August 31, 2011

Configure Solid Edge Embedded Client to Map Teamcenter LOV and Associated LOV Description


In Teamcenter it is possible to create an interdependent LOV such that the LOV description is displayed alongside the LOV value:
 

Where such functionality would be useful is when you have a short LOV value but need to use a longer LOV description to help the end user decide if the LOV value is the correct value to be selected i.e. CAGE Codes being a perfect example of this.

So the question is how to configure Solid Edge Embedded Client  (SEEC) to use the Teamcenter LOV description that is associated to the LOV value along with the actual LOV value?

The instructions below assume that you have a basic working knowledge of both configuring SEEC and using BMIDE.  Certain rudimentary steps that a person with the prerequisites should know how to complete have been omitted for instruction brevity.

1.    Launch BMIDE.

2.    Right-click on LOV and select “New LOV”:


3.    Name the LOV and create the values and descriptions for each value in the LOV:

4.    Double-click on the LOV to display the LOV tab:

5.    Scroll down to the LOV Attachment section and attach the LOV to a TC property:


6.    Select the LOV Attachment and “Edit” it:

7.    In the Interdependent LOV Attachment form select the attached property and select “Attach Description”:

8.    Select a property to attach the LOV description to:

9.    The LOV Value is connected to one Teamcenter property.  The LOV Description is connected to a different Teamcenter property.  The LOV Description is now connected as an interdependent attachment to the LOV Value:

10.    Deploy the BMIDE Template:

11.    Validate the Interdependent LOV Attachment works in the RAC:



12.    In SEEC create and deploy an attribute mapping to map the LOV Value to one SE property and the LOV Description to another SE property:


13.    Launch SEEC and create a new Item.  Notice in the CPD how there are square brackets the two Solid Edge properties and the second property value is grayed out.  This indicates that these two properties are interdependent.  When you select the LOV Value, the LOV Description is automatically populated into the second property based on the LOV Value picked:


8 comments:

  1. Excellent! That's something I had on my list to figure out -- but I was guessing the answer lay with style sheets so I probably wouldn't have gotten very far.

    In my case it's not solid edge where I want to display the description but the Item's property view in the rich client. I don't recall seeing this solution in the application admin class nor in any documentation and who knows if I would have stumbled upon it randomly looking around.
    Thanks!

    Scott
    http://plmdojo.com

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  2. We had our reseller setup TcX 5.0.1.7 with a similar set of 2 linked properties: Class & Class_description.
    CPD and BMIDE look roughly the same as in your example. The issues we run into are:

    - Every time the CPD appears, the Class value is blanked. Very annoying, since it is a required property in our setup.

    - In the CPD, if you select a value from the Class LOV, the Class_description is not shown alongside as in the RAC. You only see the decription AFTER you pick a value for Class. Not very user friendly.

    - I can't figure out how run a query in the RAC using Class_description as argument.

    Your feedback would be very welcome.

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    Replies
    1. First of thank you for your comments.

      “Every time the CPD appears, the Class value is blanked”

      Just because it is a required property do you have a default value set in both BMIDE and the attribute mapping? Without a default value to set the field will be blank. SEEC doesn’t know what required value to default to otherwise. If you are not seeing this then please submit an IR to GTAC.

      “You only see the description AFTER you pick a value for Class. Not very user friendly”

      Agreed and I have discussed this with planning. It is a known issue for the CPD and on the roadmap for future resolution. Unfortunately it will not be in ST5. I would suggest you submit an ER to GTAC – if a customer requests the enhancement it will typically carry more weight.

      “run a query in the RAC using Class_description as argument”

      Off the top of my head I'm not sure how to accomplish this either. Again a call to GTAC should get you swift resolution to this and all your questions.

      Thanks again for the input.

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    3. I'd rather not set a default value for Class so I hope it is not neccesary to make things work correctly. Maybe you misunderstood my poor English. I'll try to describe what I see:

      - Create a part in Solid Edge and save it
      - In the CPD, pick a LOV value for Class (the corresponding Class_decription value is filled in automatically as expected)
      - Upload the dataset to Teamcenter and return to the SE part environment.
      - Return to the CPD and notice the Class field is empty again while all other values are still as you left them
      - Plain vanilla exhaustive LOV's work fine though.



      Can you copy this behaviour?

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    4. Thank you for clarifying what the issue is. Now I understand. I am out of the office and not where I can check on this right now but will certainly investigate it further next week.

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    5. Robin,

      Apologize for the delay in getting back with you. On my systems, ST4 & TCX 5.3.1.1_a01 everything works as expected. Following your workflow:

      - Create a part in Solid Edge and save it
      - In the CPD, pick a LOV value for Class (the corresponding Class_description value is filled in automatically as expected)
      - Upload the dataset to Teamcenter and return to the SE part environment
      - Return to the CPD and the Class field is ***still as you left them***.

      Unfortunately Solid Edge no longer supports TCX 5.0.1.7 with actively maintained versions of Solid Edge so I have no way to validate this on TCX 5.0.1.7. However, I would suspect that this is an issue with your TCX version.

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  3. Hi Dave,
    Do you also happen to know how to map properties from SE to the Standard Master/Standard Revision Master?

    Thanks for the heaps of info!

    Richard

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