Video 11.1 | Syndeia-Teamcenter Reference Connections
Objectives
The new learning objectives of this exercise are to create a repository connection to a Teamcenter repository on the Syndeia Web Dashboard (SWD), view the repository including properties, relations and search, and create a reference connection.
Preparation
This exercise assumes the student has
Syndeia Cloud 3.6 installed with a valid user account,
A valid user account to a Teamcenter repository, and
A valid user account to at least one other on-line repository, e.g. JIRA.
The user can use any Teamcenter repository they have available. Because the content of your Teamcenter repository will be different, the specific examples in the following exercise instructions are only a guide and example for your actions. It is generally advisable to carry out these exercises in a non-production repository, a “sandbox”, set up for training and practice purposes.
See the videos in Part 1 under Tutorials – Syndeia Web Dashboard for a general introduction to the interface.
Background – Teamcenter
As envisioned by Intercax, the Digital Thread is composed of inter-model connections between models in different repositories, which Syndeia creates and manages, and intra-model connections between elements in the same repository, which the individual tool creates and manages. As of Syndeia release 3.6, the Syndeia Web Dashboard can extract and display some model information from the Teamcenter repository. Figure 1 shows a tree view of this information, with labels identifying the Teamcenter element types. The label color coding indicates how the Windchill element type is mapped to the Syndeia Cloud element types: Repository (green) and Artifact (blue). Teamcenter repositories do not have an element type corresponding to the Syndeia concept of Container.
In the case of the Syndeia Teamcenter integration, the Relations table (Step 7) and the Digital Thread Explorer (Step 10 onwards) can display some intra-model connection types between Artifacts, including assembly-part BOM connections and trace links, as well as inter-model connections when an active Digital Thread project is specified. The intra-model connections are not permanently part of the Syndeia Cloud graph; they are extracted and displayed as needed.
This information is important in formulating and interpreting Syndeia graph queries. A more complete diagram of the Teamcenter data model as it is understood by Syndeia is available through the web dashboard help menu on the left.
Exercise
Log on to the Syndeia Cloud Web Dashboard (see Video 1.2), click on the Digital Thread Projects icon on the left border, choose or create a project for the exercise (video 1.5) and click on the Workspace tab at the top of the Digital Thread Project dashboard (Figure 2).
If no repository connection to Teamcenter is available, hover over Teamcenter in the left column, then click the + icon to its right. Complete the form. You may need to consult with your Teamcenter admin for the proper information to access your repository, including your account credentials. When complete, click Test to check whether a connection has been made. A green checkmark indicates success; click Create to save (Figure 3).
If a Teamcenter repository connection already appears under Teamcenter, but you need to add your own access credential, hover over that Teamcenter repository and click the Gear icon that appears to the right. Complete username and password and click Test and Update (Figure 4).
Select your repository and it should load on the right side. Expand it to show the contents of your Home folder, as in Figure 5. See Background section for discussion of Teamcenter artifact types.
On the right border, there are three icons, labeled Details, Relations and Search. Select a Teamcenter element in the Tree View column (Power Subsystem in our example) and click on the Details icon. A Detail list appears to the right as in Figure 6. Scroll down and review the attributes of the Teamcenter element that are available to Syndeia 3.6, including name and externalKey, which is the unique part number in the Teamcenter repository. Click the Details icon again to close the list.
Click the Search icon on the right.
In the Search window, select Item ID or Item Name. If Item ID is selected, fill in the Item ID field (e.g. 000566, the externalKey value from Figure 6) and click Search.
If Item Name is selected, fill in the Item Name field and click Search. In our example, we entered *Array*, using * as the wildcard symbol. The result(s) of the search are shown on the right, as in Figure 7.
Click the Search icon again to close the Search window.
Intra-model and inter-model relations to a Teamcenter elements can be displayed by clicking on the Relations icon. For our example, we will use the Power Subsystem item in the Spacecraft model, where there are already inter-model connections (Figure 8). Note that there are two inter-model connections shown in the top part of the right side, in addition to seven intra-model relations.
