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Vinay_S1-Visitor
1-Visitor
February 21, 2019
Solved

What is the use of configurable links in windchill? Any materials apart from help center?

  • February 21, 2019
  • 1 reply
  • 15273 views

Dear All,
I have been trying to understand what configurable links are in windchill. Also I have created subtypes for four configurable links also and created parent child relationship but after that I don't how data is being mapped or connected between wtpart and document.
Even after searching for documentation everywhere I could only find a few links which would talk about configurable link but they are no different from PTC Help center. Can somebody please explain what configurable links are in Windchill in layman terms and also provide some links to understand what Configurable links are?

    Best answer by BjoernRueegg

    Sure I can Smiley Happy

    1. Example: Attach document to CAD-document

    The customer want's to add e.g. an excel calculation sheet to connect with an EPMDocument. Sure he could attach it directly as attachment of the Cad-Document, but then he has no history and also he can't open it with the office integration. So I created a configurable link to attach a WTDocument to a CAD-Document.

     

    2. Example:  Running changes in a product

    The management wants to have an overview over their products. So they also need to know how many changes in a product are currently running or have been closed. I created a configurable link between parts and change notice. So each time a part is added to the affected table, it will automatically connect all the top end item with the change order. With this customization it's possible to see on the end item which changes are attached and the other way around, which end items are affected by the change notice.

     

    There are many other use cases.

    E.g. connect a creo material file with the raw material. 

    Connect two parts with a special connection.

    etc.

    1 reply

    B
    BjoernRueegg17-Peridot
    17-Peridot
    February 21, 2019

    Configurable links are very powerful. There are 4 different link types:

    • Configurable Describe Link—A version to version relationship
    • Configurable Reference Link—A version to master relationship
    • Configurable Masters Link—A master to master relationship
    • Configurable Revision Link—A revision to revision relationship

     

    All these link types have different behaviours. e.g. the Revision Link is like the describe link but it allows you to connect an object to a released WTPart. With the describe link you need to have modify rights to connect an object.

     

    First you need to create a subtype of the Link. Then you define in the relationship tab which objects are allowed to linke together.  e.g. Change Notice and subtype of a WTDocument. or. EPMDocument and WTDocument, or...

     

    To implement a configurable link you need to specify multiple xconf properties, modify the actions and action models and also create some resource bundle to localize the table names.  

     

    Unfortunately sometimes they aren't very well implemented into Windchill. One big problem is, that the collector doesn't work! And also modifying link attributes is also a pain.

     

    I have implemented these links multiple times and yes, they are powerful.

      V
      Vinay_S1-VisitorAuthor
      1-Visitor
      February 26, 2019

      Hi @BjoernRueegg ,

      Thank you so much for the detailed explanation regarding Configurable links. I have got a starting point now. I even setup a configurable link after that, but what is the actual use of it is somewhat I am missing. I couldn't find any use case or an example on why it is used in industry? Can you please give a small example on why it is used in industry?

      B
      BjoernRueegg17-PeridotAnswer
      17-Peridot
      February 26, 2019

      Sure I can Smiley Happy

      1. Example: Attach document to CAD-document

      The customer want's to add e.g. an excel calculation sheet to connect with an EPMDocument. Sure he could attach it directly as attachment of the Cad-Document, but then he has no history and also he can't open it with the office integration. So I created a configurable link to attach a WTDocument to a CAD-Document.

       

      2. Example:  Running changes in a product

      The management wants to have an overview over their products. So they also need to know how many changes in a product are currently running or have been closed. I created a configurable link between parts and change notice. So each time a part is added to the affected table, it will automatically connect all the top end item with the change order. With this customization it's possible to see on the end item which changes are attached and the other way around, which end items are affected by the change notice.

       

      There are many other use cases.

      E.g. connect a creo material file with the raw material. 

      Connect two parts with a special connection.

      etc.

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