Order SOLIDWORKS files by dependencies in Batch+

In some cases it can be beneficial to order the files based on their parent-child relationship. For example, you may need to process all part files first, followed by sub-assemblies, top-level assemblies and drawings. This helps ensure the files do not become out-of-date when macros modify the models.

This is especially important when files are managed by PDM systems, such as SOLIDWORKS PDM.

For example, if the Rebuild macro is used to upgrade all SOLIDWORKS files, it should process lower-level parts before assemblies and drawings. Otherwise, assemblies might get the Needs Rebuild flag because their children were processed and rebuilt after the assembly.

In order to enable this option select the Order By Dependencies toggle in the References group of the Input tab.

Batch+ will collect all the references and present the result in the following dialog.

It is possible to specify the order, e.g. Children To Parents or Parents To Children. It is also possible to only process top level files.

In some cases a part may appear to be the top-level file (sometimes higher than the assembly it is inserted into). This happens because the part has an external reference to the assembly (in-context relation), which makes it both a parent and a child of the assembly at the same time.