Associating Parts and Documents
Most employees of manufacturing companies are familiar with the part structures for products they sell. It is natural to locate product documentation by navigating the relationships from a part in the part structure. For this reason, Windchill provides two forms of part-to-document connection, depending on whether the part version is described by one specific document version or the latest released document version.
Documents are connected to parts using the Described By (version-specific) or References (version-independent) relationship. You do not need to select the type of relationship to use; it is determined by the document type or relationship constraints created by your administrator.
For more information, see Version-Specific Part Documentation and Version-Independent Part Documentation.
Part to document relationships are created from two locations on a part information page; a part structure in the Structure tab or Described By Documents or References Documents tables in the Related Objects tab.
Using the Structure Tab
From the Structure tab in a part information page:
1. Select > or Add References Document from the right mouse button menu for a selected part in the part structure table.
2. Enter search parameters in the Add Described By Document or Add References Document window and click OK to search.
3. Select one or more documents from the search result list and click OK. The newly added documents appear directly beneath the selected part.
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The part is automatically checked out when the documents are associated. It remains checked out until explicitly checked in.
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Using the Related Objects Tab
Two tables are used to add related documents on the Related Objects tab; Described By Documents and References Documents. Only documents for the proper type and corresponding relationship appear in the table. The following actions are available at the top of each table:
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Action
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Description
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 Add Existing Document |
Allows you to search for and add a relationship between the part and an existing document. Use the following procedure: 1. Click the Add Existing Document icon at the top of the related document table.
2. Enter search parameters in the document search window and click OK to search. 3. Select one or more documents from the search result list and click OK. The newly added documents appear in the related document table. |
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 Add New Document |
Provides the ability to add a relationship between the part and a newly created document in one operation. Use the following procedure:
1. Click the Add New Document icon at the top of the related document table.
2. Enter document attributes and information in the New Document window and click Finish. The new document is created and appears in the related document table.
For detailed information about creating documents, see Adding a New Document.
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 Remove Selected |
Select one or more documents and click the Remove Selected icon to remove their relationship to the part. The document disappears from the table.
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 Copy Selected Object |
Select one or more documents in the table and click this action to add them to the Windchill clipboard. Selected documents can be pasted from the clipboard to other operations.
For more information, see About the Clipboard.
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 Paste |
Paste documents from the Windchill clipboard to the related documents table.
For more information, see About the Clipboard.
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 Paste Selection |
Create relationships between the part and documents by opening the Windchill clipboard and selecting documents from the Paste Selection window.
For more information, see About the Clipboard.
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