Prior to Windchill 11.0: Required using the same Windchill Workgroup Manager CPS on both the server and client machines.

Windchill 11.0 M010 Onwards:

You can use different CPS levels on the Windchill server and client machines within the same maintenance release.

Workgroup Manager will now check version compatibility at the Windchill maintenance version level; not at the CPS level.

Windchill Workgroup Manager is no longer installed from the Windchill server.

A company now has the flexibility to have their end users at desired CPS levels and still connect to a single Windchill server.

For example, the following scenario is supported.

A company has Windchill 11.0 M010 CPS05 server and user ‘A’ can connect to the Windchill server with Windchill Workgroup Manager 11.0 M010 CPS03 and user ‘B’ can connect to the same server with Windchill Workgroup Manager 11.0 M010 CPS07.

Illustrated below is the supported configuration.

Starting in Windchill 10.2 M020, security labels and their values can be displayed in your workspace views.  If you have security labels configured, you are now able to add security labels to your workspace table views, just like any other attribute.

You do this by creating a new table view in your workspace.  In the New View wizard, add your security labels as part of the Set Column Display (step 4).  This can be done by either adding the “All Security Labels” from the "Available Columns" list on the left over to the “Selected Columns” list on the right.

This, as the name suggests, adds all of your defined security labels into your table view in one step.  Alternatively, you can select individual security labels by name from the Available Columns list as shown in the following figure with the security label “Training Required” moved over to the Selected Columns list.

Now that your workspace table view is saved to include your security labels, you are able to view them directly from your workspace listing. This eliminates the need to navigate to individual information pages to find out specific values.

In addition to the workspace itself, this is applicable to all workspace related UIs such as the model structure report on the CAD document information page and the Check In UI (more on that in my next post).

Last time, I showed you how security labels can be added to your table displays for CAD workgroup managers (here).  In addition, a new capability for setting security label values for newly created CAD data has been introduced.  The implementation is quite different from how it is done for Documents and Parts (wizard based approach).  It is also not enabled by default even when security labels are configured, so I thought I would show you.

It is often the case where new CAD documents in Windchill are created directly from the CAD tool itself (using File > New) and then saving these files to the workspace. At this point, access to these objects is only available to the user that owns the workspace.  Other users do not become aware or have access until these new CAD documents are checked-in.  So, this is where we introduced the ability for setting security labels on newly created CAD documents.  You do this by adding your security labels to the table view of the workspace Check In window.

Hmmm… The security label "Training Required" is listed and shows its default value, but I don’t see a way to set its value.  This is where additional system configuration is required.  We have introduced a property setting that enables you to set the security label value during this step, similar to how you change its location.  To configure this behavior you will need to add the following property to your wt.properties file:

com.ptc.windchill.uwgm.cadx.checkin.SecurityLabelEditing=true

This of course should be done by following the standard procedure of adding this property to your site.xconf file and then propagating it via the xconfmanager command from a Windchill shell.  Here’s the syntax of how this should be added:

<Property name="com.ptc.windchill.uwgm.cadx.checkin.SecurityLabelEditing"

overridable="true"

targetFile="codebase/wt.properties"

value="true"/>

Now that the property has been set and the method server has been restarted, let’s take a look at the Check In window again.

As you can see in the previous figure, the cell value in the security label column consists of a drop-down allowing you to select from the available security label values.  Once you select the appropriate value and check-in the new CAD document, its security label is set accordingly.  Note that this is only available when objects are initially created/checked-in.  To change the value of an existing object (one that has previously been checked in) you need to use the Edit Security Labels action.

Recently a customer asked if it were possible to disable Owner association, and instead have the system default to using Contributing Image association between WTParts and CAD Documents.  I figured there might be others interested so I thought I would post the solution, as the steps to achieve this desired behavior might not be entirely obvious. Before doing so, however, I have to give credit to my colleague, Jennifer Pierron, for providing me with these steps. Here we go…

In this case, the goal is disable Owner association for CAD assemblies and parts and display Contributing Image as the default association type in the Edit/Auto Associate UI.  You configure a set of Site preferences to accomplish this task.  I repeat - Site preferences.  These preferences cannot be set on a per-user or organization level basis. They apply across your entire installation.

