Aras Innovator KnowledgeBase

Internet Explorer configuration

Arif Hasan Khan — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:00:36 GMT

Current revision posted to Aras Innovator KnowledgeBase by Arif Hasan Khan on 1/24/2012 8:00:36 AM

Images is not appearing here. Please visit http://www.aras.com/Community/forums/p/1696/6906.aspx

IE8 configuration to access Aras Innovator in Windows 7

Arif Hasan Khan — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:22:29 GMT

Current revision posted to Aras Innovator KnowledgeBase by Arif Hasan Khan on 1/24/2012 5:22:29 AM

Open Internet Explorer > Tools > Internet Options > Security (tab) > Trusted sites > click on button Custom level...

Programmatically vote for a workflow

Brian Pye — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 05:34:34 GMT

Current revision posted to Aras Innovator KnowledgeBase by Brian Pye on 12/4/2011 12:34:34 AM

Often a workflow can be arranged to be automated based on internal values.

Sometimes there are situations where you need to respond after a time or based on some other external stimuli.

In this case we can vote for a workflow from a server method.

The following code allows you to find and vote for a workflow activity.

This code is intended to be run from a scheduled server method to advance a workflow activity along the "Release" path after the "effective_date" has been reached.

Since the method would normally be run without user interaction I have not returned errors or stopped the process on error. In the actual code this is implemented in there is error reporting that I have removed from here for simplicity.

Innovator inn =

this.getInnovator();

DateTime

dt = DateTime.Now;

string

targetDate = String.Format("{0:s}",dt);

DateTime

dtNow = DateTime.UtcNow;

string

tmpPtrn = "yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss";

string

tmpDt = dtNow.ToString(tmpPtrn, DateTimeFormatInfo.InvariantInfo);

I18NSessionContext sCntxt = inn.getI18NSessionContext();

string

now = sCntxt.ConvertUtcDateTimeToNeutral(tmpDt, tmpPtrn);

//now = sCntxt.ConvertFromNeutral(now,"date",tmpPtrn);

Item mcrs =

this.newItem("MyItem","get");

mcrs.setProperty(

"effective_date",now);

mcrs.setPropertyCondition(

"effective_date","le");

mcrs.setProperty(

"state","Pending Release");

mcrs = mcrs.apply();

( mcrs.isEmpty() ){

// there are no qualifying MyItems.

return this;

}

// Build the voting request

StringBuilder voteXml =

new StringBuilder("");

voteXml.Append(

"<Item type=\"Activity\" action=\"EvaluateActivity\">");

voteXml.Append(

" <Activity>{0}</Activity>");

voteXml.Append(

" <ActivityAssignment>{1}</ActivityAssignment>");

voteXml.Append(

" <Paths>");

voteXml.Append(

" <Path id=\"{2}\">{3}</Path>");

voteXml.Append(

" </Paths>");

voteXml.Append(

" <DelegateTo>0</DelegateTo>");

voteXml.Append(

" <Tasks />");

voteXml.Append(

" <Variables />");

voteXml.Append(

" <Authentication mode=\"\" />");

voteXml.Append(

" <Comments>{4}</Comments>");

voteXml.Append(

" <Complete>1</Complete>");

voteXml.Append(

"</Item>");

// Grant 'Aras PLM' permissionsa

Aras.Server.Security.Identity plmIdentity = Aras.Server.Security.Identity.GetByName(

"Aras PLM");

Boolean

PermissionWasSet = Aras.Server.Security.Permissions.GrantIdentity(plmIdentity);

for

( int i = 0; i < mcrs.getItemCount(); i++){

Item mcr = mcrs.getItemByIndex(i);

Item wFlow =

this.newItem("Workflow","get");

wFlow.setAttribute(

"levels","3");

wFlow.setAttribute(

"select","related_id(*)");

wFlow.setProperty(

"source_id",mcr.getID());

wFlow.setPropertyCondition(

"related_id","is not null");

wFlow = wFlow.apply();

if ( wFlow.isEmpty()){

// there is no workflow associated with this MCR

// this is an abberation.

}

string activityID = "";

string assignID = "";

string pathID = "";

string vte = "Release";

string comment = "Released automatically as effective date has fallen due";

// Retrieve the "Pending Release" activity Node

try{

Item prActs = wFlow.getItemsByXPath(

"//Item[@type='Activity'][name='Pending Release']");

Item prAct = prActs.getItemByIndex(0);

activityID = prAct.getID();

Item actAssigns = prAct.getItemsByXPath(

"./Relationships/Item[@type='Activity Assignment']");

Item paths = prAct.getItemsByXPath(

"./Relationships/Item[@type='Workflow Process Path'][name='Release']");

for ( int x = 0; x < paths.getItemCount(); x++){

Item path = paths.getItemByIndex(x);

if ( path.getProperty("name") == "Release"){

pathID = path.getID();

}

for ( int j = 0; j < actAssigns.getItemCount(); j++){

Item actAssign = actAssigns.getItemByIndex(j);

if ( actAssign.getRelatedItem().getProperty("name") == "Aras PLM"){

assignID = actAssign.getID();

}

if ( assignID == "" ){

assignID = actAssigns.getItemByIndex(0).getID();

}

// Submit the vote

Item vote = inn.newItem();

vote.loadAML(String.Format(voteXml.ToString(),activityID,assignID,pathID,vte,comment));

vote = vote.apply();

if ( vote.isError() ){

// respond to an unsuccessful vote.

}

else {

// respond to a successful vote.

}

catch (Exception e){

}

(PermissionWasSet) Aras.Server.Security.Permissions.RevokeIdentity(plmIdentity);

return

inn.newResult(processErrors.ToString());

Using Custom .dll's with Innovator

Brian Pye — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 12:55:54 GMT

Current revision posted to Aras Innovator KnowledgeBase by Brian Pye on 12/10/2010 7:55:54 AM

One of the things that makes Innovator so flexible is the ability to all your own code internally and externally.

Internal code is good for small code snippets and relatively simple or at least restricted methods. The ability to add complete classes via a .dll can be a very powerful tool.

Following is a description of how to create a .dll tool using Visual Studio Express for C#.

Server Side class libraries:

This is an example of a simple class in c#.

First the BOM class:

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace MyNamespace

{

public class BOM

{

private Dictionary<string, BOMItem> m_bomItems = new Dictionary<string, BOMItem>();

public BOM(){}

public BOM(Dictionary<string, BOMItem> bom) { m_bomItems = bom; }

~BOM(){}

public bool addBomItem( BOMItem bomItem, out string errorText )

{

// attempt to find the BOMItem in the dictionary

// the item should not be in there twice

BOMItem bomOut = new BOMItem();

if (m_bomItems.TryGetValue(bomItem.getItemNumber(), out bomOut) == true)

{

errorText = "Duplicate Item Number " + bomItem.getItemNumber( );

return false;

}

else

{

m_bomItems.Add(bomItem.getItemNumber(), bomItem);

errorText = "Success";

return true;

}

public BOMItem getBOMItem(string itemNumber)

{

BOMItem tmpBOM = new BOMItem();

if (m_bomItems.TryGetValue(itemNumber, out tmpBOM) == true)

{

return tmpBOM;

}

else

{

return null;

}

Then the BOMItem class:

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace MyNamespace

{

public class BOMItem

{

public BOMItem(string itemNumber, string description, int qty)

{

m_itemNumber = itemNumber;

m_description = description;

m_qty = qty;

}

public BOMItem() { }

~BOMItem() { }

public string getItemNumber() { return m_itemNumber; }

public string getDescription() { return m_description; }

public int getQty() { return m_qty; }

public bool isItemNumber(string itemNumber) {return (m_itemNumber.Equals(itemNumber)); }

public bool isQty(int qty) { return (m_qty == qty); }

public bool isDescription(string description) { return (m_description.Equals(description)); }

public bool equals(BOMItem bomItem)

{

bool result = true;

result = result & isItemNumber(bomItem.getItemNumber());

result = result & isQty(bomItem.getQty());

result = result & isDescription(bomItem.getDescription());

return result;

}

private string m_itemNumber;

private string m_description;

private int m_qty;

}

These classes create a BOM and a BOM Item which I could re-use in any method inside Innovator.

