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Information in this publication is subject to change without notice. The software described in this publication is furnished under license agreement or non-disclosure agreement. The software may be used only in accordance with the terms of those agreements. No part of this publication may be distributed to third parties, copied, duplicated, in any form, whole or in part, without the prior written permission of Jotne EPM Technology AS, Grenseveien 107, N-0607 Oslo, Norway.

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Note to the reader of this document

The reader of this document should be accustomed to engineering projects and to the use of web-browsers for engineering applications. Good understanding of the principles of product data management (PDM), product lifecycle management (PLM) and document management is recommended. Working knowledge of CAD, CAE (FEA, CFD), Logistics, and ERP solutions is an advantage, but not a necessity to benefit from using EDMtruePLM with the help of this user manual. This document uses artificial test data that represent a bike product model.

 

Figure 1. A bike example is used throughout this User Manual

Table of Contents

 

Figures

 

 

Tables

 

 

Introduction

Purpose of this document

The purpose of this document is to describe what you can do with EDMtruePLM™ and how to do it.

This user manual covers the needs of the general end-user and of administrators of the application and of projects.

Scope of EDMtruePLM

The EDMtruePLM solution is a product model server for integrating, storing, and accessing data for types of products and for individual products over their lifetime in a standards compliant fashion. The solution scope covers product structure data and product properties, streamed sensor data, and documents / data files and their properties, such as, CAD files, manuals and structured documents. EDMtruePLM is intended for product lifecycle management. Data and documents may be collected and categorized from early design to operation and disposal. Product data may be collected into technical data packages, which can be exported and imported in different formats. Technical data package functionality eases communications with customers and within the supply chain. All data except of document files are stored in the format of ISO 10303-239, Product Lifecycle Support (PLCS). 

EDMtruePLM has been designed for the concurrent engineering requirements of the space sector. However, care has been taken to enable adaptation to other engineering domains. This has been achieved by so called 'reference data'. For each project, a project manager may define specific names for properties, roles, lifecycle phases, types of products, breakdown elements and documents etc. Thus, project managers may define properties to attach additional information to products, breakdown elements (also called nodes) and documents. 

EDMtruePLM supports integration with IoT frameworks to collect live data from sensor devices.

Note: EDMtruePLM uses a web-client and is accessible through a web-browser; suggested browser is Google Chrome.

Contents of this document

After the details in chapter 2 of logging into an EDMtruePLM server, Chapter 3 addresses the needs of an ordinary user who wants to manage product and project data. Chapter 4 lists the functions needed to administrate the application. Chapter 5 describes a special import/export file format.

Installation Guide and Release Notes are available here in separate documents.

Login to the EDMtruePLM

The EDMtruePLM client is started through a web-browser, such as, Google Chrome (recommended) or Firefox.

The user selects an EDMtruePLM server by pasting the server specific URL into the URL-field of the web-browser. The URL-string is defined by the team who installed the server. If you installed the server on the same machine that you are starting the client on, you use the following URL:

You have used a valid URL when you see the login pop-up of Figure 2.

The login page allows the users to login to the EDMtruePLM using a given credentials.

You may change the language of the client from the Language selector as shown on the upper right of the screenshot below. You may select between English and Norwegian.

For login you need a username and a password. Such user details are provided by the EDMtruePLM system administrator see 3.1.

Figure 2. Login Window

EDMtruePLM Product Management GUI

The Product Management GUI is the client view for the ordinary user, that is, for users without system administrator access rights.

Overall Client View

Below is the overall view of the web client with its different sections after successful login and after the user has opened a project; see 3.2 for opening existing projects and for creating local projects.

Figure 3. Navigation Page

The above figure shows the EDMtruePLM project page. Below is a short description of the numbered items of Figure 3:

1. System menu button: Includes project selection, project administration, system info etc.

2. Offline help document: a PDF version of the online document for the given version

3. User info: It shows user details such as user, role, name, email and organization

4. Project menu: Functionalities that will be available to the current active project

5. Breadcrumb address bar: The path to the selected element within the breakdown structure

6. Breakdown parent node name: The name of the parent element and some other information about the element

7. Breakdown structure: Representation of the product elements and their data files, shows the child element

8. Context menu of current node: Includes all functionality for the current node

9. Context menu of child node: Includes functions for child nodes, such as copy, move etc.

10. Breakdown properties: System defined meta data of the selected breakdown element

11. Document properties: System defined meta data of the selected document

12. Product properties: System defined meta data of the selected product

13. User defined properties: Properties of the current node that were defined by the user (see “Reference data”).

Closing tabs

Additional tabs that appear, for example, after a search, are closed by a right-click on the tab and selecting the "Close tab" option.

