Collecting Related Objects Overview

The collector tool appears throughout the Windchill system, often as part of a step within an action. An example is when you select the Check Out action from the Actions list on an information page, The Check Out page opens, populated with the initially selected object, and the collector is used to collect any additional related objects to be checked out. The collector tool allows you to request additional data by navigating relationships and collecting related objects. Configuration setting options are included in the (two) collector user interfaces.

The collector is used in cases where it is inefficient to search for one object at a time. When checking out an object, for example, the collector allows you to find related objects that you also might want to include in the checkout.

The system notifies you if:

• there are otherwise collectable items which were excluded because of the permissions of the user performing the action.

• there are items which are included but should not be shared externally.

Depending on what action you are performing, you may see tabs which enable toggling between the two available modes: Basic or Advanced, or you may see only one mode.

• Basic mode displays the collector information as a form. The mode is designed to provide a quick way to collect objects for an action when there is no need to review the list of objects. You can specify a simple set of rules and continue with the process. You can choose whether to collect just those objects related to the Initially Selected object, All objects, or None for each rule that you define. (In the WindchillPreference Management utility you can set default values for each rule.) If you use this tab, you generally do not see a list of collected objects.

Some actions that use the Basic mode include a Preview Collection action. When initiated, Preview Collection displays the list of objects collected by the current collection rule settings, before committing the action.

For more information, see Collecting in Basic Mode.

• Advanced mode displays the collector information as a table. The table displays a list of collected objects, and you can form collections around subsequently collected objects as well as the initially selected objects. For more information, see Collecting in Advanced Mode.

If both the Basic and Advanced tabs appear, you can move from Basic to Advanced, but if you change the configuration criteria or rule criteria, data may be lost. Data may also be lost if you change one or more rules and then move from Advanced to Basic. A window appears, allowing you to confirm that you want to move to the Basic mode or to cancel the action.

For more information on using the collector within a specific action, see the help for the mode in which you are working. For more information on dependency processing during collection, see Dependency Processing. For more information on setting configuration specifications refer to the guide, Using Creo Parametric with Windchill.