Noobie question on formats

[GrahameWard]

I've been using Pro/Engineer for 562 years, but Windchill is new to me.... still have trouble not thinking like folders and subfolders.

I create a new part and drawing offline, i.e., on my hard drive or on the company server. The drawing has a format with title block, etc. We have this format on the company server (i.e. a drive letter), but the definitive version with the same name is on Windchill. If, when the part and drawing is complete, I check them in to Windchill, what happens to the format file? Does it load up as well? I don't want that to happen. What I want is, next session that I open that drawing (from Windchill) I want the format to come from Windchill, not from the drive.

[dschenken]

If it is configured right ...

When you open the drawing in a session connected to Windchill it should get the format from Windchill and ignore the format that is there on the drive. The reason it should do that is that the drawing has the format name in it and the first place it should look for that name is the local Workspace, then Commonspace, and if not found, then the current directory.

If you first opened the format .frm file and saved it to your workspace, Windchill would show a name conflict and would not allow you to check it in because it wasn't checked out. You could Add the Windchill version, which would overwrite the local version, and, not being new anymore, would also not check in.

Finally, the Admin for Windchill should have set the permissions on formats so that no one can change them without an authorized effort.

It's a great question. Maybe the Cliffs Notes guys could work on a guide.

[GrahameWard]

Thanks, that helps a lot. But if I have a config.pro setting that specifies a location for formats like so:

pro_format_dir X:\Creo_Config_Files\Formats

...will my ProE session still look for the format in the Workspace/Commonspace hierachy first?

I know I could specify my formats location on Windchill like so:

pro_format_dir wtpub://Windchill/Libraries/Library/Formats

... but we are not always on Windchill. I know that in theory we should be, but sometimes we do stuff in development with umpteen variations that we try out, etc, you know, and we don't want to mess with it at the time.

[kpritchard]

The best advice I could give you is to get used to working in Windchill... always. You can still access your Workspace if working offline and you get the benefit of leveraging existing content (think nuts, bolts washers etc.). Plus when one of the what-if scenarios inevitably grows legs it will be much easier to make it "real" because it's already in Windchill and you won't need to spend (read waste) time resolving conflicts or creating duplicates.

You can pretty much do whatever in the Workspace and it's the Check In that pushes new or modified content into Windchill. You can Upload which will push content to the Server side of your Workspace and potentially get the benefit of backups, but without pushing your "what-if's" to the Server.

My recommendation would be to set your config.pro to map to Windchill located formats, start templates, custom symbols etc.

If you're dead set on working in Folders, then you can do a replace the format with Page Setup and navigate to the Windchill location for the "real" format. Much, much more to it when it comes to models so use caution and be methodical. I suspect that if you go through it once you'll recognize that it's easier to run your what-ifs in Workspace and back them up to disk if/as you need to store them.

[GrahameWard]

Okay, thanks for the advice. That brings to mind an even dumber noobie question. If I start up a new session of ProE (sorry, Creo), can it already be logged into Windchill? I thought I had to go >Tools>Server Manager in a new session before getting there. Because if it's not already there I don't know how my config.pro can map to locations on the Windchill server as it's starting up. Thanks.

[kpritchard]

Once you set your Primary Server Creo (and yes it will always be Pro/E in my mind) "remembers" the connection so each time you start Creo it will ask for a Windchill log in and connect.

You may need to access Tools > Server Manager on occasion if you've set to work offline. Sometimes you get network connectivity issues that will provide a dialog indicating that the Server is unavailable and ask if you want to work offline so you would need to de-select the work offline checkbox to reconnect.

[GrahameWard]

Keir Pritchard wrote:

Once you set your Primary Server Creo (and yes it will always be Pro/E in my mind) "remembers" the connection so each time you start Creo it will ask for a Windchill log in and connect.

But at this point hasn't ProE already started? I am wondering how the config.pro can point to Windchill as it's starting up.

[kpritchard]

Try setting the Server Connection and then closing and restarting Creo. You won't have to configure the connection again, just log in to Windchill as Creo is starting up. Check the available locations... you should see Windchill Server and Workspace.

[BenLoosli]

There is a config.pro setting for the server.

dm_remember_server and the default is yes.

Formats are pulled from the Windchill library.

Templates and start parts are pulled from a disk on the server.

Drawing templates pull the format with them from Windchill.

When I revise a format, I save the new file in Windchill and a backup copy to disk.

Windchill will look in your local workspace first, then the server for your formats when loading a drawing.

When creating a drawing, you browse to the format_dir and select a format. However, Pro/E loads the format by name and will pull the format from your workspace before requesting it from the server. This can be critical if you make changes to your formats. We changed the company address and it took about a year before we had to stop rejecting drawings for having the out-dated address.

[GrahameWard]

Ben Loosli wrote:

There is a config.pro setting for the server.

dm_remember_server and the default is yes.

I didn't know that config.pro option.

Ben Loosli wrote:

Formats are pulled from the Windchill library.

Templates and start parts are pulled from a disk on the server.

Drawing templates pull the format with them from Windchill.

So in other words you have config.pro options that point to all these places in their different locations?

As an example, you might have the following in your config.pro:

pro_format_dir wtpub://Windchill/Libraries/Library/Formats

start_model_dir Z:\Creo_Config_Files\Config_Files

template_solidpart Z:\Creo_Config_Files\Config_Files\inlbs_part_solid.prt

template_designasm Z:\Creo_Config_Files\Config_Files\in_lbs_assembly_solid.asm

template_drawing Z:\Creo_Config_Files\Config_Files\c_drawing.drw

... and maybe symbols on Windchill as well, e.g.:

pro_palette_dir wtpub://Windchill/Libraries/Library/Symbols

symbol_instance_palette_file wtpub://Windchill/Libraries/Library/Symbols/standard_notes.drw

I like the way this sounds. It's imperative the format be locked down: the start part and drawing templates; not so much.

Ben Loosli wrote:

When I revise a format, I save the new file in Windchill and a backup copy to disk.

Windchill will look in your local workspace first, then the server for your formats when loading a drawing.

When creating a drawing, you browse to the format_dir and select a format. However, Pro/E loads the format by name and will pull the format from your workspace before requesting it from the server. This can be critical if you make changes to your formats. We changed the company address and it took about a year before we had to stop rejecting drawings for having the out-dated address.

Ugh. We wanted to make the format and its folder read-only on Windchill, so that it coudn't be changed. But I guess if it's in your workspace it can be changed. Does it get checked out like a part or drawing file?

[kpritchard]

Change the State of the Formats to lock them down. If a User inadvertently modifies one in the Workspace (you should look at your Formats if this is happening) they would not be able to Check In. If there is a modification occurring the User would not be able to Check Out a "Released" Format buy could use Continue to make a modification. Check your Access Policy for permissions at each State in the CAD Document Lifecycle but if OOTB Released is probably not editable by general User.

[vcarmona]

The problem is that you are saving your plans (with your format) on your local hard drive and you send it from there. For this reason every time you open the system you recognize it as new.
The pimero you have to do is to download the format you already have in your Windchill system before opening your plan that you have on your hard drive. Once you have the correct format in your workspace you have to call your plan from the location of your hard disk, when doing this action the format will be synchronized with the one that already exists in the server. When you perform the action checkin you can see the list of alloys to be loaded in Windchill and you will notice that it no longer marks the format as new.