About DesignSync File Access

When using DesignSync File Access, files and folders are stored on the DesignSync server and metadata about those files is stored on the ENOVIA server. From your point of view, it does not matter where the files and folders are stored--you can access them and operate on them from the ENOVIA Semiconductor Accelerators.

The following topics are discussed:

About the ENOVIA Semiconductor Accelerators

The DesignSync File Access tools allow certain ENOVIA products to access files, folders, and modules created and stored on a DesignSync server.

These products are available:


  • ENOVIA Semiconductor Accelerator for Enterprise Project Management. Adds pre-configured design flow templates to the issue management and collaboration provided with ENOVIA Semiconductor Accelerator for Team Collaboration. It leverages Program Central for project execution capabilities.
  • ENOVIA Semiconductor Accelerator for IP Management. Adds IP and design reuse capabilities to the issue management and collaboration provided with ENOVIA Semiconductor Accelerator for Team Collaboration. It leverages Library Central for the IP catalogs.
  • ENOVIA Semiconductor Accelerator for Team Collaboration. Provides web-based issue management and collaboration in secure, structured, virtual workplaces for ad-hoc collaboration amongst cross-functional and geographically dispersed teams. Members can collaborate on design data documents and other product content through discussions, notifications, alerts and review/approval processes.

Your system may have a combination of the Semiconductor Accelerators installed.

About DesignSync File Checkin

When you check in a file using DesignSync File access, the file is checked into the DesignSync server, not the ENOVIA server. A business object is created in ENOVIA and all metadata related to the checkin is stored in this object.

After you have created a DesignSync file using a particular selector, for example Trunk:Latest, if you subsequently modify the selector of the associated business object to specify a different selector, the existing file version cannot be found.

If you select a file that already exists but in a different branch than specified by the Selector, the dialog redisplays the first screen in the wizard and you see this message in red at the top:

java.lang.Exception: Request failed - Server error: som-E-152: No Such 
Version. Checking in: file:///r5/5File1.txt;

where file: shows the file name you chose. You can either edit the Selector, or choose a different file on the second page of the wizard. Other selector errors will also redisplay the first screen with an error message. Fix the indicated error and continue the process.

If you see an error message with "connection refused", then the DesignSync server is down or otherwise unavailable. Contact your System Administrator for help.

If you do not have connect access privileges to the parent object in ENOVIA, (for example, a Workspace Folder) but try to create a file in DesignSync from the Folder Contents page, no errors are issued. A new object is created and connected to the file in the DesignSync server. However, the object is not connected to the parent object.

A file created in DesignSync does not maintain the "Latest Version" and "Active Version" relationships maintained by the Common Document Model (CDM).

You can also check files into a module. When you check in a file, the ENOVIA system creates a new module version. You cannot check into a module branch.

The selected tar or gz file for checking into the module must contain the full contents of the new module version; any objects not in the new version but which had been in a prior version will NOT be included in the new module version.

For modules that have hrefs defined, the new module version will include those hrefs and a hidden tag. For subsequent downloads, the ENOVIA system uses the hidden tag to locate the current module version.

The checkin process also compares the new module with the prior module and creates a manifest file that lists objects removed, added, or modified.

About Updating Files

You can check in a newer version of a file into a DesignSync server if you have checkin access. When using the applet for checkin, you can check in a newer version of a file only if the new file has the same filename used when it was originally created/checked into DesignSync.

The standard checkin process enforces the same-name requirement. However, the applet does not prevent you from checking in a file with a different name. After checking it in, the file name shown does not match the actual file name and you will have problems accessing the files checked into that object.

If your installation uses the checkin applet, you can avoid this situation by looking at the file checked into an object (see DesignSync File Versions Page) to make sure you the file you are going to check in has the same name. The second and subsequent checkins will create new versions of the file. After you check in a file, you can modify the file and check it in again.

About DesignSync Folder Checkin

When you use DesignSync File Access to check in a folder, the folder is checked in as a compressed file with a file extension of .zip, .gz or .tgz. The compressed file name is not the name of the folder that gets created in DesignSync. The name of the DesignSync folder is the value you enter in the Path field.

During check in, the compressed file is expanded and its contents are placed in the DesignSync server. A combination of factors like the folder information provided in the DesignSync server, the information provided in the Path field, and the folders within the compressed file determine how the contents of the compressed file get unpacked in the server.

A business object is created in ENOVIA and all metadata related to the checkin is stored in this object for reference.

If the folder has files locked by users other than you, the checkin fails immediately.

If a folder checkin is not successful, the properties page of the object associated with the folder shows Check In Status= FAILED.

If the folder you are checking in contains empty subfolders, the subfolders are created within DesignSync but are not empty. Instead, a file .SYNC_EMPTYDIR is auto-generated and checked into each folder. On subsequent checkouts, the .SYNC_EMPTYDIR files are checked out in your workspace like any other file.

