CAD Data Managememt: Custom Checkin "Models & Viewables"

[sm]

Hi,

Have you ever wondered when Windchill will complete your CAD conversions to Creo View format so you can view them online? You can always open the WVS Job Monitor to see the status of your own jobs, but you cannot see where they are in comparison to everyone else's jobs. This makes it difficult to know for sure when all the jobs that could be ahead of you will complete.

If you want to have immediate access to your CAD models in Windchill, there is a great way to do this in Creo. File, Checkin, Custom Checkin and then "Models and Viewables". This will create all the Creo View files on your local machine while the files are open and submit them along with the CAD to be updated in Windchill. It is a super fast way to create all the required Creo View files and they will be available on the server immediately.

If you want to share your CAD models with others, outside Windchill, use the File, Save As, Save a Copy option and choose Creo View (pvz) from the Type menu. Now you'll have a single, portable file you can share with anyone using Creo View on their computer or iPod/iPad.

Don't have Creo View Mobile for iPod/iPad? Check it out in the iTunes...

[JoshH]

Hi Scott,

nice post! Having viewables to both Creo and non-Creo viewers is a huge bonus for Windchill.

A question I have is whether or not there is an impact on performance when creating viewables on check-in?

There are definitely times when connections speeds are questionable and perhaps student laptops are underpowered and the main goal is just to get files checked-in.

[sm]

This will add a little extra overhead to uplaod the indivudal Creo View files for each CAD file, but the size is minimal. Creo View files are very small compared to the actual Creo files. I use this option a lot and honestly, have not noticed a difference in upload times.

The main reason to use it is for immediate access to Creo View files. If there is no urgent need, you can use the standard Checkin and let the server handle the request and put it in the queue for processing.

[JoshH]

One other note I can add is that you can save this as a default option.

Go to "FILE", "Options", "Configuration Editor".

Select "Add..."

Where it says "Option name:", type "generate_viewable_on_save" and set the option to "yes".

Select "Export Configurations..." and then it should go to your Working Directory...usually "My Documents".

This will make it always produce a Viewable.

[pstapler]

Is there a option to have "Models and Viewables" as the default selection rather than "Models" only?

[sm]

From what I can find, not for Creo, only the other 3rd party CAD solutions Windchill supports. If anyone else knows of a way to do that, please share. The CAD publisher issue was resolved 2 weeks ago, so any CAD you checkin will be published on the server automatically.

[tleati]

Hello Scott Morris,

thanks for the topic, I was searching about it. I have also the problem that many CAD viewables on Windchill CS are out-of-date with respect to their corresponding .drw (they refer to an older version of the .drw, let's say 0.1 instead of the most recent 0.2): I read somewhere that there is a way to set an automatic republishment of any viewable with the Jobs in Windchill, but I have never found a guide step-by-step to set a republishment of all the items present on the cabinets (to set it working let's say in the weekend or on holidays period if it may affect heavily Windchill's performace), without having to select them one-by-one. Do you know where I could find this procedure?

thanks

Greetings

Tommaso

[sm]

Tommaso Leati‌, I have created a new discussion topic named CAD Data Management: How to View the Representations (Creo View) Info in Windchill to cover your question. I added a note at the bottom about the possibility of adding this to the academic server for all if there is enough interest/value in it for others.

The ability to push a bulk publishing job is limited to Windchill System Administrators, so you will not find this action on the PTC Academic Windchill server.

[tleati]

Hello Scott, thanks for it, I just viewed and commented.

Is a bulk publishing job guide present anywhere? I have Windchill Administrator privileges and It would be faster to do the bulk job myself without having to contact our distributor (admitted that they are able to do it).

Bye

Tommaso

[sm]

You can get more information about Windchill Publishing in the About Visualization section of the Windchill Help Center which is under under the Specialized Administration, Supporting Visualization and Publishing topics.

I wish I had a better solution for you, but you could always ask this question in the Windchill Community to get feedback from other customers with more experience in publishing. This Community is targeted at students, teachers and mentors participating in the FIRST Robotics program and using the PTC Academic Windchill server.