Finding original name of renamed file

[BenLoosli]

Is there a method to find or have Windchill capture the original name of a renamed file? If we create a part, 1000307.prt with number 1000307, use it in 10 assemblies and then decide to use the vendor's name. We rename 1000307.prt to loc-246.prt with number LOC-246. The assemblies will load loc-246 instead of 1000307, so that is good. Now management wants to see which parts used 1000307. As far as I can tell and get from Windchill is nothing if I search on 1000307. If I know that the new number is loc-246, I can get the where used and show the assemblies, but still no reference exists between 1000307 and loc-246. Is there a table in Windchill that might have this information?

[dschenken]

The following is based on what I saw from using Intralink - I believe it still works this way because the alternative is for the PDM system to alter all the referencing files when a reference name changes.

The way I've seen naming work is that Intralink stored files with the name altered so there weren't name collisions. It tracked the original name of the file along with the altered name in the database. There is also a record for the current name. When the file is copied out, it is copied to the Workspace cache with the name conversion to make the current name and file name available to the local Intralink client database. When a part is opened, the client 'repairs' all the names for Creo.

You should be able to find the original names in the assembly files in the Windchill file area, then look up the original assembly names and then the current assembly names in the database.

I don't know what the system does after then name change when drawings or assemblies are checked in; it's possible that consistency drives a reverse process to place the original name back in the file, but I don't know how they handle name overlap; if a name changes A->B and then a new A is created, one wouldn't want to revert B->A in an assembly.

I don't see how the users of the original name could be recovered otherwise.

[LoriSood]

Ben,

If you know the new name you can get the original name on the details page by adding a custom tab that includes the Rename History:

However, Windchill does not explicitly keep track of which parent objects referenced this file using the original name. Those references are tracked in the CAD files themselves, and the references aren't updated/referred to until the files are opened in Creo from a linked session.

[dschenken]

Was I right? How does the A->B, new A get handled?

Does the database chain the renames so A->B->C get resolved by looking at C, back to B, back to A to original filename?

Inquiring minds.

[MichaelEspinosa]

These are the details of how the CAD Model data is managed in the Windchill schema when using the Rename Action in Windchill. (only feedback to David last question in this thread.)

For a CAD Model in Windchill, when you execute the “Rename” Action, the existing CAD Model row (transaction) in the EPMDocumentMaster and EPMDocmentMasterKey tables are updated.

The CADNAME, Name and DocumentNumber attribute are store in the EPMDocumentMaster table and the WTKey attribute is stored in the EPMDocumentMasterKey. For every CAD Model in your Windchill system an instance for the CAD Model is persisted into the EPMDocumetMaster and EPMDocumentMasterKey tables. The data the user enters into the “New Number” attribute on the Rename GUI is updated into both the DocumentNumber and WTKey attributes.