Integration with Other Applications > Windchill Workgroup Manager Documentation > ECAD > Advanced Techniques > Configuring Auto Associate
  
Configuring Auto Associate
The workspace action Edit > Auto Associate is used to automatically create relationships between selected CAD documents and existing or new Windchill parts. In turn, these relationships enable the building and updating of CAD and product structures. For more information, see Managing Part-CAD Document Relationships and About Association.
For more information about customizing Auto Associate, see the “Customizations for PDM” chapter of the Windchill Customization Guide, or search for “Customizations for PDM" in the Windchill Help Center.
The following preferences allow administrators to customize the behavior of auto associate. These values can be set at the site or organization level. An individual user may not change any of them, unless privileges are granted by the administrator. The visibility of preferences can vary, depending on the context.
Preferences for controlling the behavior of auto associate are found in the Preference Management utility, under Operation > Auto Associate. The following tables list and describe the preferences for Auto Associate, and display the default value (if any) for each preference. The preferences are grouped in tables as follows:
• Preferences specifying part naming and numbering
• Preferences specifying what association types are allowed
• Additional preferences, related to how parts are created and stored
The following table lists and describes preferences related to naming and numbering.
Auto Associate Naming and Numbering Preferences
Preference
Description
Default Value
Auto Associate Naming Parameter
Identifies the soft attribute (type=string) in the CAD document that holds the name for a created part.
For example, pref=user_name_for_part; user adds attribute to models;
CADDOCuser_name_for_part=mypartname; Auto Associate Parts creates mypartname.
This preference is CAD application-specific.
Auto Associate Numbering Parameter
Identifies the soft attribute (type=string) in the CAD document that holds the number for part auto-associate search or for creation of a new part. This preference is CAD application-specific.
Auto Associate Truncate Name File Extension
Truncates the file extension from the CADName in the part name when a new part is created.
No
Auto Associate Truncate Number File Extension
Truncates the file extension from CADName in the part number when a new part is created. Valid for all Auto Associate actions.
No
Force Autonumbered Part Creation
Allows Auto Associate to create an autonumbered part upon checkin if the part number specified via CAD document numbering parameter is not found in Windchill and autonumbering is the policy for new parts in Windchill. When the value is No, checkin fails with an overridable conflict to create an autonumbered part. When the value is Yes, checkin creates an autonumbered part.
No
The following table lists the preferences that define what association types can be created.
Auto Associate Preferences Specifying Types of Association
Preference
Description
Default Value
Allow Association of Model Items by Model Item Sub-types
Lists Model Item sub-types for which associations are allowed. These sub-types are entered by comma-separated values.
Allow Association of Model Items by Model Item Types
Lists Model Item types for which associations are allowed. These types are entered by comma-separated values.
Auto Relate Drawings To Parts
Drawings that are derived from 3D models can be automatically associated to their models' related Part. This preference controls which set of models (based on association type) automatically relate their drawings. The preference affects the drawings related by system calculated associations, as well as the user actions, Auto Associate and Edit Associations.
Possible values are:
• Owner Only - Only drawings of CAD Documents with owner association are automatically related to the Part.
• Owner and Images - Drawings of CAD documents which contribute to part structure (Owner, Contributing Image, and Image) will automatically be related to their parts.
• All Contributing Models - Any model that contributes information to the part will also have its drawing automatically related (that is, models with Owner, Contributing Image, Image, Contributing Content, and Custom associations).
• All Models - All models that are related to a part will also have their drawings automatically related to the same part (that is, models with Owner, Contributing Image, Image, Contributing Content, Custom and Content associations).
Owner Only
Create Alternate Link On Check In
Allows a link of the next available type to be created if the part already has an Owner link. When set to Yes, the next available valid link is created if a matching part is found, and the Check In continues. The default is No (Check In fails with an overridable conflict).
No
Create Associate New Part
Specifies whether a new part should be created if a matching part is not found by Auto Associate. The default is "Owner Only" for all CAD tools. ECAD authoring applications default to "All". Possible values are:
• Owner Only: If a matching part is not found, a new part is created when the CAD document would associate to a part with an "Owner" association.
• Owner and Contributing Image: If a matching part is not found, a new part is created when the CAD document would associate to a part with either an "Owner" or "Contributing Image" association.
• All: If a matching part is not found, a new part is created when the CAD document would associate to a part with any product structure association ("Owner", "Contributing Image", and "Image").
• Never: A new part is not created if an existing part is not found, even if it contributes to product structure. Auto associate does not fail, the CAD document is skipped, and other selected CAD documents will try to associate.
Owner Only
(for ECAD: All)
Create Content Links for Drawings
Windchill is capable of locating all drawings referenced by a drawing model and automatically relating them to the part of the model. In some cases, you may want to distinguish manufacturing drawings versus conceptual drawings by using a link in the database, rather than using the calculated relationship. This preference controls whether the auto associate action creates a link in the database.
No
Disallow Product Structure Links by Document Sub-types
Lists CAD document sub-types which cannot create associations that contribute to part structure. Lists CAD document sub-types which cannot create associations that contribute to part structure. The highest priority association type available will be "Contributing Content" and then "Content" during Auto Associate.
Disallow Product Structure Links by Document Types
Lists CAD document types which cannot create associations that contribute to part structure. The highest priority association type available will be "Contributing Content" and then "Content" during Auto Associate.
Disallow Structure CAD Document Types
Lists CAD document types which cannot create "Owner" association. The highest priority association type available will be "Contributing Image" and then "Image" during Auto Associate.
Disallow Structure Model Item Sub-types
Lists Model Item sub-types which cannot create "Owner" association. These Model Items will create "Image" associations during Auto Associate.
Disallow Structure Model Item Types
Lists Model Item types which cannot create "Owner" association. These Model Items will create "Image" associations during Auto Associate.
The following table lists additional preferences specifying auto associate behavior.
Other Auto Associate Preferences
Preference
Description
Default Value
Build Part After Associate
When you associate a part to a checked-in CAD document, the system can automatically build the related part. Building the part will cause its structure, attributes, or viewables to be updated, based on the association type. Setting the preference to 'Yes' will cause a build of the part after an associate or auto-associate action. The value 'No' will not.
No
Custom Class for Auto Associate Part
Specifies the name of the class that implements AutoAssociatePartFinderCreator interface. The default is the standard Windchill implementation, com.ptc.windchill.uwgm.common.autoassociate.DefaultAutoAssociatePartFinderCreator.
com.ptc.windchill.uwgm.common.autoassociate.DefaultAutoAssociatePartFinderCreator
Part Master Class for Search
Identifies the internal name of the part master type searched for during Auto Associate. Search is allowed for a customer defined part or part sub-class. The default is the standard Windchill implementation, wt.part.WTPartMaster.
wt.part.WTPartMaster
Part Structure Override Attribute Name
Identifies a boolean soft attribute name that determines if the CAD document participates in build. This soft attribute can be on: iteration, master, member link, model item, or model item link. This soft attribute also determines whether to autoassociate the model to a part.
Phantom Assembly Override Attribute Name
Identifies a boolean soft attribute name that determines if the CAD document is phantom assembly. This soft attribute can be on: iteration and master. This soft attribute is used to mark the part created in autoassociate as phantom (hidden).
Set Revision For Part
Sets the revision of a part to match the revision of the CAD document when set to Yes.
No
Store New Parts with CAD Documents
Specifies the location of newly created parts to be the same as the location of their associated CAD documents.
No