Compile the classes into a .dll class library. (There is a lot of documentation on the web to advise how to do this in Visual Studio Express. Google "Add dll template to Visual Studio express" to see how to do this. If you have the full Visual Studio there will already be a template installed.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The class library must be strongly named so that it can be installed in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC). If it isn't strongly named the gacutil.exe tool will not install the .dll. If the .dll is not installed in the GAC Innovator will not find it. FURTHER NOTE: I'm not sure if this is a Vista/Windows 7 security feature. I am operating on Windows 7 and found this was the only way to install the dll.

This is the method code in a server side method in Innovator:

Innovator inn = this.getInnovator();

Matrix.BOM bom = new Matrix.BOM();

Matrix.BOMItem bomItem = new Matrix.BOMItem("12345","An interesting description", 5);

string errorText;

if (!bom.addBomItem(bomItem, out errorText))

{

errorText = errorText + "Add BOM Item failed <'BR'> ";

}

errorText += (bomItem.getDescription());

errorText += (bomItem.getItemNumber());

errorText += (bomItem.getQty());

Matrix.BOMItem bomItem2 = new Matrix.BOMItem("12345", "An interesting description", 5);

if (bomItem.equals(bomItem2))

{

errorText += ("Bom items are equal");

}

else

{

errorText += ("Bom items are not equal");

}

Matrix.BOMItem bomItem3 = new Matrix.BOMItem("12346", "An interesting description", 5);

if (bomItem.equals(bomItem3))

{

errorText += ("Bom items are equal");

}

else

{

errorText += ("Bom items are not equal");

}

return inn.newResult(errorText);

In order to use this method code we need to install the .dll in the Innovator code tree and edit the method-config.xml file to include a reference to the dll.

I copied the dll into:

c:\Aras\Innovator\Innovator\Server\bin\mydll

I tried installing the dll directly in the /bin folder and found that adding another dll file to this directory caused an unusual error in Innovator. It would not load the "databases" into the login screen which in turn stopped you from logging on.

I put the dll file into a sub directory, mydll in this case put an entry into "method-config.xml" like:

<name>System.dll</name>

<name>System.XML.dll</name>

<name>System.Web.dll</name>

<name>System.Data.dll</name>

<name>$(binpath)/IOM.dll</name>

<name>$(binpath)/InnovatorCore.dll</name>

<name>$(binpath)/CoreCS.dll</name>

<name>$(binpath)/SPConnector.dll</name>

<name>$(binpath)/mydll/BOMTools.dll</name>

</ReferencedAssemblies>

"method-config.xml" is located in Aras\Innovator\Innovator\server\

Then I installed the file into the GAC using "gacutil.exe /i bomtools.dll"

The GAC tool can be found in:

Program Files\Microsoft .NET\SDK\v2.0\Bin\gacutil.exe

Just in case it is not part of your path (and it probably isn't).

Code example and instructions provided by Brian Pye. Information is based on my investigations into using custom classes in Innovator.

Search All KnowledgeBase

Darian — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:39:42 GMT

Current revision posted to Aras Innovator KnowledgeBase by Darian on 7/9/2010 11:39:42 AM

Search All KnowledgeBase

Search Community Posts and Wikis, Downloadable and Online Documentation and KB.MyInnovator.com, all with a single search.

Just enter search terms, check or uncheck sources to search, and press the search button. Click here to Search All Search results are now in an html table instead of an active control.

Search All KnowledgeBase

Jon Hodge — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:04:33 GMT

Revision 5 posted to Aras Innovator KnowledgeBase by Jon Hodge on 6/25/2010 5:04:33 PM

Search All KnowledgeBase

Search Community Posts and Wikis, Downloadable and Online Documentation and KB.MyInnovator.com, all with a single search.

Just enter search terms, check or uncheck sources to search, and press the search button. Click here to Search All Search results are now in an html table instead of an active control.

Search All KnowledgeBase

Jon Hodge — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:26:25 GMT

Revision 4 posted to Aras Innovator KnowledgeBase by Jon Hodge on 3/15/2010 3:26:25 PM

Search All KnowledgeBase

Search Community Posts and Wikis, Downloadable and Online Documentation and KB.MyInnovator.com, all with a single search.

Just enter search terms, check or uncheck sources to search, and press the search button. Click here to Search All

Search All KnowledgeBase

Jon Hodge — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:23:48 GMT

Revision 3 posted to Aras Innovator KnowledgeBase by Jon Hodge on 3/15/2010 3:23:48 PM

Search All KnowledgeBase

Here you can

Search Community Posts and Wikis, Downloadable and Online Documentation and KB.MyInnovator.com, all with a single search.

Just enter search terms and press the entire Innovator KnowlegeBasesearch button. Click here to Search All

Search All KnowledgeBase

Jon Hodge — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:08:45 GMT

Revision 2 posted to Aras Innovator KnowledgeBase by Jon Hodge on 3/15/2010 3:08:45 PM

Search All KnowledgeBase

Here you can search the entire Innovator KnowlegeBase.

Search All KnowledgeBase

Jon Hodge — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:06:40 GMT

Revision 1 posted to Aras Innovator KnowledgeBase by Jon Hodge on 3/15/2010 3:06:40 PM

Here you can search the entire Innovator KnowlegeBase.

Generating IDs

Rob McAveney — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:01:07 GMT

Current revision posted to Aras Innovator KnowledgeBase by Rob McAveney on 4/23/2010 12:01:07 PM

Sometimes it is necessary to generate a set of ids for new items to be imported. One way to do this is with the "nash" tool, located at http://{server}/{application}/Client/scripts/nash.aspx (e.g. http://localhost/InnovatorServer/Client/scripts/nash.aspx).

1) Set the User, Password and Database fields and click the Login button.
2) Set the Action field to generateNewGUIDEx and the XML field to <Item quantity="x"/>, where x is the number of ids to generate.
3) Click the Submit button. You should get a semicolon-delimited list of ids in the response.

Filtered Item Browser

Brian Pye — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 06:04:33 GMT

Current revision posted to Aras Innovator KnowledgeBase by Brian Pye on 8/28/2009 2:04:33 AM

I recently came across a situation where I wanted to be able to restrict the Items that a user could select from when creating a relationship in an Item form.

This, it turns out, has a name. It is a Filtered Item Browser and this is one way of implementing one.

Scenario: I am trying to capture File Distribution information for electronic files sent out of the company. I would like to be able to see, from the Document Item Form that this Document has Files that have been distributed and want to be able to distribute Files without having to unlock the Document or File to do so.

Since a Document can have multiple Files related to it I can't just create a simple relationship between a Document Distribution Item and a Document. This wouldn't tell me what Files had been sent out.

So I created:

New Item Type = Document Distribution.
Relationship Item type = Distribution Document
- Source = Document Distribution
- Related = Document
Relationship Item Type = File Distribution
- Source = Document Distribution
- Related = File

The intention is for the user to enter the general distribution information (reason, company etc) then create a number of Distriubtion Document relationships tying the Documents which hold the Files to the Document Distribution record. The user then creates a number of File Distriubtion relationships where they are limited to selecting files that are related to the Documents already listed on the first tab.

In order to implement the Filtered Item Browser we need to react to the user trying to create a new Relationship on the File Distribution Tab.

We do this by using the onSearchGrid event triggered from the "related_id" property of the "File Distribution" Item Type.

Right click on the "related_id" property and then click "view properties" to bring up the Property Dialog.

Select the onSearchDialog event and connect a method to this.

Save all of these changes and then we can write the method detail.

The problem that we face is that we are in one part of the User Interface and can't easily work out what information is in another part of the User Interface. It is possible to navigate through the UI "document.frames" structure and find the grid that belongs to the tab that holds the list of Distribution Document relationships. However, this is not all that safe as the "document.frames" structure can change as a result of user interaction which may mean that you are not looking where you think you are.

It is better to use the underlying "ItemContext" which is an XMLElement that represents the main item concerned with the opened tear off window

var myInnovator = this.NewInnovator();

// we need this later to create Innovator Items.

var itm = inArgs.itemContext;

// get the ItemContext from the inArgs parameter passed into the onSearchGrid method.

Retrieve all of the relationships from the other Tab that you are interested in. In this case we want all of the "Distribution Document" relationships.

var distDocs = itm.selectNodes("Relationships/Item[@type='Distribution Document']");

var idList = new Array();

// array to collect the File ids that we eventually want to limit the user to selecting from

var amlString = ""; // variable to build an AML string for retrieving additional data from the server.

// loop through all of the Distribution Documents (listed Relationships in

// Distribution Document tab) and retrieve the related_id.

// Once we have the related_id we can build the AML to retrieve the

// Document and finally the File that we want to offer to the user.

for (var i=0; i<distDocs.length; i++)

{

var relatedId = top.aras.getItemProperty(distDocs[i], "related_id");

if (relatedId)

{

amlString = "<Item type='Document' action='get' id='" + relatedId + "'>";

amlString += "<Relationships><Item type='Document File' action='get'></Item></Relationships></Item>";

// Retrieve the File items related to this Document from the Server.

// There is probably a more efficient way of doing this since I am

// querying the server once for each document.

// Can't just concatenate the AML as it gives a "The instance doesn't represent a single item"

// exception if you do that.

var distDoc = myInnovator.NewItem(); // create a temporary item to retrieve the Documents & related files from the server

distDoc.loadAML(amlString); // load the AML into the new item.

var returnItem = distDoc.apply(); // retrieve the data from the server.

if (returnItem.isError) // test if the AML retrieved a valid result

{

alert(returnItem);

return returnItem; // exit if it fails.

}

var files = returnItem.getItemsByXPath("//Item[@type='File']"); // get the File items that we want to limit the user to selecting from.

var numFiles = files.getItemCount();

for (j = 0; j < files.getItemCount(); j++)

{

var fileId = files.getItemByIndex(j).getProperty("id"); // get the id of the File.

if (fileId)

{

idList.push(fileId); // put this in the array

}

;

// for as many "Documents" as are listed in the Distribution Document tab.

}

We now have an array with all of the File id's for Files related to the Documents listed in the Distribution Document tab.

Put these into comma separated list ensuring that it is not empty should there not be any files.

var idListStr = (idList.length>0 ? idList.join(",") : "this_string_should_not_be_empty");

// Using setAttribute("idlist", list) causes the Search Dialog to perform an immediate search

// and also allows you to specify a number of ids to be returned.

// The "list" string should not be empty.

inArgs.QryItem.item.setAttribute("idlist", idListStr); //To display necessary items only.

That's it.

CAD Integration Q&A with Dr. Maier

Peter Schroer — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:52:04 GMT

Current revision posted to Aras Innovator KnowledgeBase by Peter Schroer on 8/27/2009 1:52:04 PM

CAD Integration Q&A with Dr. Maier

Filed under: CAD Integration

Q&A Session with Dr. Helmut Maier, founder of Dr. MaierCSS, CAD Integration specialists .in Stutensee Germany www.maiercss.de

<dir>

Why use a CAD-PLM connector?

1. What types of CAD information are important to have and manage in my PLM system?

</dir>

3D models of parts and assemblies, 2D drawings with PLM controlled header informations,

Management of design structure with native CAD data,

Generic CAD models with configuration and variants,

Simplified models such as for exchange with customers or suppliers,

Revisions of 2D CAD objects and design structure for design histrorie and traceability,

Management of product structure with items, bom, where used data, classification, engineering change history, documentation, sales and service informations, serial numbers etc. with relations to the design structure. <dir>

2. What are the various approaches to CAD data integration with a PLM system?

</dir>

Unique identification of CAD models by PLM ident code, description and file name,

Management of file links of the design structure,

Management of relations between 3D objects, drawings, items and bom,

Where-used information in design structure (3D model structure),

o structure)

Generate and management of neutral, viewable file formats corresponding to revision of native CAD data.

Access control to the CAD data (create, delete, write, read, not-visile), protection of intellectual property.

Multi-language product data and representations <dir>

3. Many CAD packages have a local CAD file management system, should this system play a role in my company’s implementation?

</dir>

Local file managements systems are CAD proprietary vaults. They are not usable for different CAD systems, if customers have to use several CAD systems (such as an automotive supplier) or even additionally electronic and electrical CAD systems.

Local file management systems are CAD oriented, are locally organized and do not support replicated files on distributed sites of a company (usually non-optimal download and upload performance of WANs).

CAD proprietary vaults are not optimized for life cylcle management of other product data such as electronic data, electrical data, written/animated/multi-media documentations, after sales service data etc.

Missing API support by the local vault system for hand-over of PLM user access rights, approval and release status, change history. o Missing features for complex engineering change management (such as release an mechatronic assembly existing of items, bom, 3D model, wiring diagram, PCB, fabrication data, documentation, punch or die tools etc).

<dir>

4. What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of these approaches?

</dir>

Consistent product data management over the complex product life cycle.

Traceability of innovation, engineering and manufacturing data during product life cycles.

Support of innovation, engineering and change processes in the extended enterprise (including different sites, customers and suppliers).

Automation of sequential and parallel processes and information distribution in the extended enterprise. o Additionally graphical visualization and communication over the extended enterprise.

Definition: PLM is clear product structures, efficient processes and complex data management over the whole product life cycle.

Big advantage: shorter time to market (to profit)

Disadvantage: Product structures and processes have to be defined or should be optimized step by step when introducing PLM <dir>

5. How can I tell which approach is right for my company?

</dir>

Integration of authoring systems of engineering, quality assurance and documentation to PLM could be the first step followed by integrated business and change process and project management.

PLM manages the enterprise product record which includes all the product information and controls workflows required by the extended enterprise to conceptualize, design, source, build, sell, service & dispose of innovative products.

Product data and design structures as well as innovation and change processes of the company are managed by PLM.

PLM enables the critical cross-functional, multi-enterprise business processes which drive improved product profitability.

PLM grants the cross functional management, coordination and optimization of the information, processes and decisions about products, throughout the product lifecycle and across the extended enterprise.

Product innovation & engineering excellence today, complicated by growing outsourcing, globalization, and compliance requirements, require early lifecycle focus on the business requirements as well as the technical requirements of new products.

