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Lohbauer1-Visitor
1-Visitor
October 24, 2012
Question

Summary: WTParts: When to use Referenced By, when to described by

  • October 24, 2012
  • 1 reply
  • 784 views
Many thanks to Antonio, Eric, And Jeff,

They added volumes to the topic in a short period of time. I recommend returning to PTCUsers.org to follow the thread contents. There was some great material Generously offered thanks to Jeff and Eric.

To Eric’s point it has everything to do with what type of data is being associated to the WTPart and what the business plans for that document. Correct me if I’m wrong here but if you have static data (WTdocument) that will not be changing then using a reference link to the Part Master is in order. But if there is an expected lifecycle that the WTdocument will follow then a described by link should be used so that the Part Version and WTdocument Versions can be aligned. (I’m sure that will bring some more responses)

This is a concept that is starting to take root. Thanks to all for helping bring this elusive notion to greater clarity.

Your Humble Correspondent,
Bob Lohbauer


1 reply

M
MikeLockwood22-Sapphire I
22-Sapphire I
October 24, 2012
We got an unofficial “type change tool” from an innovative admin a few years back (in exchange for a beer) and have used it 1000’s of times to convert the type both ways between:

OTB WTDocument
OTB ReferenceDocument

Fortunately, we have these OTB types using the same LC everywhere (multiple sub types are allowed in special-purpose Libraries).

Note: A very nice way to avoid having to change is to encourage (require) that all documents be created from template; the type is embedded in the template. BUT – This has worked well for us to now in 9.1. As of 10.1, the user has to first select the type, then the available templates of that Type become available. This is great for programmers but backward in our opinion from business use and we wish it was the other way. Users in general can recognize what template to use by it’s business purpose, but in general have no idea what Windchill object type that ought to map to.

Today in 9.1, users a) determine the needed template b) select it directly, not having to care about the type
In 10.x, users will have to a) select the type b) select the template; if the template is not there, go back and select the other type

This is leading us to consider making the OTB “Document” and “Reference Document” types no longer instantiable, creating some sub types with names that match the business, then changing the type of all existing.

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