Pdm

[gbon]

Hi alls,



I have a Creo Engineer III package.

So it contains Windchild PDMlink and Projectlink.

Last time I've used something like this, it was called ''Intralink 3.4'',
few time ago...



I'm working alone (on just one computer) and don't have any kind of server.

So, I'm wondering if it's possible to use those tools without any additional
bought.



My aim is that it would be fine to have a tool that could help me for
renaming, duplicate models.

I don't need to use sharing functions of Pdm, as I'm working alone.



So, can someone tell me if I can do something with Pdmlink and Projectlink
or is it completely useless in my case ?



Thanks for any advice,

GB






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[greatprairie]

If you only need to do renaming, why need PDMLink? Creo or Pro/ENGINEER
itself can do rename.


2013/1/19 g bon <->

> Hi alls,****
>
> ** **
>
> I have a Creo Engineer III package.****
>
> So it contains Windchild PDMlink and Projectlink.****
>
> Last time I’ve used something like this, it was called ‘’Intralink 3.4’’,
> few time ago...****
>
> ** **
>
> I’m working alone (on just one computer) and don’t have any kind of server.
> ****
>
> So, I’m wondering if it’s possible to use those tools without any
> additional bought.****
>
> ** **
>
> My aim is that it would be fine to have a tool that could help me for
> renaming, duplicate models.****
>
> I don’t need to use sharing functions of Pdm, as I’m working alone.****
>
> ** **
>
> So, can someone tell me if I can do something with Pdmlink and Projectlink
> or is it completely useless in my case ?****
>
> ** **
>
> Thanks for any advice,****
>
> GB****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>

[mpeterson]

If that part is used in numerous assemblies than you have to open all those
assemblies before the renaming and then save all the assemblies afterward. A
PDM would also help when using master models and wanting a similar design so
that when you do a save as of your assembly it will allow save as of the
master that is driving the parts in the assembly.



Mark A. Peterson

Sr Design Engineer

Igloo Products Corp

-

[gkbeer]

PDMlink won't allow files with duplicate names to be loaded into its space.
You are required to deconflict any duplicate names as files are loaded
into PDMlink.

In that sense it will help, by making it easier to rename an item
already in PDMlink before adding another duplicatly named item.

I have heard of single users making use of PDMlink.

[bfrandsen]

The PDMLink/ProjectLink license that comes with Creo is the Workgroup Manager Client a.k.a. Heavy User license. It allows you to connect to a Windchill server and work towards it.
If you have no access to a Windchill server where you can manage your CAD data, then it is useless.

/Bjarne

From: g bon [

[BenLoosli]

You will need to setup, install and configure the Windchill server side software before you can use the client side.
Also, PDMLink is NOT OOTB ready to use like Intralink3.x was. There is a lot to setup.
You may have access to a IntraLink10 license, instead of PDMlink, which would do only the CAD vaulting that a single user could benefit from. Do you need problem reports, change notices, release procedures, etc, in a single user environment?

Yes, it may be beneficial to a single user, but is it cost effective?

Thank you,

Ben H. Loosli
USEC, INC.

[dgschaefer]

As a single user I think that the benefits of PDMLink would be quite small and the work involved implementing and maintaining it rather large.

We tried, early last year, to set up a trial run of PDMLink as we too own the seats but have never used it. We had an older server (you'll need a dedicated Windchill server, they'd like you to have two), admittedly marginal on the specs, that we could use tor a test. We were interested in only check in/check out, rev control and other data management uses that a small team of users would need in order to work collaboratively without stepping on each other's toes. We worked on it part to full time for a month and never even got it to run reliably, let alone set up properly. We got lots of help from the Sysadmin and Windchill lists as well as from our VAR, Tristar, but in the end decided that, as we had assumed before, it was way too much overhead for what we need.

In the end the pain of the occasional miscommunication and data overwrite was less than the pain of setting up and administering PDMLink.

--

[kevin.brault]

For small groups I use SVN with a simple file extension rename script.

This allows you to prevent accidental file overwrites and allows you to revert back to old versions. But this is about all it does.

Kevin

[amedina]

Just for consistency, here are my two cents. Get SVN something like

[amedina]

actually the website is :

[SteveBarnhart]

You might benefit more from Windchill Essentials as I understand it will have a more straightforward out-of-the-box implementation (install in hours, supposedly) with basic PDM functionality. Still, I'm not sure your current license will entitle you to that. We run Windchill and I don't think I would recommend it for one user - unless you enjoy the administration aspects.

http://www.ptc.com/appserver/wcms/relnotes/note.jsp?&im_dbkey=151742&icg_dbkey=826

[dgschaefer]

That's an interesting product, at least from the minimal description there. I couldn't find much else about it. I did find the 'Getting Started Guide' [1], but I didn't see if it was already available or not (M030 of WC 10.1 is due this quarter). It promises easy to install and manage Creo (well, Creo 2 & CEP 5.0, no WF4 or Creo 1) & even our Solidworks (2011, 2012 & 2013) data. Frankly, it sounds like just what we need.

