News & Blogs > HELiOS 2021

HELiOS 2021

25-02-2021 | Latest news | Software Updates

With HELiOS 2021, the latest version of our flexible PDM system is now available.

Among the developmental focuses here was the further expansion of the CAD/CAE interfaces. Examples are the new Batch re-import function, the support of suppressed parts as well as the consideration of part dependencies in SOLIDWORKS, the derivation for iParts/iAssemblies and the display of substitution geometries in Autodesk Inventor, or the support of EPLAN 2.9.

The functionality of the Mask Editor has also been further extended. For example, certain elements can now be marked as mandatory fields, multilingual text objects can be created and translated dictionary texts can be managed.

Highlights

HELiOS general / HELiOS Desktop

Discontinuation Oracle
As of HELiOS 2022 (Version 2700) Oracle is no longer supported as a database platform.

Discontinuation HELiOS 32-Bit
As of HELiOS 2021 (Version 2600), the 32 Bit installations for HELiOS and the HELiOS Viewer are no longer available in the download area of the ISD Wiki. If a 32 Bit installation is required, please contact ISD Support by e-mail at support@isdgroup.com.
As of HELiOS 2022 (Version number 2700.0), a 32 Bit installation for HELiOS and the HELiOS Viewer will no longer be available. However, the interface to 32 Bit applications such as Office will still be possible and is not affected by the discontinuation of the 32 Bit installation of HELiOS.

Discontinuation of Office 2010 interface
From HELiOS 2021 (Version number 2600.0) on, we will no longer support Office 2010 in the HELiOS – Office interface.

HELiOS Options
As of HELiOS 2021, you will find the HELiOS Options for the HELiOS Desktop as well as for linked applications such as MS Office or MultiCAD applications in a centralised dialogue. At the start, the submenu window belonging to the application from which the options were called is displayed as default. This means that if you call up the options from the HELiOS Desktop, the application-specific setting options for the HELiOS Desktop are displayed directly, from a linked Office or MultiCAD application the HELiOS Options specific to this application are displayed, and so on.

Mask Editor - Mandatory fields
Since HELiOS 2600 it is possible to mark certain elements in the Mask Editor as mandatory fields. This makes it possible to allow certain actions, such as assigning articles or documents to classes, only if a certain database field of the class mask is not filled with a value. If this information is still missing, saving the corresponding mask is then not possible. Working with mandatory attributes at mask level instead of attribute level enables you to use certain attributes differently for different classes. For example, an inspection attribute can be set as a mandatory attribute for the article class of a certain part type with a high safety standard, but remain optional for the article classes of other part types.

Mask Editor - Multilingual text objects
Another new feature in the Mask Editor is that you can create text objects in several languages and manage translated texts (so-called "Dictionary texts").

Mask Edtior - Further improvements

You can select masks in the selection window by typing the first letters of the name, similar to the Windows Explorer.
Masks that are already open are marked as such in the selection window.
HELiOS remembers the currently defined selection of mask file object types and user-defined types and restores them the next time you run the selection dialogue.
In addition, if you should be working with a large mask in a small mask editor window, you can centre it in scroll viewer mode by pressing the space bar.

HELiOS Multi-CAD general

Discontinuation of old Multi-CAD interfaces for HELiOS 2021
As of HELiOS 2021 (Version 2600.0), the following versions of Multi-CAD interfaces are no longer supported:

AutoCAD (Mechanical) 2016 and 2017
Inventor 2016 and 2017
Navisworks 2016 and 2017
SOLIDWORKS 2016 and 2017

Automatic assigning of articles as with "New in HELiOS"
When transferring from CAD to HELiOS using the New in HELiOS input dialogue, you can ensure that article links to "recognized" documents are automatically processed by setting the option Automatic assignment of articles in case of missing recognition. As with the attribute import, you can also define different mappings for the data transfer, which can be selected from the pull-down menu at this point.

Derivation for iParts/ iAssemblies
As with the transfer of CAD model structures to the HELiOS database, iParts/iAssemblies are also taken into account and processed accordingly when you create a so-called drawing derivation with the Derive model structure function.

