Rules for Overwriting Local Files

One of the cornerstones of CATIA usage is the re-usability of components. Additional advantages are the ability to create revisions throughout time, the need to work concurrently with other members of the team, in-context modeling and other features. This sometimes results in a situation where a file that is brought from the vault already exists in the destination directory.

When the file that is brought from the vault differs from the one in the directory, a question arises whether or not SmarTeam should overwrite the local copy. The answer depends on the context of the operation you are performing and the reason why the local copy already exists.

If you are trying to print or view a drawing exactly as it was released, you need the exact copies of referenced documents as at the time of the release. When one of the referenced documents already exists in the destination directory, you should answer yes to overwrite the local copy. However, the local copy that is in your working area is probably there due to a different referencing product or model, and copying an older version of the document may affect that parent. In certain cases, the local copy may be checked out and worked on, and overwriting it may cause the loss of valuable work.

Due to the fact that products may include hundreds to thousands of sub-components, it is not recommended to setup SmarTeam to prompt you each time it runs into the overwriting problem. To solve the 'multiple questions' scenario, there is an error report that summarizes all the issues encountered.

There are several SmarTeam preferences that affect the system behavior regarding the overwriting of local files.

Recommended Setup

The recommended setup is based on the following two assumptions:

  1. A local file that is checked out or has been modified compared to its vaulted version will NOT be overwritten (this ensures that you do not lose any valuable work you have done). To overwrite the local file, the user has to respond to the prompt.

  2. Newer versions take priority over older versions, i.e., by default an older version does not overwrite a newer, local version. In these cases, a user can request to be notified in order to take an action that overrides this 'default' rule.

The recommended setup is:

  • If a mandatory rule in your CATIA design is to work with the latest revision of all sub-components at all times, setup the out of vault preferences to automatically switch to latest revisions.
    In this setup, SmarTeam overwrites local copies only if the retrieved copy is newer. No prompt or warning is presented.

  • If users want to be able to define whether a local copy should be overwritten only if it is newer, set up the preferences to compare revisions.

  • If users want to be able to define whether a local copy should be overwritten or not (whether it is newer or older), setup the system to ask on replacing local copy on copy and on check out new release.