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S
21-Topaz I
STEVEG21-Topaz I
21-Topaz I
June 8, 2017
Question

Published drawings using the wrong version of the model

  • June 8, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 6873 views

I have a little bone to pick with publishing in PDMLink.

It turns out that every once in a while we come across a drawing that was not published correctly.  One of my users came across a previous version that had a wrong published view.  I did some investigation and this is what happened.

There is a drawing and part model with revisions from 1 to 7.  This user was looking at rev 1 because they were looking at the history of the part.  Rev 1 of the drawing has iterations 1-4.  Rev 1 of the model has 1-2.

.drw version 1.3 was checked in with .prt 1.2.
Then the .drw was checked in one more time alone and created 1.4.

As I mentioned already there were subsequent revisions done to these files and several were all done prior to us migrating from Intralink to PDMLink.  Once we migrated we obviously published all our files.

Here is the problem.
Because the .drw version 1.4 was checked in without its model it wouldn't pull up the latest iteration of revision 1 of the model.
When that happens Creo pulls out the latest VERSION of the model...meaning, the .drw version 1.4 was published with the .prt version 7.2.

To verify this I tested it.
I started a new workspace.
I added ONLY the .drw version 1.4 to it.
I opened the drawing in Creo.
The .prt version 7.2 was added to the workspace.

This is not good and sort of disturbs me.  I contacted PTC about this and eventually they basically said that's the way it works.  (Intended Functionality)

I am torn on how to feel about this.  On one hand I understand why it did what it did but on the other hand my thought is why the software isn't written such that when the drawing is checked in that PDMLink/Intralink should use the same revision and the latest iteraion of that revision as its reference model.

As a sort of solution I created a Baseline feature of .drw 1.4 and .prt 1.2.  Then I manually sent to the publisher the baseline to be published.  I don't like this solution but it's the only way I can think of to get the drawing published with the correct version of the model.

Does anyone know if there is a setting for this?

2 replies

T
23-Emerald IV
TomU23-Emerald IV
23-Emerald IV
June 8, 2017

There is a logical flaw in your test.  Creo is usually configured to pull the latest automatically into the workspace if it's not already there.  Putting just the drawing in your workspace and then opening it is no different than having nothing in your workspace and then open the part (on the fly).  Unless you change how the system is configured, or manually add a different version, you are automatically going to get the latest.

On the other hand, the publisher is most likely NOT configured this way.  Usually the cad workers are configured to publish the "As Stored" config spec.  This means whatever model was in the workspace when the drawing was saved is the version that will be used when the drawing is published.  Yes, you still have a problem if the user checked in the model and drawing and then later saved and checked in the model a couple of more times (but still at the same revision.)  When publishing the drawing will still be looking at the earlier version of the model, not the latest iteration at that revision.  It would be really nice if the cad worker could use an "as matured" or "as stored revision" config spec instead.

    S
    21-Topaz I
    STEVEG21-Topaz IAuthor
    21-Topaz I
    June 8, 2017

    But there is no As Stored version of that specific version of the model and drawing.  That's why I had to create the Baseline and publish that.

    B
    23-Emerald III
    BenLoosli23-Emerald III
    23-Emerald III
    June 8, 2017

    You are right, your exact drawing/part latest revision being saved do not exist. It has caught us here before, too.

    Your users need to be sure that when they release a drawing it is referencing the latest model. There can be code written in to the promotion request to verify that the latest drawing is referencing the latest model.

    As Tom said, by default, Creo opens the latest version of anything unless you specify something else. Add to workspace is configured, at least here, to add the As-saved models of a drawing.

    Neither option would have caught your situation or mine, hence the need for customizing the promotion request code to always utilize the latest model when a drawing is being promoted. This also requires the users to initiate the promotion request against the drawing, so it can pick up the latest model. Assembly drawings have an added complexity due to components being revised at different times plus the form/fit/function rule to determine revision or new part number.

    D
    dschenken1-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    June 8, 2017

    "why the software isn't written such that when the drawing is checked in that PDMLink/Intralink should use the same revision and the latest iteraion of that revision as its reference model."

    I expect it's because that would result in someone else coming up with the opposite problem and wondering why it can't it do the thing it does now. It is not always possible to have a single software to answer deal with a disconnect that humans force on it.

    For example: 123,456. Is this one hundred thousand and some as it would be portrayed in the US or a bit over one hundred as parts of Europe would recognize it?

    Still, heck yes, it's annoying when there is a mismatch between what one expects and what one gets with operations that would seem to be parallel, but are not.

    S
    21-Topaz I
    STEVEG21-Topaz IAuthor
    21-Topaz I
    June 9, 2017

    That's a good point but then give us an option to set.

    R
    RandyJones20-Turquoise
    20-Turquoise
    June 9, 2017

    Steve Galayda wrote:

    That's a good point but then give us an option to set.

    Check out this property: publish.configspec.default.useasstoredifavailable

    WVS Config Spec.

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