description |
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Derivatives are files which can be derived from Assemblies or Parts (components) or items |
Derivatives section icon
Derivatives are files or URLs that are derived from BOMs and Components in the CAD source, such as STEP, DWG, PDF, etc... files. SharpSync's derivatives feature allows the manual or automated transfer of CAD BOM derivatives from the CAD Data Source to the ERP Data Source. The derivatives feature is currently only available for:
Source | Url Transfer* | File Transfer** |
---|---|---|
Onshape | ✅ | ✅ |
PropelPLM | ✅ | ✅ |
Odoo | ✅ | [mid-late 2025] |
NetSuite | ✅ | [on-request] |
SolidWorks | ||
Inventor | ||
CSV | ||
SolidWorks PDM |
* If the source is CAD, then the URL is available and copied to a field in the ERP. If the source is ERP, then the URL may be copied to a field from the CAD.
** If the source is CAD, then the file generated or copied to the ERP. If the source is ERP, then the file is transferred from the CAD to the ERP.
Derivative templates
A derivative template is a conversion template which can be used to specify
- What should be converted (e.g. Part, Assembly, Drawing)
- What the destination name should be (e.g. PartNumber + Revision)
- What should be transferred (e.g. the URL to the derivative or a copy of the file or both)
Derivative
A derivative is a file or URL that is generated from a document. If the source document are geometric documents, the outputs can be STEP, IGES or OBJ files. If the source documents are drawing documents, the outputs can be DXF, DWG or PDF.
{% hint style="info" %} Derivatives are not generated by the SharpSync app. Derivative files are generated by the source system (E.g. Onshape, SolidWorks or SolidWorks PDM or Inventor). {% endhint %}
- First, make sure you have loaded all available derivatives from your source by clicking on the update source derivatives types button.
- Second, click on the
DERIVATIVE TEMPLATE NAME
input to list the available derivative types to select from, then select a derivative type, and finally click on theADD DERIVATIVE
button to add the derivative type.
Derivatives: Select from Source Templates
- After adding all the desired derivative types, you can now start to configure their settings
There are different types of mappings for derivatives:
- Model geometry for assemblies (e.g. STEP, IGES)
- Model geometry for components (e.g. STEP, IGES)
- Drawing derivative (e.g. DRAWING) (search patterns) (e.g. first find DRAWING matching the pattern DRW-{componentName})
- Drawing derivatives (e.g. PDF / DXF / DWG) based on the found DRAWING
For each type of mapping you can select one or more (depending on the type) of option:
- Transfer URL: creates a copy of the URL value (in the selected property mapping if supported by the ERP Data Source) **
- Transfer File: creates a copy of the file in the destination ERP
**Not available for offline sources at the time of writing
It is important to note the following logic:
- When mapping assembly derivatives [checkbox
FOR ASSEMBLIES
] (e.g. STEP, IGES):- The derivative is always generated based on the version + configuration provided for the component.
- The derivative is searched for (opt-in) (Not Yet Implemented)
- When mapping component derivatives [checkbox
FOR COMPONENTS
] (e.g. STEP, IGES):- The derivative is always generated based on the version + configuration provided for the component.
- The derivative is searched for (opt-in) (Not Yet Implemented)
- When mapping the DRAWING derivative [checkbox
FOR DRAWINGS
] (e.g. SLDDRW / ONSHAPE DRAWING documents):- No new drawings will be generated in the source.
- A new DRAWING BOM Row will be created in the BOM view in SharpSync as child of each item (assemblies + parts) during the BOM loading process, only if a corresponding DRAWING is found in the source matching the defined file search pattern exactly (the search will be based on the DRAWING derivative template file search pattern and the metadata of the parent item. e.g.: If the parent item part name is P1-PN, the search pattern DRW-{componentName} will search for a source DRAWING exactly named DRW-P1-PN).
- This created row will be read only and will not be included as part of bom submission, instead it will act as a placeholder for possible drawing derivatives (DRAWING, PDF, DWG, etc...).
