I received some questions (both internally and externally on the Administration forum) after my blog entitled "Introducing Pro/INTRALINK to Pro/ENGINEER". I wanted to use this blog to address some of the questions raised. I'll try to paraphrase some of the questions with my responses below.

The blog stated "the attribute(s) must be assigned to the CAD Document (NOT the CAD Document Master) through the Type Manager". Why? What happens to attributes assigned to the CAD Document Master?

Specifically, this instruction was describing the method for creating a versioned Pro/INTRALINK attribute that corresponds to a Pro/ENGINEER parameter. Adding an attribute to the CAD Document Master is permitted and allows for the creation of something similar to a Pro/INTRALINK 3.x non-versioned attribute (i.e. the value of the attribute will apply to all versions and iterations of the object).

The option is mentioned to assign the new Attributes to the CAD Document sub-type, the Workgroup Manager CAD Document, as this would make a future upgrade to PDMLink easier. Are there any other configuration options in the next generation of Pro/INTRALINK that would make a future upgrade to PDMLink easier?

Perhaps my wording was misleading. In fact, additional Soft-typing of the CAD Document object is not currently supported in PDMLink 8.0 although it may be in future versions. Nonetheless, the point to be made here is that modifications to the root type will be inherited by all of its soft types that fall under its hierarchy in the type manager. It will be up to you as the administrators to determine if a change to the object should be propagated to all future CAD Document soft types if and when that functionality becomes supported.

There are really no other areas that I would focus on to make any future upgrade to PDMLink easier. Any data that you create in your Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 or 9.0 system will be directly usable in PDMLink after an upgrade. There will simply be additional functionality, methods and objects that can be created to support your business processes.

Is the 'CAD Document sub-type' the lowest level entity to which such Attributes can/should be assigned? (i.e. is it possible (and of any use?) to separate the Attributes used in Pro/E models and drawings, within Pro/INTRALINK?

The Workgroup Manager CAD Document sub-type is the most discrete level to which an attribute can be added. For instance, there is no specific soft type for Parts, or Assemblies, or Drawings that would allow you to specifically call them out and give them unique attributes. This is similar to the way Pro/INTRALINK 3.x Object Attributes worked as well.

Are there any new ways to do 'bulk' editing of Attributes, similar or better than using Object/Modify in Pro/INTRALINK 3.x Workspaces?

The method for making changes to attributes in the next generation of Pro/INTRALINKis very similar to what was available in Pro/INTRALINK 3.x. Use the Edit>Edit Properties selection from within the Pro/INTRALINK Workspace. Additionally, realize that on the Edit Properties page, the icon for Set Value allows you to set the value en masse for multiple objects.

Figure 1 - Set Value icon

If a future upgrade to PDMLink is made, do different CAD document types (or sub-types) need to be setup to work with each MCAD application?

No. Currently there is only one supported soft-type of the CAD Document (that is the Workgroup Manager CAD Document). This is the soft-type used by all CAD Workgroup Managers.

In Pro/INTRALINK an Attribute can now be defined with a data-type of Date, but this is unknown in Pro/ENGINEER (where a String has to be used). Can Pro/ENGINEER share any Date information with Pro/INTRALINK, and if so can the date be formatted to avoid format confusion, (e.g. by using DD-MMM-YYYY instead)?

The only way I know of to pass this information to PRO/INTRALINK is as a String-type attribute. As such the formatting will be the exact same as it is defined in the Pro/ENGINEER parameter.

For showing dates from Pro/INTRALINK on Pro/ENGINEER drawings, is there now a method to get (a) a fixed date (e.g. original file creation date), (b) static dates (e.g. dates of each Revise action), and (c) today's date (e.g. for a 'printed on' footnote)?

Yes. You can use the following text in the title blocks of drawings to reflect the Pro/INTRALINK System attributes and the field for Today's date:

&ptc_wm_created_on
Date of the model's initial creation

&ptc_wm_created_on:D
Date of the drawing's initial creation

&ptc_wm_modified_on
Date of the model's current iteration

&ptc_wm_modified_on:D
Date of the drawing's current iteration

&todays_date
Today's date as identified during the last time Pro/ENGINEER copied the file format into the drawing.

Hopefully this answers some of your questions. Please keep the feedback coming and let me know if you have any additional questions thru our Administration Forum.