How to link & sequence several work definitions to provide a detailed hierarchy in Operator Advisor

[AjaySrini]

I could see that it is possible to sequence and link work definitions to provide hierarchy of a complete work flow in Operator Advisor guide doc, but I am not sure how this can be done. 

Can someone advise me on the steps to link work definitions and how this can be done from the back end services.

[vranganathan]

PTC.SCA.SCO.WorkDefinitionLink is the one used for parent-child relationship. First you create the two work definitions and then link them using this relationship. The Things which implements PTC.SCA.SCO.WorkDefinitionManagementThingShape should have CreateWorkDefinitions and CreateWorkDefinitionLinks services.

[AjaySrini]

Thanks for your inputs. It was really helpful. I have a couple of doubts now.

1. In case if I link 1 parent WD with multiple child WDs, in what sequence does the child WDs gets triggered ? i.e. parallel execution.

2. How does the status of WDs change. Should it be changed manually ?

[vranganathan · Accepted solution]

1. In WorkDefinition table, we have a column named "sequencenumber", when you query the sequences/operations of the given work definition, you can order them by this field. You will need to execute them in that order. The column names generally reflects with the one in MPMLink

2. Yes. You need to change them. Remember, the work definition itself is a template (or class in object oriented terms). You can be producing 1 or more parts/assemblies. We have "WorkDefinitionControlCharacteristicsResponse" table. This will capture values of all the response to given control characteristics. The framework will allow you to extend the data model easily.