I'm sure the kicker will be that we'll have to buy it even though we've owned their flagship product (Intralink then PDMlink) for years without using it. "I know we forced you to buy and maintain a Cadillac that you can't use for years, but now we have this fabulous Honda that is perfect for you. You should buy the Honda; it's exactly what you need! Of course, you'll still have to keep paying to maintain the Caddy too, ok?" I hope not, but experience tells me otherwise.

[1] -

[A.DelNegro]

Doug,



I agree. It sounds like what we small shops have been asking for, for
years. Interestingly, I get 3-5 calls a year about back maintenance but
I've never heard of this offering before. Wouldn't you think that
companies who own less than 5 seats would be their target audience for
this and they would at least send them some info about it?



Sounds like another potentially good product that PTC isn't really sure
they want to sell. Reminds me of ProductLink... Wonder how long this
one will last. (probably not long since no one knows about it)



T

[DarrinHiebert]

I remember reading or hearing that this was supposed to be ready Q1 of
this year, but don't quote me on that.

[dgschaefer]

There were some murmurs on the exploders last year about PTC developing something simple, I assume this is the fruit of that. From the looks of it it's brand new; in fact I'm not even certain it's available yet.

I'm going to ask my VAR about it to see what he knows at this point.

--

[davehaigh]

There was a talk by PTC on this subject at the conference last June. At the time it was still just a glimmer in their eye. This is the first I've seen it advertised.

David Haigh

[bbenitez]

I also remember being contacted by someone at PTC saying they had a "lite"
version in the works.



Anthony R. Benitez
Senior Mechanical Designer - Supervisor
Applied Research Laboratories - The University of Texas at Austin

[DarrinHiebert]

I remember now where I heard about it "officially".



It was at our last local user group meeting, in mid December. Our VAR
gave a quick sales PowerPoint on it, and what it could do and couldn't do.
I still don't recall when it was going to be available, or if it was
something that was available right now.



Our VAR indicated that it was a matter of answering a series of questions,
and letting the install go. They estimated that it took several hours to
perform the install and configuration once all of the questions were
answered, and this was all automatic. No user configuration is necessary,
other than the up front questions.

[dgallup]

Doesn't look like it supports Creo Parametric!?!?!?

○ The following Windchill Workgroup Manager products are bundled and
installed on the server and available for client deployment.
◆ Windchill Workgroup Manager for Creo Illustrate
◆ Windchill Workgroup Manager for Creo Schematics
◆ Windchill Workgroup Manager for Creo Elements/Direct Drafting

◆ Windchill Workgroup Manager for Creo Elements/Direct Modeling
◆ Windchill Workgroup Manager for AutoCAD
◆ Windchill Workgroup Manager for Autodesk Inventor
◆ Windchill Workgroup Manager for SolidWorks
◆ Windchill Workgroup Manager for Mathcad

PTC quality philosophy: We've upped our quality standards. Up yours.

[llie]

One question for you, why do you need a Windchill Workgroup Manager for
Creo Parametric when it can run directly in your Creo Parametric 2.0
embedded browser and tie directly to Windchill?

Lance J Lie
Information Technology
SAS IT Info. Solutions App. Eng.
Space and Airborne Systems
Raytheon Company

+1 310.616.1551 (office)
+1 310.426.4968 (cell)
+1 310.647.0315 (fax)
-

2000 E. El Segundo Blvd.
El Segundo, CA 90245 USA
www.raytheon.com



Raytheon Sustainability

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[SteveBarnhart]

In Reply to David Gallup:

Doesn't look like it supports Creo Parametric!?!?!?

○ The following Windchill Workgroup Manager products are bundled and
installed on the server and available for client deployment.
◆ Windchill Workgroup Manager for Creo Illustrate
◆ Windchill Workgroup Manager for Creo Schematics
◆ Windchill Workgroup Manager for Creo Elements/Direct Drafting

◆ Windchill Workgroup Manager for Creo Elements/Direct Modeling
◆ Windchill Workgroup Manager for AutoCAD
◆ Windchill Workgroup Manager for Autodesk Inventor
◆ Windchill Workgroup Manager for SolidWorks
◆ Windchill Workgroup Manager for Mathcad

PTC quality philosophy: We've upped our quality standards. Up yours.

