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PDM vault renaming a file

Question asked by Rahul Kandepaneni on Jul 11, 2012
Latest reply on Jul 18, 2012 by Joseph Ankers

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Hi,

we have a part (say, 123) that we need to rename to (say, abc) In our company we dont have rights to change the name in the vault by right clicking or whatever. The admin can do it, but what we arent sure is that if the history of the part will remain the same or not. lets say 123 is in revision eng-03 and we want abc to show eng-04 as a name change from 123 to abc. so that way we have a history when we look back at the part. I dont know if this explanation makes any sense, but let me know if you need anything specific.

Thanks for the help!

John Matrishon Jul 12, 2012 2:23 PM

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No! Do not rename outside the vault!!! You will lose the history and create more issues. You really need to communicate to users that these parts are being renamed, and that they need to be aware so if they exist locally they need to get rid of them.

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Steve Ostrovsky Jul 11, 2012 5:12 PM
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First question - are you using PDMWorks Workgroup or Enterprise PDM? My guess is EPDM. In PDMWorks if you can take Ownership of the file you can rename it. Actually, if you can check out the file in EPDM, you can rename.
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- Rahul Kandepaneni @ Steve Ostrovsky on Jul 12, 2012 10:13 AM
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  Steve,
  We are using PDM works workgroup. The thing is we as "users" cant rename it in the vault and the admin wants to see if there is a better way to do it and retain the history of the part. If I check out 123 and rename it (updating references and such) to abc and i try to check in abc, it is checking it in as a new part and not replacing 123 in the vault which is what we want. I just want to see that renaming in the vault is the only way
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  - Steve Ostrovsky @ Rahul Kandepaneni on Jul 12, 2012 10:36 AM
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    If your admin will turn on the "Allow users to rename document in Vault" setting, then all you have to do is take ownership of the document, then rename it in the vault. PDMWorks will update all of the references and maintain the history. You're taking ownership of the document anyway if you can check it out.
    
    The way you are doing it currently - check out, rename, check in - will always create a new file becuase you did the rename outside of the vault.
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    - John Matrishon @ Steve Ostrovsky on Jul 12, 2012 10:41 AM
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      Steve/Rahul, you also have to have ownership of every file that is using the file you are trying to rename. So if you have a part that is used in 50 assemblies, you need to own those assemblies.
      
      Also remember that if you change the filename in the vault, it will not change the filenames outside the vault. So if someone has an outdated file on their hard drive they could check in the old file again.
      
      Yes the history is maintained, and the rename will show up in the history of the part.
      
      PDMW is all filename based (just like you can't have 2 files in the same folder with identical names).
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      - Rahul Kandepaneni @ John Matrishon on Jul 12, 2012 1:12 PM
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        John,
        So whats the better way to do it where I maintain the references and change the name and not worry about people checking in the old part and starting the process all over again. I understand that its filename based. so may be its better for me check the assembly out and rename the part (may be a save as) and then check it back in with the new references and delete the old file from the vault?
        steve,
        when you check the part out you are not necassarily owning the document, you own it when you check it in, but our admin isn't so keen on giving users rights to rename the parts.
        Thanks for the help both of you guys!
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        John Matrishon @ Rahul Kandepaneni on Jul 12, 2012 2:23 PM
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        No! Do not rename outside the vault!!! You will lose the history and create more issues. You really need to communicate to users that these parts are being renamed, and that they need to be aware so if they exist locally they need to get rid of them.
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        Craig Lalumiere @ John Matrishon on Jul 13, 2012 1:34 PM
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        I kind of have the same issue that's why I am adding my question here.
        Because of the long term experience of the company we reference the n
        ew jobs against the old ones. Create a copy of it and then modify the copied one to fit the new specifications. A job is very rarely started from the ground up. A job is modified 70-90% of the original. We have to create duplicates of the entire job , because most parts are touched by the engineer to fit the specifications of the job. (the rest would be library parts)
        
        We are currently discussing random part numbering (we still don't know if this is the best approach) for jobs created for us by EPDM (we are implementing a new EPDM system) but when we copy these files will EPDM be able to renumber them and break the ties with the other job? (these jobs are massive unique 1500 parts)
        
        or any better ideas how to do this?
        
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        Sharline Fitch @ John Matrishon on Jul 16, 2012 1:46 PM
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        What about SWExplorer rename?
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      - Joseph Ankers @ John Matrishon on Jul 17, 2012 7:11 AM
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        John,
        
        "Steve/Rahul, you also have to have ownership of every file that is using the file you are trying to rename. So if you have a part that is used in 50 assemblies, you need to own those assemblies"
        
        Could you just Explaine this to me? what happens if you do/or dont take ownership of each assembly?
        
        as far as i was aware you could just right click rename and it would update all references within PDM?
        
