When are Properties Automatically Mapped?
Once the
mapping definition has been done by the administrator, CATIA users can
then take benefit of this during their daily works. To be more precise,
properties are mapped automatically:
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during first SmarTeam
> Save, properties are mapped on both directions (properties
are first mapped from CATIA to SmarTeam, then profile-card are
displayed, then properties are mapped from SmarTeam to CATIA)
during:
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next SmarTeam > Save,
properties are mapped only from CATIA to SmarTeam
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Check In or
Release, properties are mapped from CATIA to SmarTeam
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File > Open,
properties are mapped from SmarTeam to CATIA
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Check Out or
New Release, properties are mapped from SmarTeam to CATIA
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SmarTeam > Properties > Load From Database, properties are mapped from
SmarTeam to
CATIA
Load From Database
In some scenarios, you may want
to update manually CATIA properties from SmarTeam values. For instance,
if you have modified some attributes in a SmarTeam profile-card, you may
want to update the CATIA properties accordingly.
This is possible by using the
SmarTeam > Properties > Load From Database. Selecting this
capability automatically retrieves all SmarTeam properties of current
document and updates corresponding CATIA attributes according to the
mapping definition.
Integration Tools Setup Utility
The most commonly used tool to
define properties mapping is the Integration Tools Setup utility.
This utility defines the settings of the integration between SmarTeam
and an external CAD system. One of these settings is the properties
mapping.
Using Integration Tools Setup
utility, the
administrator can define mappings between CATIA information and SmarTeam
properties. In addition to this mapping, the direction is also set
(mapping only from CATIA to SmarTeam or from SmarTeam to CATIA or both).
Using the Integration Tools Setup Utility to Define Properties Mapping
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The Integration Tool Setup
utility is available on the
SmarTeam server (it may also be available on SmarTeam client machines).
For
reference information about the Integration Tool Setup utility, see the
SmarTeam documentation.
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To
launch it, select Start > All Programs >
SmarTeam >
Administrative Tools > Integration Tools Setup.
After the database selection and
the user login, the main window is displayed.
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Locate and open the CATIA;
section. You will see two categories:
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Mapping Group
Types and
Mapping Groups classify all single mappings.
The Mapping Group Types
category contains a list of Mapping Group Types;. Then, each
Mapping Group Types groups “Mapping Groups”. Each
Mapping Groups groups “Mapping
Properties”. Finally a Mapping Property defines:
- the name of the CATIA information
- the corresponding SmarTeam attribute
- the
mapping direction
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Each CAD integration (including
CATIA integration) need to define their rules for the classification of
“Mapping Properties” under dedicated “Mapping Group Types” and “Mapping
Groups”. |
Mapping Directions
Directions |
Definition |
From SmarTeam to CATIA (unidirectional) |
Attributes controlled by
SmarTeam like revision, state or ID should be mapped in this direction
only. |
From CATIA to SmarTeam (unidirectional) |
This is dedicated for CATIA
attributes (like product properties) that you want to store in the
database (for query purpose for instance) |
Both (bidirectional) |
This kind of mapping is possible
but is not recommended because it may be difficult to the user to know
where (in CATIA or in SmarTeam) is the official value of the property. |
Units Management
CATIA attributes may have units:
for instance, a f(x) parameter representing a length my be associated to
the “Length” magnitude. Then, the user is able to decide which unit will
be used to display the attribute in CATIA dialogs.
Note that changing the displayed
unit does not change the value inside the CATIA document: CATIA
attributes are always stored with a defined unit (for instance, weights
are stored in kilogram)
Unfortunately, SmarTeam
attributes cannot be associated to magnitudes or units.
It has been decided that the
mapping between CATIA and SmarTeam will be always performed based on the
CATIA stored unit.
Rules for Mapping Definitions
We consider that in CATIA there
are many groups of attributes, all of them with the same semantics:
product properties, drawing sheet properties, user parameters.
We will use Mapping Group
Types to define the mapping of each of these groups of attributes.
Mapping Group Types correspond to these groups of CATIA
attributes. For instance, we will have a Mapping Group Type
for the definition of the mapping of all product properties and another
one for the definition of all user parameters, a third one for the
future document properties;
Some of these Mapping Group
Type will be available for all CATIA documents. This is the case
for instance for the Mapping Group Type containing the mapping of the
user parameters. Other Mapping Group Types will be available only for
some specific CATIA documents. For instance, the Mapping Group Type
defining the mapping of product properties will be only available for
CATProduct and CATPart document.
Even if a Mapping Group
Type is dedicated to all CATIA documents, the customer may want to
define specific mappings for specific documents and other mapping for
other documents. This can be done by defining specific Mapping
Groups for specific documents:
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if mappings are defined in a
Mapping Group named “All”, they will be available for all documents
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if mappings are defined in a
Mapping Group which name correspond to a CATIA document type (for
instance “CATProduct; or CATPart), they will be available only for
this specific type of document.
Following is a subset of known
CATIA document types:
Notes:
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Every document will take
benefit of the “All” mapping group and also of the dedicated mapping
group corresponding to its document type
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If the user decides to
arrange his mappings in various mapping groups, then a mapping
property defined in “All” mapping group should not be declared
anywhere else (because both mappings will be run and we cannot know
in which order they will be called)
CWI Mapping Group Types
Following is the list of all
Mapping Group Types recognized by CWI.
Intrinsic Properties
This Mapping Group Type is used to define the
mapping of all intrinsic properties of documents or features.
