Resource Providers and Assets
Resource providers are used to find assets in the asset searches for ThingWorx Asset Management and ThingWorx Software Content Management. However, a resource provider can be used to search for other resources that you do not want to show up in the searches. The Role:Ownables and Role:Operatable tags distinguish which resource providers are used to search for resources/assets in ThingWorx Asset Management and ThingWorx Software Content Management.
You will also want to consider which resource providers to associate with your assets. This association is done using a resource thing shape that is configured on the resource provider and then added to either a thing or a thing template for a collection of things.
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It is recommended that an asset only be assigned to one resource provider to avoid duplication in the search results.
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If you are only using thing-based assets, there are two out-of-the-box resource providers that already have these thing shapes and Role tags configured so there is no need to create one of your own:
• PTC.Resource.Asset.SCMResourceProvider is to be used for ThingWorx Software Content Management assets and is configured with the PTC.Resource.Asset.SCMResourceThingShape resource thing shape. It has both the Role:Ownables and Role:Operatable tags so that its assets can be searched for in both ThingWorx Asset Management and ThingWorx Software Content Management.
• PTC.Resource.Asset.ThingworxAssetResourceProvider is to be used for ThingWorx Asset Management and is configured with the PTC.Resource.Asset.ThingworxAsset resource thing shape. It only has the Role:Ownables tag so its assets can be searched for in ThingWorx Asset Management, but not ThingWorx Software Content Management.
If you plan to use the out-of-the-box resource providers, several things should be taken into consideration to help you best configure your assets:
• Selecting the appropriate resource thing shape: Will you use ThingWorx Software Content Management to deploy software to your assets?
◦ If yes, use PTC.Resource.Asset.SCMResourceThingShape.
◦ If no, use PTC.Resource.Asset.ThingworxAsset.
• Where to configure the resource thing shape: Is there a possibility of reassigning an asset to a different resource provider?
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This is important because the migration cost of moving things from one resource provider to another could be significant depending on the number of assets.
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◦ If yes, add the resource thing shape to your assets (things).
◦ If no, add the resource thing shape to your asset types (thing templates).
When creating an asset in ThingWorx Asset Management the appropriate resource thing shape is added to the asset (thing) if either of the out-of-the-box resource providers are selected.
