Using Toolbox with PDM

AlbinoPanther · Apr 19, 2025

I have a few toolbox parts that I designed before the release of the Alibre PDM server software. I have transitioned to using the PDM, but I wanted to know: is it possible to use Toolbox as well as PDM? Right now it seems to me that I have to use the local toolbox files to generate the part that I need, save locally to the machine, and then upload to the PDM server. I would like to skip the process involving local files since it is inconvenient when I have multiple computers I use the software on depending on the circumstances.
I am wondering if I just need to bite the bullet and design a "toolbox" part that just has configurations or variables designated in the Alibre part instead of a spreadsheet.

stepalibre · Apr 21, 2025

If you want to fully leverage PDM you need to convert configurations into individual parts. I haven't used the latest PDM version much, but I assume configuration support is not available. That means you'll need to label parts so you know they contain configurations since there is no UI for configurable parts. If you want to use PDM features you'll need to bite that bullet and work with parts and assemblies within the PDM project and library workflow. The Toolbox and library parts feature set is not fully implemented in PDM. They're more desktop centric features that doesn't quite fit into a PDM workflow, at least not yet.
You can test and experiment with my test files to understand the full workflow.

https://www.alibre.com/forum/index.php?threads/ansib18-6-4-self-tapping-thread-cutting-screw-library-test-files.25471/