Integration is a process that lets you merge conflicting changes made by multiple users to the same revision of an object fetched from a Pro/INTRALINK product database.

Integration facilitates concurrent engineering by allowing multiple engineers to modify an object simultaneously without fear of overwriting each other’s changes or making irreconcilable modifications. Preparation for change integration requires steps to be performed in Pro/INTRALINK and Creo Parametric.

It may occur that multiple users fetch an object from a Pro/INTRALINK product database and make different changes to the object independently of each other. When the modified objects are resubmitted to the product database, Pro/INTRALINK checks each submitted object for conflicts with objects already present in the product database.

For example, suppose that you and another user fetch the latest revision of a part from a product database. You both modify the object, but the other user resubmits the object to Pro/INTRALINK and receives approval for the changes before you do. The other user’s modified part has become the latest revision in the product database.

When you submit your modified part, you are informed that your changes are not based on the latest revision of the part, and that the revision you are attempting to create already exists in the product database. To resolve this conflict, you must merge the changes in your version, the source, with the latest version in the database, the target by using File > Integrate.

Similarly, conflicts can arise when you submit an object, such as a drawing or assembly, which depends upon an object which itself has a conflict. If a drawing uses a changed part, requiring you to switch references for the drawing, then the drawing also must be included in the list of objects to be integrated.

Based on information that you have already provided, Creo Parametric determines which references in the drawing may be switched automatically, then prompts you to map any remaining references manually.