Collaboration - FAQs

Old Content - visit altium.com/documentation

Modified by Phil Loughhead on May 11, 2020

Further Information

Installing the ECAD-MCAD Project Collaboration Server

Installing the Altium Designer-SOLIDWORKS® Collaboration Add-in

Collaborating between Altium Designer and SOLIDWORKS

This documentation is now considered legacy and only remains useful to those who already have the extension as part of their installation. If required, contact SOLIDWORKS for information about the SOLIDWORKS PCB Connector. To learn about Altium's latest CoDesign technology, use the link in the feature box below.

Altium continues to develop MCAD-to-ECAD CoDesign capabilities. Now available as an add-in for SOLIDWORKS version 2018 and higher, the new CoDesigner supports: bi-directional transfer of complex board shapes with cutouts; bi-directional transfer of placed components as 3D models; MCAD to ECAD transfer of native components; and support for rigid-flex PCBs.

► Learn more about Altium's latest ECAD-MCAD CoDesign technology

This page presents a listing of frequently asked questions relevant to collaboration between Altium Designer and SOLIDWORKS®. Click on a question header to expand its section and reveal its answer. For further, more detailed information on aspects of the collaboration feature, use the links available in the panel to the right.

How do I get this collaboration functionality?

Empower Altium Designer with SOLIDWORKS collaboration functionality, by purchasing the MCAD Co-Designer: SOLIDWORKS® extension. This extension is delivered as a purchased upgrade to your existing Altium Designer subscription.

What version of Altium Designer do I need for this?

It is strongly advised to be running the latest released version of Altium Designer.

What version of SOLIDWORKS do I need for this?

Both SOLIDWORKS 2014 and SOLIDWORKS 2015 are supported.

SOLIDWORKS 2015 service pack 3 has a critical bug fix that addresses a problem with intermittent crashes during initial import of board from Altium Designer to SOLIDWORKS

It is strongly advised to be running the latest released version of SOLIDWORKS.

What EXACTLY do I need to do to get collaboration-ready?

The following is a summary of the steps involved to get collaboration-ready:

Upgrade your Altium Subscription to include the MCAD Co-Designer: SOLIDWORKS® extension.
Choose the MCAD Co-Designer - SOLIDWORKS (R) license to use, in conjunction with your usual license for Altium Designer. If using standalone or private server licensing, activate the license (to obtain the license file) through the Altium Dashboard.
Download and install the SOLIDWORKS Collaboration extension for Altium Designer. This can be found on the Purchased page of the Extensions & Updates view.
Prepare your Collaboration Server - which will host your managed PCB design projects, and other shared design elements. There are two possibilities here:
1. If you do not have an Altium Vault - download, install, and license the ECAD-MCAD Project Collaboration Server. Two licenses are required - Altium Vault Collaboration and Altium Vault Collaboration CAL - the license files for which can be obtained after activation through the Altium Dashboard.
2. If you do have an Altium Vault - you can use this, although you will need to update to at least Altium Vault 2.5, and re-license accordingly.
Download and install the Altium Designer-SOLIDWORKS Collaboration add-in. This must be installed on the same computer on which SOLIDWORKS itself is installed.
Initialize your Collaboration Server, by adding users for access from both Altium Designer and SOLIDWORKS. This can be done in two ways:
1. Automatically - run the server initialization feature at the end of installing the Altium Designer-SOLIDWORKS Collaboration add-in. This will create ecad and mcad users in the Collaboration Server, both with default passwords of 123.
2. Manually - an administrator for the server/vault must log in through its browser-based interface, using the URL http://<ComputerName>:<PortNumber>. Users can be added and configured through the Users page.
Connect to the Collaboration Server from both Altium Designer and SOLIDWORKS - using the credentials for the relevant users who will be collaborating. This involves signing into the server from both installations.

For detailed information on the entire process, take a look at the article: MCAD Co-Designer: SOLIDWORKS®.

Do I have to buy the Altium Vault to collaborate?

Not at all. If you do not have an Altium Vault, you are not required to purchase a separate install of one. You can simply download, install, and license the ECAD-MCAD Project Collaboration Server. This is powered by Altium Vault Technology and comes with two license files that essentially tailor its installation for collaboration purposes only. This licensing allows only those features and functionality required to collaborate between Altium Designer and SOLIDWORKS - so you won't be able to enjoy the other great data management features offered by a fully purchased/licensed Altium Vault.

I already have an Altium Vault, can I use this?

Absolutely you can. You just need to ensure you have upgraded to at least Altium Vault 2.5, and have re-licensed the vault accordingly.

Does the collaboration add-in for SOLIDWORKS need to be licensed?

