How to Create and Link Data Sheets in SOLIDWORKS Electrical

Around the world, there are tens of millions of electrical components with different technical specifications.

In the Electrical Content Portal (ECP) alone there are more than 90 million parts available, so Electrical Engineers need an easy way to access to their technical details.

In this guide, we will show you how to link the Data Sheets in SOLIDWORKS Electrical to your project and how to create a custom Data Sheet report.

Hyperlink PDF to Report

In SOLIDWORKS Electrical, it is possible to associate any data file to our project. We can create a hyperlink to a PDF and be able to export it into the final Project PDF file.

Data file shortcuts

Once the PDF is associated with the project, we can export it, ensuring that the option ‘Export data file’ is ticked.

The final Project PDF will include all the PDFs associated with the document list.

Export data files

Hyperlinks in Reports

In all the Manufacturer Part Properties there is a dedicated field for the Data Sheet.

We can use this to map all the parts used in our projects and through a customized report, extract all the hyperlinks and show them in one unique report.

Data sheet hyperlinks

If we click on the Data Sheet hyperlink in SOLIDWORKS Electrical application, the software opens the Manufacturer Part Properties window.

If the project is exported to PDF, the Data Sheet hyperlink opens the component’s PDF Data Sheet.

These hyperlinks can be used securely internally if the PDFs are located on the company network.

However, if the PDF data sheet is an online source, then it is accessible to third parties too.

Hyperlink Report Creation

To create a Data Sheet report, we need to start from an empty report template.

Data sheet report management

Modify the name and the description…

Modify data sheet report

Then build our query in the expert mode section.

Build data sheet query

In the column tabs we can create a new column and enter the following formula:

IIF ( ( LEN ( bom_datasheet ) ) > 5, "DATA SHEET" + bom_reference, " " )

In the ‘Go to’ row we need to associate the bom_id value to generate the hyperlinks.

Data sheet value

We can check the layout and the ‘sort and break’ criteria to make sure that we have the right settings.

In the filters tab we should create a rule that allows us to see just the instances with a Data Sheet associated.

Data sheets filters tab

Here’s a quick comparison of the data with and without the filter.

Without the filter

With the filter

Finally, we can save and generate our Data Sheet report.

Data sheet report

NB: Remember that the reports created at the project level must be saved at the application level.