Send CAD files to another system

[Sha11]

Hi,

As I am not familiar with the CAD and publishing concepts, looking for some pointers. I have a requirement where I need to send CAD files to another system. I know that publishing is something that can be leverage for this, but I wanted to understand the concepts first.

Can ESI Services be used for such a use-case?. (I have used ESI DTs to send XML data to other systems, not for any file transfer)

If a user says CAD files, what could they mean?.

Do I generate the representations first and then send it to another system or as part of generating reps, can I send the files?.

Any pointers are appreciated. 

Much Thanks

[VladimirN]

Take a look:

• "Importing and Exporting CAD Data": https://support.ptc.com/help/windchill/plus/r12.0.2.0/en/index.html#page/Windchill_Help_Center/CADxToolsMenuCADDataImportExportAbout.html 
• "Possibility of exporting all CAD files from Windchill in one shot": https://community.ptc.com/t5/Windchill/Possibility-of-exporting-all-CAD-files-from-Windchill-in-one/td-p/128628 

[avillanueva]

Just for context. Are you faced with running a Windchill system but you are integrated with a larger PLM system (possible difference vendor) that serves multiple sites? Or is this an integration with another company?

[Sha11]

@avillanueva - The integration is to happen with another PLM system.

[joe_morton]

One point you'll want to make sure you clarify in your requirements is exactly what the user means by CAD files. 

• If they mean the native CAD files, that would lead you to a solution like exporting and importing like others have shared.
• A representation is a neutral file generated from the native CAD file. So for a Creo drawing (.drw) a representation would be a PDF. Representations are good in that the recipient doesn't need the same CAD program as you to work with the files. There are cases though where the recipient would really need the native files, so you'll want to make sure the requirement is clear.

Hope that helps!

[Sha11]

@joe_morton - Thanks for the response, the requirement is to transfer the files generated under Representations i.e., the neutral files.

[BenLoosli]

What CAD system is the recipient using? If they are on Creo, that simplifies the process a lot. If they are on a noter CAD system, what do they want? just a 2D representation (PDF) or the 3D model (STEP). Also remember that if they want the 3D model, do they also want the 2D representation and that 2D representation will NOT be associative back to the 3D model.

Provide us with some better requirements and we can help you get the results that meet those requirements.

[joe_morton]

I think you'd need to generate the representations first, then send those to the other system. 

I'm not familiar with ESI. With the Windchill APIs, it's possible to export representations to a server location as part of a workflow, for example. If you're not able to develop something like that yourself, you may want to look into this Windchill extension: https://windchill-extensions.ptc.com/get-view?wex-id=com.wincomplm.wex-repexport.release&wc-version=WIND112

I haven't personally used it, but it looks like it might get you what you're looking for.

Another possibility I'm not very familiar with is the Windchill REST services. From my very limited understanding, it may be possible to have the second system pull data (like the representation) from Windchill - but that's a complete guess on my part. You'd have to research it: https://support.ptc.com/help/windchill_rest_services/r2.4/en/index.html#page/windchill_rest_services/WCCG_RESTAPIsWRS.html