Deleting older versions of Creo files in Windchill 11.1 PDMLink (M020, CPS 13)

[ScottGivens]

This seems to be a tired topic from my searches, but I'm getting desperate.  I've opened a case with PTC support, and reached out to an account support rep, but I'm still not getting a clear answer.  Here's the use case:

I have:
drawing.drw A.3
drawing.drw A.2
drawing.drw A.1
drawing.drw -.35

I need to delete drawing.drw -.35.  Why?  Because it has a child that I need to delete completely from the system, but it appears this is irrelevant to the task.  I want to keep A.1 thru A.3.  I've already purged version -.1 thru -.34.

On drawing.drw -.35, if I try Delete-->Delete all iterations, it says it cannot be deleted because only the latest version of an object may be deleted (I’m assuming it’s referring to A.1 thru A.3).

On drawing.drw -.35, if I try Delete-->Delete latest iterations, it says it cannot be deleted because I’m attempting to delete an iteration of this object without deleting iterations on later revisions (I’m assuming it’s referring to A.1 thru A.3).

With all versions of drawing.drw in a folder, and previewing a purge job on that folder, only drawing.drw A.1 and A.2 appear, not allowing me to delete -.35. I’m assuming because the purge job ignores all latest iterations of all revisions.  Any purge query automatically includes an “all but last 1 iteration” criteria.  I've tried to remove that criteria, but it automatically re-appears.

If I modify -.35 in Creo to remove the reference to the child, then -.36 will get created,  Sure, now I can purge/delete -.35, but now I've just kicked the can down the road as I have the same situation, just now with -.36.

I can't stand the "just sweep it under the rug" answer with renaming it, change the state to obsolete, etc.

Is it truly impossible to delete drawing.drw -.35?

Thanks,

Scott

[Ajit_Kulkarni]

I think yes. It is impossible to delete drawing.drw -.35 unless you delete the A revision as well. 

Purging is the only other option , I think you already took it. 

[BenLoosli · Accepted solution]

Bottom line answer is: YES

Windchill will not allow you under any scenario to delete the latest version (revision.iteration) of an object when there is a newer revision in the system. Your ONLY choice is to delete all iterations of Rev A, which will also delete revision A in total. Then you can modify the version -.35 of the drawing, remove your rogue part, check it in and then revise to revision A again.

It has always been coded that once an object is referenced by another object in Windchill, the only way to delete things is to delete ALL references that an object has. With a drawing of an assembly, it becomes a bit more complicated. You have to delete the drawings first, then the assemblies to get to that one part created and added to an assembly. When all objects that the rogue object reference have been deleted, the rogue object itself can be deleted. If you use promotion request or change requests/notices, these also must be deleted as they will hold a reference to that 1 rogue object.

[MikeLockwood]

Just a comment for clarity.

Delete is removing from latest.

Purge is the only way to remove non-latest.

Appears that what is needed here is Purge on the specific Drawing version, in order to delete the specific model.  Need to examine the limitations / constraints for purge - which does not allow removing all iterations of a given Revision.

[ScottGivens]

Thanks, that's a good clarification.

[ScottGivens]

Thanks, I think 😉, for the confirmation.😣

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Windchill will not allow you under any scenario to delete the latest version (revision.iteration) of an object when there is a newer revision in the system.

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This is shocking, and disappointing.  This is a trivial, non-event in other, enterprise-class PLM systems.  I wonder why the Windchill system has been architected this way.  This seems to have nothing to do with preserving parent/child relationships and the respective Creo parent model integrity, but more of a short sightedness that got cemented into the core architecture?

[BenLoosli]

I think the requirement that the PDM system maintain the last iteration of any version is coming from CMII certification. While Windchill has not been certified compliant with CMII rules for many years, Windchill/PDMLink 7.0 was the last, some of the strict rules in the Windchill architecture are derived from the CMII certification.

See this thread for more information on CMII and PDMLink: PDMLink and CMII - PTC Community

[ScottGivens]

Hmm...interesting.  Reminds me of going to a farmer's market where you can get organic products, but they aren't certified because the small farmer simply can't afford or doesn't have the resources to obtain the certification.😉

I can see wanting to make a product certified, but does that certification also mean that administrators aren't able to correct errant data conditions?

Thanks for the info.  I know you're just the messenger, I'm just kinda venting now.  😀 

[MikeLockwood]

One other approach to this is:

- preserve the latest Drawing by exporting from workspace to local disk

- delete the Drawing completely from Windchill

- delete the model(s) that need to be deleted

- import the Drawing to workspace and check in as new; select to re-use all referenced models

- either Revise the Drawing to the correct Rev before checking in or after