Setting Up Library Designer

Setting Up Library Designer

The Library Designer Tool is used for editing existing products and NOT for creating new products from scratch. This article provides information for setting up the Library Designer for the first time. For information on working in the Library Designer, see Using Library Designer – Beginner’s Guide .


Edit Library Designer Paths

Before launching Library Designer, ensure the Library Designer Paths are set up correctly.

Select Toolbox Setup > Options > Utilities > Library Designer Paths.


Fig. 01 – Edit Library Designer Paths

Library Designer Settings

  1. The Directory is the location where the MicrovellumLibraryDesigner.sdf database is stored. Select the desired location and ensure that it does not currently contain a Library Designer database.

    2. Fig. 02 – Directory - No Library Designer Database Present

    We recommend using the SQL CE setting for the directory. When the Library Designer database is set up on a server (SQL Directory Setting) and is available to multiple users, the chances of data being corrupted increases, the best practice is to establish one individual as the keeper of the Library Designer database.

Factory Database Settings

  1. The Name setting refers to the name of your Factory Database. When on SQL CE, the name of the database is MicrovellumFactory, as it appears in Figure 02. When working on the server (SQL), Name refers to the Data Catalog found in the Data Access tab of the Options menu. 
    2. Ensure the Name is entered EXACTLY as it appears in the Options menu, or the Factory Database cannot be found.

    Fig. 03 – Name Matches Data Catalog

  2. The Directory setting refers to the location of the Factory Database. This setting is only available on SQL CE. 
  3. The Data Source setting refers to the name of the server. The Data Source can be located in the Data Access tab of the Options menu. See Figure 03. This setting is only available on SQL.

Launching Library Designer

After the Library Designer Paths have been set up correctly, select Toolbox Setup > Library Designer.


Fig. 04 – Library Designer

When there is no existing MicrovellumLibraryDesigner.sdf database in the directory referenced above, the following message appears:


Fig. 05 – No Library Designer Found

Select Yes and wait for the Library Designer interface to open.


Fig. 06 – Library Designer Interface

At this point, there should be no library present. Select Add Library > Select Yes > Select the Library to add.

The Library Designer pulls the Library from the database. This process takes several minutes.

When this process finishes, the Library Designer is ready to be used.

For more information regarding the Library Designer, see the Library Designer articles in the  Product Creation & Editing Tools  section of the Knowledge Base. 


    • Related Articles

    • Overview - Library Designer

      This article provides an example of how Library Designer can be utilized to make Library wide changes affecting many products at once. Before getting started, ensure that the Library Designer database has been configured and test to make sure it's ...

    • Using Library Designer - Beginner's Guide

      Microvellum's Library Designer provides users with an impressive amount of power and control over their product data. It's a tool used by engineers to quickly make sweeping changes to groups of prompts, sub-assemblies, parts, products, and more. It's ...

    • Using Library Designer - Strategy, Tips, and Tricks

      Library Designer is a powerful tool that can be utilized to make Library wide changes affecting many products at once.  In this article, we’ll cover Strategy, Tips, and Tricks that will help you get the most out of Library Designer.  Before getting ...

    • Library Designer - Product/Subassembly Selection Option

      Library Designer - Product/SA Selection Option The following article highlights a new feature that allows the user to predetermine which products & subassemblies to include when scanning a new library designer database. Before this new feature, there ...

    • Using Library Designer - Find and Replace

      Library Designer’s Find and Replace is a powerful and commonly used tool. It is useful for replacing formulas, locating orphaned global variable references, determining if products are referencing a particular global variable, or any time it is ...

    • Recent Articles

    • Toolbox Release Notes | Build 25.1.1204.641

      The following release notes apply to Toolbox build 25.1.1204.641 Toolbox Login Screen Update Fig. 1: The updated Toolbox Login interface. The Toolbox Login interface has had several changes applied to it to enhance its usability and allow for greater ...

    • Toolbox Release Notes | Build 25.1.1120.641

      The following release notes apply to Toolbox build 25.1.1120.641 Mouse Wheel Fix There was a reported issue in certain interfaces (such as report groups) in which hovering over a dropdown menu (such as Output Type) would result in the options within ...

    • Dynamic Dimensioning in Toolbox BSB

      When applying dimensions to products and other solids in Toolbox BSB, by default, all dimensions are drawn in 2D on the Y plane, requiring one to switch to a top view (or an appropriately high isometric view) to see them. BricsCAD has a feature that ...

    • Toolbox Release Notes | Build 25.1.1107.641

      The following release notes apply to Toolbox build 25.1.1107.641. Subassembly Prompt Fixes A pair of issues were reportedly occurring when attempting to work with subassembly prompts in the Edit Design Data interface. Subassemblies copied to the ...

    • Microvellum Foundation Library Release Notes | Build 25.1024

      The following release notes apply to the Microvellum Foundation Library build 25.1024. Additions Added Face Profile Options to the Door Wizard for enhanced design flexibility. Users can now apply decorative visual profiles to doors, drawer fronts, ...