Specialized Administration > Supporting Visualization and Publishing > Getting Started with Windchill Visualization Services > Configuring Automated Publishing of Viewables > General Flow of the Automated Publishing Configuration
  
General Flow of the Automated Publishing Configuration
Configuring automated publishing of MCAD data and Office documents consists of the following main tasks:
1. Planning for an Automated Publishing Configuration
2. Installing and Configuring the Creo View Adapters
3. Configuring the Adapter as a WVS Worker
4. Configuring the Recipe Settings of the Adapters
5. Configuring a Creo Parametric Worker for File Synchronization
6. Configuring Other MCAD Application Workers for File Synchronization
To get started with the configuration process, continue to the next section.
Planning for an Automated Publishing Configuration
The first task of the configuration process is researching the requirements for products, releases, platforms, and then planning how to install the products. The procedure follows.
Reminder: Each adapter has its own chapter in the Creo View MCAD Adapter Installation and Configuration Guide.
1. Determine the supported authoring application release to use to process your Windchill data and the supported operating system and language on which to install it.
For information on which CAD applications are supported by the Creo View Adapters, see Creo View Adapters Software Matrices.
For more information on Windchill compatibility with Creo View and the Creo View Adapters, see the Visualization Windchill Compatibility and Platform Overview.
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In most cases, you can use a later version of the authoring application to open and process data created in earlier releases.
2. Choose where the WVS Worker is to be installed and the common file-system to use, based on the documented Creo View adapter and authoring application requirements.
Refer to the following information in the Creo View MCAD Adapter Installation and Configuration Guide:
◦ For information on the adapter and its run-modes, see “Overview of the Conversion Process.”
◦ For general Creo View Adapters prerequisites, see “General Prerequisites for the Conversion Process.”
◦ For additional adapter specific prerequisites, see the Introduction section and the Adapter Prerequisites section, under Introduction to the Creo View Adapter for <application> chapter.
For example, for Creo Parametric, see “Introduction to proe2pv” and “Creo Parametric Adapter Prerequisites” under the “Introduction to the Creo View Adapter for Creo Parametric” chapter.
Proceed to install and configure the Creo View Adapters.
Installing and Configuring the Creo View Adapters
Once the worker machine is ready, you can install and configure the Creo View Adapters.
1. Install and configure the required authoring application on the worker machine:
◦ For information on installing the application, refer to its documentation.
◦ For information on the required licenses and modules, see the Adapter Prerequisites section, in the Introduction to the Creo View Adapter for <application> under Configuring the Creo View Adapter for <application> chapter, in the Creo View MCAD Adapter Installation and Configuration Guide.
For example, for Creo Parametric, see “Creo Parametric Adapter Prerequisites.”
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The Creo View Adapter for PDF requires Adobe Experience Manager technology. For details about its installation, see the Adobe Experience Manager Installation Guide for Creo View Adapter for PDF under Creo View Adapters in Reference Documents.
2. To download the Creo View Adapters installation media, see the Customer Support Guide.
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To log in you must have a PTC.com Account. The page lists only products you can download.
3. Install the required adapter on the worker machine.
For information on installing the Creo View Adapters, see “Installing the Adapters.”
4. Configure the adapter for your CAD application.
See the Configuring the Creo View Adapter for <application> section, under Configuring the Creo View Adapter for <application> chapter, in the Creo View MCAD Adapters Installation and Configuration Guide.
For example, for Creo Parametric, see “Configuring the Creo View Adapter for Creo Parametric.
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For non- Creo Parametric adapters, verify that the Enable WWGM file synchronization support option is clear. You must first set up a basic publishing configuration. You will configure the File synchronization later in the procedure.
5. To test the communications from the worker machine to the Windchill server and port, click Test Server on the Creo View adapter configuration utility. A dialog box opens with messages that include Set keepalive ok message. Because you have not yet configured the worker, this is the expected message.
See the Test Server section, under Using <application>_config on Windows.
For example, see “Using proe2pv_config on Windows”.
6. Verify that the Creo View adapter can generate Creo View viewables:
Perform a test publish using command-line publishing, and if supported, perform an additional test using interactive publishing. Then, check the validity of the generated viewables by opening them in the Creo View client.
For information on publishing, see the Command-line Publishing section and the Interactive Publishing section, under Configuring the Creo View Adapter for <application> chapter, in the Creo View MCAD Adapter Installation and Configuration Guide.
For example, for Creo Parametric, see “proebatch Command Line Publishing”.
You have now successfully installed and configured your adapter. Proceed to the next section to configure the Creo View adapter as a WVS worker.
Configuring the Creo View Adapter as a WVS Worker
You must configure your Creo View adapter as a WVS worker for Windchill to use the adapter as a part of the WVS Automated Publishing mechanism. Follow the steps below to define a remote worker on the machine.
For an introduction to local and remote workers, including the Common File Systems, see Introduction to the Worker Agent.
1. Configure a Common File System to transfer files from the Windchill server to the remote worker and to retrieve the generated Creo View viewables.
◦ For general information, refer to Guidelines for Configuring a Worker “Common File System”.
◦ To configure the Common File System, see Adding a Worker to a Different Windows Machine.
2. Configure a new remote worker using the WVS Worker Agent Administration.
See Adding a Worker to a Different Windows Machine.
3. Configure the WVS worker allow list using the worker.exe.whitelist.prefixes properties.
See Enhanced Security Measures in Worker Configuration.
4. Start the worker.
See Test 1: Starting the Worker in the Windchill Help Center.
5. Test the new worker configuration and the Common File System from Windchill Server using the Worker Agent Administration.
◦ For testing a simple, non-File Synchronization enabled worker, see Testing the Worker Agent Configuration.
◦ For troubleshooting information about FTP Common File System testing, see Testing the FTP or FTPS Server Configuration.
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• For Creo Parametric workers—File Synchronization must be configured before you can publish Windchill CAD data.
• For all other MCAD workers—You can now publish Windchill CAD data, but the worker does not perform File Synchronization.
Information on setting up File Synchronization appears later in this chapter.
6. Familiarize yourself with the WVS Job Monitor.
See About the WVS Job Monitor in the Windchill Help Center.
Your worker machine is now configured as a WVS worker. Proceed to the next section to configure the recipe settings.
Configuring the Recipe Settings of the Adapter
A recipe (*.RCP) is a file that defines the Creo View adapter behavior and output. The recipe contains a list of settings and their values. Using the adapter configuration utility you can create a default recipe file, which is named after the matching adapter. For example, for Creo Parametric, proe2pv.rcp is created based on the adapter named proe2pv. You can modify this recipe or create a new recipe with the Recipe Editor by following the instructions in these topics in the Creo View MCAD Adapter Installation and Configuration Guide.
• For information on modifying recipes, creating recipes, and generic and adapter-specific recipe settings, see “Introduction to Recipe Editing for Converting CAD Data”.
• For generic recipe configuration tasks, see “Performing Recipe Editor Tasks”.
• For specific recipe configuration tasks, see the Advanced Adapter Configurations chapter, under Configuring the Creo View Adapter for <application> part.
For example, for Creo Parametric, see “Advanced Creo Parametric Adapter Configurations”.
You have now completed the required configuration tasks, and you can use automated publishing. Configuring file synchronization is optional, but recommended. Proceed to one or both of the next sections, depending on your CAD applications:
• For Creo Parametric, continue directly to Configuring a Creo Parametric Worker for File Synchronization below.
• For all other CAD applications, skip to Configuring Other MCAD Application Workers for File Synchronization.
Configuring a Creo Parametric Worker for File Synchronization
The adapter for Creo Parametric supports File Synchronization. File Synchronization enables the worker to synchronize the Windchill CAD document content with the current Windchill metadata (EPM structure and attributes). To configure File Synchronization, follow the steps in this procedure.
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Since Creo Parametric bundles Windchill CAD integration client, you do not have to install the Windchill Workgroup Manager (WWGM) before setting up Creo Parametric for File Synchronization.
1. Verify that the Windchill server and your installations of Creo Parametric and Creo View adapters on the worker machine are compatible.
◦ See the MCAD Application Adapters section of the Creo View Adapters Software Matrices.
◦ Refer to the File and Content Synchronization Compatibility Article for your Windchill server release. For Windchill 11.1 refer to article CS223581, and the Creo Data Management Compatibility Roadmap.
2. Edit the Windchill account credentials in the auth.properties file, to allow access to the required Windchill objects.
Refer to step 2 in the Using a File Synchronization-Capable Worker section of the Windchill Help Center.
