What's New In the 2024 SOLIDWORKS API - SOLIDWORKS and Onshape Software Development, Mechanical Design

The most notable news with the SOLIDWORKS 2024 release is the addition of the ability to save 2024 models to 2023 or 2022 versions. This entirely solves the complaint of lack of backwards compatibility that has generated countless complaints over the decades. This is interesting for me, personally, because in 2014 I wrote a tool called SolidTranslate that used the SOLIDWORKS API to translate models from newer to older versions. I didn’t release it for personal, legal, and business reasons, but the codebase lives on in other interoperability software that will be released at the end of this year. Stay tuned!

Now, onto the API… and not just the SOLIDWORKS API. This post will also cover the PDM API and Document Manager API. And if that’s not enough, I’m also going to cover back to 2020 for completeness’ sake, since the last time I did a “what’s new” post like this was in 2019. Before I do that, please note that this list only covers notable enhancements. You can see all additions and their related API calls in the Release Notes article in the API Help. You can find it in the local API Help by searching for “Release Notes” in the category tab. Note that the local API Help Release Notes will only be as up-to-date as the service pack you have downloaded.

New SOLIDWORKS API Calls and Interfaces

2020
- Support for opening and saving documents in SOLIDWORKS Connected.
- Sort cut list
  - ICutListSortOptions
- Explode multi-body parts
  - IPartExplodeStep
- Redesign of mass property API
  - IMassProperty2
2021
- API calls available to SOLIDWORKS Connected only.
  - Get the type of 3DEXPERIENCE application that owns a given model.
    - IModelDocExtension::Get3DExperienceModelType
- Get all of the unobscured drawing components in a drawing view of an assembly drawing.
  - IView::GetVisibleDrawingComponents
2022
- Creation of the SOLIDWORKS Inspection API.
- Support for belt/chain assembly features.
  - IBeltChainFeatureData
- Close and reopen a specified drawing document with an ExitDetailingMode option.
  - ISldWorks::CloseAndReopen2
- Reload or replace a model document with a force reload option.
  - IModelDocExtension::ReloadOrReplace
- Prompt users for the name of the file to open with options.
  - ISldWorks::GetOpenFileName2
2023
- Many enhancements to sheet metal API calls. See here.
- Determine whether a configuration is a defeature configuration.
  - IConfiguration::IsDefeature
2024
- Access the configuration-specific custom property manager of cut-lists.
  - ICutListItem::CustomPropertyManager
  - IConfiguration::GetCutListItems
- Access the configuration-specific custom property manager of components.
  - IComponent2::CustomPropertyManager
- Retrieve errors that occurred during the last call to IFeatureManager::CreateFeature
  - IFeatureManager::GetCreateFeatureErrors
- Set whether to save as a previous version during model save
  - IAdvancedSaveAsOptions::SaveAsPreviousVersion

New PDM API Calls and Interfaces

2020
- Extended search functionality includes the ability to:
  - Create an extended search object. See IEdmVault21::CreateSearch2.
  - Use new search syntax. See Search Syntax.
- Get whether a document has cut list items
  - IEdmFile17::HasCutlistItems
- Get and set whether focus is on the data card view.
  - IEdmCardView64::IsFocusOnDataCard
  - IEdmCardView64::SetFlagIsFocusOnDataCard
- Get whether a BOM row is a virtual component.
  - IEdmBomCell2::IsVirtual
2021
- New interfaces for creating and modifying SOLIDWORKS BOMs.
  - IEdmBomMgr3
2022
- Creation of the SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional Web API.

New Document Manager API Calls and Interfaces

2020
- Get how SOLIDWORKS Connected views this configuration.
  - ISwDMConfiguration17::Get3DExperienceType
- Gets the physical product represented by this configuration in SOLIDWORKS Connected.
  - ISwDMConfiguration17::GetRepresentationParent
2021
- Get the type of 3DExperience application that created this document.
  - ISwDMDocument26::Get3DExperienceType

Does anything we’ve covered stand out to you as particularly useful or exciting? If so then let us know in the comments!

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