modified part makes assembly marked as modified

[qnen]

I have a frame (assume a door frame) assembly with some uprights, cross bar, header, ect. All checked into PDM and released. (read only).
User mofifies the header bar by adding 4 holes. (moved part to revision state, checked out, made changes, checked in, etc...)
Now when you open the assembly, PDM thinks it is modified and yells about trying to regen a read only item.

Is there anyway to have PDM not do this? Any ideas why PDM is doing this in the first place?
Windchill 9.1 (m20) with wildfire 5.0

Thanks

Michael Kuehnen, Kansas City

 

[looslib]

It is doing it because te assembly HAS been changed and also needs to be revised.

Before modifictaion to Top:
Frame_assy.a.4 - released
side_rgt.a.3 - released
side_lft.b.2 - released
top.b.5 - released

Now modify top.b and add 4 holes and releae it as top.c.3.

This structure is illegal in PDMLink as you have not revised the Frame_assy.
Frame_assy.a.5 - released (this is possible for a system admin to do, but still illegal)
side_rgt.a.3 - released
side_lft.b.2 - released
top.c.3 - released

Structure must become:
Frame_assy.b.2 - released
side_rgt.a.3 - released
side_lft.b.2 - released
top.c.3 - released

Configuration Management 101 basics.

How do you think the assembly has not been changed?



"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[qnen]

one way of looking at it says the same part numbers are ordered to make the frame, no new parts were added to the assembly, no parts were removed from the assembly. True, one of the parts in the assembly was modified.

I just can't get my head around the idea that every part revision requires all assemblies using that part to be revised as well.

Michael Kuehnen, Kansas City

 

[qnen]

Ben's response above got me wondering and I did a similar little test. Two bars (bar1 and bar2) put into an assy (barassy). All new parts, checked in and happy.
Erase all from workspace and memory. Check out only bar1 and add a cut to it. (bar1 now at iteration 2) Check it back in. Erase all from memory and workspace.
Open the assy and regen. It shows as being modified.
Erase all from workspace and memory. Check out bar1 and delete the cut. Check it back in. (bar1 now at iteration 3) Erase all from memory and workspace.
Open the assy and regen. IT DOES NOT SHOW AS BEING MODIFIED.

This leads me to believe that in the earlier case, a change in MP was triggering the modified status for the assy. I know we had issues with parts that had relations assigning mp props to a parameter. Those parts always wanted to regen (and hence threw the regen of read only part message). We removed the relation and the parts calmed down.

Thanks for the insight.



Michael Kuehnen, Kansas City

 

[looslib]

Yes, the trigger in Pro/Engineer is the MP weight change, but structurally, my example of the change requiring an assembly revision is still valid.

Without revising the assembly how do you distinguish your frame assemblies from no holes in the top to holes in the top if both assemblies are revision B? You must revise the assembly so you are ordering/making the proper parts. If you order Frame rev B, how does the system know to use the top with or without holes?

Consider ordering from an outside shop.
First time you order it is with top without holes, you order Frame Rev B. You send the shop all the drawings to make the details and the frame. everything is good.
Six months later you have now modified the top and again order Frame Rev B from the same vendor. To speed things up, they look at the rev, see it is the same and don't check the prints but build to the Rev B parts they have built before. You receive Frames without holes and reject them. You will end up an arguement with the vendor on who will eat the cost of those 'wrong' frames. His paper work shows you ordered the same revision as before. You have not conveyed the fact that a change has been made.


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[qnen]

Ben
Thanks for the response. The answer is that the top bar is made per it's own print which has been reved. The assembly print only controls how the individual parts are assembled.

Where I work, we have a standing rule that every job packet (both internal machine shop or external machine shop) includes new prints. We strongly chastise any machinist for storing prints in their box (almost to the point of dismissal). All job packets include rev numbers of parts and assemblies. If a shop makes a part to an earlier rev than what is called out on the job packet, it is their fault (and cost).

I have been investigating the two config options: mass_property_calculate by_request, and mp_calc_level assembly_only. This might be the answer to my question.

Thanks again,

Michael Kuehnen, Kansas City