Data Management Tech Tips

Creating Cascading Style Pull Downs in EPDM

In my previous blog, I showed you an example of a problem a customer ran into using pull down type fields in his data card.  What I didn’t show you was how those types of pull downs are created in the first place.  So, this blog will get down to basics.

 

  • Life is complicated enough already, why do I need cascading pull downs?

Good question.  Think of it as category and subcategory.  I could have a pull down with a list of manufacturers:

  • Toyota
  • Honda
  • Volkswagen

Then, I could have a second pull down that will display different car models depending on what I selected in the first list. So for example, if I chose Volkswagen in the first list, my second list might be limited to:

  • Beetle
  • Jetta
  • Passat

Where as, if I chose Toyota in the first list, the second list might be limited to:

  • Corolla
  • Camry
  • Avalon

Pretty cool, right?  In the case of my previous blog, I used a list containing “A, B, C” in the first pull down and the second pull down would display “A1, A2, A3″ or “B1, B2, B3″ or “C1, C2, C3″ depending on what was selected in the first list.  Let’s see how I did this wonderful bit of “EPDM-ing”.

 

  • First, you have to create the lists.
In the EPDM admin tool, there is a node beneath your vault called, “Lists (for cards).”  Right click on it and select, “Add New.”

 

 

 

 

 

What you get next, is a simple window where you can enter in the items of your list in the order in which you would like them to appear to the user.  Be sure to name your list in the “List name:” field, and also be sure to save your list when you are done.  Fortunately, EPDM is polite enough to ask if you want to save if you attempt to exit the list editor without saving first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will need a list for each category and subcategory.  So I created a list for my main categories of “A, B, C” and separate lists for “A1, A2, A3″ etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are all my lists next to each other.  So, you can see what I did:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Great.  Now what?
Now you need to place your fields on your data card.  You will have to choose between “Combobox Dropdown” or “Combobox Droplist.”  You can refer to my previous blog to see what can potentially happen if you use the wrong one.
For now, I’ll just say that “Combobox Dropdown” allows the user to enter text as well as select an item from the associated list.  ”Combobox Droplist” only allows the user to select from the list.  They cannot enter their own text.
In this example, I am going to use “Combobox Droplist”  The first combobox is connected to a variable I called, “List 1″ and the second combobox is connected to a variable called “List 2.”
The variables you choose to associate to your Comboboxes have nothing to do with what is displayed in the list.  Variables are just a place holder to store the information that is being displayed in the field.  Don’t get that part confused.  For the “List 1″ field I am having it display a “Special Vlaue” of “List A-C.”  That’s the first list I created.
For the second combobox, I am going to choose the option “Controlled by variable.”
Then choose the “Details” button.  This is where all the magic happens.  The second combobox needs to be dependent on the first.  So, the variable it is being controlled by is “List 1.”  That’s the list that has A, B or C in it.  If the list 1 variable is equal to A, then the second combobox should display “List A1-A3.”  If the list 1 variable is equal to B, then the second combobox should display “List B1-B3.”  If the list 1 variable is equal to C, then the second combobox should display “List C1-C3.”
Here’s the finished data card with A selected in the first Combobox.
With the B selected in the first Combobox.
And with C selected in the first Combobox.

And that’s it.  With a little bit of practice, I’m sure you will be using intelligent, cascading style pull downs in your own data cards.

I look forward to hearing any questions or comments on this topic.  So, please feel free to post comments below, or to email me at SWTech@prismeng.com. 

Thanks for taking a look at today’s blog.  Until next time, I wish you happy data management.

 

Stephan Hess


April 10, 2012 | Categories: Data Management Tech Tips, Tech Tips | Tags: , , , | Leave A Comment »

Combobox Dropdown vs. Combobox Droplist in EPDM Data Cards

I ran into an interesting challenge while helping a customer through an evaluation of EPDM.  He wanted cascading style pull downs on his data card.  This, in itself, is not a big deal, but he ran into a problem that I had not considered before.  If he selected values in his pull down menus and then went back to the driving pull down to change its value, it would leave old information in the other fields creating an impossible combination of values.

 

  • The setup:
For testing, I created four lists:
The first list, “List A-C” will be the driving list.  If I choose “A” from that list, a second pull down will show me the contents of, “List A1-A3.”  If I choose “B” from the first list, the second pull down will show me the contents of, “List B1-B3.”  If I choose “C” from the first list, the second pull down will show me the contents of, “List C1-C3.”  Cool, right?
This is what it looks like on the data card:
From the first list I chose “A”
Now, from the second list, I am only able to select items in “List A1-A3″
Life is good!!
  • The problem:
Now, let’s say I go back and change the value of the first pull down to “B.”
As you can see, the second pull down is still displaying the old value of “A3″ which really should not be a possible value if the first pull down is now set to “B.”  Grrrrrrrrrrr…

 