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No further configuration is required to enable File Synchronization for Creo Parametric workers.
3. Test the File Synchronization enabled CAD worker. Publish CAD document parts, assemblies and drawings of the Creo Parametric from Windchill.
4. You have now configured File Synchronization for Creo Parametric:
◦ To configure your WVS worker for File Synchronization for non- Creo Parametric applications, continue to the next section.
◦ If Creo Parametric is the only CAD application for which you are configuring automated publishing, then you have completed the procedure and you can begin using automated publishing.
Configuring Other MCAD Application Workers for File Synchronization
All MCAD applications other than Creo Parametric that support File Synchronizations require an installation of Windchill Workgroup Manager client. You need the WWGM client to download the Windchill CAD document content and merge it with the updated Windchill metadata.
Follow the optional but recommended steps to configure a WVS worker for File Synchronization for any MCAD application other than Creo Parametric.
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This procedure is not required for publishing Office documents since the Adapter for PDF, which converts Office documents, is automatically configured. The Adapter for PDF uses a different method for synchronizing mapped attribute metadata.
1. Verify that the target Windchill server release and its WWGM client are actually compatible with the releases of MCAD application and Creo View Adapters installed on the worker machine.
◦ See the MCAD Application Adapters section of the Creo View Adapters Software Matrices.
◦ Refer to the File and Content Synchronization Compatibility Article for your Windchill server release. For Windchill 11.1 refer to article CS223581, and the Windchill CAD Integrations Product Compatibility Matrix.
2. Install the WWGM using the Installation Assistant.
a. Install the WWGM using the Installation Assistant by launching setup.exe from the root directory of either the DVD or the downloaded installation files.
b. Select the CAD applications to install. By default, all applications are selected. To select individual CAD tools within application categories, click Customize..., and then select from the available customizable applications.
See the Windchill Workgroup Manager Installation Guide for the complete installation procedure.
3. Register your CAD application with WWGM using the Application Management utility.
See Registering your Authoring Application with Windchill Workgroup Manager in the Windchill Workgroup Manager Installation Guide for the complete registration process.
4. On the worker machine, test the WWGM client functionality.
a. Register the Windchill server. See Registering the Windchill Server in the Windchill Workgroup Manager Installation Guide for the complete connection process.
b. Create a workspace.
c. From Windchill, open a CAD document in the CAD application.
Refer to the PDM Actions in <Application> topic in the Windchill Workgroup Manager Help Center.
For example, for Autodesk Inventor, refer to see the “PDM Actions in Autodesk Inventor” section.
5. Select the Enable WWGM file synchronization support option to enable WWGM for File Synchronization on the worker machine.
◦ For detailed information, see the relevant step in the Using <adapter>_config section, under Configuring the Creo View Adapter for <application> chapter, in the Creo View MCAD Adapter Installation and Configuration Guide.
For example, for Autodesk Inventor, see “Using inventor2pv_config” in Creo View MCAD Adapter Installation and Configuration Guide.
◦ For information on the different techniques for starting the Worker Daemon, see article CS179535.
6. On the Windchill server, enable File Synchronization for the worker.
a. Configure the WVS components for File Synchronization.
See Using a File Synchronization-Capable Worker.
b. Configure the worker machine to use the WWGM client for File Synchronization.
▪ See the Using a File Synchronization-Capable Worker with Windchill Workgroup Manager section in the Windchill Workgroup Manager Administrator’s and User’s Guide for your CAD application.
For example, for Autodesk Inventor, see “Using a File Synchronization-Capable Worker with Windchill Workgroup Manager for Autodesk Inventor.”
▪ For CATIA 5, see “Using a File Synchronization-Capable Worker with Windchill Workgroup Manager.”
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In some cases, the specific WWGM guide for a CAD application contains steps you have already performed by following the previous procedure.
7. In Windchill, test the File Synchronization for your CAD worker:
a. In Windchill, open a CAD part with no existing representation. Under the CAD document information page, the Details tab opens.
b. Click the thumbnail placeholder to start the automated publishing process. The WVS Job Monitor opens, allowing you to monitor the progress.
c. Repeat the test for CAD assemblies and drawings for the same application from Windchill.
For troubleshooting information, refer to Tech Support knowledge base article CS38216.
You have completed the basic configuration of an automated publishing system.