Replacing large amount of parts with another part in windchill

[vrajan]

Hello all,

I have a critical issue... which is making me eager to solve in a easy way..

Issue is...

I have a 'n' number of fasteners (say Bolt "A") in windchill... which I have to replace with a another existing part (say Bolt "B")...

Both the bolts "A" & "B" are used in many places..

I am washing out the Bolt "A" from windchill and whatsoever database...

Can i do this by help of windchill... "Without affecting in model..."

Is there any way to do this

Please feel free to comment anything...

Thanks & Regards

Vivek Rajan

[dschenken]

There is a setting in Windchill that hides the presence of a Replace function. It is turned off by default to prevent users making a mess by making bad substitutions. It is up to your Windchill administrator to handle this.

It sounds like it's too late, but if the new part hasn't been created yet, you can do a Workspace Save-As. Bring into the Workspace all models where the component is used and use Save-As. It will first ask for the new name and then it will bring up a screen to allow selecting new parents. It is a one-time replacement, as far as I can tell, and requires the parents to be both un-modified and able to be checked out. I think it does the check-out automatically.

[kpritchard]

A couple of thoughts...

• You're going to have some challenges in completely getting rid of "A", depending on the history.  Previous versions that use "A" will prevent "A" from being deleted.
• Without affecting the model...  If you have an "Owner" association between the CAD model and WTPart you will definitely impact the model.  I suspect what you would find is unplaced "B" in any assemblies that were affected by your modification when you open them.
• I would want to at least consider a formal, documented change for the swap even if it is to consolidate duplicates.

A couple of options for getting this done;

1. Break the association between CAD and WTPart for "A" and create a (Content or Image) association between CAD "A" and WTPart "B".  This will allow the CAD "A" to be replaced in the assembly models if/when they have other changes being applied.  "Replace" in Creo allows you to map references between independent was and is components so you don't need to completely re-constrain.
2. Custom Java and J-Link utilities to perform the modification programmatically.  You'd probably need to manually map feature ID's to be able to build into the code for setting constraint references, but it looks doable, at least in theory.  I'll qualify by stating that I have not personally done this but I did have a quick look at J-Link and it appears to have the necessary building blocks, and this would need to be tested in a non-production environment first.

If it were me I would do option A and just live with a lingering CAD "A"... maybe move it to a location (Context or Folder) that prevents designers from using in new designs and prompts replacement when modifying existing usages.

The above assumes that these are not members of the same Family Table.

[vrajan]

Hi David & Keir,

Thanks for pouring in your ideas.

Keir,

You have assumed it right it is NOT family table.

The issue is i have some 100's of fasteners to replace with another equivalent fastener.

This i have to do in say 10,000 assemblies.

Is it possible?

I don't mind if Part "A" is wiped off because it is not going to be used any more in any cost.

Regards,

Vivek Rajan N