Hi Patrick
I was about to post the same questions about naming and numbering you have just posted: we're testing migrated Intralink data in a PDMLink 9.1 server. A small group is currently experimenting with the data, and the question of numbering has come up a few times. People are particularly keen to see a related number in CAD + WTPart.
We'd be interested in hearing any responses from people who have already implemented this in production : and what solutions they have (if any) to keeping numbers manageable...
Also, I noticed that having an assembly in Pro/E / PDMLink and clicking File - Save a copy allows you to type any names for newly-created parts, any way to auto-number these?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Regards
Edwin Muirhead, CAD Manager, Weatherford
In Reply to Patrick Williams:
Hi Everyone,
I have a few questions based upon the theoretical Windchill 9.1/10.0 configuration of CAD Documents and WTParts with auto-numbering turned on.
Pro/ENGINEER
CAD Document
WTPart
Name
=>
File Name
Common Name
=>
Name
=>
Name
Number (Same as File Name without extension)
=>
Number
Example:
Pro/ENGINEER
CAD Document
WTPart
987654321.prt
=>
987654321.prt
Back left panel
=>
Back left panel
=>
Back left panel
987654321
=>
987654321
Questions:
1. With auto-numbering turned on as mentioned above I know that instance names will receive the next number in the sequence for the Name. Not all of the instances in the family table will be created at the same time which will create "gaps" or a "spread" of instance Names. How do you then "group" those instances in a table display for ease of selection for other operations like a promote or auto associate? Our initial thought would be to use the Common Name=>Name and sort the table display by Name but that brought about its own problems like:
a. How is that free form text controlled from a standards perspective?
b. If the users search on the Name field they can potentially receive results that they did not intend to find. Are there any solutions for this?
2. Our users are used to seeing the part/assembly and drawing pair names be the same (123456.prt and 123456.drw for example), with auto-numbering the two names will be different. Has anyone implemented a configuration or customization that allows the creation of part/assembly and drawing pairs with the same name? at different object creation times?
3. Consider this scenario: 987654321.prt has a family table of 10 instances and I create a drawing 987654321.drw that only has a view of instance _01 on it but contains a repeat region of all instances. When I associate a WTPart to instance _01 I of course see the drawing 987654321.drw as either a calculated or content link. When I associate a WTPart to instance _02 I do not see a drawing because instance _02 was not detailed on the drawing. Do you expect to see the drawing linked to the WTPart of the instance in this situation?
Thanks in Advance,
Patrick Williams | Engineering Systems | o: 616.698.3766 | c: 616.947.2110
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