Policy-Managed Naming and Numbering

Windchill Workgroup Manager supports four policies to determine how newly created objects are named and numbered. These policies are the following:

These policies are only utilized during the initial creation of parts and CAD documents. These policies are used during upload of new CAD data (when a new CAD document can be created based on a model file), and auto-associate (when a new part may be created for a CAD document). If the policy is changed at a later date, existing data is not affected.

These policies can be used together to drive the naming and numbering behavior. For example, auto numbering can be used with Custom to form a numbering policy. The four policies can be described as follows:

◦ The CAD document number is provided by the CAD document number generator (either using the standard Windchill number generator, or through customization).

◦ When using auto-associate to create new Parts, the default value for the part name is copied from the associated CAD document name. If a file extension is present in the CAD document name, it can be optionally dropped from the part name controlled by a preference.

◦ The Windchill CAD Number is copied from the CAD model file name (the file extension can be dropped and is controlled by the Windchill preference, Upload Drop Number File Extension). The WindchillNumber is propagated to the CAD environment and stored on a property in the CAD file called PTC_WM_NUMBER.

◦ The Windchill CAD Document Name is also copied from the CAD model file name (the file extension can be dropped and is controlled by the Windchill preference, Upload Drop Name File Extension). The WindchillNumber is propagated to the CAD environment and stored on a property in the CAD file called PTC_WM_NAME.

◦ If you use Workspace Rename to set the WindchillName or Number attribute for a new CAD document, its value is pushed from Windchill to the CAD environment and stored on a property in the CAD file called PTC_WM_NAME or PTC_WM_NUMBER respectively.

◦ The default value for the part number is copied from the CAD document number (the file extension can be dropped and is controlled by the Windchill preference, AutoAssociate Drop Number File Extension).

◦ The CAD document and part Number field can be edited using Rename. If parts are auto-created from CAD documents, then the user does not get the chance to specify a part number. If parts are created manually, the user has the option to specify number during creation (assuming autonumbering is disabled). If a CAD document is created in the CAD application, it has no ability to define the Windchill CAD document number. Even if the PTC_WM_NUMBER attribute is created prior to saving to the workspace, it is overwritten by the Windchill file number. The user must then use Rename in the workspace to allocate a different value prior to check in.

◦ Parameter-driven naming and numbering is where Windchill Name and Number attributes are mapped to existing properties in the CAD file.

◦ The CAD document Number is copied from the value of the CAD application property identified by the Windchill preference, Numbering Parameter.

◦ The value for the CAD document name is copied from the CAD application property identified by the Windchill preference, Naming Parameter.

◦ The value for the part number is copied from the value of the soft attribute identified by the Windchill preference, Auto Associate Numbering Parameter.

◦ The value for the part name is copied from the value of the soft attribute identified by the Windchill preference, Auto Associate Naming Parameter.

◦ The CAD document and part name and number fields can be edited by the user using Rename. The new value is pushed from Windchill to the CAD environment and stored on a property in the CAD file.

The OIR (Object Initialization Rules) Administrator, available from Utilities, provides a way to specify default values for the attributes and display constraints on attributes of a specific object type. The default values and attribute constraints are then used when Windchill creates objects of that type. Each OIR can contain default values and constraints for one object type. The rules only apply on object creation and do not change or set values for existing objects. Rules can be setup to provide auto-number generation as well as to provide custom behavior. OIRs are set per Windchill context, allowing different naming/numbering rules to be applied to different contexts.

For more information on Object Initialization Rules, refer to the section Basic Administration, located at PTC Reference Documents site.

Regardless of the naming and numbering policy used, when creating a new object, system uniqueness constraints require that the CAD document attributes Number and File Name must both be unique within a Windchill PDMLink organization, or within each Windchill ProjectLink project.