Adding External Change Management Objects
Windchill enables you to associate change management objects from an external OSLC server with Windchill change objects. These associations help maintain visibility and traceability of change related information across systems throughout the change management lifecycle.
External change management objects can be referenced from Windchill change objects such as Change Request, Change Notice, Problem Report, and Variance. The integration uses OSLC to retrieve and display selected attributes from the external system, allowing users to review external change information in Windchill without importing the objects.
Supported Object Mappings
External change management objects are mapped to Windchill change object types using the OSLCResourceType configuration.
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Windchill Type
|
OSLCResourceType
|
|---|---|
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ExternalProblemReport
|
Defect
|
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ExternalChangeRequest2
|
ChangeRequest
|
|
ExternalChangeNotice
|
ChangeNotice
|
|
ExternalEnhancement
|
Enhancement
|
For information about configuring change objects on an external OSLC server, see Configuring the Windchill Digital Product Traceability (DPT) Extension in ThingWorx.
Preferences and Configuration
The External Associated Change References preference, located under the Change Management category, controls whether external change objects can be associated as reference objects.
• When the preference is set to Yes, external change objects can be added to the Associated Reference Objects table.
• When the preference is set to No (default), external change objects cannot be associated.
To enable 
Add External Change Management Objects in the Associated Process Objects table, you must create an association rule in the Association Rules table.
Add External Change Management Objects in the Associated Process Objects table, you must create an association rule in the Association Rules table.To create the association rule:
1. Open the Association Rules table.
2. Click 
New Association Rule.
New Association Rule.3. Under Type Attributes, select Change Process as the association type.
4. For Role A Type and Role B Type, select Flexible Change Item.
5. Click OK.
For more information, see Association Rules Table and Association Rules.
Usage Considerations
When working with external change management objects, consider the following:
• You can create a dedicated view for external change objects. External change object types and the Remote Data Status column attribute are available in the Edit View window when the wt.change.remoteChangeObjects.enabled property is set to true (default).
• Change objects that exist in a product, library, or quality context can reference external change objects. Problem reports or variances that exist in a project context can also reference external change objects. The eligible change object types are defined by the associated reference rules.
• In a package, external change objects are displayed only in the Preview Collection table. External objects in a package cannot be imported or exported.
• In the reference table, you can map the following Windchill change object types such as Change Request, Problem Report, Change Notice, Variance. These object types are supported on the information, create, and edit pages.
• Out-of-the-box, the Name, Number, Identity, State, and Priority attributes can be retrieved from an external OSLC server and are available for preview.
Adding External Change Management Objects as Reference Objects
To add an external change object to the Associated Reference Objects table, follow these steps:
1. Open a Change Request, Problem Report, Change Notice, or Variance.
2. Go to the Select Associations tab.
3. In the Associated Reference Objects table, click Add External Change Management Objects.
Add External Change Management Objects.4. Select the appropriate Server, Resource, and Type, and then select the Context.You can search for one or more external change objects to add as references.
5. Select an attribute from the list of search filters and external change objects, and then click Proceed.The attributes from the external system are added to the Associated Reference Objects table. Hover over an entry to preview the Name, Number, Identity, and State values of the external change object.
6. Click Finish to complete the configuration.
Adding External Change Management Objects as Process Objects
To add an external change object to the Associated Process Objects table, follow these steps:
1. Open a Change Request, Problem Report, Change Notice, or Variance.
2. Go to the Select Associations tab.
3. In the Associated Process Objects table, click Add External Change Management Objects.
Add External Change Management Objects.4. Select the appropriate Server, Resource, and Type, and then select the Context.You can search for one or more external change objects to add as references.
5. Select an attribute from the list of search filters and external change objects, and then click Proceed.The attributes from the external system are added to the Associated Process Objects table. Hover over an entry to preview the Name, Number, Identity, and State values of the external change object.
6. Click Finish to complete the configuration.
The external attributes are also visible on the information and edit pages of Change Request, Problem Report, Change Notice, and Variance.