If you checkin a folder but the DesignSync folder contains files locked by other users, the checkin fails and an error message displays. However, some files that were locked by you or were not locked may have been checked in and a new version created. To resolve the situation, the DesignSync administrator must investigate the situation. After the situation is resolved from the DesignSync side and all files in the DesignSync folder are unlocked, you can then use the ENOVIA Semiconductor Accelerator to check in the compressed file as a folder.

If you do not have connect access privileges to the parent object in ENOVIA, (for example, a Workspace Folder) but try to create a folder in DesignSync from the Folder Contents page, no errors are issued. A new object is created and connected to the folder in the DesignSync server. However, the object is not connected to the parent object.

If you see an error message with "connection refused", then the DesignSync server is down or otherwise unavailable. Contact your System Administrator for help.

About Connecting to DesignSync Objects

When you connect to a DesignSync file, folder, or module, connections are created for files that physically exist in DesignSync and also for those that do not exist but can be referenced later.

If you do not have connect access privileges to the parent object in ENOVIA, (for example, a Workspace Folder) but try to connect to a file or a folder in DesignSync from the Folder Contents page, no errors are issued. A new object is created and connected to the file or folder in the DesignSync server. However, the object is not connected to the parent object.

If you see an error message with "connection refused", then the DesignSync server is down or otherwise unavailable. Contact your System Administrator for help.

About Checking Out DesignSync Objects

You can check out and download files, folder, and modules checked into a DesignSync server by using the checkout and download icons in the Actions column of the content summary page.

This table provides more details about the icons in the Actions column:

Icon Name Action


View

Open the file for viewing.



Subscribe

View and select subscriptions for a document. See Subscription Events for Documents and Document Sheets.



Download

Download one or more files to your local machine. Browse to the directory or folder you want to contain the file. Multiple files are downloaded in a single zip file.



Check Out and Lock

Check out one or more files to your local machine and lock the files from other users who cannot unlock it. Navigate to the folder or directory you want to contain the file.



Update Files

Update a file to its next version. See Uploading Files without the Applet (you cannot update files using the applet).



Check In

Check in a new file. See Uploading Files without the Applet.



Lock

Lock the file without checking it out.



Unlock

Unlock the file without checking in a new version.

When you download or checkout a file from DesignSync, you get the latest version of the file in your local machine. To view files, you can either checkout or download the file. To edit a file you should checkout the file with a lock. Other users who try to edit the file get a warning to prevent simultaneous editing.

When you check in a DesignSync folder from an application, the ENOVIA product uses the CHECK_IN tag to identify the files. During subsequent check out, the application checks out the files contained in the folder that have the CHECK_IN tag. New files checked into this folder directly from DesignSync are not visible to the application during the checkout process as they do not have the CHECK_IN tag.

If you see subfolders under the DesignSync folder object but do not see any files in these folders (and you know there should be files in those folders), the files do not have the CHECK_IN tag, most likely because they were created in DesignSync.

When checking out objects, you may see one of these error messages depending on the lock status or folder contents:


  • If the file is not physically stored in DesignSync:
    There are no Files to download in one or more of the selected Objects. 
    Click Done to close this and continue.
    
  • If the file or folder is locked by another user:
    DesignSync File(s)/Folder is already locked by another user. 
    
  • If the folder is not physically stored in DesignSync:
    There are no Files to download in one or more of the selected Objects.
    

The checkout dialog varies depending on your browser and operating system.

The DesignSync server locks the file(s). If another user tries to checkout a file, the following message is displayed.

You cannot checkout a file locked by another user to prevent 
simultaneous editing of the file. 

If you see a "There are no Files to check out in one or more of the selected Objects" message, but you know that the object does have files, then the DesignSync server is down or otherwise unavailable. Contact your System Administrator for help.

When a checkout fails, the DesignSync folder is downloaded as a *.tgz file and contains a file named 00_Download_Failed.00_FAILURE. This file lists all errors encountered during the check out, including:


  • Some successfully downloaded files that were not locked.
  • A FAILURE file for every file that failed to download because they were locked by a user other than you. For example, if a file called parts.jpg failed to check out, a file named parts.jpg.00_Download_Failed.00_FAILURE containing the error message is placed in the compressed file. Because of the choice of name for the failed files, they appear near the top when the compressed file is expanded for viewing.

The checkout process identifies files that were previously locked by you and checks them out without reporting an error.

About Copying Files from DesignSync

Customers using internal business models may require that the material in a catalog be under control of the Librarian or team that manages the catalog. To accomplish this, a master copy of the material is imported from a remote DesignSync server into the IP Library catalog in the local DesignSync server using the "Copy from DesignSync" command. The local DesignSync server must be configured using the emxCommon.LocalDSServer and emxCommon.LocalDSPath settings. A JPO access program determines if the Copy From DesignSync command should be shown based on the local DesignSync property being set.

