Add information from external databases to EPDM data cards

It is always fun to see how people use applications in a different way than originally designed.

PigeonHole was originally written to help people populate complicated data cards with drop lists from a grid type decision tree or from a SQL query.

However, if PigeonHole is populating the drop lists with a SQL query AND there is only one result, PigeonHole doesn’t bother presenting the user with any choices, it simply populates the SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM data card with the found value.

A common example is updating your data cards from your purchasing database. This example shows you could add an “Update” button to your data card, this button connects to the data base, searches the purchasing system for the cost of the item, and places the value into the data card.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHY_5DhfY5I[/youtube]

Another example I recently came across was populating account names/numbers an Outlook Business Contact Manager database. On their folder cards they sometimes knew the account number, sometimes knew the account name. We created two buttons, one for each field to update, each button would connect to their CRM, find the proper information and update the card.