Policy-Managed Naming and Numbering
Creo Parametric supports four policies to determine how newly created objects (either CAD documents or WTParts) are named and numbered. The four policies can be described briefly as follows:
• Auto-numbering
◦ The CAD document Number is server-assigned (either out-of-the-box or per your customization)
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Customization of autonumbering must ensure that unique numbers are assigned.
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◦ If the system parameter PTC_COMMON_NAME is created during creation of the Creo Parametric model file, its value is copied to the CAD document Name. If Common name is left blank in Creo Parametric, the default value for the CAD document Name is copied from the Creo Parametric model name. The file extension (.prt) can be optionally dropped (controlled by a preference).
◦ The WTPart Number is provided by the WTPart Number generator.
◦ The default value for the WTPart Name is copied from the current value of the CAD document Name at the time the WTPart is created. If a file extension is present in the CAD document name, it can be optionally dropped when set in WTPart (controlled by a preference).
◦ In any create and edit user interface, the CAD document and WTPart NAME field is editable.
◦ Auto numbering is the default, out-of-the-box naming and numbering policy. The default system does not allow editing of the number by users.
• Name-driven
◦ If the CAD document Number is not set up to be server-assigned, then the CAD document Number is copied from the Creo Parametric file name (the file extension can be dropped—controlled by a preference).
◦ If the system parameter PTC_COMMON_NAME is created during creation of the Creo Parametric model file, its value is copied to the CAD document Name. If Common Name is left blank in Creo Parametric, the default value for the CAD document Name is copied from the Creo Parametric model name (file extension can be dropped – controlled by a preference)
◦ If the WTPart Number is not set up to be server-assigned, then the default value for the WTPart Number is copied from the CAD document Number (the file extension can be dropped—controlled by a preference)
◦ The default value for the WTPart Name is copied from the current value of the CAD document Name at the time the WTPart is created (the file extension can be dropped—controlled by a preference)
◦ In any create and edit user interface, the CAD document and WTPart NAME and NUMBER fields are editable by the user.
• Parameter-driven
◦ The CAD document Number is copied from the value of the Creo Parametric designated parameter identified by the preference, > > > . (If no preference value is set, Number assignment follows that of the name-driven policy.)
◦ The value for the CAD document Name is copied from the Creo Parametric designated parameter identified by the preference, > > > .
◦ The value for the WTPart Number is copied from the value of the Windchill attribute identified by the preference, > > .
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Setting this preference takes precedence over auto-numbering, to facilitate user intent in the auto association action. Auto-numbering rules (if any) are observed if this preference is unset.
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◦ The value for the WTPart Name is copied from the value of the Windchill attribute identified by the preference, > > .
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If this preference is unset, name-driven (not autonumbering) policy is observed, even if auto-numbering is rules are otherwise in effect.
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Name-driven and parameter-driven policies can only be used in object-driven creation of objects as they require a source object to create a new object. These policies are used during upload (when a new CAD document can be created based on a model file), and auto-associate (when a new WTPart may be created for a CAD document).
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If the designated parameters change after the creation of objects, the associations and the names of CAD documents or WTParts do not change.
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• Custom
The Object Initialization Rules Administrator, available on the Windchill PDMLink or Windchill ProjectLink Utilities tab, provides a way to specify default values for the attributes of a specific object type. The default values are then used when the Windchill solution creates objects of that type. These specifications are called rules. Each rule can contain default values for one object type. The rules that are set only apply when the Windchill solution that is used to create an object does not set a corresponding value. Rules can be set up to provide auto-number generation, but they can also be set up to provide custom behavior (see Managing CAD Document and WTPart Naming and Numbering). Rules are also set per context, allowing there to be different naming/numbering policies on different contexts.
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Regardless of the naming and numbering policy used, when creating a new object, system uniqueness constraints require that the CAD document attributes Number and File Name must both be unique within a Windchill PDMLink site or within each Windchill ProjectLink project.
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Identifying the Current Naming and Numbering Policy
The algorithm used to understand which policy is currently set in the system (for a particular context and class of object) is as follows:
• If auto-numbering is set in Rules, then the policy is auto-numbering.
• If custom behavior is implemented in Rules, then the policy is custom.
• If either of auto-numbering or custom behavior is not set and the parameter or attribute preferences are set in the Windchill Preference Management utility, then policy is parameter-driven.
• Otherwise, the policy is name-driven.
Windchill Preferences for Naming and Numbering
The preference related to auto-numbering policy for CAD Documents in the Preference Management utility is as follows:
> > > .
• If the preference value is set to Do not synchronize file name and number, then the CAD Document’s number will always be auto-generated.
• If the preference value is set to Synchronize file name with number, then the CAD Document’s number is determined by the CAD Document’s file name.
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• The CAD Document’s number is auto-generated, even if the Creo file name is a generated number.
• This preference has no effect on CAD Documents that have already been uploaded. Upload does not change number after first upload.
• If users are commonly accepting the auto-generated number in Creo as the CAD Document’s file name, then it is recommended to keep this preference at Synchronize file name with number.
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The preferences for parameter-driven naming and numbering policy in the Windchill Preference Management utility are the following for auto-associate:
• > > = <some string parameter>
• > > = <some string parameter>
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Creo Parametric parameters are passed to Windchill in all uppercase characters. The string value must match the name as seen in Creo Parametric for the designated parameter.
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The following preferences specify parameter-driven naming and numbering during upload:
• > > > = <some string parameter>
• > > > = <some string parameter>
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By default, none of these four preferences has a value.
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The preference Numbering Parameter cannot be used with family table parts that have more than one level of nested instances (upload fails with a uniqueness exception). When Numbering Parameter is used with family table parts that have only one level of instances, values of this parameter need to be different for each instance. You can do this by adding this parameter as a family table column and providing a different number value for each instance.
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When set to "Yes" (default is "No"), the following preferences specify dropping the file extensions (such as, ".prt" or ".asm") when naming and numbering new objects during an auto-associate action:
• > >
• > >
When set to "Yes" (default is "No"), the following preferences specify dropping file extensions during upload:
• > > >
• > > >