Cache Mechanism in BOM Transformer

The use of cache mechanism is effective when a large number of parts are present in the tree structure in the BOM Transformer or Service Associative Part Structure Browser (SAPSB). The advantage of using cache mechanism is that after the initial loading of the structure in cache, the subsequent actions are executed faster. You can use this mechanism to boost the performance of BOM Transformer.

To leverage the cache mechanism, set the user preference Enable Structure Cache to Yes. With this configuration, the entire structure information of a session is stored in cache. After the preference is set, the process of building a cache starts in the background when you open a BOM Transformer session. A separate cache is built for every BOM Transformer session. The time taken to build a cache depends on the size of the structure.

The cache is updated when changes are made to a subassembly, an assembly, or a part. The cache is incrementally updated only for that subassembly and not for the entire structure. The cache is rebuilt if the root node is changed.

The upstream and downstream tree structures of BOM Transformer have separate caches and both are updated independently. When you modify a structure in downstream, only the downstream cache is updated. While the downstream cache is being updated, you can modify the upstream structure. However, PTC recommends that you start an action on the structure only after the cache building process is complete. During the cache building process in downstream, if you invoke an action in upstream that has an impact on the downstream structure, the action will be executed only after the cache building process in the downstream is completed. For example, Select Equivalent Parts on Other Side action.

In certain scenarios, you may need to open structures belonging to different product contexts in the upstream and downstream views of the BOM Transformer. In such scenarios, both the product context preference Enable Structure Cache should be set to Yes, to achieve better performance

The status on the cache building process is displayed below the BOM Transformer toolbar. The following table provides information about the status messages of the cache building process:

Message

Description

Cache Building Status: Uninitialized

The cache is not built for the given structure.

Cache Building Status: Complete

The cache building process is complete. The subsequent actions will now use cache for their execution.

Cache Building Status: In Progress

The cache building process is in progress.

Cache Building Status: Failed

The process of building cache has failed. You can rebuild the cache. Click

Build Structure Cache in the middle pane toolbar of BOM Transformer or SAPSB to rebuild the upstream and downstream cache.

is visible only if the Enable Structure Cache preference is set to Yes.

The process of building cache may fail due to the presence of recursive paths in the structure. A recursive path occurs when a child part references its parent part. Rectify the structure before you rebuild the cache.