Profitable innovation of mechatronic product solutions are achieved by PLM supporting concurrent engineering, manufacturing and quality assurance and optimizing the product innovation cycle by promoting reuse and management of technical product information (form, fit, function) and decisions within engineering, logistics, manufacturing, sales and service.

Dr. Helmut Maier can be reached at www.maiercss.de

CAD Integration Q&A with Dr. Maier

Peter Schroer — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:04:36 GMT

Revision 1 posted to Aras Innovator KnowledgeBase by Peter Schroer on 8/27/2009 1:04:36 PM

Q&A Session with Dr. Helmut Maier, founder of Dr. MaierCSS, CAD Integration specialists. www.maiercss.de

<dir>

1. What types of CAD information are important to have and manage in my PLM system?

</dir>

3D models of parts and assemblies, 2D drawings with PLM controlled header informations,

Management of design structure with native CAD data,

Generic CAD models with configuration and variants,

Simplified models such as for exchange with customers or suppliers,

Revisions of 2D CAD objects and design structure for design histrorie and traceability,

2. What are the various approaches to CAD data integration with a PLM system?

</dir>

Unique identification of CAD models by PLM ident code, description and file name,

Management of file links of the design structure,

Management of relations between 3D objects, drawings, items and bom,

Where-used information in design structure (3D model structure),

Generate and management of neutral, viewable file formats corresponding to revision of native CAD data.

Access control to the CAD data (create, delete, write, read, not-visile), protection of intellectual property.

Multi-language product data and representations <dir>

3. Many CAD packages have a local CAD file management system, should this system play a role in my company’s implementation?

</dir>

Missing API support by the local vault system for hand-over of PLM user access rights, approval and release status, change history.

Missing features for complex engineering change management (such as release an mechatronic assembly existing of items, bom, 3D model, wiring diagram, PCB, fabrication data, documentation, punch or die tools etc).

<dir>

4. What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of these approaches?

</dir>

Consistent product data management over the complex product life cycle.

Traceability of innovation, engineering and manufacturing data during product life cycles.

Support of innovation, engineering and change processes in the extended enterprise (including different sites, customers and suppliers).

Automation of sequential and parallel processes and information distribution in the extended enterprise.

Additionally graphical visualization and communication over the extended enterprise.

Definition: PLM is clear product structures, efficient processes and complex data management over the whole product life cycle.

Big advantage: shorter time to market (to profit)

Disadvantage: Product structures and processes have to be defined or should be optimized step by step when introducing PLM <dir>

5. How can I tell which approach is right for my company?

</dir>

Integration of authoring systems of engineering, quality assurance and documentation to PLM could be the first step followed by integrated business and change process and project management.

Product data and design structures as well as innovation and change processes of the company are managed by PLM.

PLM enables the critical cross-functional, multi-enterprise business processes which drive improved product profitability.

Further Example of Federated Data

Brian Pye — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 01:18:50 GMT

Current revision posted to Aras Innovator KnowledgeBase by Brian Pye on 6/8/2009 9:18:50 PM

Further Example of Federated Data

Filed under: Federation

Further to the main article on How To Use Federation following is a simple implementation of using Federated Data from an External Database (in this case an MS Access Database) and displaying it in a Relationship Tab.

Use Case:

We wish to display on hand inventory and part description information from an external database as a tab of the Part ItemType.

The external database is located somewhere that the Innovator Server has network access to (in the simplest case this is actually on the same server as Innovator Server).

The Part Inventory relationship will be added to the Part ItemType.

When a user selects the tab a connection to the external database will be made a on hand inventory and part description information will be displayed.

Innovator Items:

ItemType Part
- Implementation: Table
RelationshipType Part Inventory
- Source: Part
- No Related
- Relationship ItemType Implementation: Federated - No data stored in Innovator
- ServerEvents : onGet
- Properties:
  - db_description = String, 100 char
  - on_hand_inventory = Integer
  - part_number = String, 32 char

Implementation of Example:

An OleDb interface will be used as this is an external MS Access database.

The remote database contains a table "Parts" which inclues the following fields:

Partnum - Part number of item. This is the key we will search on and is the same as the values in the Part ItemType in Innovator.
TotalStock - Summary of all stock in all locations that stock might be held in.
Descrip - Description of the part.

Part Inventory, ServerEvent, onGet:

// GetOnHandInventory<o:p></o:p>

// Called from ServerEvents of Federated Item ItemType "Part Inventory"<o:p></o:p>"

// Connects to external database via OleDb calls<o:p></o:p>

// Populates on_hand_inventory and db_description fields of federated item<o:p></o:p>

// This method updates the grid for the relationship item and is implemented<o:p></o:p>

// as an onGet ServerEvent.<o:p></o:p>

// Get the item_number, it's not passed automatically<o:p></o:p>

Item qry0 = this.newItem("Part");<o:p></o:p>

qry0.setAttribute("select","item_number");<o:p></o:p>

qry0.setID(this.getProperty("source_id"));<o:p></o:p>

Item res=qry0.apply("get");<o:p></o:p>

if (res.isError()) return res;<o:p></o:p>

// get the Part Number (key) that we will use in the external database<o:p></o:p>

// to search on.<o:p></o:p>

string partnum;<o:p></o:p>

partnum = res.getProperty("item_number");<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

// Connect to external (in this case MS Access) database<o:p></o:p>

System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection myConnection = new System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection(@"Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0; Data Source = \\server\directory\database.mdb;");<o:p></o:p>

// construct sql Select statement to retrieve data from external database.<o:p></o:p>

string sqltext = "Select Partnum,totalstock,descrip from Parts Where Partnum = '" + partnum + "';";<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

System.Data.OleDb.OleDbCommand com = new System.Data.OleDb.OleDbCommand(sqltext);<o:p></o:p>

com.Connection = myConnection;<o:p></o:p>

myConnection.Open();<o:p></o:p>

System.Data.OleDb.OleDbDataReader myDataReader = com.ExecuteReader();<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

// create a Part Inventory item<o:p></o:p>

Item res5 = this.newItem("Part Inventory");<o:p></o:p>

string newid = getNewID();<o:p></o:p>

res5.setID(newid);<o:p></o:p>

// Call apply on the item to create it in the server. After this is done<o:p></o:p>

// we can populate with the returned information from the external database<o:p></o:p>

res5 = res5.apply();<o:p></o:p>

res5.setProperty("part_number",partnum);<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

// Check if there are any rows returned and supply default information <o:p></o:p>

// if they are not<o:p></o:p>

if (myDataReader.HasRows != true)<o:p></o:p>

{<o:p></o:p>

res5.setProperty("on_hand_inventory","0");<o:p></o:p>

res5.setProperty("db_description","Not Found");<o:p></o:p>

}<o:p></o:p>

else<o:p></o:p>

{<o:p></o:p>

// get the data from the dataReader and populate the PartInventory item<o:p></o:p>>

myDataReader.Read();<o:p></o:p>

res5.setProperty("on_hand_inventory",Convert.ToString(myDataReader.GetDouble(1))); <o:p></o:p>

res5.setProperty("db_description",myDataReader.GetString(2));<o:p></o:p>

};<o:p></o:p>

myConnection.Close();<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

// return the PartInventory item to be populated in the grid.<o:p></o:p>

return res5;<o:p></o:p>

Once the connection is open it is of course possible to update the database with new information from Innovator.

Further Example of Federated Data

Brian Pye — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 01:09:43 GMT

Revision 1 posted to Aras Innovator KnowledgeBase by Brian Pye on 6/8/2009 9:09:43 PM

Use Case:

We wish to display on hand inventory and part description information from an external database as a tab of the Part ItemType.

