WVS publishing strategy – generate viewables only in In Work and keep them for later lifecycle state

[DESIGNER_JT]

Version: Windchill 13.0

Use Case: Hello, We are running **PTC Windchill 13 with **SolidWorks 2024 integration. Visualization files are generated through WVS using a SolidWorks worker. We are trying to optimize publishing load and would like to change the publishing strategy slightly. Our lifecycle is approximately: Concept → Prototype In Work → Prototype Released → In Work → Under Review → Released → Obsolete Goal During normal design work (In Work), every CAD check-in generates the visualization viewable (Creo View / PVZ). When the design leaves the In Work phase, the geometry should no longer change. Therefore the last check-in in In Work would effectively be the final viewable generation. After that point: the existing viewable representation should remain attached to the CAD document / WTPart it should simply carry forward to the next lifecycle states Later, when the object is promoted to Released, we only want to generate the final deliverables: PDF (drawing) DXF (if parameter DXF_CONVERSION = YES) STEP (if parameter STEP_CONVERSION = YES) In other words: In Work check-in → generate viewables Promotion to Released → generate only PDF / DXF / STEP Do not regenerate viewables during promotion Manual Republish should still remain available if needed. In that case the system could regenerate: viewables PDF DXF / STEP (if enabled)

Description:

Is this publishing behavior achievable using standard Windchill configuration (for example WVS Publish Rules or workflow publishing settings)?

More specifically:

• Can viewable generation be limited to the In Work phase, while later lifecycle transitions only trigger the required deliverable formats?

Any best-practice recommendation or configuration example would be greatly appreciated so we can discuss this with our Windchill service provider.

Thank you.

[Catalina]

Hi @DESIGNER_JT 

Thank you for your post. 

Your post appears well documented but has not yet received any response. I am replying to raise awareness. Hopefully, another community member will be able to help.

Also, feel free to add any additional information you think might be relevant. It sometimes helps to have screenshots to better understand what you are trying to do.

Best regards,

[DESIGNER_JT]

Thanks for the follow-up.

Let me simplify the question and add a concrete example.

Target behavior (simplified):

• In Work (check-in) → generate viewables only

• Released (promotion) → generate PDF / DXF / STEP only

• No automatic regeneration of viewables after In Work

• Manual republish should still regenerate everything if needed

We are considering whether this could be controlled using WVS Publish Rules.

For example:

This is a conceptual example of what we are trying to achieve.:

<rules>
  <authoring-application name="SOLIDWORKS">

    <!-- In Work → create viewables -->
    <condition>
      <attribute name="epmdoc_lifeCycleState" value="INWORK"/>
    </condition>
    <publish on="checkin"/>
    <publish on="create-representation"/>

    <!-- Released → only deliverables -->
    <condition>
      <attribute name="epmdoc_lifeCycleState" value="RELEASED"/>
    </condition>
    <publish on="unknown-source" output="PDF"/>
    <publish on="unknown-source" output="STEP"/>
    <publish on="unknown-source" output="DXF"/>

  </authoring-application>
</rules>

Why we want this:

Currently the worker spends roughly 1–2 minutes per file generating viewables.
When a Promotion Request is executed to Released:

• viewables already exist (from In Work check-in)

• but they are still regenerated again

This creates unnecessary load on the worker and results in:

• long publish queues (2–6 hours)

• delay in getting PDF / DXF outputs needed for production

We are specifically trying to avoid unnecessary worker load during promotion.

Question:
Would this kind of setup work in practice so that:

• viewables are only generated during In Work

• Released publish does NOT regenerate viewables, only additional formats

We are using a hosted environment and cannot test this ourselves, so any guidance or correction would be highly appreciated.

Thank you!

[TDT]

Hi @DESIGNER_JT,

This should be feasible, please refer to the following articles for guidance.

However, I do not believe it is possible to generate only additional formats without regenerating the viewable. Additional formats are typically generated as part of the publishing process.

https://www.ptc.com/en/support/article/CS365574?source=search

https://www.ptc.com/en/support/article/CS152784?source=CS365574

https://www.ptc.com/en/support/article/CS81396?source=CS365574

https://www.ptc.com/en/support/article/CS111916?source=CS365574

[DESIGNER_JT]

Thanks for your reply. After reviewing our SolidWorks WVS Publish Rules XML, it seems it is not possible to generate only additional formats (PDF/STEP/DXF) without regenerating the viewable, since additional formats are part of the standard publishing process.

As a workaround, we are considering commenting out the <publish on="unknown-source" …> lines for released CAD parts and assemblies during Promotion → Released. This way, the last In Work check-in viewables are reused, STEP files are already created if enabled, and only drawings are published if needed. Manual republish (create-representation) still works.

Example snippet:

<if condition="is_released_part_Solidworks">
<publish on="checkin" display-label="With additional files" additional-files="part_files_Solidworks"/>
<publish on="create-representation" display-label="With additional files" additional-files="part_files_Solidworks"/>
<publish on="schedule" display-label="With additional files" additional-files="part_files_Solidworks"/>
<!-- <publish on="unknown-source" display-label="With additional files" additional-files="part_files_Solidworks"/> -->
</if>

<if condition="is_released_asm_Solidworks">
<publish on="checkin" display-label="With additional files" additional-files="asm_files_Solidworks"/>
<publish on="create-representation" display-label="With additional files" additional-files="asm_files_Solidworks"/>
<publish on="schedule" display-label="With additional files" additional-files="asm_files_Solidworks"/>
<!-- <publish on="unknown-source" display-label="With additional files" additional-files="asm_files_Solidworks"/> -->
</if>

We are curious if this approach is reasonable from a Windchill best-practice perspective.

[CM_10720949]

I don't think you have many options to cut the publishing queue time, other then adding a second (or multiple) worker.

side question: why do you need to have viewables when the cad is "in work"? in our env anyone who needs to view the cad before it's released, already has the cad software and can access it.

The viewables are only produced when the cad is finally released, along with the additional files, for eveyone to consult.

note this is not a best practice, just how we've implemented it