About Automatically Linking the WTPart and the CAD Documents
The Auto Associate Part functionality in Windchill automatically associates a CAD document that you select to an existing or new WTPart. The automatic association sets the revision of the WTPart to match the revision of the automatically associated CAD document. If the Auto Associate function does not find an existing WTPart, it creates one and stores it in the same server location as its associated CAD document. If more than one WTpart is found for a CAD document, the Auto Associate Part functionality ignores the CAD document. The CAD document selected for the association may be new, checked out, or checked in to the workspace.
Translated Image Models (TIMs) or the derived CAD documents of heterogeneous CAD models are automatically associated to the same WTPart as their source CAD document through the custom check in page. The association type is contributing image. According to this association, the TIM which is a representation of the source CAD document is considered a valid child when creating the product structure. A checkin of the TIM creates this link that establishes the compatability of the TIM with the non-native source CAD model. However, a new WTPart is not created for a TIM when the source CAD document does not have a WTPart.
A mirrored component has two source models, the assembly in which the mirror was created and a model used as the source of the mirror. A multibodied part also has two source models. When you create a TIM for a mirrored component, the mirrored component automatically associates with the WTPart of the geometry source, that is, the CAD assembly, and not the CAD part. The association is of the type contributing image or the Representation build Link. A mirrored component also creates a TIM assembly. Just as a TIM, the mirrored component too does not create a WTPart during checkin. For a TIM assembly of a multibodied source model or a mirrored component, only the top-level assembly, and not the component, is associated with the WTPart of the source. The TIM assembly relates back to the WTPart and the components related to each of the bodies of the source CAD document are associated through indirect derived links.
The Auto Associate Part functionality works as follows:
• If a CAD document is checked in, it is passively checked out to the workspace before it is automatically associated to the WTPart. The associated CAD document and the WTPart remain checked out and you must check in the CAD document to the workspace to commit the association.
• When you select multiple CAD documents, only valid CAD documents are associated with their relevant WTParts.
• The automatic association attempts to link a CAD document containing a part or an assembly and the WTPart by an owner or SAR Link if the WTPart is not already associated by an owner association to any CAD document. If the CAD document is that of a drawing, the system searches for a model for the drawing in the database and creates a Content link between the model and the drawing when the model is found. However, an OWNER or SAR link exists between the WTPart and the model.