The external database is located somewhere that the Innovator Server has network access to (in the simplest case this is actually on the same server as Innovator Server).

The Part Inventory relationship will be added to the Part ItemType.

When a user selects the tab a connection to the external database will be made a on hand inventory and part description information will be displayed.

Innovator Items:

ItemType Part
- Implementation: Table
RelationshipType Part Inventory
- Source: Part
- No Related
- Relationship ItemType Implementation: Federated - No data stored in Innovator
- ServerEvents : onGet
- Properties:
  - db_description = String, 100 char
  - on_hand_inventory = Integer
  - part_number = String, 32 char

Implementation of Example:

An OleDb interface will be used as this is an external MS Access database.

The remote database contains a table "Parts" which inclues the following fields:

Partnum - Part number of item. This is the key we will search on and is the same as the values in the Part ItemType in Innovator.
TotalStock - Summary of all stock in all locations that stock might be held in.
Descrip - Description of the part.

Part Inventory, ServerEvent, onGet:

// GetOnHandInventory<o:p></o:p>

// Called from ServerEvents of Federated Item ItemType "Part Inventory"<o:p></o:p>

// Connects to external database via OleDb calls<o:p></o:p>

// Populates on_hand_inventory and db_description fields of federated item<o:p></o:p>

// This method updates the grid for the relationship item and is implemented<o:p></o:p>

// as an onGet ServerEvent.<o:p></o:p>

// Get the item_number, it's not passed automatically<o:p></o:p>

Item qry0 = this.newItem("Part");<o:p></o:p>

qry0.setAttribute("select","item_number");<o:p></o:p>

qry0.setID(this.getProperty("source_id"));<o:p></o:p>

Item res=qry0.apply("get");<o:p></o:p>

if (res.isError()) return res;<o:p></o:p>

// get the Part Number (key) that we will use in the external database<o:p></o:p>

// to search on.<o:p></o:p>

string partnum;<o:p></o:p>

partnum = res.getProperty("item_number");<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

// Connect to external (in this case MS Access) database<o:p></o:p>

System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection myConnection = new System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection(@"Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0; Data Source = \\server\directory\database.mdb;");<o:p></o:p>

// construct sql Select statement to retrieve data from external database.<o:p></o:p>

string sqltext = "Select Partnum,totalstock,descrip from Parts Where Partnum = '" + partnum + "';";<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

System.Data.OleDb.OleDbCommand com = new System.Data.OleDb.OleDbCommand(sqltext);<o:p></o:p>

com.Connection = myConnection;<o:p></o:p>

myConnection.Open();<o:p></o:p>

System.Data.OleDb.OleDbDataReader myDataReader = com.ExecuteReader();<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

// create a Part Inventory item<o:p></o:p>

Item res5 = this.newItem("Part Inventory");<o:p></o:p>

string newid = getNewID();<o:p></o:p>

res5.setID(newid);<o:p></o:p>

// Call apply on the item to create it in the server. After this is done<o:p></o:p>

// we can populate with the returned information from the external database<o:p></o:p>

res5 = res5.apply();<o:p></o:p>

res5.setProperty("part_number",partnum);<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

// Check if there are any rows returned and supply default information <o:p></o:p>

// if they are not<o:p></o:p>

if (myDataReader.HasRows != true)<o:p></o:p>

{<o:p></o:p>

res5.setProperty("on_hand_inventory","0");<o:p></o:p>

res5.setProperty("db_description","Not Found");<o:p></o:p>

}<o:p></o:p>

else<o:p></o:p>

{<o:p></o:p>

// get the data from the dataReader and populate the PartInventory item<o:p></o:p>

myDataReader.Read();<o:p></o:p>

res5.setProperty("on_hand_inventory",Convert.ToString(myDataReader.GetDouble(1))); <o:p></o:p>

res5.setProperty("db_description",myDataReader.GetString(2));<o:p></o:p>

};<o:p></o:p>

myConnection.Close();<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

// return the PartInventory item to be populated in the grid.<o:p></o:p>

return res5;<o:p></o:p>

Once the connection is open it is of course possible to update the database with new information from Innovator.

ItemType List

tstickel — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:16:02 GMT

Current revision posted to Aras Innovator KnowledgeBase by tstickel on 6/7/2009 1:16:02 PM

An alternative to using Innovator Lists that supports a dynamic Add capability.

Requirements:

1. Automatically inserts an <Add> selection for designated for Selection Lists, unless the Form is not opened for update. The Selection LIsts do not have to be pre-populated with the <Add> selection.

2. If the user selects <Add> then a pop-up window will be displayed that allows the user to enter a new text/value combination for the Selection List. This pop-up window is the same one that appears if the user had the privilege to add a record to the list via /Administrator/Lists. Thus, the new entry is reflected in the List on the Form and in the Innovator database.

3. After the user adds a new text/value combination then it will be automatically selected in the forms Selection List

4. When a Form is displayed/re-displayed then the Selection Lists will automatically be re-populated with the latest values from the database. This over-comes the biggest problem with Innovator "out-of-the-box" lists, they are not dynamically repopulated (ie. In Innovator 9.0.1 if the list contains 3 text/value pairs when user A logs on the Innovator and displays a form that uses the list, then the Administrator adds a 4th text/value pair in another Innovator session, even if user A refreshes the form display they will not see the 4th text/value pair unless they log off Innovator and log back on).

Solution:

1. I did not utilize the Innovator List itemtype to store my lists, instead I created my own itemtypes. For example, I created a "lbrand" itemtype and included the following 2 fields (which are similar to the properties in an Innovator List itemtype):

llabel String 25 characters Required, Unique (there is no requirement to always make this 25 characters)

lvalue String 1 character Required, Unique (there is no requirement to always make this 1 character, e.g. you could have 2 character values. Also you are not required to have a lvalue property if your list is just a list of labels)

I included llabel in the keyed_name for the lbrand itemtype. So this defines a specific list.

2. I created a Form for the lbrand itemtype so that I could pre-populate it with labels/values.
examples:
label     value
Ford      F
Pontiac   P
Chrysler C

3. I included lbrand as a property on any itemtypes where it was required (e.g. the Part itemtype). Generally, I defined this property to match the corresponding lvalue property so that the lvalue would be stored. I have also used it to store the ID of the record from the list.

4. To include this lbrand as a selection list on a form (e.g. the Part form), I defined an html field type on the form and gave it the name lbrand. I defined the html field as follows:

Note that I included 3 attributes in this Select that are non-standard:

itemlist="1" is there so that my code can find all of these special Select objects on the Form
itemtype='lbrand" is there so that my code can determine which SQL table to find the label/values for this Select
itemadd="1" is there so that my code can determine if this Select should support the <Add> capability

Note the onpropertychange procedure. The key bit of code is "handleItemChange('lbrand',this.options(this.selectedIndex).value)". This
is an Innovator built-in method that will take the value of the selected row from the list and use it to update the lbrand property (e.g.
in the Part table).

5. I wrote a Method called, LoadList, and include it as an "OnFormPopulated" Form event (e.g. in the Part form definition). Disclaimer:
I have removed some Customer-specific code that I can not share, it is possible that this code may not compile if I made a mistake doing this.