Document and features have some
intrinsic properties (properties which are automatically available. Product and Parts have
the following
intrinsic properties:
Properties |
Availability |
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Available on both product and part |
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Available on both product and part |
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Available on both product and part |
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Available on both product and part |
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Available on both product and part |
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Available on both product and part |
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Material is stored on root-product reference. But in case of internal
components, it is stored at the instance level |
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Available on CATPart document.
In
case it is designed in the context of a CATProduct document, the
contextual information is the filename of the CATProduct (without the
path) |
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Available on drawing sheets. |
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Available on drawing sheets. |
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Available on all CATIA V5 documents.
Indicates the minimal CATIA version necessary for reading the document.
The string looks like: CATIAV5R14 |
Even if some mapping types are only applicable to
specific document types, they can be defined in a single Mapping Group
named “All” or they can be defined in Mapping Groups dedicated to
specific document types. But don’t try to define a Mapping Type named
“Sheet Name” in a Mapping Group named “CATProduct”. It will be ignored
because “Sheet Name” is not a recognized name in the context of a
“CATProduct” document !
Example
In this example, all intrinsic properties are
defined in a single Mapping Groups named “All”. It means that these
mappings will be applicable to all documents.
Of course, if one MT is not applicable to current
in-work document, it will just be skipped for this document.
Product Properties
This Mapping Group Type is used to define the
mapping of the Product other properties
These properties are created in
CATIA with the Define other properties;; button that is
displayed in the Product tab of the Product properties
dialog. Once created, they are displayed on the ;Product; tab of the ;.
There are also displayed in the Formulas; dialog with a Properties;
prefix in front of their name.
This Mapping Group Types can be applied on
CATProduct document, Internal Product of CATProduct and CATPart
document.
As usual, mapping properties can be created inside
a single Mapping Group named “All” or inside a Mapping Group which name
correspond to a specific document type.
Mapping Property name correspond to the exact name
of the CATIA property.
Example
In this example, we have one product property
called ‘USER_PROP1’ which is applied on all documents.
Then, we have one product property called
‘USER_PROP2’ which is dedicated for CATPart documents.
The two last product properties are dedicated for
CATProduct documents.
User Parameters
This Mapping Group Types is used to define the
mapping of user parameters.
user parameters = correspond to
f(x) parameters created by the user with “New Parameter of type” button
of “Formulas” dialog. These properties may be created on various CATIA
features (on products for instance).
NOTE: In a CATDrawing document,
user parameters are defined only at the level of the document itself.
Mapping Property name correspond to the exact name
of the CATIA user parameter.
Note that only parameters created by the user will
be allowed for the mapping. If you want to map an internal parameter
(for example the pad’s thickness) you will have to create a user
parameter that drive this internal parameter and use the name of this
user parameter as Mapping Property name.
NOTE:
In CATProduct document, User parameters may be
defined on the root-product or on internal components.
Example
In this example, we have one user parameter called
FX1 which is dedicated to all documents.
Then we have another user parameter called FX2
which is dedicated to CATProduct documents.
NOTE:
If CWI ExposeMode is set to true, parameter will be
read at the feature level, then if not found, at the document level. But
parameter will always be written at the feature level.
For instance, if we have defined that FX1 is a user
parameter which is mapped between CATIA and SmarTeam and if we are
currently working on a document which has this user parameter set at the
document level (ie: it is set on the root product) and if we are
currently running the mapping on an internal component of this document
and if this internal component does not have a FX1 user parameter, then,
component profile-card will be filled with FX1 value read from the
root-product.
If CWI ExposeMode is set to false, parameters will
always be read and written at the document level.
A Reserved Mapping Group Type
In addition to the Mapping Group Types described
above, “Revision Block” Mapping Group Type has been defined to
drive the behavior of the integration code.
“Revision Block” Mapping Group Type is used to
define which SmarTeam attributes will be displayed in drawing revision
blocks.
Problematic Mapping Definition
As said previously, mapping can be either defined
in Mapping Group named “All” or in a Mapping Groups which name
correspond to a specific document type.
Definition of the same mapping on both locations is
not recommended because it will produce unpredictable results.
Example
In this example, we
see that ‘TITLE’ user parameter is defined twice but with different
mappings.
At the ‘All’ level, it is mapped to CATIA Drawing
‘Title’ field.
At the ‘CATDrawing’ level, it is mapped to CATIA
Drawing ‘Part Number’ field.
When running a mapping “from CATIA to
SmarTeam”,
there are no particular problem: the CATIA TITLE value will be stored on
both locations.
But the problem will occur when running the mapping
“from SmarTeam to CATIA”. During this process, there may be two
SmarTeam
values (one from ‘Title’ field, the other from ‘Part Number’ field) to
be stored in one single CATIA user parameter.
Unfortunately, there is no way to define which
Mapping Group will be run first. The ‘All’ one or the ‘CATDrawing’ one.
This is the reason why the result will be unpredictable.
Using 'Load From Database'
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Launching the Load From
Database command
performs the properties mapping on all objects belonging to the document
of the selected object. For instance, if you have selected one component of a
product stored in SmarTeam, all components of the document will be
treated. You can select any component belonging to the document, even if
selected component is not already stored in SmarTeam.
Only properties mapping from
SmarTeam to CATIA will be run (use SmarTeam >
Save to perform mapping from
CATIA to SmarTeam)
After properties mapping has
been performed, there is no message indicating that the job
has been done.
In the following example, if you want to
apply Properties > Load From Database on the root CATProduct
document, you need to activate either “Product1” or “Product2”.
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