First, you need to establish whichattributes you want to pass from CAD Documents to WTPart via the Contributing Image association.  This can be done by setting the Site preference EPM Service Preferences > Build Service Preferences > Contributing Image Attributes to * for all attributes, or you may specify individually using a list of attribute names.  If you do not specify any attributes, then the system defaults to using an Image association instead of a Contributing Image association. In effect, the preference settings in the following figure enable Contributing Image associations in your system.

Next, configure the CAD Document types for which you do not want to build structure (disallow Owner associations).  In this example we disallow the building of structure for Creo Parts and Assemblies.  To accomplish this, we add CADCOMPONENT and CADASSEMBLY to the list of types for which building structure is excluded.  This is done by editing the preference Operations > Auto Associate > Creo > Disallow Structure Links by Document Types as shown in the following figure.

As a final step, If you want to allow Auto-Associate to create parts, you need to set the value of the preference Operations > Auto Associate > Create New Part to Owner and Contributing Image as shown in the following figure. The default is to allow this for Owner association types only.

Once these preferences have been set, when you perform an Edit Association, you should be presented something similar to the following.

I hope you found this useful.

Have you had a chance to learn about PTC Navigate yet? Did you know that PTC Navigate provides universal data access? Any stakeholder in the product’s lifecycle can access the latest, most accurate product information to drive better product decisions – with a user experience that is as simple and straightforward as the average smartphone app.

Join us on Tuesday, October 25th, at 1:00pm EST for the live webcast, “PTC Navigate: Easy Access to Enterprise Product Data”, to see a demonstration of how intuitive and easy to use PTC Navigate role-based apps are to:

• View documents.
• View drawings.
• View requirements.
• View part properties.
• View parts lists.
• View part structures.
• View design files.
• View and measure in 3D.

Don’t miss this opportunity for a live Q&A with PTC Experts, Chris Bergquist, Senior Solutions Director, PLM, and Steve Partridge, Director Solutions Management.

REGISTER NOW

Are you already a customer using Windchill 10.2 or higher? If so, you can take advantage of PTC Navigate apps immediately. There's no need to upgrade your existing Windchill deployment. Dramatically expand the value of PLM information across the roles in your company TODAY!Contact us to learn more

Users often find that, uninstallation & re-installation of Windchill Workgroup Manager is a tedious task with lot of interaction required when PTC posts newer WWGM-CPS.

PTC has taken into consideration this problem & from Windchill 11.0 M010 onwards, we have enhanced to update WWGM on client system without un-installation of WWGM Client in many of the user scenario's !!!

Below illustration/examples helps you to understand this enhancement.

• The following update scenarios are supported:
  • Updating Windchill Workgroup Manager from 11.0 M010 to 11.0 M010 CPS
  • Updating Windchill Workgroup Manager from 11.0 M010 to 11.0 M020
  • Updating Windchill Workgroup Manager from old 11.0 M010 CPS to later 11.0 M010 CPS

• You can add new CAD WGM modules to an existing Windchill Workgroup Manager
  • Example1: When SolidWorks WGM is installed, adding NX WGM
  • Example2: When SolidWorks 2015 WGM is installed, adding SolidWorks 2016 WGM

• Known limitations:
  • You cannot remove the installed CAD WGM module when updating Workgroup Manager. You need to uninstall to remove the installed CAD WGM module
  • Downgrading to lower version of Windchill Workgroup Manager is not supported.  The installer will detect the version of the existing installation and will block downgrade to lower version.
    • Example: When Windchill Workgroup Manager 11.0 M010 CPS02 is installed, updating it with Windchill Workgroup Manager 11.0 M010 CPS01 installer is not supported. Uninstallation of the previous Windchill Workgroup Manager version is required.