Figure 4. Closing tabs

Administration menu

Ordinary users without specific system administration rights have access to a limited set of project management functions; see Figure 5 for an overview of those. General project management is done by the system administrator; see chapter 4.

Figure 5. Administration menu – ordinary user

Projects

Shows all active projects that the user has access to. By clicking on a project, the project will be opened (see Figure 6).

Figure 6. Active Project

Breakdown templates

Shows all the breakdown templates that the user is assigned to. By clicking on the template, the template will open.

Figure 7. Breakdown template

Project templates

Shows all the project templates that the user is responsible for. By clicking on the template, the template will open.

Figure 8. Project template

Administration

Allows the user to create a project folder (see 3.2.4.1) or to change login password (see 3.2.4.7). A project that is created here instead of in the system administration area, cannot be assigned other users.

Figure 9. Administration tab

Create project folder

One can create project folder to store all the related project under one branch. This allows to group a project based on user preferences.

Figure 10. Project Folder

Create project

Click on the Create project item (see Figure 11).

Figure 11. Create new project with active user login

The create project form takes the following information (see 4.5 for project name restrictions):

1. The name of the project (Mandatory)

2. The description of the project (Mandatory)

3. A project template that will be loaded as initial population of the project (OPTIONAL). 

After project creation the application shows the project root of the breakdown and automatically selects it. The context menu shown in Figure 110 is then available with the functions described in chapter 3.7 .

Create project from PDM file

Provide the name, description and the PDM STEP file (ISO 10303-21 format and with PDM data according to ISO 10303-242 or its predecessors).

Figure 12. Project from PDM file

Create project from text

Provide the name, description, and the zipped file (see Figure 13). The text file syntax is described in 4.5 .

Figure 13. Project from text file

Create project from baseline

Provide the name, description, and the zipped baseline file. The baseline file must have been exported from EDMtruePLM.

Figure 14. Project from zipped baseline

Create project from ASD DEX1

Provide the name, description and the DEX1 file (see Figure 15). The ASD DEX1 file must be compliant to the DEX1 “Product breakdown for support” subset of the ISO 10303-239 data model.

Figure 15. Project from DEX

Change user password

This form allows the logged in user to change password.

Figure 16. Change user password

Download file by Hash

This feature is used to access the documents with the help of blockchain values. Select the block from blockchain window and paste in the below form. This will download the related document in the browser.

Figure 17. Download file by Hash

About

Shows the details of the current project and user profile, that is:

• project name, phase and its description;

• username and role;

• support email address and

• version of the current EDMtruePLM server.

Figure 18. About current user and project details

Log Out

Logs out the current user.

Breadcrumb menu

The breadcrumb menu shows the path to the current breakdown element within the breakdown structure (see Figure 19). It is, thus, a navigation help. The individual constituents of the breadcrumb are hyperlinked. By clicking on a breadcrumb link the selected breakdown element is made current and is displayed in the structure pane on the left side. The left-most constituent of the breadcrumb path represents the breakdown root node.

 

 

 

Figure 19. Breadcrumb menu

Breakdown Structure

The client shows one breakdown element, also called node, at a time in the breakdown structure view of the left pane; the name of the current breakdown element is the blue text on the top of the pane (see Figure 20). The view below that blue name displays the set of children breakdown elements and the documents that belong to the current breakdown element, as described below.

Figure 20. Breakdown Structure

The above picture shows a breakdown structure for a bike. The breakdown structure consists of three main sections (see red numbers 1, 2 and 3 on Figure 20):

1. Parent node name and information: Contains the name of the parent node, the version of the parent node and additional icons such as the subdomain icon.

2. Parent node context menu: Through this menu the user can access different breakdown element and document functionality.

3. Children nodes: All children nodes, that is, breakdown elements and data files, are located in this section. Depending on the type of node the user will have access to breakdown element or data file functionality through the child node context menu to the right of the child name or data file name.

The breakdown element shows the details of the child elements, documents and subdomain when hover the mouse on it as shown in the below figure.

Figure 21. Breakdown Element with details

Notification of changes by other clients

In case other users than the current one has changed the breakdown structure, breakdown elements or documents, the system will provide the notification shown in Figure 22 in the client of the current user. You may select to receive the updates done by others to what you currently see on your screen (“Update”), or you may want to continue with your view undisturbed (“Ignore”). In case of the latter, be aware that your view does not any more reflect the status in the database.

Figure 22. Change notification

Breakdown element functionality

The functionality for managing breakdown elements is distributed over two context menus depending on the role that a breakdown element is playing. For a parent breakdown element, that is, for the root of a breakdown branch, a wider range of functions is available than when a breakdown element plays the role of a child node.

Breakdown versioning

Each change within the breakdown structure results in a new version of this structure, except for updates to documents. For each new version the breakdown version number is incremented by one and is assigned to the root of the breakdown structure; see Figure 23, below.

 

Figure 23. Breakdown structure versions

Any version may be set current by selecting it from the drop-down list. This version of the past may then be browsed with all its breakdown elements, documents, and property values. This may be repeated for any version from version 1 to the latest version. However, only the latest version may be changed; all other versions have read-only access. The read-only access is marked by the yellow lock sign to the right of all parent breakdown names that is also used for baselines, as described in Table 1.

 

When breakdown elements are created, the version number of the breakdown that their creation resulted in is added in parentheses to the end of the breakdown element name; see, for example, in Figure 29.

Child node functionalities

The child node context menu can be accessed by clicking on the 

 icon to the right of the child nodes; see Figure 24. The individual functions are explained below.

Figure 24. Child node context menu

Rename element

Allows the user to rename the child node (see Figure 25).

Figure 25. Rename element

Rename by attribute

This function replaces – temporarily – the name of the breakdown element where this function was invoked and its children by the value of a specified property. If the current breakdown element or some of its children do not have that property, that is, if a user-defined property is specified and this does not exist in all the involved breakdown element types, their names do not change.

The name of the attribute / property needs to be spelled exactly as listed in the breakdown properties panes; it is case sensitive. You may copy it from there and paste it into the input field; see Figure 26.

This change occurs only in the current client; it will be undone by an update of the client with server data, for example, by reloading the client webpage.

Figure 26. Rename by attribute

Edit element

Allows the user to change the description or the element type of the node (see Figure 27).

Figure 27. Edit element

Delete element

Allows the user to delete a breakdown element (see Figure 28). 

Note: Remember that this function creates a new version of the breakdown structure in which the selected element has been removed. The removed element is still available, but only for reading, in the previous version of the breakdown.

Figure 28. Delete element

Cut element

This function together with “Paste” can be used to move a breakdown element to a different location.

Copy element

This function works together with different Paste-functions within the parent node menu; see chapter 3.4.2.3 . Use this command to copy and paste the selected element with all its child elements and documents, that is, a complete branch, to another location. 

Note: A branch can be pasted into the same parent breakdown element. In this case you will get two breakdown elements with the same names, but with a sequence number to distinguish them in parentheses (see Figure 29).

Figure 29. Two copies in the same parent

Parent node functionalities

The name of the current breakdown element, also called “Parent node” is listed below the breadcrumb. In the example in Figure 30 it is “BIKE SYSTEM”. When a breakdown element is initially selected, its properties are displayed in the pane named “BREAKDOWN PROPERTIES”. When one of the child elements of the current breakdown element are selected by single click, the “BREAKDOWN PROPERTIES” pane displays the properties of this child breakdown element. A second click on the same child name will make this child the current breakdown element.

Functions for the current breakdown element are available from the context menu right underneath its name (see Figure 30).

Figure 30. Parent node context

When the three-dot icon has been selected, the following menu in Figure 31 appears.

Figure 31. Parent node context menu

Create element

To add a breakdown element to the breakdown structure, right-click on the main breakdown node and choose "Create element" from the context menu. The input form in Figure 32 appears.

Figure 32. Create element

• Name: The name of the node.

• Description: Description of the node.

• Type: The type of the node. The values in the dropdown list are defined as breakdown element types in the reference data section.

• Template: A breakdown template that may be selected from a list of available templates to copy it to become the new breakdown element; children elements and documents of the template will also be copied.

Note: Breakdown elements have a system property called “Phase”. The value of Phase is set by the project root menu item “Current project phase” (see chapter 3.7.1.9).

 

To create a requirement, use the Create element function with “Requirement” as type. The description of the element is used as requirement text (Figure 33). Any resources that are associated to this requirement can later be added to the element.

Figure 33. Requirement element

The parent node functionality of a requirement node is different than other breakdown elements (see Figure 34).

Figure 34. Requirement node menu

When using "Create requirement" only breakdown elements of type requirement or its subtypes will be available (refer Figure 35).

Figure 35. Requirement types

Paste element

This function is used after a Copy element or Cut element function; see “Child node functionalities” in chapter 3.4.2.1 . It copies or moves the element as child into the current breakdown element.

Paste element as relating

This function relates the pasted element as “relating” to the current breakdown element. The current breakdown element is then considered to be “related” to the pasted element. The difference between “related” and “relating” is that if one element of the relationship is dependent upon the other, it is the “related” element; see definition in ISO 10303-41. The matter of dependency is given by the semantics of the “Role” attribute.

Select “Copy element” from a child node context menu. Go to another element and click on “Paste as a relating” and fill the form. The selection of “Role” values is defined in the reference data section. The attribute “Remark” may be left empty.

The new relationship is viewed by clicking on the hyperlink of the “Links” breakdown element system property, as shown below. “Relating” relationships are always marked as “direct” links; “related” relationships are marked as “backward” links.

Figure 36. Establishing a backward/related relationship

Paste element as related

This function relates the pasted element as “related” to the current breakdown element. The current breakdown element is then considered to be “relating” to the pasted element. The difference between “related” and “relating” is that if one element of the relationship is dependent upon the other, it is the “related” element; see definition in ISO 10303-41. The matter of dependency is given by the semantics of the “Role” attribute.

Select “Copy element” from a child node context menu. Go to another element and click on “Paste as a related” and fill the form. The selection of “Role” values is defined in the reference data section. The attribute “Remark” may be left empty.

The new relationship is viewed by clicking on the hyperlink of the “Links” breakdown element system property, as shown below. This “related” relationship is marked as “backward” link in the copied and pasted element; the corresponding “relating” relationship is marked as “direct” in the target element.

Figure 37. Establishing a direct/relating relationship

Add Organisation

Organizations that were created using the Catalogues icon can be added to the current breakdown element by this menu item. The role that the organization plays in this breakdown element is specified by selecting from the drop-down list of the input form; see Figure 38, below. The contents of the drop-down list are defined in the reference data section.

Figure 38. Add organization to a breakdown element

None, one or several organisations may be added. Details may be reviewed by the hyperlink to the right of the “Organisations” system property; see Figure 39. The second screenshot of the figure shows the pop-up window with details of the organisations.

Figure 39. Organisation system property with details

Put Product

EDMtruePLM distinguishes products and breakdowns. Types of products are defined in the Catalogue area and may be linked to breakdown elements.

Products that were created using the Catalogues icon can be added to the current breakdown element by this menu item.

Figure 40. Product details

The product is pasted into the breakdown pane as shown on the left side in Figure 40. The product properties appear in a pane by itself, aside breakdown and document properties.

 

Generate document

This functionality is used to generate a document based on a template in Excel format. The following requirements apply for creating a template:

The first sheet is just the data representation page. The sheet may have any name.

The second sheet will be filled with the property values of the current node. The sheet may have any name.

The third and other sheets will be filled with data from the direct children nodes of the current node; there is no recursion below the second level. The name of each sheet must be the children node type; this type name will be used for filtering the children nodes.

Add data file

Data files / documents can be added to all nodes within the breakdown structure except for the root node. Documents are listed together with child breakdown elements. To add a data file, open the parent node menu and click on the Add data file item (see Figure 41).

Figure 41. Add data file

To add a data file either use the browser button or just drop the file in the pop-up form. The following is a brief description of each input field.

File tab

• Title: The name of the document. This name will appear as document name in the breakdown structure. This field is filled automatically by the name of the selected file but can be changed.

• Description: A short description of the document. The field is mandatory.

Props tab

The user may select the below information from drop-down lists. The contents of these lists are defined in the reference data section.

• Source: where does the file come from; for example, is it an internal resource or has an external origin. 

• Content type: type of information in a document, e.g., CAD, Design, Requirement specification ... .

• Discipline: type of engineering, e.g., Electrical, Instrumentation, Mechanical ... .

• Project phase: project phase that the document applies to; the default value is changed by the project root menu item “Current project phase” (see chapter 3.7.1.9).

• Status: the level of progression of a document in its lifecycle workflow, e.g., Draft, Approved, Completed, Ready to review, Sent for approval ... .

Users tab

The user may select the below information from drop-down lists that show the users available for the current project.

• Editor: The person who has edited the file.

• Responsible: The person who is responsible for the file.

• Reviewer: The person who is assigned to review the data file.

• Approver: The person who is assigned to approve the release of the data file.