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BrianToussaint19-Tanzanite
19-Tanzanite
February 19, 2020
Question

Parts Classification Attributes

  • February 19, 2020
  • 4 replies
  • 3990 views

So I am about to roll out PartsLink Classification on our purchased parts.  I have a ton of possible attributes.  Some very specific to a specif node and some that can be more general.  My question is around the attributes for the nodes.  Should I try to use as many global attributes as I can or should I make them more specific?  A good example is voltage.  I know that each node will have it's own attribute, but in the Type and Attribute area, should I try to use as few as possible and point the node attributes to them as global?  What are the pros/cons of doing this?  I know a pro is that I have less to create.  But then should I just create all of them with that in mind?

 

Right now I have a mixture of the two and have over 120 attributes in my test system but have missed some that could possibly be global.  I'm just looking for ways to possibly lessen this going into my production environment if it is not detrimental.

    4 replies

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    Casey_Swain14-Alexandrite
    14-Alexandrite
    April 12, 2022

    I have this same general question.  Any lessons learned or best practices you can share?

    D
    18-Opal
    d_graham18-Opal
    18-Opal
    April 13, 2022

    The easiest and most bombproof way I found was to create the csv that you can use to generate the xml to be zipped and imported to create your classification tree.

     

    After successful creation of xml I run my custom utility which reads the same csv file and creates all the reusable attributes using the attribute name and the corresponding datatype in the csv file. If the same node attribute name with the same datatype occurs in more than one node, all will reference the same reusable attribute.

     

    The advantage of doing it this way is the utility creates all reusable attributes in a few seconds and all required reusable attributes are guaranteed to be created before importing the zipped xml.

    avillanueva
    23-Emerald I
    avillanueva23-Emerald I
    23-Emerald I
    April 13, 2022

    @BrianToussaint likely has solved this already since post was 2020 but as I expand our implementation (manually), I have a few tips.

    • Never use a common name in node internal ID. Names will change but at some point. Using just an ID will allow you to correct structure issues easily if you have to make major changes. I have just used "node1, node2, etc" and put what I want like Set Screws is display name. Also, if you copy/paste a node(s), Windchill will append internal IDA2A2 number to end. 
    • Reuse Global attributes as much as you can. So long as they are the same type and unit, keep the number of attributes small.
    • Use the test server to validate new structures with end users. Sometimes they don't know what they want and do not understand full search capabilities.  Using attributes and facets can sometimes eliminate nodes that do not do anything but bucket parts.  This will help before you commit a lot of work to production.
    • I am old school and did not use CSV file. Once we had a good structure, I can add incrementally live. Key is laying out a few levels down and making sure with users it actually works for them. 
    D
    18-Opal
    d_graham18-Opal
    18-Opal
    April 13, 2022

    @avillanueva ,

    @Casey_Swain posted he was looking for help on April 12, yesterday, that's why I posted.

     

    In your post you state "Reuse Global attributes as much as you can."

    I think you mean Reuse Reusable Attributes as much as you can.

     

    To be honest, I've always wonder why all of use don't create just one Reusable Attribute for each datatype site wide.

    For example a reusable named STRING that is a String and is reference by for ALL global attributes that are Strings.

    Same for Integer, Boolean, Timestamp, etc.

     

    The global attributes that reference the reusable attribute STRING would of course have a descriptive name but is there any reason the Reusable attributes need a descriptive name other than to distinguish their datatype?

     

    Why does everyone seem to make many Reusable Attributes of the same datatype?

    Unless I'm missing something this seems redundant (unnecessary) and we really need to create ONLY one Reusable Attribute per datatype Site wide.

     

    I'd be very interested in hearing sound technical reason why any of us need more than one reusable attribute per datatype.

    Who knows? Might fall into the "because we've always done it that way" category? 

     

     

    D
    DKWc15-Moonstone
    15-Moonstone
    October 12, 2023

    Hi,

    I'm facing a strange behavior on WC 12.1.2.4 using PartsLink.

    The classification attribute displays the internal names of values for enumeration in Structure page, however on Details page it shows proper display value.

    Any suggestions.

     

    avillanueva
    23-Emerald I
    avillanueva23-Emerald I
    23-Emerald I
    October 12, 2023

    This sounds like something else. Recommend creating new post and providing screen shots.

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