Table of Content In Merged PDF

Why Add a Table of Contents with PDMPublisher

If you are merging drawings with PDMPublisher, adding a table of content in merged PDF turns a long PDF into a clean, navigable, professional deliverable. PDMPublisher reads SOLIDWORKS and PDM meta data, builds a TOC page or pages, and inserts it at the front of the merged PDFs.

How It Works (PDMPublisher)

Screenshot of a section in the PDMPublisher (SOLIDWORKS) add-in Output settings for PDF export. The checkbox "Add table of content to merged PDF" is unchecked. Below it, the "Table columns" dropdown is open, showing options: "Custom Columns ([ ] Click Customize Columns...)" (selected), "Just Name", and "Name & Quantity". The "Bookmarks" field is set to "Custom Columns ([ ] Click Customize Columns...)" with an evaluated value placeholder. This allows the user to select predefined or custom column sets for the table of contents in a merged PDF output.

When Add Table of Contents to merged PDF is enabled, PDMPublisher:

Collects metadata from each file being merged.
Builds a TOC at the beginning of the merged PDF.
Populates columns from SOLIDWORKS custom properties a`nd/or PDM variables.
You can customize the columns from the Customize Columns button:

Screenshot of the "PDMPublisher - Customize TOC table" dialog in SOLIDWORKS. The window allows the user to add custom properties as columns to the table of contents in a merged PDF. The option "Add variables (custom properties) that will be added as columns in your custom Table of Contents" is shown with a radio button selected. Below it, a list displays available variables/properties with checkboxes:

Finish
MDL_EngAppvl_Date
MDL_EngAppvl
Revision (checked)
Description
PartNumber (checked)
Number
PartNo
Cost
Status (checked)

Two items are currently checked: Revision, PartNumber, and Status. Buttons include "+ Add" and a trash icon for removing items. This dialog is used to customize which columns appear in the automatically generated table of contents when PDMPublisher merges multiple PDFs.

The example below shows a custom PartNumber,Status, and Qty column. When a property does not exist in the SOLIDWORKS file(s), the column will be blank.