Management of the references differs between PW Drive and PW Explorer. If we want to fully utilize the power of PWD, there should be a consistent approach for how the files locations generated in both solutions. If PWE requires a unique link to pw:\\... then PWD should be able to translate it when files are referenced directly from locally synced folders.
As I understand, PWE takes precedence over anything that is set in PWD, and therefore the requested should not be something that works against the files management used in PW Web Connection.
ProjectWise Explorer remains the primary interface for those who need the power of deep integration with CAD design tools and many advanced ProjectWise functions.
PWE relies on a relative path (from the master file) …\..\dms123456\abcd.dgn to find reference files in the user’s local working directory. This would not necessarily be true in a Windows (PWD) folder structure.
"PWE takes precedence over anything that is set in PWD" - as it relates to references, this is not the case. Reference file mapping that is established without PWE integration will retain filepaths unless or unlit they are mapped relative to PWE. This is done w/ScanRef tool or by manually repathing from within an integrated session.