Configuration of the local DesignSync server is accomplished by setting the following property to a valid DesignSync store.

emxComponents.LocalDSServer = DSStoreName

where DSStoreName is a valid DesignSync store

emxComponents.LocalDSPath = path

where "path" is a valid path relative to the DesignSync server specified above.

These properties are set by the Business Administrator using the emxFramework.properties (or emxFrameworkCustom.properties) file. See "Setting up for DSFA (DesignSync File Access)" in the Business Process Services Administrator's Guide.

The Librarian, Limited Author, and Part Family Coordinator must have object access for Part Specification and Reference Document tree categories.

The Copy from DesignSync command copies only a specific version of a file from the remote DesignSync server. It does not copy all versions of the file. For folders, it copies just a single version of the files in the folder.

After filling in the needed information and clicking Done, the remote DesignSync files are copied from the specified server and path to the computed local destination, based on the emxCommon.LocalDSServer and emxCommon.LocalDSPath settings. See the Business Process Services Administrator's Guide for details.

The source URL for the file to copy is determined by the server and path entered by the user on the dialog. The destination URL for the file is computed based on the document name. The format for the resulting destination path is:

sync://HOST:PORT/relative path/Family_#

where:


  • # is the name of the document
  • sync://HOST:PORT is the value of the emxCommon. LocalDSServer setting
  • relative path is the value of the emxCommon.LocalDSPath setting

For example:

sync://HOST:PORT/relative path/Family_MyTestDoc

A new document business object is created with the information specified in the dialog. Once the copy of the file/directory is complete and successful, the document object is then connected to the context part with either the Part Specification or Reference Document relationship depending on the page from which the copy was initiated. Subsequently, any downloads of the file will be from the local server.


  • If the copy fails, the document object will be deleted and there will be no connection to the part.
  • If the copy is successful, the new document object appears in the document summary pages. You can now download a local copy of the file/directory using the common download actions, provided that you have download access to this document.

To copy files, see Copying Files from DesignSync.

About Downloading DesignSync Objects

You can download a file, folder, or module from a DesignSync server if you have read and checkout access. After the download is complete, you can modify the file and check it in. See Creating a New or Connecting to an Existing DesignSync Object for details.

When downloading a file or folder, the latest version of the file(s) is(are) copied to your workstation. If no selector was specified at the time of checkin, you get the latest version of the file from the Trunk (the default branch).

When downloading objects, you may see one of these error messages depending on the lock status or folder contents:


  • If the file is not physically stored in DesignSync:
    There are no Files to download in one or more of the selected Objects. 
    Click Done to close this and continue.
    
  • If the file or folder is locked by another user:
    DesignSync File(s)/Folder is already locked by another user. 
    
  • If the folder is not physically stored in DesignSync:
    There are no Files to download in one or more of the selected Objects.
    

The download dialog varies depending on your browser and operating system.

If you see a "There are no Files to check out in one or more of the selected Objects" message, but you know that the object does have files, then the DesignSync server is down or otherwise unavailable. Contact your System Administrator for help.

About DesignSync Modules

You can access DesignSync modules from the ENOVIA system. When working with modules, you must follow the DesignSync rules.

When you create a DesignSync object, you must ensure that the checkin path for the object (store path + local path) is valid for the given type (file, folder, or object). Modules can only be checked into stores with a path of "/Modules," and stores defined with a path of "/Modules/*" can only hold modules. Files and Folders can be checked into stores with any path except "/Modules." If the store you are checking the object into does not have a path defined or has a path of "/," you can checkin any object type as long as the local path begins with "/Modules" for a module object.

For example, a store path could be defined as:

sync://src.matrixone.net/Projects/Documents/Release

The local path begins at the end of the store path. To include a module, the path (store plus local) would be:

sync://src.matrixone.net/Projects/Documents/Release/Modules

Only modules can be checked into this path. To check files or folders into the same store, you would need to create a local path separate from the modules path. An example path (store plus local) could be:

sync://src.matrixone.net/Projects/Documents/Release/ProjectXYZ

No modules can be checked into the ProjectXYZ hierarchy. The local path for files and folders can be named anything required for your business needs, but the local path for modules must be /Modules.

When using the ENOVIA system to check in or create files, folders, or modules, make sure you select the appropriate path for the type of object you are working with.

When you check in a new module to the ENOVIA system, the module is created as a new branch in the checkin location. In addition, the ENOVIA system does not track module ancestry or vault branch compliance. If you check in an updated module, the checkin includes the entire module and creates a new version of the branch.