What's the difference between "work offline" and "no server"

[vincecatlin]

This is serious. We often work in a "design mode" where we don't need or want to confuse the data base (that is, of course, the "common files" area in the Windchill database)

In this case we would choose to work "locally"

Without consulting the one thousand eight hundred page user manual - What are the benefits of choosing "no server" or "work offline" (or both). in the sever management tab??

Ideally we could chose a setting where it would work just like good old Pro E and a file would save to the same folder it came from - WHAT A CONCEPT

As always a PTC support search will yield a great many results that have absolutely nothing to do with my question.

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[StephenW · Accepted solution]

From my limited understanding, no server is completely out of pdmlink and not connected at all.

Work offline is still in your "local" workspace and when you reconnect back online, your changes are back in your workspace.

So for no server, you have to backup or export your files to a folder.

For offline, you are still working in your workspace.

[rrich-2]

This is the Answer I would have given. 

[kpritchard]

I'd recommend working offline.  I've rarely seen a use case where everything was brand new and when "working locally" the design tends to use some "common files" content such as fasteners etc.  Advantage of offline is you can connect to access what you need and go offline again.  Working offline you will still be working in your Workspace and can update and/or synchronize.

As far as I know, "no server" will have you working locally (on disk).  Big disadvantage here is if one of you concepts "grows legs" and uses existing content it's tricky to get into the system.

The former manager in me wants to ask "if your concepts are worth doing why are they not worth keeping?"

[rcook]

If you are using common parts as is (unmodified), then getting them "into the system" is easy. They are already in the system, so you will be using already existing parts. Only the new components will be added.

If you are intentionally modifying common parts, then getting them in is a little different, but still easy. How you handle them depends on their lifecycle state and your release process.

[rcook]

Work offline - You will have access to all data that was in your workspace(s) when you went offline. Modified and new files are both saved to the client-side workspace. When you go back online, the client-side and server-side workspaces are synced. The common use case is for working in Creo without an internet connection or outside the company network (at home) with a borrowed license.

No server - You are not connected to Windchill at all. You will not have access to any data that was in commonspace or your workspace(s). Files that are opened from a folder will be saved back to that folder. New objects will be saved to the working directory by default, although you can select where they go the first time the object is saved.

You can't do both no server and work offline - they are mutually exclusive.

[vincecatlin]

Thanks,

I tend to work offline when needed and the only inconvenience is that any drawing (in design phase at the time) needs to be backed up to my local folder of choice.

What I mean is that ANY drawing will not save anywhere but the workspace (encrypted Windchill file) and so will ALWAYS need to be saved as a backup.

These are drawings that might reference assemblies and (according to Murphy) will always try to corrupt any common space they can.

The frustrating thing is that they won't just save to the folder they came from.

[rcook]

If you are working offline, that implies that you intend to go back online at some point. Why do you "need" to work offline? Why do a backup of the files? Why not just work in the offline workspace until you are ready to go back online?

If you want the drawing to save to the folder it came from while working "offline", you are probably better off going to No Server:

1. Open the drawing in a connected session

2. Backup to a local folder

3. Erase session

4. Switch to No Server

5. Open the drawing from the local folder

6. Work on the drawing, saving will save to the folder that it was opened from

If you want the locally modified drawing back in Windchill:

1. In the local folder, leave ONLY the modified and new objects so the rest will be pulled from workspace/commonspace

     a. Objects that were modified in the local folder should be in the workspace BEFORE the next step, otherwise Windchill will see them as new objects

     b. If you only modified the drawing, then the drawing should be the only thing in the folder (I'll explain later)

     c. Instead of deleting files, I usually create a sub-folder and just drag everything I didn't change in there, just in case

2. Connected (online) session, nothing in session

3. Open the drawing from the local folder

     a. Creo will look for dependent files first in the folder that you opened from, then in session, then the active workspace, then commonspace

     b. This way the .drw will be pulled from the local folder, but the .asm and .prt files will be pulled from the workspace/commonspace as long as they weren't renamed in          Windchill during the time you were "offline"

4. Save - you will get a warning that the files already exist in the workspace and will be overwritten (this is what you want), select Ignore and OK

     a. This will only be the files that were left in your local folder - all other dependent files will pull from workspace/commonspace and not show as modified (unless they          were already modified in the workspace)

5. You now have the drawing from the local folder with the metadata from Windchill in your workspace

6. Work in connected session with modified drawing like normal. Check out/in, etc.

Sounds like a lot of steps at first, but walk through it once or twice and you'll see that it is pretty simple.

Or you could simply go offline, open/save in/out of the workspace and go back online when you are done. Or stay online and just don't check-in the files so that they don't clutter up commonspace, but are still saved.

[StephenW]

That's a good explanation and step by step Roger.

Here at my work, I try to keep user online or at the very least offline but still in the workspace. I reserve going no-server for a few specific reasons like fixing messed up renaming scenarios and for the occasional hot project that I need to get some sort of output NOW and my only option is to hack something together.

I consider it just another tool in my toolbox.