Creating new document from template through Desktop Integration

[kbr]

As of now in Windchill 10.2 M020 :

It is possible to created document from template through Office Integration and Windchill UI.

But the same functionality is unable through the Windchill Desktop Integration.

However we can drag and drop the document for creating new Document or create a new Document but cant cant attach a primary content to it.But customers will be having Predefined templates on which they are supposed to work on .and It is important to enable this functionality in the user perspective.

[sm]

Just to clarify, PTC Windchill supports creating a new Windchill document from a document template using the browser interface and Microsoft Office. The only way to initiate the new document interface without drag-n-drop in Windows Explorer is with the Right Mouse Button (RMB) option, New > Document.

You're request is to add "From Template" to the Windows Explorer RMB New > Document action?

[kbr]

Hi Scott Morris,

Yes, You are right We don't have the option to create new Document from template wherein Document is downloaded from the server during the creation.

Thanks and Regards,

Karthik B R

[BenPerry]

Scott Morris‌,

Anything further on this?  I am running into this right now.  Users are looking to start using DTI.  But they need to create documents from templates.  Therefore they must go into the browser to create the new document from the template, and then afterward, they can download it and start using DTI as normal.  Seems like a disconnect.

Are we really unable to "Create Document from Template" in DTI?  FYI...I'm using 10.2 M030.  I get the same screenshot you posted above.  There is no drop-down menu for "Template".

[STEVEG]

I assume you have a template already set up?  If not then create one and see if it shows up.

[CaitlinWheeless]

Hi Ben - Are you asking specifically from the right-click menu? Or just in general?

Right now, there are 2 ways to create documents from a template using DTI:

If the template is Microsoft Word/Excel/PowerPoint, you can do it from the Windchill menu added to the ribbon.

For example:

1. Open up a blank document in Microsoft Word
2. Select Windchill > New > New Document from Template
3. Select the Windchill context/folder (this will create a document object in the location you choose and check it out to you)
4. Select the template and fill out whatever other required attributes there are. Click Finish.
5. The template downloads and opens in Word.
6. Make your changes, and then select Check In from the Windchill tab in the ribbon

If the template is in another format (PDF, TXT, XML)

1. Ensure you have the Windchill context menu enabled (done through the configuration menu)
2. Right-click any non-MS Office file
3. Select Windchill >  New Document from Template
4. Follow the same procedure above. However, when you're done, you'll need to take an extra step to check in the document to Windchill. The easiest way to do this is to open up Windows explorer, navigate to the context under the Windchill Documents node, right-click the document, and check it in. It will automatically upload the working copy of the file saved in your local cache.

[sm]

‌Caitlin Wheeless‌ response is perfect. New Document from template is available in Office so the template can be loaded, updated and saved to Windchill.

Ben Perry‌ what is the use case for the Windows Explorer integration? Is it just a means to create placeholder documents? I can see how it would be valuable when there are many new documents to create from one or more templates. It would be much faster than creating them all from the Windchill tab in Office. I'll run the idea by the Product Mgr and see what he thinks.

[BenPerry]

Caitlin Wheeless‌,

That is wonderful.  Thanks for the tip - creating it from the MS Word application rather than Windows Explorer.  FYI...in my case, when the template downloaded & opened, it asked me where to download to.  I'm not sure exactly why.  I was expecting it to be automatically downloaded to the right location inside of c:\ptc\temp rather than asking me where exactly I wanted it.

Scott Morris‌,

The RMB could be enhanced because you're in a context when you RMB (or at least I'm making that assumption).  In the example from Caitlin, the context is unknown and therefore the user is asked to assign one.

Finally - out of the scope of this product idea - now I need to get the mapped attributes working.  I've been having some trouble with that.  I need to get them mapped in the template, and then hopefully when I create the new document from template, the new doc will have the Number, Created By, and some other custom IBAs mapped from the object into the primary content (MS Word document).  I'm not done trying that yet though.  Can't remember where I left off, but it might be as simple as forgetting to enable the latest iteration of the document template after I updated it. 

[olivierlp]

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