What's down - server or the network? Did everyone lose power or is it just us?

"Houston, we've had a problem"– famous words spoken by astronaut Jim Lovell on the 1970 Apollo 13 moon shot. Has it happened to you? A server or the network goes down unexpectedly or there's a power outage – and your client freezes up because you can't access the server and you can't work?

New with Pro/INTRALINK and Windchill is the capability for Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire to dynamically shifts into "Offline mode" and provide access to your workspace when the "Connection to Server is unavailable".

Offline Workspace Access for Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire

When the connection to the server becomes unavailable, Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire displays:

When you click "OK", Pro/ENGINEER dynamically toggles into "Work Offline" mode.

• While offline, Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire displays a basic workspace user interface:

• The Pro/ENGINEER data management commands in the File menu are also grayed out (Check Out, Undo Check Out, Checkin)

While offline, you can keep working in Pro/ENGINEER. You can access the Pro/ENGINEER models in your workspace, make changes, and save them. If you try to modify a model that is not checked out, Pro/ENGINEER will still alert you that it is not checked out, though you cannot "Check it out" since you are offline, Pro/ENGINEER will allow you to modify it. You can create new models, saving them to the workspace. Your workspace keeps track of all the changes you make – just as it does when online.

While Offline, Pro/ENGINEER suspends the local cache size restriction and will not inadvertently remove files from the cache to maintain the cache size limit. This minimizes the risk of not having the physical files in your workspace on the local disk

How do you reconnect to the server and work "online"?

• With Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2.0 M130 to M170 – select the Cabinet Icon
• With Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2.0 M180
  • First set the config.pro setting: dm_allow_go_offline_online yes

This adds the "Work Offline" option to the Pro/ENGINEER File Menu.

• Choose - Pro/ENGINEER, File, "Work Offline"
• If the server is available, Pro/ENGINEER will display the following message

• You may have to enter you username and password to authenticate – especially if this is a different session than when you went offline.

The workspace is automatically synchronized with server as soon as you reconnect and you're back online!

Other Fault Tolerance Considerations

Downloaded Content

You can only access models in your workspace that have been downloaded to your workstation, in your local cache. If you added a model "as link", there is no guarantee that the model is in your local cache. If you anticipate losing connectivity to the server, make it a habit to always download models – avoiding the "as link" option.

Licenses

You'll still need a Pro/ENGINEER license and a Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 or 9.0 license to keep working. So to enable full fault tolerance – you would need to ensure that you have a local license server, a locked license for your work station, or that you've borrowed the necessary licenses. In addition – if there is a power outage – you'll also need an UPS or a work on a laptop!

Note: Offline Workspace Access for Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire is not available with Pro/INTRALINK 3.x – it is only possible with the Windchill architecture.

Read More

You can read more about Windchill Offline Workspace Access for Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire in:

Using Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire with Windchill User's Guide – look for "Offline Access to the Workspace"

What's New in Windchill 8.0(for Pro/INTRALINK 8.0, Windchill PDMLink, ProjectLink, and Foundation) look for "Offline Workspace Access for Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire".