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Windchill Part Organization

rjohnson-4
1-Newbie

Windchill Part Organization

How are other teams organizing their parts within Windchill?   Right now we have all of our parts in the CAD Models folder, but after 3 years of doing this that's getting to be a long list. 

Are other teams using a folder structure?   Any good or bad with that?  Any issues with leaving them all in one folder as we've done?   It is simpler, but does seem to take longer to load a list of parts now.

If people do use folders, then is there a good way to move parts around within Windchill?

Rande Johnson

FRC 4931 Mentor

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

Our first year was pretty hectic and as such our CAD files were splintered across the Windchill server.  Half of the kids did a decent job getting them into the "CAD Models" folder, the other half would wind up with them on the main Windchill page as they would forget to update the file path when checking in the parts.  AT the end of the season, I moved all of the first year's files into a 2015 Recycle Rush folder within CAD Models. 

The kids still forget to update the folder path when checking in from time to time, though, so I check the Windchill page every few nights and cut/paste accordingly and attempt to train the kid into maintaining a good folder structure.

To move parts, it's fairly easy.  You only need to check the box in the Windchill folder structure next to the part you want to move and click the scissors/cut button.

Then you need to navigate to the folder you want it in and click the paste button.

In that regard, it's the same as working in Windows Explorer except you have to use the cut/paste buttons instead of having ctrl+X / ctrl+V capability.

Hope this helps.  Let me know if you need more detail.

View solution in original post

5 REPLIES 5

Rande,

Our team is using a simple folder structure.  Within the "CAD Models" folder, we have a sub-folder for each year's competition and a separate folder for common items.  This keeps it a bit easier for us to find the screws, bearings, etc we use year over year without much issue and easy to reference older designs.  Hope this helps.

Will

Thanks Will.   Did you start out this way or did you move parts around after the fact?   If the latter, how?

Our first year was pretty hectic and as such our CAD files were splintered across the Windchill server.  Half of the kids did a decent job getting them into the "CAD Models" folder, the other half would wind up with them on the main Windchill page as they would forget to update the file path when checking in the parts.  AT the end of the season, I moved all of the first year's files into a 2015 Recycle Rush folder within CAD Models. 

The kids still forget to update the folder path when checking in from time to time, though, so I check the Windchill page every few nights and cut/paste accordingly and attempt to train the kid into maintaining a good folder structure.

To move parts, it's fairly easy.  You only need to check the box in the Windchill folder structure next to the part you want to move and click the scissors/cut button.

Then you need to navigate to the folder you want it in and click the paste button.

In that regard, it's the same as working in Windows Explorer except you have to use the cut/paste buttons instead of having ctrl+X / ctrl+V capability.

Hope this helps.  Let me know if you need more detail.

Perfect!  I will give this a try and see how it goes.   Right now we have way too many things in the CAD models, and our new students are having trouble figuring out where parts they need are.   We've started using manuf#-description and that helps, but there are a lot of parts not there yet.

Will,

This worked beautifully.   I also liked your ideas about spending a day to clean up the system.   That gives the students some freedom to do what they need to without worrying about conventions, yet lets us mentors tidy up later.  

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