// name:LoadList.js
//   purpose: Initialize all <select> elements that are to be populated from
//            item data. These are used instead of the standard Innovator List controls
//            that are populated from Innovator lists. These <select> elements have:
//            1. a custom attribute named "itemlist" set to "1". [required]
//            2. a custom attribute named "itemtype" set to the itemtype that contains the list values. [required]
//            3. a custom attribute named "itemwhere" set to a SQL where clause appropriate for the itemtype. Used to filter the list [optional]
//            4. a custom attribute named "itemadd" set to "1" if an "<Add>" entry is to be appended to the beginning of the list values. [optional]
//            5. a custom attribute named "itemvalue" set to "1" if Item values are to be displayed instead of the normal Item labels. [optional]
//
//   created: 11/19/2008
//
// ====================================================================================================

var innovator = document.thisItem.newInnovator(); // thisItem is the part item that will be created
var loadListCache; // Global variable used in lLoadListAdd and lLoadListCache functions

function lLoadListAdd(){
// purpose: Called as a field onChange event by item data <select>'s. This function implements the code to support
// the <Add> functionality for the pull down list.
// ======================================================================================================

  var listControl = this;
  var oOption = document.createElement("OPTION");
  oOption.text = newPC;
  if (listControl.itemvalue == "1"){oOption.text = newPV;}
  oOption.value = newPV;
  oOption.selected = true;
  listControl.add(oOption);
}
else if (lval == '<-Select->') { // See comments below concerning <-Select->
  alert("You can not pick <-Select->, make another selection");
  this.value = loadListCache; // Reset back to previous selection
}
} //End of function lLoadListAdd() definition

function lLoadListCache() {
// purpose: Called as a field onclick event by item data <select>'s. This function implements the code to support
// resetting selection back to previous selection.
// ======================================================================================================

loadListCache = this.value;
} //End of function lLoadListCache() definition

// Start of main procedure
// Loop through the "select" elements
var elements = document.getElementsByTagName("select");
for (var i=0; i<elements.length; i++){
// Look for a custom attribute named "itemlist"
if (elements[i].itemlist == "1") {
  var listControl = elements[i];

  // If control has already been loaded then just enable/disable it as appropriate
  if (listControl.length > 0) {
   if (!document.isEditMode) {listControl.disabled = true;}
   else {
    listControl.disabled = false;
    // Here you could add Application-specfic code to disable controls

    // listControl.disabled = true;
   }
   continue;
  }

                // The next 2 statements register these procudures as onchange/onclick evenets

  listControl.onchange = lLoadListAdd;
  listControl.onclick = lLoadListCache;

  // If itemadd flag is set then create an <Add> option
  if (elements[i].itemadd == "1") {
   var oOption2 = document.createElement("OPTION");
   oOption2.text = "<-Select->"; //<-Select-> is needed if the visible length of the control = 1
                                                       //This is due to an Internet Explorer bug that pre-selects the first
                                                       //option in a list if the visible length = 1.
   oOption2.value = oOption2.text;
   listControl.add(oOption2);
   var oOption = document.createElement("OPTION");
   oOption.text = "<Add>";
   oOption.value = oOption.text;
   listControl.add(oOption);
  }

  if (!document.isEditMode) {listControl.disabled = true;}
  else {
   // Here you could add Application-specfic code to disable controls

    // listControl.disabled = true;

  }

  // Now retrieve the entries to be added as options to the select
  var pcListItem = innovator.newItem(listControl.itemtype,'get');
  pcListItem.setAttribute('select','keyed_name,lvalue');
  pcListItem.setAttribute('orderBy','keyed_name');
  if (listControl.itemvalue == "1"){pcListItem.setAttribute('orderBy','lvalue');}
  if (listControl.itemwhere){pcListItem.setAttribute('where',listControl.itemwhere);}
  var pcListItems = pcListItem.apply();

  var pcListCount = pcListItems.getItemCount;
  if (pcListCount > 0) {
   for (var j=0; j<=pcListCount-1; j++) {
    oOption = document.createElement("OPTION");
    oOption.text = pcListItems.getItemByIndex(j).getProperty('keyed_name');
    if (listControl.itemvalue == "1"){oOption.text = pcListItems.getItemByIndex(j).getProperty('lvalue');}
    oOption.value = pcListItems.getItemByIndex(j).getProperty('lvalue');
    // Some item lists will not have a "value" field, in addition to "keyed_name"
    if (oOption.value == "undefined"){oOption.value = oOption.text;}
    // If thisItem has a value=Option.text, then set this Option=selected
    var strItemType = listControl.itemtype;
    if (listControl.name == "lparent") {
     var recordValue = document.thisItem.getProperty("lparent");
    }
    else {
     recordValue = document.thisItem.getProperty(strItemType);
    }
    listControl.add(oOption);
    if ((recordValue != "undefined") & (recordValue == oOption.value)){
     oOption.selected = true;
    }
   }
  }
}
}

// Loop through the "input" elements on the Form that have itemlist = "1", they will always be readonly

elements = document.getElementsByTagName("input");
for (i=0; i<elements.length; i++){
// Look for a custom attribute named "itemlist"
if (elements[i].itemlist == "1") {
  var inputControl = elements[i];
  var searchTable = inputControl.itemtype;
  var searchValue = document.thisItem.getProperty(searchTable);

  // Now retrieve the entry to be display in the <input> element
  var ipListItem = innovator.newItem(searchTable,'get');
  ipListItem.setAttribute('select','keyed_name,lvalue');
  ipListItem.setAttribute('where',searchTable + ".lvalue = '" + searchValue + "'" );
  var ipListItems = ipListItem.apply();

  var ipListCount = ipListItems.getItemCount;
  if (ipListCount == 1) {
    inputControl.value = ipListItems.getItemByIndex(0).getProperty('keyed_name');
  }
  // Otherwise just replace with value from thisItem
  else {inputControl.value = searchValue;}
}
}

Issues:

If the user selects <Add> from the list, the form that is displayed for the user to add a new list entry is initially displayed "mimimized". I have yet to determine how to fix this.

How to Use Federation

Brian Pye — Thu, 14 May 2009 04:54:04 GMT

Current revision posted to Aras Innovator KnowledgeBase by Brian Pye on 5/14/2009 12:54:04 AM

How to Use Federation

About Federated Data in Innovator

Innovator uses the term “Federated” to mean data shared between different information systems.

Virtually all businesses are using multiple information systems to address different aspects of their business, these are usually at different stages in their lifecycle.

Many business processes need to draw on information from multiple systems in the most cost effective way.

Aras Innovator has a Service Oriented Architecture and is a Framework; it lends itself to addressing such needs.

This document describes how the Innovator Framework can gather and present Federated Data, and how it can provide data to other systems.

<o:p> </o:p>The Innovator Framework includes

‘Federated’ data-type for Properties
‘Federated’ Implementation type for ItemTypes.
‘Server Events’ which call .Net Methods when Items are selected, added, updated or deleted to implement the Interface.

The following table shows how different technologies can used as the interface to implement Federated Data where Innovator is the destination or source.

<o:p>

Interface	Innovator as Destination	Innovator as Source
Web Services	Methods consume WebService and show data in the Innovator UI transparently	Innovator 9.1 “Web Service Configuration” can create Web Services automatically. They can be consumed by remote applications
SQL	Innovator Methods or SQL Items connect to remote database using SQL Server Linked Server or ADO.Net	Remote database connects to Innovator database using SQL Server Linked Server, ADO.Net, ODBC or JDBC
CAD Integration	CAD integrations are available at Aras.com/Projects for two-way sharing of data with popular CAD programs
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Enterprise</st1:city></st1:place> Service Bus	Methods put jobs onto the job queue	Innovator responds to requests from the job queue
API	Innovator Methods call remote system API	Remote system can use Innovator Object Model (IOM) API using COM or .Net
Other	Methods can do anything .Net can do

</o:p>

Federated data-type

When a Property is of data-type ‘Federated’ it still appears on forms and in grids, just like every other Property, but no column is created in the database and values for the Property will ignored in Innovator unless means of providing and acting upon values are created.

