Cleanup Ghost Objects

Number

114763

Type

TPI

Created Date

14-May-2002

Last Updated

05-Jul-2005

Title

Use of config.pro Parameters "cleanup_layout_dependencies" and "cleanup_drawing_dependencies" to Remove Ghost Objects (References) From Layouts and Drawings in Pro/INTRALINK Workspace

Details

Additional Information Description ----------------Pro/ENGINEER 2001, Datecodes 2002180 and later, has two new config.pro parameters that cleanup invalid or outdated dependencies contained within drawings and layouts during retrieval from a Pro/INTRALINK Workspace. Missing dependencies appear as "ghost" objects in the Workspace after importing or saving from Pro/ENGINEER 2001 Datecode 2002060 or later. Some of the missing "ghost" dependencies may be valid ones that were not created in Pro/INTRALINK during a previous #Save from several datecodes of Pro/ENGINEER 2001 and 2000i2. See Tans 113544 and 113993 for details regarding this Pro/ENGINEER issue. When a parent object such as a drawing or layout was saved from these specific datecodes into a Workspace, the hidden (internal) dependencies were not created in the Pro/INTRALINK dependency list. The list of commonly used Pro/ENGINEER features that utilize hidden internal dependencies includes, but is not limited to: drawing cosmetic references, layout-driven parameter references, copy geom features, cutout features, merge features, inheritance features, component replace/restructure and interchange groups. If the internal dependency was missing from the dependency list of the object in Pro/INTRALINK, it could invalidated by renaming, deleting or copying the dependent object in Pro/INTRALINK. During retrieval of a parent object into Pro/ENGINEER, Pro/INTRALINK passes on information regarding dependencies which were renamed, copied or deleted in the Commonspace. Since some dependencies were missing during the previous Save from Pro/ENGINEER, Pro/INTRALINK could not pass the information during retrieval. Pro/ENGINEER will try to locate the dependency by its "old" name listed in the parent object file prior to its last checkin. The most visible result of this issue in Pro/ENGINEER is a drawing cosmetic reference with asterisks "***" in place of a value, though the other features listed in the previous paragraph are also affected. In order to validate the dependencies and fix drawings and layouts saved from these specific datecodes of Pro/ENGINEER, previously hidden dependencies may now be made visible in the Workspace during a Save from release 2001, datecode 2002060 or later. The internal dependencies appear as ghosts when there is no corresponding object name reference in the Workspace. The only way to restore complete confidence in the Pro/INTRALINK Rename and Copy functions is to validate the set of hidden dependencies for the drawings and layouts saved from Pro/ENGINEER 2001 2002060+. The reason why there may be additional invalid ghost objects to clean up for a drawing is that Pro/ENGINEER cannot automatically differentiate between hidden dependencies that are still in use and ones that the user intended to remove permanently. For example, once a drawing cosmetic feature is applied to an object in a drawing, there will be a hidden dependency to the object even if the cosmetic feature is deleted. Therefore a complex or frequently revised drawing may contain many old, hidden dependencies for deleted cosmetics or views that will be listed in the Workspace as ghost objects when using Pro/ENGINEER 2001 2002060+. The reason why there may be additional invalid ghost objects to clean up for a layout is that some of the information used to parametrically update certain features in an object declared to the layout is contained in the layout itself rather than the object file. When this information exists, the layout will have a hidden dependency to the object. If the layout is checked out from one Commonspace and exported locally either alone or with an incomplete set of the objects declared to it, and then sent to another site and imported, ghost objects are created for the missing objects. This is because Pro/ENGINEER 2001 2002060+ will try to validate all the hidden dependencies which were not copied with the layout. The new Commonspace may not have all the dependencies. Once the layout and a a complete set of hidden dependencies is established in a Commonspace, there will be no further ghost objects created as long as it remains in that Commonspace. If the layout is to be shared back and forth repeatedly between two or more Commonspaces, all the objects declared to it must also be shared in order to avoid having to deal with dependency cleanup.

Therefore, since there may be extra ghost objects created during save of the drawing or layout for hidden dependencies that are no longer in use, there is a need for the new cleanup options. The cleanup option should only have to be used once per drawing or layout in order to remove any remaining hidden dependencies after validating those that are still in use. Once the correct set of hidden dependencies are saved with the drawing or layout, any subsequent modification or rename of the parent or child object(s) will be correctly applied by Pro/INTRALINK and Pro/ENGINEER, and no further ghost objects will be created. Resolution ----------------These options should only to be used in order to clean up dependencies which are known to be invalid. DO NOT ENABLE THESE OPTIONS BY DEFAULT. Many dependencies which initially appear as ghost objects may be valid and should not be removed. If the cleanup options are applied indiscriminately, it is possible to remove dependencies which were used in the drawing or layout. After cleanup of a valid dependency, a drawing cosmetic reference may have asterisks '***' in place of the value(s), or an external reference parameter may not update correctly when the layout parameter is changed. Retrieval performance is significantly decreased when the cleanup options are enabled. Pro/ENGINEER will automatically search the Commonspace for each missing object during the retrieval. This is a secondary reason to not have these options set to Yes by default. For drawings and layouts, there are two ways to repair an invalid dependency, or ghost object, in the Workspace. (Note that this procedure is simplified in Pro/INTRALINK 3.2, see TPI 116730): (I) Locate the dependent object in the Commonspace or in a local directory and bring it into the Workspace. If the dependent was renamed, rename it back to its original name and regenerate the drawing or layout in Pro/ENGINEER, then save the drawing or layout to the Workspace. Afterwards, the object may be renamed again in Pro/INTRALINK. (II) If the object cannot be located, the reference must be cleaned up using the new config.pro options: 1) Checkout the drawing or layout, along with all valid references, to a Workspace as either local copies or links. 2) Start Pro/ENGINEER linked to the Workspace. 3) Select #Utilities/#Options to open the config.pro settings. 4) Enter "cleanup_drawing_dependencies" or "cleanup_layout_dependencies" and set the value to "yes". Select #Ok to apply the change and close the window. NOTE: The config.pro option "open_simplified_rep_by_default" must be set to "no" in order for a drawing cleanup to work correctly. It may be set back to "yes" after the drawing has been retrieved and saved. 5) Select #File/#Open and select the drawing or layout for retrieval from the Workspace. During retrieval, Pro/ENGINEER will search both the Workspace and Commonspace for any of the objects referenced within the drawing. Any references found in the Commonspace will be checked out and retrieved into session automatically. For references that are not found, an information window is given with the following message: "WARNING: Pro/ENGINEER will delete any non-required/legacy references that are not found in the Workspace. In order to maintain any of the references listed below, erase the from session or exit Pro/ENGINEER without saving the :