No, only three licenses are required for collaboration:

1 x MCAD Co-Designer - SOLIDWORKS (R) license - associated with the Altium Designer installation.

1 x Altium Vault Collaboration license - associated with the ECAD-MCAD Project Collaboration Server.

1 x Altium Vault Collaboration CAL license - again, associated with the ECAD-MCAD Project Collaboration Server.

Can I still use the extension if I don't upgrade Altium Designer?

The MCAD Co-Designer: SOLIDWORKS® extension will be developed for, and tested on, the latest version of Altium Designer. It is thus conceivable that an update to the extension after an update to Altium Designer, could mean the latest version of the extension would not work on a legacy version of Altium Designer.

The latest version of the extension will always work with the latest version of Altium Designer and, as such, it is stongly advised to keep up with the latest release of Altium Desiger.

Can I just upgrade a few of my seats?

The MCAD Co-Designer: SOLIDWORKS® subscription upgrade is linked to Altium Subscription. Therefore a single upgraded Altium Subscription cannot be shared between multiple seats of Altium Designer. In other words, you cannot upgrade your subscription for one seat, and share use of the collaboration feature with all seats.

Considering an example scenario, if you have 5 Altium Designer licenses and you require all to have access to the MCAD Co-Designer: SOLIDWORKS® extension, you will need to upgrade all 5 associated subscriptions.

How many SOLIDWORKS users can connect to the Collaboration Server?

There is no limit to how many SOLIDWORKS users can connect to the Collaboration Server.

How do I connect to the ECAD-MCAD Project Collaboration Server?

To sign into the ECAD-MCAD Project Collaboration Server (or Altium Vault):

In Altium Designer select Sign in Altium Vault from the DXP menu. In the Connecting to Altium Vault dialog enter the Server address in the form <ServerName>:<PortNumber>, and a valid Vault User name and Password.
In SOLIDWORKS, if you are not logged in then you will be prompted to log into the Server/Vault whenever you perform an action that affects data being collaborated on, such as when you click one of the New Board Assembly or Pull Board From Vault buttons in the Altium Designer Collaboration panel. The Altium Vault Login dialog will appear, enter the Vault address in the form <ServerName>:<PortNumber>, then enter a valid user name into Login, and the associated Password. If you need to log into a different Server/Vault, click the button on the top right of the SOLIDWORKS Altium Designer Collaboration panel and select Log Out, then click one of the New Board Assembly or Pull Board From Vault buttons to log into the other Server/Vault.

How is collaboration facilitated?

The designer working in each application uses a Collaboration panel to Push and Pull design changes from one space to the other. Notifications about incoming changes appear automatically in the Collaboration panel, as soon as a push is performed on the other side.

What 3D model formats are supported for components?

The following 3D model formats are supported:

Altium Designer 3D Body Objects
SOLIDWORKS parts - *.SldPrt (up to 2015 format)
Parasolid Models - *.x_t and *.x_b (up to V27)
STEP models - *.Stp and *.Step (203 & 214 formats)

Are free 3D models supported?

Free 3D models placed directly on the PCB are not supported. On the Altium Designer side, the 3D model must be part of the component (placed in the PCB Library editor).

Can I place parts in SOLIDWORKS, and push them across to Altium Designer?

No. At this stage, parts cannot be placed in SOLIDWORKS and pushed across to Altium Designer.

Help - I don't see my components. Where'd they go?

When a Commit is performed in Altium Designer, each PCB component is saved as a Parasolid model and uploaded to the Collaboration Server/Vault. For this to occur, the 3D Body object that holds the component must be visible in the Altium Designer workspace, if it is not visible, then the component is not uploaded to the Collaboration Server/Vault. In Altium Designer, the visibility of 3D Bodies is controlled in the Show/Hide tab of the View Configurations dialog, if the 3D Bodies option is set to Hidden then the components will not be uploaded.

Why is my Flex board not flexing?

There is currently a limitation when collaborating on a flex-based design. Such a board will appear flat when collaborating and can not be folded. Support for this will be considered in the future.

What support is there for SOLIDWORKS shapes?

SOLIDWORKS has a broader range of drawing shapes, which can be used to define the board shape, and cutouts within the board. There is a high level of support for these shape in Altium Designer, with slot, ellipse and parabolic shapes being supported. Currently, spline and conic shapes are not fully supported, however it may be possible that the spline shape you create in SOLIDWORKS does transfer correctly to Altium Designer.

Supported shapes can be used to define the board shape and/or board cutouts in SOLIDWORKS. As the board shape or a cutout, these shapes behave as regions in Altium Designer. Where possible the shape will also be editable, but this is not possible for all shapes.