Note: This information has also been posted in Article CS242517

Can’t attend PTC Forum Europe in person? No problem.

Join hundreds of engineers worldwide at PTC Forum Europe Online, a NEW interactive online education experience with free access to Windchill sessions, top-notch keynotes and networking chat rooms.

Register today and add one or more of these three PLM sessions to your calendar on November 15:

Making the Most of Your Digital Product Definition

In this session, PTC's Sr. Director of Solution Management, Graham Birch, argues for moving to a part-centric product development approach as well as consolidating all product information into a comprehensive digital product definition – two tried-and-true methods to remove the bottlenecks associated with traditional processes.

PLM Roadmap

The Internet of Things is an industry game-changer. In order to stay competitive, it is essential that organizations embark on a Digital Engineering Journey to transform the way that they create products that are smart and connected. During this session, hear more about

how PTC’s PLM solutions can help completely transform the way that your organization engineers products, see demos of these solutions in action, and explore PTC’s roadmap to continue your organization’s evolution in the IoT era.

Navigating Product Data with Easy Access PLM

During this session, PTC's PLM Solutions Manager, Chris Bergquist, will outline the benefits of making product data more accessible to all stakeholders and how role-based apps, such as PTC Navigate, can provide relevant data in an easy-to-understand format.

Register now and learn how the latest advances on PLM can help you streamline your product development processes and get ready for a smart, connected world.

Good day Everyone,

I have added content from the event in Stuttgart - PTC Forum Europe 2016

In addition to the presentations, you may also watch keynotes and session recordings from your computer.

I hope you find the content valuable.

Best,

Toby

With PTC Navigate View, your talented engineering team no longer needs to manually access your PLM system to find and share the latest engineering information with others. Now they can do what they do best, develop superior products faster.

Want to see how easy PTC Navigate is to use? Why not start your own 15-day free trial, and experience:

• Easy data access.
• Single source of truth.

Just imagine how powerful it would be for your whole company to have a single window to all of your product data? And, what if your supply chain could see through this window too?

Try PTC Navigate View for 15 Days Now!

P.S.  Note to all Windchill 10.2 users out there: PTC Navigate works OOTB with Windchill 10.2 and higher - no need to upgrade!

Let us help you get your BOM ready for the IoT.

Attend our virtual conference to learn what steps will get you there.

Establishing a complete Bill of Materials (BOM) is the cornerstone to your digital product transformation. It’s critical for engineering, manufacturing, the supply chain, and downstream teams. All need easy access to an up-to-date BOM, in a way that meets their needs. Let’s face it, PLM is no longer just an engineering activity – it is an enterprise initiative and a shared responsibility.

The good news is that the transformation doesn’t need tobe an overhaul.  It can be incremental, based on your priorities and business needs.

Attend PTC’s virtual conference to find out more. You will have the opportunity to interact with peers, visit virtual booths, and attend interactive sessions. Come and explore where to start or continue with your digital transformation. Topics include:

• BOM Structure
• BOM Visualization
• Change Management
• Component and Supplier Management
• Enterprise Collaboration
• BOM Transformation
• BOM Reporting & Analytics
• Connected PLM
• Production Planning
• Quality

REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE

PTC is partnering with analyst firm, CIMData, on a research report on cloud-based PLM adoption. We want to know the best way to make your transition to the cloud as smooth as possible. Take CIMData's 5 minute survey and help us improve your PLM cloud adoption process: http://tinyurl.com/CIMdata-PTC-Cloud-Survey

Good day everyone,

Are you attending LiveWorx and want to sharpen your Windchill skills?

This blog is worth a read, but  I will give you the highlights.

• Azhar will advise on Windchill Business and Administration topics
• Angela is the only woman in this team this year, but also stands out for her knowledge around Windchill Service & Parts Information and Windchill Administration
• Please use this link to sign up for a session Schedule Appointment with PTC User Experience Center (UXC) LiveWorx 2017

If you are attending LiveWorx, please message me Toby Metcalf I would like to connect with as many community members as I can.

Best,

Toby