- The DRAWING row derivative can be configured in the DERIVATIVES menu but can only be added to a DRAWING BOM Row.
- When processing derivatives, the application will use the found source DRAWING. The application will then make a copy of the link only (in the case of online CAD document system (e.g. Onshape)) or a copy of the link and/or file (in the case of online CAD file system (e.g. SolidWorks PDM))
- When mapping drawing derivatives [checkbox
FOR DRAWINGS
] (e.g. PDF / DXF / DWG ):- Drawing derivatives can be configured in the DERIVATIVES menu but can only be added to DRAWING BOM Rows as defined above.
- The derivative is always generated based on the DRAWING Bom Row and its parent item metadata. This means that the application will use the found source DRAWING, and convert it to the supported format specified, and copy the link and/or the file to the destination.
- The derivative is searched for (opt-in) (Not Yet Implemented)
- You can double click on the
PATTERN
cell of each derivative type to change the file search or naming pattern of the derivative that will be transferred to your ERP source. If the search pattern is for a DRAWING document type, then this will be the search pattern used to search for drawings. Not that when searching for drawings, only exact matches are considered. Partial matching is not supported at the time of writing due to the possibility of 1000s of results being returned.
Derivatives: Configure Naming Pattern
- You can check/uncheck the
GENERATE FOR ASSEMBLIES
or theGENERATE FOR COMPONENTS
or theGENERATE FOR DRAWINGS
checkbox of a derivative type to control which BOM row derivatives can be generated for which BOM component type (assemblies or components or drawings). For example, if the "STEP" derivative type is checked for assemblies, then the "STEP" BOM row derivative can be generated for any assembly row of your loaded BOM. (See also Configure BOM Row Derivatives)
Derivatives: Select Auto Generation
- You can check/uncheck the
TRANSFER FILE
or theTRANSFER URL
checkbox of a derivative type to have the corresponding BOM row derivative checkboxStore File
orStore Url
checked by default when the BOM row derivative is generated. (See also Configure BOM Row Derivatives)
Derivatives: Default Transfer Options
- You can uncheck the
ENABLED
checkbox of a derivative type to prevent it from being available to be generated as a BOM row derivative. You can set a derivative type asREAD ONLY
to prevent the related generated BOM row derivatives from being configured on a per row basis. (See also Configure BOM Row Derivatives)
Derivatives: Other Options
- In
Settings
->Display
, you can check/uncheck theGenerate default BOM row derivatives
in order to auto-generate the BOM row derivatives on SharpSync BOM load according to the derivative type configurations that you have set up in the previous section. (See also Configure BOM Row Derivatives)
Derivatives: Enable Auto Generate
- If you have the user setting
Generate default BOM row derivatives
checked, all the BOM row derivatives should be auto-generated each time you load your BOM according to the derivative types configurations that you have set up in the previous sections. - Otherwise you can always manually add BOM row derivatives per row by:
- Clicking on each BOM row's
DERIVATIVES
icon - Selecting the required derivative type from the selection list
- Clicking on the
ADD DERIVATIVE
button
- Clicking on each BOM row's
- Note that the available derivative type list changes based on you configured derivative types.
Derivatives: BOM Comparison
- You can further configure your generated BOM row derivative (if your derivative types settings permit it) on a per row basis. For example, you can manually change the
File Name
that will be stored in you ERP source. (Note: Some ERP sources such as Propel PLM have a pre-set logic on where to store component derivatives; other ERP sources have a more flexible logic where you can specify the secondary source mapping that will be used to store the url or file derivative. To specify the mapping the to be used to store derivative, in the corresponding DERIVATIVE type template simply select the associated property mapping from the drop down menu of available defined mappings)
Derivatives: Edit name
- You can also change the
Store File
orStore Url
option on a per row basis. Note that theDRAWING
derivative cannot have itsStore File
checkbox checked as these derivatives will not be generated.
The CAD source derivatives will automatically be transferred to your ERP source as part of the SharpSync BOM Submittal process (when you click on the SUBMIT BOM
button) according to your configured Derivative Types and BOM Row Derivatives settings.