PTC Attributes in Solidworks Drawings

[trailhead]

We have currently mapped the PTC_WM_NUMBER and PTC_WM_REVISION to our title block in Solidworks drawings and are looking to leverage the Where Used attribute from the View Information/Where Used table view. Does anyone know what the label for that information is called? I would assume something along the lines of PTC_WM_WHEREUSED_01, PTC_WM_WHEREUSED_02, etc., is that the case?

FYI, we are using Windchill WGM 11.1 and currently on Solidworks 2022 SP5.0.

Any help with this is appreciated.

Todd

[TomU]

It does not look like 'where used' information can be pushed from Windchill to Solidworks without customization.

Take a look at these sections of the help documentation:

• https://support.ptc.com/help/wnc/r11.2.0.0/en/index.html#page/Windchill_Help_Center%2FWWGMSWAdminWCDefaultSysAttrib.html%23
• https://support.ptc.com/help/wnc/r11.2.0.0/en/index.html#page/Windchill_Help_Center%2FWWGMSWAdminCustomExistWCAttrib.html%23
• https://support.ptc.com/help/wnc/r11.2.0.0/en/index.html#page/Windchill_Help_Center%2FWWGMSWAdminEditingDelegate.html%23

[trailhead]

I reviewed those links, it looks like they are reiterating info I just read. In the past hour or so I have found some information that was new to me, because almost everything in Windchill is new to me. I've found that the Where Used attribute is not one of the pre-canned attributes like PTC_WM_NUMBER or PTC_WM_REVISION. I agree that it is doable, I would need to work with our admin to make the Windchill Attribute and the Solidworks Property associations in the Windchill environment.

The other problem appears to be the setup/configuration in Windchill for where used. It appears we don't have our installation configured to ignore assemblies where a part/assembly has "Exclude from BOM" set. I say this because I was able to check some assemblies with a particular part in them that has the Exclude from BOM box checked in Solidworks and they still show up in the Where Used table. However, that appears to be inconsistent as there are one or more assemblies that don't show up in the Where Used table. That could be due to other things like suppression of the part in the assembly when the part was checked in, and who knows what else.

I'm going to end up checking with the Project Manager to find out how badly she wants that information populated on our drawings. Auto-insertion would be a lot easier than manual entry. One other thing is with at least one part, it is used in hundreds of assemblies. That would likely require a unique table that might take up an entire drawing sheet for this part. Though I could see exporting the Where Used table from Windchill. the problem there is that is likely static and wouldn't update automatically.

Thank you for your input, Tom. Your info reiterated what I was discovering anyway.

Have a great day!

Todd

[TomU · Accepted solution]

The 'where used' information is not the same as a configurable BOM,  'Where used' is a reflection of object dependencies and these are stored in the Windchill database.

I would strongly discourage you from placing 'where used' information directly on a drawing.  This information could change at any time, requiring the drawing to also change.  You could potentially include this information on a PDF cover page during the publishing process.  There are 3rd party solution providers already doing this.  (Fishbowl Solutions, etc.)

[trailhead]

Yeah, I've been leery of the potential for data changing, too. But you know how it goes in a big corporation, ya get told to do it and ya gotta try to make it happen. Fortunately for me, there is not a plug-n-play solution. I presented the info to my colleagues and our PM and we all agreed it's best to not get into it for now.

For us to potentially do it automatically, I would opt for a conditional update, say something like if a part/assy gets checked out, then the table would update. Auto update on checkout or manually update, you are still checking out the part or assembly to update the Where Used table. I do feel like the manual update will be more prone to mistakes, but that is likely what we will end up doing in spite of that.

Todd

[avillanueva]

I was going to say the same thing. You can imagine there could be an infinite number of attributes and where used can be added at anytime without alteration of the component drawing. We've stepped back and looked at all information on our drawings especially the where used table. We've concluded its better to remove this information and have folks rely on the BOM where used in Windchill or ERP systems for the most accurate information. One true source.