Mike,
There is an out of the box “Software Part” available in Windchill, I am not sure what version it was available from but it is in 9.1 for sure. The Software Part is basically a wtpart but has an icon like a CD/DVD and can hold content directly. It is intended for embedded software and is not meant for source control. We don’t use it yet, but have seen a demo and hope to use it in the future.
Our current “solution” for Embedded software started before we were live on 9.1 and uses a wtpart to represent the software with a describing wtdocument holding the code (exe or zip). The un-programmed circuit board is represented by another wtpart number, with both parts being in the structure of a third wtpart representing the programmed board. This gives version control of the software in relation to the assembly and meets our needs for traceability and change management.
The real issue with our approach is that the wtdocument can be revised/updated independent of the wtpart it describes, if we were doing things again we would not re-invent the wheel and just use the available functionality.
As an aside I fully expect PTC to offer some kind of embedded source control as a Windchill module in the future. As I am sure you recall we were FREQUENTLY reminded at the World event that control of embedded software is an issue for many customers.
In Reply to Mike Lockwood:
Anyone willing to share a screen shot or two showing software / firmware as part of their product structure? We currently document software that is part of our products with a WTPart tied to the media that the software is on (DVD), and it's label - not too elegant. Would like some examples of how others are managing.
thanks in advance
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Lewis