HELiOS and AutoCAD / Autodesk Inventor

AutoCAD

Title block update via HELiOS Spooler
From HELiOS 2021 onwards, you update HELiOS title block data in AutoCAD via the HELiOS Spooler using XML-based attribute mapping. In older HELiOS versions, the title block attributes were transferred via the system files heliosac_titleblock.dat and helacblock.xml. As of HELiOS 2021 (V.2600), these are omitted.

Autodesk Inventor

Display of substitution document
HELiOS standard masks such as the document detail window show a marking for substitute geometries via the HELiOS attribute Substitution document in the "delivery state".

Performance
With the update to HELiOS 2021, significant performance improvements could be achieved in the Inventor interface. This becomes clear, for example, when transferring the CAD model structure to the HELiOS database with the New in HELiOS function, which is now carried out significantly faster compared to earlier versions.

HELiOS and SOLIDWORKS

Batch reimport
If no HELiOS document is active, in the HELiOS menu of SOLIDWORKS you will find the new Batch reimport function in addition to the Batch import function for models or drawings introduced in the last version. With this function you can update existing HELiOS documents by re-importing the corresponding files from the file system, e.g. if a change to HELiOS documents by external tools (e.g. updating to newer CAD versions) is followed by a subsequent update of the documents in HELiOS, or if subsequent corrections to original files are to be imported during a data transfer.

Suppressed parts
When transferring model drawings with the New in HELiOS function, suppressed parts in SOLIDWORKS are also taken into account. Suppressed parts are indicated as such and regularly offered for transfer to HELiOS. Parts which are suppressed by SOLIDWORKS due to missing references are also marked accordingly in the dialogue.

Taking dependent parts into account
Part dependencies in SOLIDWORKS, such as linked dimensional conditions, are recognised accordingly by HELiOS 2021 and are retained after saving to the database. This ensures that changes to linked parameters are handled correctly even after a CAD drawing has been transferred to the HELiOS database.

Further improvements and adjustments

If you work with configurations, when you open documents without an article context, the SOLIDWORKS configuration selection appears first, followed by the selection of the HELiOS article context, if applicable. This has the advantage that you can load a SOLIDWORKS document in any configuration independently of any existing article contexts in HELiOS. Otherwise, the selectable configurations might be limited by the existing article contexts. In principle, the option Supplement non-existing article context by (unambiguously) linked article in the Settings for the Document applies.
When dragging a document with configurations from the HELiOS workspace into an empty SOLIDWORKS window (the dragging process then results in opening the document), a configuration selection also appears. In this case, the document is always opened, but no item context is taken into account.
When transferring the product structure, note that assemblies without an article context are not taken into account by the transfer.
If you change and save assemblies locally, they are set to "edited" mode for you. In order to avoid possible data conflicts with users working on the same documents, it is ensured that subordinate assemblies with local changes are also automatically set to "edited" mode and saved to HELiOS.

HELiOS and HiCAD

New Design Checker option: Non-BOM-relevant parts with HELiOS article master
In the Design Checker of HiCAD the new test Non-BOM-relevant parts with HELiOS article master is available under General. If a model drawing contains parts with article master data, some of which are BOM-relevant and some of which are not, there may be problems when transferring the product structure to HELiOS. With the new test all parts can be found that have an article master but are not BOM-relevant.

Discontinuation of old figure format (FIG)
The following notes regarding FIG-FGA conversion are irrelevant if HELiOS is used in conjunction with the HELiOS Vault Server.

Since HiCAD 2017 we support FGA as figure format (before that FIG). As of HiCAD/HELiOS 2021 or HELiOS 2021 as an update for HiCAD 2019/2020, we require that all figures stored using HELiOS have previously been converted to the new FGA format. To convert existing 2-D FIG files, the tool Converter_FIG_To_FGA.exe is available in the exe directory of the HiCAD installation.
If there are still unconverted FIG files in the HELiOS document database at the time of the database update to HELiOS 2600.0, you will be informed of the outstanding conversion of these files before the database update. In this case, the conversion must be carried out before or at the latest directly after the update using Converter_FIG_To_FGA.exe.

HELiOS and Zuken E3 / EPLAN

Index with link for Zuken E3 and EPLAN
The function Create index, with link for the generation of verifiable changes of articles taking linked documents into account has been extended to also support the HELiOS documents of ZUKEN E3 and EPLAN project files.

Support of EPLAN 2.9
The Major Release of HELiOS 2021 (Version 2600) supports the current EPLAN Version 2.9.