Integration with Other Applications > Digital Product Traceability > Working with Traces > Managing Trace Links
  
Managing Trace Links
You can manage trace links using the actions available in the Traced To table. The information about the traced external items appears in the remote columns.
Only those users who are members of the PTC PDMLink Module License, PTC ProjectLink Module License, PTC EBOM Management License, PTCWindchill Advanced License, or PTCWindchill Premium License profiles have access to these actions.
Administrators can control the visibility of these actions through standard profiles and can monitor usage through license profiles.
For more information about the actions and columns, see Traces Tab.
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• ThingWorx server authentication credentials are required to fetch the external resource data traced to the Windchill traceable object.
• You need the required permissions in Windchill to view and manage trace links.
Creating a Trace Link
Add Traces is available on the toolbar of the Traced To table. It creates a trace link, Satisfy, Allocate, or Implement between an external item and Windchill traceable object.
1. Select an object to add a trace link. Click Add Traces.
2. Select the values for Server, Resource and Type.
3. In the Selection Dialog Context tree, select the desired node and click Open. You can select only one node at a time.
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You can select the root of a node in the Selection Dialog Context tree of a Windchill Modeler product.
4. To connect to the external system, enter authentication details in the dialog box of selected external server. Select the item of the appropriate resource type and click Proceed.
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• The type of link between an external item and Windchill object is unique. For example, link between requirement XYZ and Windchill part ABC. You can create an Allocate or Satisfy link between them. If Satisfy link exists between XYZ and ABC, you cannot create another Satisfy link for them. However, you can create and an Allocate link between them.
Similarly, you can create an Implement link between an architecture item XYZ and Windchill part ABC.
• When a trace link is added to an object with link types Satisfy or Implement, a new iteration of the part is created.
5. In the Traced To table, the trace link between the Windchill traceable object and the external resource with the selected link type is created. The data related to the external item appears in the remote columns of the table.
The trace links are copy forward or backward when a Windchill object is iterated. See Copy Forward Functionality in Working with Traces.
Viewing Trace Links
In the Traced To table, you can view the trace links for Windchill traceable objects. The data is fetched in Windchill at runtime. If you have the authentication credentials of the external system, when you hover your cursor on the column that is configured to show a small preview, a small preview opens. Out-of-the-box, the Number attribute is configured to display the small preview. For more information, see Configuring the DPT Extension.
Updating Trace Links
You can mark the trace links as Suspect using the red diamond icon action or clear Suspect flag using the red diamond icon with line across it action in Windchill. These actions are available only on the latest version of a revision. The actions are not available if the object is checked out by another user. For more information, see Suspect Links in Working with Traces.
Deleting Trace Links
On the toolbar of the Traced To table, use the Remove Traces action to delete trace links. Select one or more objects with a trace link and click Remove Traces.
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• Remove Traces action is available only on the latest version of a revision, and is not available if the object is checked out by another user.
• If an Allocate link is deleted, it is removed from all the versions of a revision.
• If a Satisfy or Implement link is deleted from a version of an object, a new version is created. The link is removed from the new version of the object, though, the link is present in earlier versions.