Just above the list of workgroup managers, it lists capabilities including support for Creo Parametric CAD documents. I guess it's deployed by default so they don't list it with the others.

The following Windchill capabilities are included and preconfigured in PTC
Windchill PDM Essentials:
○ Support for managing Creo Parametric CAD documents
○ Support for managing documents (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, TXT)
○ Server-side representation publishing and client-side viewing
◆ Creo View Lite is included for client 3-D viewing and markup.
◆ Creo Parametric CAD worker, publishing adapter, and the associated
license are included and automatically configured for publishing
○ Windchill Directory Server (for managing users)

[dgschaefer]

I contacted my VAR and he sent me the following bullet points on PDM Essentials which he said I could share. It frankly sounds like a product that will meet our basic PDM needs. He indicated it was a few weeks out.

Below are a few key points [on PTC Windchill PDM Essentials]:

What are the key capabilities of PTC Windchill PDM Essentials?
* Installation and configuration wizards to greatly simplify the deployment of Windchill and all related software, including the database.
* Centralized vaulting and revision control of PTC Creo, AutoCAD, Solidworks, Inventor, PTC Pro/ENGINEER, PTC Creo Elements/Direct, and PTC Mathcad models, structures, and relationships
* Efficiently manage office documents such as Microsoft Word and Excel using the same tools that are utilized with CAD documents, like version control and check in/check out functionality.
Powerful searching tools, product configuration reports, and easy copying / renaming of existing designs to facilitate design reuse
* Schedule and automatically publish viewables and other formats such as thumbnails, PDFs and various design file formats
* Individual and group level access controls manage when changes are permitted, whom can make them, and communicating changes broadly
* Coordinate all applicable users in a coordinated review and promotion process to ensure that all changes are properly approved and documented.
* Manage products and standard part libraries with a pre-defined parts catalog library and with pre-defined product templates and library template.

What is bundled in the PTC Windchill PDM Essentials package?
* Windchill application server
* Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard (Runtime Edition)
* Installation scripts and utilities that great simply the installation process
* Creo View light (for 3-D visualization)
* Creo Parametric CAD worker (a Windchill Visualization Adapter Starter Package license is included in the package and the system is automatically configured for publishing)
* Windchill Directory Service (for managing users)
* Windchill Help Center (for on-line help)
* Windchill Language Pack (for supporting all languages)

What is NOT included and NOT supported in the package?
* No support for parts, part configurations, or advanced configuration options (only CAD Documents and office documents are supported)
* No support for content replication
* No support for change objects
* No support for Cognos Reporting
* No indexed content search (Windchill SOLR is not installed)
* No Windchill Info*Engine, Windchill ESI or ERP integrations are supported
* No ECAD, Software, Arbortext or Shipbuilding integrations are supported
* No support for any optional Windchill modules including Windchill ProjectLink, Windchill MPMLink, Windchill Quality, Windchill Mobile and Windchill SocialLink (customer must first upgrade to Windchill PDMLink)

Can I downgrade from PTC Windchill PDMLink to PTC Windchill PDM Essentials?
No-A customer cannot downgrade PTC Windchill PDMLink seats already purchased to PTC Windchill PDM Essentials.

Version compatibility for PTC Creo Parametric
* Creo 2.0 M030 and later
* Creo Elements/Pro 5.0 M170 and later

--

[BenLoosli]

You have a license to run PDMLink and you can install it on a single computer, like you have.
However, you do not have a license for Oracle or SQLServer, which is a separate purchase and one of them is required for PDMLink.
If you have a corporate license to one of the database tools, then you can install and run PDMLink.
As a note, installing is the easy part of PDMLink. Configuring it with the rules, users, vaults, etc. is a more complex issue.
Also, when you get into a PDMLink environment, you have to match the PDMLink build with a compatible version of Wildfire/Creo.

As an example, I wanted to run PDMLink 10.0 m030 because I was running Wildfire 4 m210. Those version were compatible. PTC recommended that I go to 10.0 m040 because of improvements, but that meant I had to take 2 days to install Wildfire 4 m220 which PDMLink 10.0 m040 required. To run PDMlink 10.1 m030, I would need to move to Creo2 and my users don't need 2 changes at the same time.

[BrianKrieger]

And I believe that PDMLink can leverage Oracle Express which is free. Never tried it, but that was a recommendation from someone along the way (and that it indeed worked for something small like what you mention).

BK