Using CAD Document Attachments and Managing Instance Accelerator Files in Windchill PDMLink

Windchill PDMLink allows you to store CAD Document attachments. These attachments are considered secondary content, while Pro/ENGINEER model files are considered the primary content. Attachments are useful when you create different representations of your CAD model. Attachments can be linked directly to a particular model’s CAD Document according to the specific version and iteration. Attachments are available to anyone who has access to the CAD Document and you won’t have to manage them on your workstation.

It is easy to add an attachment to your CAD Document right from Pro/ENGINEER:

• With the model in your workspace and open in Pro/ENGINEER, select File / Save a Copy
• Then select the file type you wish to create
• For this example, we selected STEP (Figures 1)
• If you want the file to be saved as an attachment, check the box next to “Save new files to model’s CAD Document” (Figure 2)
• When you select OK, if the CAD Document is not checked out you will be prompted to do so, since you will be modifying it
• You can also add other file types. For instance you may want to add a Shrinkwrap to be sent to a supplier or customer (Figure 3)
• After check-in the CAD Document properties page will show the two files in the attachments table. They are available for downloaded directly from this page (Figure 4)

Notice the status is Current. This will indicate to the viewer that the attachment is up-to-date. If it was not, the status would be Outdated.

If you do not check the check box, the file will be saved as CAD Document if you select the workspace as the location. You could also save it to the file system. (Figure 5)

When you modify the Pro/ENGINEER model, the attachments will become outdated. This status will show on the workspace details page of the CAD Document. (Figure 6)

This status can also be used as a gatekeeper to remind you that they need to be updated, removed or confirmed to be still valid.

There are two preferences that control the behavior of the attachments. These preferences are located in the contentcat.ini file, found in /codebase/com/ptc/windchill/cadx/cfg/default/ folder.

The behavior for each type of file — Content Category — that can be added as an attachment, can be set in this file. Each category has the two preferences; .markoutofdate and .download. The mark-out-of-date preference, when set to true, will mark an attachment Outdated if the CAD Document is iterated, revised or if the state changes. The download preference, when set to true, will automatically download the attachment when the CAD Document is added to a workspace.

Also, if the mark-out-of-date option is set to true, then you will be reminded to update the attachment on check-in, if the model has changed but the attachments were not updated. You can update the attachments and check-in again. Otherwise the conflict can be overridden from the Event Console with one of three options: (Figure 7)

• “Ignore stale secondary contents during check-in.”
• This will check in the CAD Document and keep the Outdated attachments. Use this if you plan to change the model again and the updated attachments aren’t needed in the mean time.
• “Remove stale secondary contents during check-in.”
• This will check in the CAD Document and remove the attachments from this iteration. Use this if you plan to change the model again and the updated attachments aren’t needed in the mean time but you don’t want the outdated attachments on the CAD Document.
• “Reset the out-of-date status of secondary content.”
• This will set the status to Current. Use this if the changes to the model don’t impact the attachments.

Managing Instance Accelerator Files

You can reduce much of the time required to retrieve an instance of a part or assembly from disk by saving the instance in a special file called an instance accelerator file.

Each instance is saved in its own unique accelerator file, named instancename.xpr for part instances and instancename.xas for assembly instances. These files can also be used in Windchill PDMLink and are managed as CAD Document attachments. You simply follow the same process you use today to create and update the instance accelerator files.

As an example:

• Create and verify a family table (Figure 8)
• Then select File / Instance Operations and Update from the Instance Accelerator Options dialog (Figure 9)
• Each instance will now have an accelerator file as an attachment (Figure 10)
• The status will be set to Current and the attachment will be downloaded automatically when the instance is downloaded to a workspace. Instance Accelerator Files are set to download automatically by default
• When you update your accelerator file, the attachment will be updated