Offline Workspace Functionality
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Offline workspace functionality is only available in Windchill PDMLink or Windchill ProjectLink, when working with Creo Parametric.
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The interoperability of Creo Parametric with Windchill allows for access to workspace objects downloaded or checked out to local cache (the client-side workspace) in a CAD session when there is no connection to the PDM server. This enables you to modify the geometry of CAD objects when there is a poor or a Lost Connection to a Server, when you are Making the Workspace Available Offline from the network, or when you are Exporting and Importing Workspaces and their content (for example, to share with a partner outside the network).
Offline workspace functionality is managed in the Server Management utility, with some relevant actions also available in the Folder Navigator and the Windchill My Workspaces page. This topic provides a conceptual overview of working offline.
Lost Connection to a Server
The system notifies you when your connection to the server is lost.
The following are important considerations for working offline from the server whether you go offline because the connection is lost, or by choice:
• PDM operations (for example, Save and Upload, Download, Check In, Check Out, Association, Revision, New Part, or New CAD Document, and so on) are unavailable.
• When working offline, the workspace user interface is unavailable. You can access your workspace objects by using either of the following user interfaces:
◦ The Creo Parametric > window
◦ The File List HTML page that opens in the embedded browser when you select a workspace in the Folder Navigator
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The > window includes version/iteration information for the object when the view is changed to “All.”
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• If the server goes offline, Creo Parametric cannot obtain an automatically generated number for a newly created CAD model or a model that is opened from your disk drive. You must manually specify a name for the new model as the design session continues offline.
• If you quit Creo Parametric while the network connection is broken, and restart Creo Parametric before the network connection is restored, you still have access to the cache. The workspace becomes an offline workspace. Click the workspace node in the Folder Navigator to view the workspace content, or to open files for modification in Creo Parametric.
• If you exceed the cache threshold, content may be removed from the cache without your knowledge. If this happens and you are forced to go offline, the object may not be retrievable because its content is not available. Therefore, you should monitor your cache threshold and set it appropriately. You can control cache size with the Creo Parametric configuration option dm_cache_limit.
• Depending on the PDM system you use, you may require a locked license for Creo Parametric . If the Creo Parametric client gets its license from a license server, when connectivity is lost to the license server, then Creo Parametric freezes because it lost its license. If the network connection to the Windchill server for Creo Parametric is prone to failure, then you should use a locked license for Creo Parametric.
• If the server-side component of the workspace has been deleted, upon re-connection to the server the workspace is restored with any objects that are in cache.
• If you have modified the server-side workspace while unconnected to the server, upon re-connection, the objects in the local cache are not overwritten. You can choose to synchronize the workspace with the server-side changes.
• When you attempt to modify a non-checked-out object in an offline workspace, Creo Parametric presents the Conflicts window. Click Continue to make modifications to that object.
• If you have created or modified CAD models while not being connected to the server, upon re-connection these meta data are communicated to the server-side workspace through synchronization. An upload is required to transfer content information to the server. If you perform the synchronization with Upload and Download de-selected, no content information is exchanged with the server-side workspace. CAD documents in the now online workspace display the status, ’Local Content Modified.’
• A status column alerts you to discrepancies between the workspace cache and the server-side workspace. Some of the conditions reported are the following:
◦ CAD document main has been deleted.
◦ A naming conflict with an existing object; or the workspace object is new in cache.
◦ The object has been removed from the (server-side) workspace.
◦ The iteration or version of the CAD document has been deleted.
◦ The file name of the object has been changed.
Making the Workspace Available Offline
When you choose to make a workspace available offline, you first select the workspace in the Server Management utility and then select > . The Make Workspace Available Offline window that appears enables you to specify when you would like to synchronize the workspace (either upon exiting Creo Parametric or when going offline). This helps to ensure that the workspace has all the necessary content for an offline session before disconnecting from the PDM server.
To go offline, with the server selected in the Server Management utility, select > . In the Synchronize Workspaces window that appears, you can multi-select additional workspaces to synchronize before going offline. In addition, you can accept or clear the following actions to be performed at synchronization (This window is also displayed when going online):
• Synchronize (Sync/CS)—Updates the name and other model properties of the object in the cache with respect to the ones on the server.
• Download—Downloads the content files from the PDM system to the workspace. If your workspace is offline, then Download downloads the following:
◦ Content of objects that are added to the workspace but not downloaded.
◦ Content of objects that are checked out in the workspace but not downloaded.
◦ The main assembly for each external simplified representation in the workspace.
◦ The entire family table for any family table generics of instances.
• Upload—Uploads the files and metadata to the server-side workspace and the PDM server. Upload is used to backup the content and metadata in a workspace. If your workspace is offline, then Upload also uploads the metadata and content of the newly created files and the changed files in the client workspace.
The system downloads content (ignoring the current cache threshold limit) as required for workspace objects that have been only linked to the server. The Status column in the Servers pane of the Server Management utility now shows "Offline."
When you are ready to work online again, you select > , this time to toggle off offline functionality. If the server is available, you are prompted to perform a synchronization with the server. If upload is selected, any newly saved document in the offline workspace is uploaded with an A.1 version.
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You can also access the Work Offline command in the pop-up menu, available from the Folder Navigator when you click your server node with the right mouse button.
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Exporting and Importing Workspaces
Exporting a workspace allows you to save a password-protected, portable workspace (.pws) file to your local disc that can be transported to another system. The workspace is designated as belonging to the original primary server and owned by the original user. However, while imported to a second system, the detached (exported) workspace cannot interact with the original primary server.
Selecting a workspace in the Server Management utility and then selecting > invokes a synchronization window. This window presents the synchronization choices described in the previous section and displays a default local storage location for the exported workspace. You can browse to a new location if you want. You then are asked to set a workspace password that is required to open the workspace (by non-owner) or reimport the workspace (upon return to owner).
With the password, the workspace can be imported onto a different Creo Parametric client ( > ). When opened on a second Creo Parametric client, the workspace and its primary server appear in the Folder Navigator indicated as Offline. After any modifications are made to workspace objects, the workspace can be exported from the second system (without the steps of synchronization/download/upload or assigning a password). It can then be re-imported onto the original system (requiring both the password and synchronization).
The workspace on the originating system is automatically locked at export to prevent unwanted changes. The owner can unlock the original workspace manually (for example, if the exported workspace is not going to be re-imported and the owner wants to continue using it). This is done by selecting it on the My Workspaces page and clicking Unlock. Another method is to select it in the Server Management utility and then select > to reverse the locking process and remove the checkmark.