Windchill Default System Attributes (SOLIDWORKS)
The set of Windchill default system attributes are automatically published in SOLIDWORKS when a CAD part or drawing is checked in or saved in Windchill. These are used to support required SOLIDWORKS system parameters, such as revision. Because Windchill writes these to SOLIDWORKS, they cannot be modified. The information on these attributes always comes from the Windchill system, and therefore is always up-to-date (for example, Revision reflects the Windchill revision).
A list of the attributes provided by Windchill is listed in the following table.
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Windchill Attribute
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Description
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PTC_WM_REVISION
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• String Type
• Initial value the first revision corresponding to the default context of the Workspace. This should be set to Yes whether or not the server is online or offline.
• Corresponds to the string used for just the Windchill version of the CAD document. By default this is usually, A, B, C, etc.
• If the user modifies the value, then upon the next retrieval or update, the value is overridden by the system
• Predicted upon save for new objects.
• Should be set to the current CAD document revision when setting upon check out for an existing object.
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PTC_WM_PART_NAME
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• String Type
• Initial value: Not Applicable. This system attribute should never be created on initial creation of the CAD document.
• Corresponds to the string used for the name of the actively associated part to this model’s CAD document.
• May be created and set before the initial auto-association if the naming policy is set to use a custom parameter. Otherwise, the value is ignored and set upon Save.
• For new or existing CAD documents, if the user associates, then the system parameter should be available to be updated upon next retrieval in or save from SOLIDWORKS.
• When checking out an existing CAD document, the system parameter should reflect the name of the CAD document’s actively associated part. If none exists, then the system parameter is not created in SOLIDWORKS.
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PTC_WM_PART_NUMBER
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• String Type
• Initial value: Not Applicable. This system parameter should never be created on initial creation of the CAD document.
• Corresponds to the string used for the number of the actively associated part to this model’s CAD document.
• May be created and set before the initial auto-association if the naming policy is set to use a custom parameter. Otherwise, the value is ignored and set upon Update.
• This attribute is not predicted. For new or existing CAD documents, if the user associates, then the system parameter should be available to be updated upon next retrieval in or save from SOLIDWORKS.
• When checking out an existing CAD document, the system parameter reflects the number of the CAD document’s actively associated part. If none exists, then the system parameter should not be created in SOLIDWORKS.
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PTC_WM_NUMBER
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• String Type
• Initial value should be set according to the naming policies. That is, if the policy is set to:
◦ CAD Model Name, then the initial value should be based on CAD file name. The number will contain the extension based on a preference.
◦ Auto-numbering, then the initial value should be generated by taking a number from the PTC auto-numbering system.
◦ CAD attribute, then the initial value should be based on the CAD property that is defining the number.
◦ Custom naming/numbering application, then the initial value should be generated by taking a number from the customer-defined auto-numbering system.
If the server is offline, and the system cannot predict the number (due to auto-numbering mechanisms not being available), then the initial value is denoted by a white space.
• Corresponds to the string used for the number of this model’s CAD document.
• May be created and set before the initial save if the naming policy is set to use a custom parameter. Otherwise, the value will be ignored and set upon initial save or a subsequent retrieval.
• Predicted upon save for new objects.
• Should be set to the current CAD document number when setting upon check out for an existing object.
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PTC_WM_NAME
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• String Type
• Initial value should be set according to the naming policies. That is, if the policy is set to:
◦ CAD Model Name, then the initial value should be based on CAD file name. The name will contain the extension based on a preference to keep the extension.
◦ Auto-numbering, then the initial value should be based on CAD file name. The name will contain the extension based on a preference to keep the extension.
◦ CAD Attribute, then the initial value should be based on the CAD property that is defining the name.
◦ Custom naming or numbering application, then the initial value should be based on CAD file name. The name will contain the extension based on a preference to keep the extension.
◦ The initial value should be able to be set whether the server is online or offline.
• Corresponds to the string used for the name of this model’s CAD document
• May be created and set before the initial save if the naming policy is set to use a custom parameter. Otherwise, the value will be ignored and set upon initial save or a subsequent retrieval.
• Predicted upon save for new objects.
• Should be set to the current CAD document name when setting upon check out for an existing object.
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PTC_WM_ORGANIZATION_ID
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• String Type
• Initial value should be:
◦ Predict: Set according to be the organization identifier of the context of the workspace.
◦ Offline: Set according to be the organization identifier of the context of the workspace.
• Corresponds to the CAD document’s organization identifier
• Predicted upon save for new objects
• Should be set to the current CAD document organization identifier when setting upon check out for an existing object.
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PTC_WM_ITERATION
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• String Type
• Initial value should be predicted and set to 1 whether the server is online or offline.
• Corresponds to the CAD document iteration.
• Predict for both new and existing. Upon check out, the value should be predicted to be the iteration after the current CAD document iteration.
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PTC_WM_LIFECYCLE
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• String Type
• Initial value should be set according to be the object initialization rules of the context of the workspace. This should be Yes whether the server is online or offline.
For more information on object initialization rules, refer to Identifying the Current Naming and Numbering Policy.
• Corresponds to the name of the CAD document’s life cycle.
• Predicted upon save for new objects.
• Should be set to the current CAD document life cycle when setting upon check out for an existing object.
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PTC_WM_LIFECYCLE_STATE
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• String Type
• Initial value should be set according to be the object initialization rules of the context of the workspace. Should take the initial state of the default life cycle. Initial value should be set whether the server is online or offline.
• Corresponds to the name of the CAD document’s life cycle state.
• Predicted upon save for new objects.
• Should be set to the current CAD document life cycle state when setting upon check out for an existing object.
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PTC_WM_IS_DRAWING
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• Boolean Type
• Initial value should be set according to CAD Adapter’s declaration of the CAD document type or Model Descriptor. If it is set to be a drawing, then the Boolean is set to Yes, otherwise it is No.
• Set to Yes if the CAD document is a drawing.
• The value should not change once the object is checked in.
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Additional System Attributes for SOLIDWORKS
The following table lists Windchill system attributes that you can additionally configure to map to the CAD document in SOLIDWORKS:
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Windchill Attribute
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Description
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PTC_WM_CREATED_BY
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• String Type
• Always set
• Scope: Content
• The name of the user that created the CAD document
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PTC_WM_CREATED_ON
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• Date and time (String) Type
• Always set
• Scope: Content
• The date and time that the CAD document was created
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PTC_WM_MODIFIED_BY
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• String Type
• Default: Empty string
• Scope: Content
• The name of the user that last modified the CAD document
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PTC_WM_MODIFIED_ON
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• Date and time (String) Type
• Default: Empty string
• Scope: Content
• The date and time that the CAD document was last modified
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When these system property propagations are configured, a performance issue may be observed when you open a large CAD assembly saved in the previous Windchill release. To avoid the performance impact, these system attribute mapping to CAD document is turned off by default.
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If you need these system properties in CAD Document for your business requirement, keep in mind this performance issue on legacy data loading. Once a CAD Document is saved from CAD tool and checked into Windchill through Windchill Workgroup Manager, such a performance degradation is not observed.
For more details of configuration settings, see Frequently Used SolidWorks Preferences in the Preference Management Utility.