The Worker Agent is the WVS service that manages one or more configured Workers, and uses them to convert Windchill content to Creo View viewable file formats that the WVS Loader can then upload on to a Representation that is associated to the original document. The Worker Agent automatically starts and stops workers as they are required, and performs the transfer of files to and from Remote and Distributed Workers. The service runs as separate threads, typically in the Background Method Server that is configured to process the WVS Windchill Queues.

When the Windchill server receives a client request to convert data to Creo View format (or non-CAD data to another format), the server calls a worker. This worker is either an instance of a Creo View Adapter or another type of worker. The worker then opens a background session of the application, and converts the designated objects to the appropriate format.

In a standard worker configuration, when a publishing request is received, the Publisher passes the file to the Worker Agent, which invokes the worker to convert the data and to store the resulting published data in Windchill.

In other words, when instructed by the Worker Agent, the worker opens a non-graphical session of the appropriate application and converts the designated data into another format. For CAD data, the worker converts the designated native CAD files to Creo View format. The Agent tells the workers what to convert, where to obtain the native files, and where to place the converted output files. For non-CAD data the process is similar, although the application used for conversion and the output type would be different, such as using Acrobat Distiller or the Arbortext Publishing Engine to create a PDF file.

This functionality allows automated conversion of data by Windchill Visualization Services, using the Creo View Adapter as a worker. In this mode, the Creo View Adapter is continually available to convert native objects, as the Windchill server requires.

When you configure the Creo View Adapter as a worker for the Worker Agent, this process generates a worker script, which launches the Creo View Adapter in a server-controlled mode. In this mode, the Creo View Adapter is referred to as a worker. The complete path to the worker script is required when configuring the Worker Agent to use the worker. Also, you must know the WVS Worker Agent server host name and port number to complete the configuration process.

The Worker Agent listens on a port for requests; the port number is defined in the agent.ini file. Out-of-the-box, the port is set to 5600. Should there be some other process on the system using this port, the Worker Agent will not initialize. In this case, manually editing the port setting in the [agent] section of the agent.ini file is the only way to change this port value.

Configuring the Worker Agent to use a worker follows the same pattern, regardless of the type of worker used by your system. Subsequent topics use the Creo Parametric Creo View Adapter as an example, which uses the proeworker script to launch the worker.

Many of the workers can be configured with long and short timeout values that are sent back to the worker agent. If these have been configured, the last timeout value sent to the worker agent is used. See the worker documentation for details of setting worker timeouts in its recipe file.

Tune the Worker Agent settings for Auto Idle Stop and Auto Busy Stop to help control system resources. (These values are specified when you use the Worker Agent Wizard to configure a worker.) For example, for CADDS 5, when processing of drawings is enabled, set Auto Idle Stop to about 900 seconds. For Creo Parametric, setting Auto Busy Stop ensures that system memory is released on a regular basis. When you set values that automate the stopping of workers, enable Auto Start and correctly configure it so that the worker can be restarted.

See Publishing CAD Documents for timeout configuration details.