When to Build
A build can occur automatically (with no user interface) after being triggered by a user-invoked action (for example, Check In or Send to PDM). Alternatively, a build can occur based on a manual request (for example, from an explicit Build Structure action invoked on the CAD document information page)
Automatic Builds
An automatic build retains the convenience of having the build occur without any user intervention (as in prior releases). You may configure the system to automatically build at the default values after the following events.
• Creation of a new CAD document iteration with a build rule to a part
• Sending a project version of the CAD Document to PDM
• Modification of the CAD Document Master with a build rule to a Part
• Some combination of the conditions in the preceding bullets
• Never occur automatically
An automatic build might also need to build more than just the object affected. The object’s children may need to be built as well. The set of children affected by an automatic build is based on the type of association and whether the part is up-to-date with the CAD information. Consider the following use cases:
• If a child CAD Document is newly associated to a part or is modified since the last update of the part, then the automatic multiple-level build synchronizes the CAD Document and the part.
• Image-associated CAD Documents and Model Items can be configured to not build or iterate their related parts. This is done with the server-side preference Build Image Association by Default. When this preference is set to No, the child part of the CAD Document is not updated. This is often used when the CAD object is related to a purchased or standard component that is already released and cannot be modified.
The capabilities of the automatic build include the following.
• Can execute on checked-in CAD documents only.
• Modify just the latest iteration, on the version of the part associated via the build rule.
• Automatically commit (check in) the changes to the parts.
• Can execute on selected CAD documents only.
Otherwise, a recursive build builds all children that meet the lifecycle state to build.
You receive success/failure messages in the Event Management utility. If the build fails, then the event that triggered it continues, as the two structures are allowed to be out-of-sync.
Manual Builds
The command to build part structure and attributes from CAD documents is available in the following locations within Windchill.
• In a CAD document commonspace information page within:
◦ the main actions menu.
◦ the structure browser.
• In a part information page (either checked-in or working copy version) within:
◦ the main actions menu.
◦ the structure browser.
• In the Structure Editor
• In common implementation of the See Actions menu when the part is driven. For example, in:
◦ the Folder browser.
◦ the Search results.
• In the user interface for the following actions:
◦ Check In
◦ Send To PDM
◦ Set State