How to generate drawing PDF as separate WT document type in Windchill

[vignesh.kumarGE]

Version: Windchill 12.0

Use Case: I need to share the released drawing PDF along with STEP file and other formats with the external user (Supplier / customer) through projectlink without sharing the actual CAD model and drawing ? I do not want user to have a additional work of downloading PDF and creating as WT Document in Windchill. Note: I am allowed to share the data only through the WINDCHILL ProjectLink

Description:

Usually when the drawing is released, PDF and STEP files attached to the CAD drawing / CAD model in Windchill, i do not want to share the actual CAD drawing and model with supplier, only the Drawing PDF and STEPS to be shared, how to achieve it ? We sharing the data with supplier through project link using share feature in Windchill

I have the following suggestion, 

Suggestion 1: Is it possible that PDF for drawing generated using CAD worker can be created as a separate WT document in Windchill and attach the STEP file with it ?

Suggestion 2: Is it possible to restrict the permission to view the primary content, when the CAD drawing is shared to projectlink ? So they can see only the secondary content (PDF drawing and STEP file)

Somebody advise me the how the data is shared externally without sharing the original drawing and cad MODEL in many organization ? is there any PTC recommended way to do it ?

[avillanueva · Accepted solution]

Surprised I was able to found a knowledge base article that exactly matched your request. Give it a shot:

How to limit CAD users to open and download CAD Representations only in Windchill PDMLink

Seems like will work with an ACL change for those suppliers in the project. This is good since the other option seemed like a ton of customization and headaches. 

[avillanueva]

Caveat to my suggestion on #2. This would not work if you are putting PDF and STEP as secondary content to the EPMDocument. If these are contained with in the representation as additional published files, your golden. 

[mmeadows-3]

Generated the separate WTDocument once, but don't remember exactly what I did.  I would start with a post publish delegate.  Examples:

https://www.ptc.com/en/support/article/CS384401

https://www.ptc.com/en/support/article/CS373532

Trim down the second example to meet your publishing needs.

Once publishing completes, the post publish delegate performs a secondary publishing operation on the representations content.

[jbailey]

Suggestion 1 does work, we create a secondary wtdocument for PDF's of drawings using in part the edrafterloader and publish rules.

That being said, we probably will migrate away from that to using the Wincom representation export plus, which exports the representation(s) into a zip file

[jbailey]

The Post Publish Rules help with creating the additional doc. This only works for CAD though, so if you want to do this for wtdocs where a PDF is generated as a representation, there is no method for that

[d_graham]

@vignesh.kumarGE 

One way to restrict this would be to simply write a listener that detects when something is being downloaded.

If the user doing the download should not be allowed to download file type X from object type Y the listener does not allow the download.  This seems very straight forward and would be bombproof.

That said, your Suggestion 1 works.  No doubt about that. Share a WTDoc that have the files created via publishing CAD data attached. Seems like a very reasonable way to do this to me.

The attaching the required files to the WTDoc could be automated too. 😊

Automation would not need to iterate the WTDoc either if that's helpful.