  • The solution:
The problem isn’t in the lists, it’s actually in the type of pull down fields I selected to be used on the data card.  The type I used in the above example is called “Combobox Dropdown.”
A Combobox Dropdown allows me to not only select from a list, but it also allows the user to type text into the field.  There in lies the rub.  Once you have made a selection in the second pull down, EPDM sees it as just plain text and maintains that value even if you change the value in the first pull down.
What I should have used, to get the desired result, was a “Combobox Droplist.”
When I use “Combobox Droplist” this is what get:
As you can see, when I changed the selection in the first pull down from “A” to “B” the second pull down became blank.  When I select on the second pull down, I can choose from “List B1-B3.”  A “Combobox Droplist” does not allow the user to manually type in text.  You can only select from what is in the list and that is why the second pull down gets cleared when you change the value of the first.  For the customer, this is a much more desirable behavior and eliminates the possibility of a bad combination.
I look forward to hearing any questions or comments on this topic.  So, please feel free to post comments below, or to email me at SWTech@prismeng.com.This blog made the assumption that you already know how to create cascading style pull downs in the data card editor.  Stay tuned as I will expand on this topic to show how you can create these types of pull downs. Thanks for taking a look at today’s blog.  Until next time, I wish you happy data management. 

Stephan Hess


April 6, 2012 | Categories: Data Management Tech Tips, Tech Tips | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment »

Using The EPDM Convert Task To Create PDF Files

When we do implementations, it’s very common to find that customers use PDF files as their officially released document.  This becomes especially important for departments within the company that are not CAD users.  Fortunately, SolidWorks EPDM has configurable tasks built in that not only allow the creation of PDF documents, but you can also trigger these events from your workflow automatically.

 

 

 Process for Automating the Creation of PDF files in Enterprise PDM:

  • Finding the conversion task:

From within the EPDM administration tool, expand your vault and then expand the “Tasks” node.  Open the “Convert” task.

 

 

 

 

 

When you begin the Convert Task, the following bullet points illustrate the nine options that appear in the blue left-hand column:

  • Areas of interest on the first page (Add-In):

Input Card:  You may build and use a data card to input descriptive metadata that will display on the resulting PDF file’s data card.

 

You can have the task execute as a different user other than the logged in user.  That is, you can execute the task with a user that has the permissions to do so.  I recommend the default option of <Execute as logged in user> and be sure to allow task execution in the user or group settings.

 

 

 

 

  • Areas of interest on the second page (Execution Method):

Here you decide which computer is going to execute the task.  Only computers that are enabled to run the task may host the PDF conversion.

“Is my machine enabled?”  That is a very good question:

In the bottom right of your Windows 7 desktop is the notification area. (You’re on Windows 7, right?  XP support stops next year for SolidWorks).  Select on the up arrow and select the EPDM blueberry.  Choose “Task Host Configuration.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check the box for your machine to enable it.  Also, be sure that the appropriate vault is selected if you have multiple vaults.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Areas of interest on the third page (Menu Command):

Here you will enter what you will see when you right mouse click on
a file in your windows explorer while you are in the vault.  “Status bar help text” allows you to control what is displayed when you hover over the menu command similar to a tool tip.

 

  • Areas of interest on the fourth page (Conversion Settings):

Here is where you determine what file type is going to be exported.  There are several to choose from:

 

This is also where you decide which configurations are being exported and which sheets will be exported.  The critical thing that I will mention is you can allow the user to control these settings.  You will notice there are several opportunities to check the option “Allow the user to change this setting.”

 

 

  • Areas of interest on the fifth page (File Card):

Rather than using an input data card for your exported PDF’s, you can copy existing information from the original drawing’s data card over to the new one.  This is the method I use most often.  It keeps you from inputting data twice.

 

 

 

 

 

  • Areas of interest on the sixth page (Output File Details):

On this page, you set the output path of your newly created PDF files.
You also determine what the new PDF file will be named.  The right arrow next to the output path allows you to choose variables to assist in naming the file.  On this page, you can also choose a secondary path for output and decide what you want to do with duplicate files.

 

 

 

 

  • Areas of interest on the seventh page (Permissions):

Here you determine which users or groups will have the ability to execute this task.

 

  • Areas of interest on the eighth page (Success Notification):

On this page you can set what the success notification reads and who will
get the notification.  I recommend that the person that launched the task receives the notification.

 

 

 

 

  • Areas of interest on the ninth page (Error Notification):

In the unlikely event of an error, you can specify what the message reads and who will get the message.  Maybe you would pick someone you have a grudge against and have all the error notifications go to them, or it may be better to have the person that executed the task receive the notification.  Just like the step above.

 

 

 

I mentioned earlier in this blog that you can execute these conversion tasks in the workflow.  Edit the properties of the transition that you would like to trigger the task.  Typically, that would be the transition that sends the files to the approved state.  Create a new action and select execute task from the pulldown.  Typically, PDF’s are only created for drawing files, so be sure to have the action only run on SLDDRW files..

 

 

After completing all of these steps, you will have successfully automated the process of creating a PDF!

I look forward to hearing any questions or comments on this topic.  So, please feel free to post comments below, or to email me at SWTech@prismeng.com.

 

Thanks for taking a look at today’s blog.  Until next time, I wish you happy data management.

 

Stephan Hess


April 4, 2012 | Categories: Data Management Tech Tips, Tech Tips | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment »