Export Metadata from a Custom Tab from file properties for a list of files in sub folders - powershell

Question

The Problem:
On my Windows file server I have around 1,000,000 SolidWorks files that have metadata in the file properties under a custom tab (see image below) that I would like to export to a single CSV file.
These files are located in sub-tree of folders, and mixed with other file types.
The Solution:
A script is needed to only target specific file types (extensions) in a sub-tree of folders, that exports the metadata from the custom tab to a CSV File, where i can then clean up and import the data into an SQL database.
I am not sure the best way to achieve this I was thinking along the lines of PowerShell, any help to get going would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

If you use a .NET language like C# or Visual Basic, you can use the SolidWorks API and the Document Manager libraries (you'll need to get a license, free with your subscription from the Customer Portal) to extract this information without opening the files. It's quite fast. As for only looking at certain files, that's straight forward with .NET IO.Path.GetExtension.
Below is a working example of what I think you're looking for.
You will need the Document Manager dll, which is on the SolidWorks API SDK, which is included in the installation media. Then you can referencene SolidWorks.Interop.swdocumentmgr.dll.
You will also need a Document Manager Serial Number which you can request through the SolidWorks Customer Portal free of charge with your SolidWorks Subscription. Once you have that number, replace the lic string value below with the entire serial number, in quotes.
To define which Custom Properties to read from the SolidWorks files, just change the list propertiesToRead to include any values you need to retrieve. These are NOT case sensitive.
You you run this, you will be prompted to enter a directory path. This is also where the Output.csv file will be created.
At the bottom is a screen-shot of sample results.
using SolidWorks.Interop.swdocumentmgr;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
namespace WriteProperties
{
class Program
{
static ISwDMApplication4 docManager;
static List<string> propertiesToRead = new List<string>() { "Number", "Description", "Revision", "Material", "Finish", "Weight" };
const string lic = "YOU CAN GET THIS NUMBER FROM THE CUSTOMER PORTAL WITH YOUR SOLIDWORKS SUBSCRIPTION AT NO COST";
static char[] charactersToQuote = { ',', '"', '\n' };
const string QUOTE = "\"";
const string QUOTEFORMATTED = "\"\"";
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string directoryPath = GetDirectory(args);
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(directoryPath)) return;
if (!LoadDocManager()) return;
string outputPath = Path.Combine(directoryPath, "Output.csv");
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
sb.AppendLine("File Name," + string.Join(",", propertiesToRead));
int counter = 0;
foreach (string filePath in Directory.EnumerateFiles(directoryPath, "*.sld*", SearchOption.AllDirectories))
{
SwDMDocument21 dmDocument = GetDocument(filePath);
if (dmDocument == null) continue;
WriteProperties(sb, dmDocument, filePath);
counter++;
}
File.WriteAllText(outputPath, sb.ToString());
Console.WriteLine("{0} files read and saved to {1}", counter, outputPath);
Console.ReadLine();
}
static string GetDirectory(string[] args)
{
if (args != null && args.Count() > 0 && Directory.Exists(args[0])) return args[0];
Console.WriteLine("Directory to read:");
string filePath = Console.ReadLine();
if (Directory.Exists(filePath)) return filePath;
Console.WriteLine("Directory does not exists: {0}", filePath);
return string.Empty;
}
static bool LoadDocManager()
{
if (docManager != null) return true;
try
{
SwDMClassFactory factory = new SwDMClassFactory();
if (factory == null) throw new NullReferenceException(nameof(SwDMClassFactory));
docManager = (SwDMApplication4)factory.GetApplication(lic);
if (docManager == null) throw new NullReferenceException(nameof(SwDMApplication4));
return true;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine("Document Manager failed to load: {0}", ex.Message);
Console.ReadLine();
return false;
}
}
static SwDMDocument21 GetDocument(string filePath)
{
SwDmDocumentType documentType = GetDocType(filePath);
if (documentType == SwDmDocumentType.swDmDocumentUnknown) return null;
SwDmDocumentOpenError result = SwDmDocumentOpenError.swDmDocumentOpenErrorNone;
SwDMDocument21 dmDocument = (SwDMDocument21)docManager.GetDocument(filePath, documentType, true, out result);
if (result == SwDmDocumentOpenError.swDmDocumentOpenErrorNone || result == SwDmDocumentOpenError.swDmDocumentOpenErrorFileReadOnly) return dmDocument;
if (dmDocument != null) dmDocument.CloseDoc();
return null;
}
static SwDmDocumentType GetDocType(string filePath)
{
if (filePath.Contains("~$")) return SwDmDocumentType.swDmDocumentUnknown;
switch (Path.GetExtension(filePath).ToLower())
{
case ".sldprt": return SwDmDocumentType.swDmDocumentPart;
case ".sldasm": return SwDmDocumentType.swDmDocumentAssembly;
case ".slddrw": return SwDmDocumentType.swDmDocumentDrawing;
default: return SwDmDocumentType.swDmDocumentUnknown;
}
}
static void WriteProperties(StringBuilder sb, SwDMDocument21 dmDocument, string filePath)
{
Console.WriteLine("Reading {0}", filePath);
List<string> propertiesInFile = new List<string>();
if (dmDocument.GetCustomPropertyCount() > 0) propertiesInFile.AddRange(dmDocument.GetCustomPropertyNames());
string csvLine = filePath;
foreach (string property in propertiesToRead)
{
string propertyValue = "";
if (propertiesInFile.Any(s => string.Compare(s, property, true) == 0))
{
SwDmCustomInfoType propertyType = SwDmCustomInfoType.swDmCustomInfoText;
string resolvedValue;
propertyValue = dmDocument.GetCustomPropertyValues(property, out propertyType, out resolvedValue);
}
csvLine = csvLine + "," + FixChars(propertyValue);
}
sb.AppendLine(csvLine);
dmDocument.CloseDoc();
}
static string FixChars(string s)
{
if (s.Contains(QUOTE)) s = s.Replace(QUOTE, QUOTEFORMATTED);
if (s.IndexOfAny(charactersToQuote) > -1) s = QUOTE + s + QUOTE;
return s;
}
}
}
Here is a sample output