.Count - 1 To 0 Step -1
        
        Dim regExMatch As Object
        Set regExMatch = regExMatches.Item(i)
                    
        Dim tokenName As String
        tokenName = Mid(regExMatch.Value, 2, Len(regExMatch.Value) - 2)
        
        outFileName = Left(outFileName, regExMatch.FirstIndex) & ResolveToken(tokenName, model) & Right(outFileName, Len(outFileName) - (regExMatch.FirstIndex + regExMatch.Length))
    Next
    
    ComposeOutFileName = ReplaceInvalidPathSymbols(GetFullPath(model, outFileName, outFolder))
    
End Function

Function ReplaceInvalidPathSymbols(path As String) As String
    
    Const REPLACE_SYMB As String = "_"
    
    Dim res As String
    res = Right(path, Len(path) - Len("X:\"))
    
    Dim drive As String
    drive = Left(path, Len("X:\"))
    
    Dim invalidSymbols As Variant
    invalidSymbols = Array("/", ":", "*", "?", """", "<", ">", "|")
    
    Dim i As Integer
    For i = 0 To UBound(invalidSymbols)
        Dim invalidSymb As String
        invalidSymb = CStr(invalidSymbols(i))
        res = Replace(res, invalidSymb, REPLACE_SYMB)
    Next
    
    ReplaceInvalidPathSymbols = drive + res
    
End Function

Function ResolveToken(token As String, model As SldWorks.ModelDoc2) As String
    
    Const FILE_NAME_TOKEN As String = "_FileName_"
    Const CONF_NAME_TOKEN As String = "_ConfName_"
    
    Select Case LCase(token)
        Case LCase(FILE_NAME_TOKEN)
            ResolveToken = GetFileNameWithoutExtension(model.GetPathName)
        Case LCase(CONF_NAME_TOKEN)
            If model.GetType() = swDocumentTypes_e.swDocDRAWING Then
                Dim swDraw As SldWorks.DrawingDoc
                Set swDraw = model
                ResolveToken = swDraw.GetCurrentSheet().GetName
            Else
                ResolveToken = model.ConfigurationManager.ActiveConfiguration.Name
            End If
        Case Else
            
            Dim swCustPrpMgr As SldWorks.CustomPropertyManager
            Dim resVal As String
            resVal = ""
            
            If model.GetType() <> swDocumentTypes_e.swDocDRAWING Then
                Set swCustPrpMgr = model.Extension.CustomPropertyManager(model.ConfigurationManager.ActiveConfiguration.Name)
                swCustPrpMgr.Get2 token, "", resVal
            End If
            
            If resVal = "" Then
                Set swCustPrpMgr = model.Extension.CustomPropertyManager("")
                swCustPrpMgr.Get2 token, "", resVal
            End If
            
            ResolveToken = resVal
    End Select
    
End Function

Function GetFileNameWithoutExtension(path As String) As String
    GetFileNameWithoutExtension = Mid(path, InStrRev(path, "\") + 1, InStrRev(path, ".") - InStrRev(path, "\") - 1)
End Function

Function GetExtension(path As String) As String
    GetExtension = Right(path, Len(path) - InStrRev(path, "."))
End Function

Function FileExists(filePath As String) As Boolean
    FileExists = Dir(filePath) <> ""
End Function

Sub CreateDirectories(path As String)

    Dim fso As Object
    Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

    If fso.FolderExists(path) Then
        Exit Sub
    End If

    CreateDirectories fso.GetParentFolderName(path)
    
    fso.CreateFolder path
    
End Sub

Function GetFullPath(model As SldWorks.ModelDoc2, path As String, outFolder As String)
    
    GetFullPath = path
        
    If IsPathRelative(path) Then
        
        If Left(path, 1) <> "\" Then
            path = "\" & path
        End If
        
        If outFolder = "" Then
        
            Dim modelPath As String
            Dim modelDir As String
            
            modelPath = model.GetPathName
            
            modelDir = Left(modelPath, InStrRev(modelPath, "\") - 1)
            
            outFolder = modelDir
        Else
            If Right(outFolder, 1) = "\" Then
                outFolder = Left(outFolder, Len(outFolder) - 1)
            End If
        End If
        
        GetFullPath = outFolder & path
        
    End If
    
End Function

Function IsPathRelative(path As String)
    IsPathRelative = Mid(path, 2, 1) <> ":" And Not IsPathUnc(path)
End Function

Function IsPathUnc(path As String)
    IsPathUnc = Left(path, 2) = "\\"
End Function

Function TryGetOutDirFromArguments(ByRef outDir As String) As Boolean

try_:

    On Error GoTo catch_

    Dim macroRunner As Object
    Set macroRunner = CreateObject("CadPlus.MacroRunner.Sw")
    
    Dim param As Object
    Set param = macroRunner.PopParameter(swApp)
    
    Dim vArgs As Variant
    vArgs = param.Get("Args")
    
    outDir = CStr(vArgs(0))
    TryGetOutDirFromArguments = True
    GoTo finally_
    
catch_:
    TryGetOutDirFromArguments = False
finally_:

End Function