        Or do you mean that they will change "but in reality it wont update each assembly until you open it" so if you look at it from Viewer/contributor it would be out of date? (e.g Not a complete disaster)
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        John Matrishon @ Joseph Ankers on Jul 17, 2012 8:06 AM
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        Hi Joe, the actual renaming of the file is that simple, but what the Help does not tell you is that in order to update all the referenced parts, nobody else can own the document. For instance, if you were working on an assembly, you wouldn't want somebody else changing the file names on you without your knowing, right? If you try to change a file being referenced by other files, and one of those files is owned by a different user, this is the message you'll see.
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        Joseph Ankers @ John Matrishon on Jul 17, 2012 9:10 AM
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        so if noone else owns them Documents then its ok, it should work.
        
        I was worried when you said that there is the chance that it would only rename the one instance of the file!
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        John Matrishon @ Joseph Ankers on Jul 17, 2012 9:18 AM
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        Joe, I didn't say that. Don't confuse inside the vault and outside the vault. Everything inside the vault is safe and will re-associate correctly if you have ownership of the referenced parts. Use the "where used" tab to find out where they are used in the vault.
        
        Remember, this does NOT change files OUTSIDE the vault, so that's why communicating to your users is so important.
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        Joseph Ankers @ John Matrishon on Jul 18, 2012 3:01 AM
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        Ok so,
        
        Lets assume, Someone has a part in there local PDM folder. (which should not happen as once they have checked in we delete our local working folders)
        
        that part is currently released in the PDM Vault (it is used in 10 sub assemblies)
        
        Option one - I take ownership of the part and ownership of all 10 assemblies then rename the part then release the part and sub assemblies.
        
        Option Two - I Just take only ownership of the part and then rename the Part.
        
        Now in both instances the person still has a out of date/incorrect named part in there local folder. and in both instances all of the files have been renamed
        
        (provided none of the sub assemblies/parts were owned by anyone other wise i assume( i have not tested) you get the message you posted up previously about permissions.
        
        Is this correct? or what is the difference? or how would one stop the issue you highlighted?
        
        Sorry to be pedantic, but we are new to WPDM and trying to avoid as many problems as possible.
        
        Thanks Joe
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        Jeff Holliday @ Joseph Ankers on Jul 17, 2012 11:45 AM
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        I don't think you have Option 2 available - you must take ownership within the vault of the part you are renaming as well as the assemblies it is used in. I don't think PDM will let you change it unless you take ownership. A part that is not owned by someone is basically owned by the software and subject to the rules as selected by the PDM Vault settings.
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        Joseph Ankers @ Jeff Holliday on Jul 18, 2012 2:59 AM
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        of course you cant. sorry my mistake.
        
        the same thing tho, if i took ownership of the part, and not a sub assembly see edited previous post.
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John Burrill Jul 13, 2012 2:30 PM
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Rahul, having done a few vault renames myself, I have to concure with the other contributors to this thread that renaming the file in the vault is going to produce the results with the least ammount of fallout and that you'll have to communicate to your users in order to prevent one of them from checking the old file back into the vault. I'm going to add that if your admin is not on board with allowing people to rename files and is not willing to do the renaming theirselves then renaming files by any means is a bad idea.
Administrators-particularly if they come from an IT background instead of an engineering background-worry about the dangers of precedent. Yours may worry that if he gives users the ability to rename files at will, someone will rename one part with another parts number and all hell will break loose and the admin will be the one left to sort it out while the engineering department is at a stand-still and it will happen so often that it turns the PDM system into a daily nightmare to manage. This is a legitimate fear. I suggest telling the admin person first why the files need to be renamed and make it their decision as to how your proceed. If you changed naming conventions, the admin should know about that and if said admin disagrees with the change, let them take it up with the engineering supervisor or configuration management people.
As far as your users are concerned, the more concrete you make the steps they need to take, the more likely they are to take them. Try sending around a spread sheet with the affected partnumbers and where they're used. You can compile this report in the document-information dialog box. Make sure you sort the results by part number so that your engineers can do a quick check for the files and assemblies in Windows explorer to determine if their design activity affects them. Also include instructions on how you want to handle it. For example:
"We're going to be renaming some files according to the attached list. Check your assignments to see if you are changing any of these components or are working on an assembly that references any of them. If your work is affected by the change save it and check it into the vault. Use the document history to verify that all of your changes are in the system and release ownership. Notify ADMIN by email that you've done so. On your machine, delete the affected files. We'll notify you when we've completed the name change. After that point, download and take ownership of your assemblies. Notify ADMIN promptly if there are any problems checking your work in or you notice unusual changes after downloading the files."
If you're going to be the one doing the rename job, make sure you back-up the vault prior to beginning the work.
Good luck.
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- Rahul Kandepaneni @ John Burrill on Jul 13, 2012 3:16 PM
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  Thanks for the help guys, I do understand the fears of the admin (though he is not an IT guy)
  I think I found a solution. I hope there was a way to select multiple answers as the correct answers!
  Again, Thanks a lot for your help!
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