The simplest way to provide a value for a Federated Property is in an onAfterGet Server Event. This onAfterGet Server Event says “after you have done what you normally do, execute this Method”. The Method code can get a value in any way it chooses and return it in the context Item for further processing. For a get request this means the value will be stored in the client cache and appear in any Forms or Grids just like all the other properties.

When the value is returned to the server by a save or other code it will be ignored, unless means are provided to act on it.

Note there is also a Foreign data-type which serves a different purpose. Foreign Properties have no column in the database either, but values are provided from Properties of type Item in the same ItemType.

Federated ItemType

ItemTypes can be of Implementation ‘Table’, ‘Federated’ or ‘Polymorphic’.

· Table is the ordinary implementation used by most ItemTypes.

· Federated means that at least some of the values of the Properties for the Item will come from a source other than the Innovator database.

· Polymorphic is used for PolyItems like Deliverable in the Program Management Solution and Affected Item in the Product Engineering Solution

Selecting Federated Implementation type does not actually change the behavior of an ItemType, the behavior needs to be implemented by Server Events, so Federated Implementation is more of a flag than a switch. (Note this is different for Polymorphic, selecting Polymorphic determines the behavior of the ItemType when it is created and you cannot change Polymorphic to or from other implementation types.)

Federated behavior for an ItemType is provided by using onAdd, onGet, onUpdate and onDelete Server Events. ‘on’ Events are distinct from ‘onBefore’ and ‘onAfter’ events.

· ‘onBefore’ events say “before you do what you normally do, do this”

· ‘onAfter’ events say “after you do what you normally do, do this”

· ‘on’ evens say “instead of doing what you normally do, do this”

If no onAdd, onGet, onUpdate and onDelete Server Events are created for a Federated Implementation, the Item will behave like an ordinary Table Implementation.

If onAdd, onGet, onUpdate and onDelete Server Events are created with Method code that does nothing, the ItemType will exist but there will be no instances and no behavior.

The simplest Federated Item would have an onGet Server Event which would provide values whenever a get request was made. There would be no data in the Innovator database for the ItemType but values would be returned by the Innovator Server and displayed in the Innovator Client . The values would be determined by the Method code. This would be appropriate for the case where it was required to simply show information from a remote data source in Innovator.

For more complex requirements where information about an item may be shared between Innovator and remote data sources, a stub Item may be stored in the Innovator database including a unique key to the remote data and any data managed in Innovator, other data would be retrieved from the remote data source when needed. In this case a combination of onAdd, onGet, onUpdate and onDelete Server Events can be designed to create the behavior required. In order to do the required behavior is must be clearly defined.

When any instance data is added to the Innovator database, system properties such as id, created_on, created_by, state etc are created automatically. When this occurs the Item will be able to have any and all standard Innovator behaviors including Permissions, History, Relationships, Lifecycle and Workflow. These behaviors can augment the data stored in remote systems.

Choosing on…, onBefore… or onAfter… for Server Events

The Event for Sever Events needs to be chosen by considering

a) the intended behavior

b) how Innovator works

For the example:

CI Inventory

· onGet is used because we want to replace standard Innovator behavior

CI Order

· onAfterGet is used because we want to get data from the Innovator database then use it to get data from the remote system

· onAfterAdd, onAfterUpdate is used because we want Innovator to do whqt it normally does, onBefore would probably work as well

· onBeforeDelete is used because we won’t be able to get data we need after we delete it

Standard Work for Implementing Federated Data in Innovator

1. Determine the sources and desired behavior for data to be federated. It helps to document this in a Use Case.

2. Design the Data Model identifying ItemTypes, Relationships, Properties indicating which will be federated and which stored in Innovator.

3. Select and test the interface type to be used.

4. Build the Data Model

5. Implement Server Events

6. Test the application

Example Use Case

1. Use case summary

a. In the simple Retail Catalog application used in Admin, Workflow and API training a Retail Catalog has a relationship to Catalog Items, we will add the following Federated Data

b. Catalog Items will have two relationships CI Inventory and CI Order

c. CI Inventory represents the inventory on hand at each Catalog Item at several warehouses

d. CI Order represents orders to replenish inventory for a single Catalog Item at a single warehouse

e. CI Inventory data will be provided by a remote system, no data will reside in Innovator but inventory records will be shown in the Catalog Item relationship grid.

f. Catalog Item will have a property indicating the quantity in stock which will be retrieved from data on the remote system calculated as sum of quantity on hand at all warehouses.

g. CI Order data will be shared between Innovator and the remote system and will shown in the Catalog Item relationship grid.

h. CI Order records may be added in either Innovator or the remote system, the remote system alone will control the quantity received.

i. A Lifecycle will be implemented in Innovator for CI Orders. Orders with qty received less than qty ordered will be in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Open</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">State</st1:placetype></st1:place> and other orders will be in the Closed state

2. Innovator Items

a. ItemType Retail Catalog

i. Implementation: Table

b. ItemType Catalog Item

i. Implementation: Table

c. RelationshipType Retail Catalog Item

i. Source: Retail Catalog

ii. Related: Catalog Item

iii. Relationship ItemType Implementation: Table

d. RelationshipType CI Inventory

i. Source: Catalog Item

ii. No related

iii. Relationship ItemType Implementation: Federated, no data in Innovator

iv. ServerEvent on get to implement business rules

e. RelationshipType CI Order

i. Source: Catalog Item

ii. Relationship ItemType Implementation: Federated, stub data in Innovator

iii. No related

iv. Lifecyle Open and Closed, World can promote

v. ServerEvents on get, add, update and delete to implement business rules

3. Business rules

a. For Catalog Item show sum of quantity on hand at all warehouses

b. For Catalog Inventory show warehouse and qty on hand

c. For Catalog Item Order show warehouse, qty on order, qty received

a. Since Catalog Item Order has data shared between Innovator and the remote system we need to define where information can be added changed and deleted in these rules. You may choose different rules according the business need.

b. CI Orders will only be displayed in the relationship grid of Catalog Items, ie where the source_id is known.

c. When a new CI Order is added to Innovator and it does not exist on the remote system, it will be added to both systems

d. When a CI Order order quantity is edited in Innovator it will also be updated on the remote system

e. When a CI Order is deleted in Innovator, it will be deleted from the remote system also

f. An action may be run in Innovator which will synchronize data between Innovator and the remote system

i. An CI Orders on the remote system but not in Innovator will be added to Innovator

ii. Any CI Orders not on the remote system but in Innovator will be deleted from Innovator

iii. All CI Orders in Innovator will be promoted to the appropriate state

4. User Interface

a. No special requirements

IMPLEMENTATION OF EXAMPLE

A SQL interface will be used.

For simplicity ‘remote data’ will be in tables not owned by innovator. Data might just as easily be in a linked server, which can be referenced directly using sql in the Innovator data server

Remote table definitions

CREATE TABLE [dbo].[fed_ci_inventory](

[wh] [varchar](1) NULL,

[item_number] [nvarchar](7) NULL,

[qty_oh] [int] NULL

) ON [PRIMARY]

CREATE TABLE [dbo].[fed_ci_order](

[ordno] [int] NULL,

[wh] [char](1) NULL,

[item_number] [varchar](8) NULL,

[qty_ord] [int] NULL,

[qty_rcd] [int] NULL

) ON [PRIMARY]

CI Inventory, ServerEvent, onGet

// get the item_number, it's not passed automatically

Item qry0 = this.newItem("Catalog Item");

qry0.setAttribute("select","item_number");

qry0.setID(this.getProperty("source_id"));

Item res=qry0.apply("get");

if (res.isError()) return res;

// get federated data

// we use a SQL Item here rather than applySQL(...)

