Attributes are entities that define properties of objects, such as CAD files or other Windchill business objects. They always consist of a name and value. For example, Life Cycle State can be assigned the value In Work.

In Windchill, there are two types of attributes: hard and soft. System attributes are hard, available by default, and are “hard-coded” into the Windchill system. They typically define a set of characteristics that most business objects share, such as NAME or NUMBER. Soft attributes are not hard-coded; and therefore are not available by default. The user defines soft attributes, for example, COLOR or LENGTH for individual objects or classes of objects. CAD applications have analogous entities, variously called properties, parameters, or attributes, that can be mapped to Windchill attributes so that their values can pass between the CAD application and the Windchill database, as needed.

As an administrator, you can configure attributes and parameters so that they are published (viewable) in CATIA 3DEXPERIENCE and in Windchill.