// because SQL PROCESS conveniently takes

// id and type columns from the result set

// and turns them into attributes of the returned Items

Item qry1 = this.newItem("SQL","SQL PROCESS");

qry1.setProperty("name","select_ci_inventory");

qry1.setProperty("PROCESS","CALL");

qry1.setProperty("ARG1", res.getProperty("item_number"));

res = qry1.apply();

return res

SQL Item, SELECT_CI_INVENTORY

create procedure select_ci_inventory (@ci varchar(8))

BEGIN

select replace(NewID(),'-','') id, 'CI Inventory' type, *

from dbo.fed_ci_inventory

where item_number=@ci

END

CI Order, ServerEvent, onAfterGet

// onAfterGet may return a single Item for example to populate an Item Window

// or a collection of Items for example to populate the Main Grid

// so we loop through the context Item

for (int i=0;i<this.getItemCount();i++){

Item ci = this.getItemByIndex(i);

// get data for the key to the remote system

string ordno =ci.getProperty("ordno");

string wh=ci.getProperty("wh");

string item_number=ci.getProperty("item_number");

if (ordno==null||wh==null||item_number==null){

// the context Item might only contain the id

// in which case we'll get them from the server

Item ci2= this.newItem("CI Order");

ci2.setID(this.getItemByIndex(i).getID());

ci2.setAttribute("select","ordno,wh,item_number");

ci2=ci2.apply("get");

if (ci2.isError()) return ci;

ordno =ci2.getProperty("ordno");

wh=ci2.getProperty("wh");

item_number=ci2.getProperty("item_number");

}

// retrieve data from the remote system

// in this case we’ll use applySQL(…)

// all the code is in the method, no separate SQL Item

// in C# the @”…” indicates a string literal

// so the string can include linebreaks

// and String.Format(…) makess substitutions

string sql=@"

select qty_rcd from dbo.fed_ci_order

where ordno={0} and wh={1} and item_number='{2}'";

sql=String.Format(sql,ordno,wh,item_number);

Item res =this.getInnovator().applySQL(sql);

if (res.isError()) return res;

// update context Item with retrieved data

if (res.getResult()!=""){

string qty_rcd = res.getProperty("qty_rcd","0");

ci.setProperty("qty_rcd",qty_rcd);

}

// pass updated contextItem back to Innovator

return this;

CI Order, Server Event, onAfterAdd

<o:p> </o:p>

// get data for key to remote system from context Item

string ordno=this.getProperty("ordno");

string wh=this.getProperty("wh");

string item_number=this.getProperty("item_number");

string qty_ord=this.getProperty("qty_ord");

// add a new row to the remote system

string sql=@"

insert into dbo.fed_ci_order select '{0}','{1}','{2}','{3}', null

where not exists

(select * from dbo.fed_ci_order

where ordno={0} and wh={1} and item_number='{2}')

sql=String.Format(sql,ordno,wh,item_number,qty_ord);

Item result=this.getInnovator().applySQL(sql);

// no further processing in Innovator

// but c# must return something, if it's an error the add will roll back

CI Order, Server Event, onAfterUpdate

// get data for key to remote system from context Item

string ordno=this.getProperty("ordno");

string wh=this.getProperty("wh");

string item_number=this.getProperty("item_number");

string qty_ord=this.getProperty("qty_ord");

// update remote system

string sql=@"

update dbo.fed_ci_order

set qty_ord={3}

where ordno={0} and wh={1} and item_number='{2}'

sql=String.Format(sql,ordno,wh,item_number,qty_ord);

Item result=this.getInnovator().applySQL(sql);

// no further processing in Innovator

// but c# must return something, if it's an error the update will roll back

return result;

CI Order, Server Event, onBeforeDelete

<o:p> </o:p>

// delete server event passes only id in the context Item

// get data for key in remote system

Item o=this.newItem("CI Order");

o.setID(this.getID());

o=o.apply("get");

if (o.isError()) return o;

string ordno=o.getProperty("ordno");

string wh=o.getProperty("wh");

string item_number=o.getProperty("item_number");

// delete row from remote system

string sql=@"

delete from dbo.fed_ci_order

where ordno={0} and wh={1} and item_number='{2}'";

sql=String.Format(sql,ordno,wh,item_number);

Item result=this.getInnovator().applySQL(sql);

if (result.isError()) return result;

// return context Item to continue processing in Innovator

return this;

Retail Catalog, Action, Sync Orders

<o:p> </o:p>

Innovator innov=this.newInnovator();

// find CI Orders on remote system not in Innovator, and add them

string sql= @"

select distinct f.ordno, f.wh, ci.item_number, ci.id as source_id

from dbo.fed_ci_order f

left outer join innovator.ci_order i

on f.ordno= i.ordno and f.wh=i.wh

inner join innovator.catalog_item ci

on ci.item_number= f.item_number

where i.ordno is null";

Item adds =innov.applySQL(sql);

if (adds.isError()) {return adds;}

// if the resultset is empty applySQL returns an empty Result

if (adds.getResult()!=""){

// applySQL returns a resultset which looks like AML

// but we need to add 'type' and 'action' attributes

// we'll build an aml string containing a collection of Items that can be applied once

string aml="<AML>";

for (int i=0; i<adds.getItemCount();i++){

Item a=adds.getItemByIndex(i);

a.setType("CI Order");

a.setAction("add");

// turn add server event off

// we don't want the onAfterAdd event to run!

a.setAttribute("serverEvents","0");

aml+=a.node.OuterXml;

}

aml+="</AML>";

// add the CI Orders to Innovator

adds=innov.applyAML(aml);

if (adds.isError()) {return adds;}

}

// find CI Orders in innovator not on remote system and delete them

sql= @"

delete from innovator.ci_order where id in

(select i.id

from innovator.ci_order i

right outer join dbo.fed_ci_order f

on f.ordno= i.ordno and f.wh=i.wh

inner join innovator.catalog_item ci

on i.source_id = ci.id and f.item_number=ci.item_number

where f.ordno is null)";

Item dels =innov.applySQL(sql);

if (dels.isError()) {return dels;}

// find CI Orders

Item pr_opn = this.newItem("CI Order");

pr_opn.setAttribute("select","qty_ord,qty_rcd,state");

pr_opn=pr_opn.apply("get");

if (pr_opn.isError()&&(!pr_opn.isEmpty())) {return pr_opn;}

// and promote them if necessary

for (int i=0;i<pr_opn.getItemCount();i++){

Item o = pr_opn.getItemByIndex(i);

if ((Int16.Parse(o.getProperty("qty_rcd","0")) <

Int16.Parse(o.getProperty("qty_ord","0"))) &&

o.getProperty("state")=="Closed"){

Item res =pr_opn.getItemByIndex(i).promote("Open","");

if (res.isError()) return res;

}

if ((Int16.Parse(o.getProperty("qty_rcd","0")) >=

Int16.Parse(o.getProperty("qty_ord","0"))) &&

o.getProperty("state")=="Open"){

Item res =pr_opn.getItemByIndex(i).promote("Closed","");

if (res.isError()) return res;

}

return innov.newResult("OK");

<o:p> </o:p>