Opening Documents from the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform in CATIA V5

You can download and open documents from the 3DEXPERIENCE platform in CATIA V5.

  1. In the CATIA toolbar, select 3DEXPERIENCE platform > Open.
  2. Search for the required documents using the search options in the Open dialog box.
  3. Select the required documents from the search results.

    Note: While selecting documents,
    • Do not select multiple revisions or iterations of the same document.
    • You cannot manually select embedded components.
    • Ensure that the selected revision or the iteration of an embedded component matches with the revision or iteration of the selected parent CATProduct.

  4. Enter these details:
    FieldDescription
    Expand ModeSelects an option from the list of iterations or revisions of the documents to be listed, after you expand or open the entire structure. The following options are available:
    • As- Built: This view displays all the objects that are connected during a check in. For the iterations, only the As-Built view is applicable. This view always displays the latest iteration.
    • Latest Revision: This view displays the latest revision of the selected nodes, and its underlying structure. This view works only for revisions.
    • Latest In Work Revision: This view displays all the objects in the latest In Work Revision state.
    • Latest Frozen Revision: This view displays the latest frozen revision of the selected nodes, and its underlying structure. If no released revision is found for a particular node, then the node is retrieved by applying the As-Built view to the parent node.
    • Latest Released Revision: This view displays the latest released revision of the selected nodes, and its underlying structure. If no released revision is found for a particular node, then the node is retrieved by applying the As-Built view to the parent node.

    When you search for any design that has multiple revisions, each revision is listed in a separate row. For any specific revisions of a design, all the iterations from the revision are listed in a drop-down in the Revision (Rev) column. The latest iteration of this design appears in the search results by default. Other iterations from the revision can be selected from the drop-down list.

    Consider a situation when a selected design has some child designs. After expanding the selected revision of the parent design, the Document Iteration view is applied, and the relevant child designs are displayed below it. The default document iteration view is Latest Revision.

    The Document Iteration view is applied only on the child designs. By applying the As Built document iteration view on the old (not the latest ones) iterations in a revision of the root design, you can open the As Built structure of those specific iterations of the root. If the As Built document iteration view is applied on the latest iteration in a revision of the root design, then the As Built structure of the revision is retrieved.

    If there is an iteration conflict during the 3DEXPERIENCE > Open or Insert operation, the latest iteration among the conflicting ones is opened from the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

    Open With

    Selects an option from the list to open the selected document with the required child components. The options available are as follows:

    All Children: Downloads and opens the selected documents with their child components.

    Required Children: Downloads and opens the selected documents with their required components. By default, this option is selected.

    Note: When you expand a document with links such as geometry, knowledge, contextual geometry, contextual knowledge, MML, DerivedOutputOf, and ViewableOf, the links are not included.

    Related DesignSelects an option from the list for the additional related documents to be included, when you expand or open documents (The All Children option is selected for the Open With list). The following options are available:
    • None: Excludes all the related documents from the download.
    • RelatedDrawing: Downloads all the associated drawings to the selected document. The files are saved in the local directory of the designated users.
    • RelatedCGRDerivedOutput: Downloads all the related CGR derived output files.
    Note: All the expanded nodes will collapse if the Expand Mode, or Related Designs option is reset after expanding the document hierarchy.
    ViewSelects a view from the list. The Open dialog box is refreshed, and the display is modified to the new column format that is defined for the selected view. The list of all the available tables on the server is displayed.

    Note: You can select a view if the value for the Open table is enforced by the administrator.

    Pause over to view the directory path that is set as the current local workspace directory. This option is active only if the Allow local workspace directory selection on Open Dialog check box is selected in the Options dialog box. Given below are the steps for selecting a local workspace directory:

    • Click to open the Local Workspace Directory Selection dialog box.
    • Type the folder path, or click Select Folder, or Select DLName to browse and select the folder.
    • Select the Set as Default Local workspace directory check box to set the selected folder as the default folder.
    • Click OK.
    Note: The OK option is disabled if an invalid location, or a non-existent folder or DLName is selected. The selected local folder is valid only for the current Open operation.

  5. Click Open, to open the Partial Open dialog box, and select the required components in CATIA.
    Only the selected components are opened in CATIA. For more information, see Opening Selected Components of an Assembly.

    Tip: Check the status of the documents that you want to open in CATIA. If the documents are obsolete, a warning message appears in CATIA. In the tree, indicates that the documents are obsolete in CATIA. You can update these documents using Global Refresh. For more information, see Updating Documents.

  6. Click OK.
    The selected documents are downloaded and opened in CATIA. A separate CATIA editor window appears for each document (except the documents that you cannot edit in CATIA).
    Important:
    • An error message appears when you try to open multiCAD documents using 3DEXPERIENCE Platform > Open. However, these documents are downloaded to the specified workspace folder.
    • The CATIA V5 icon is available in the North quadrant of the Compass. You can open a selected document in CATIA V5, by clicking on this icon. If you open the documents from the Folder app, the entire structure will be opened in CATIA. You need to install R2016x GA version of XCADDesignConnectors-V6R2016x, ENOVIA Integration Exchange Framework Client and Hot Fix (HF) of XCADDesignConnectors on your client computer. While installing XCADDesignConnectors-V6R2016x, you should select CATIA V5 only. You cannot open a document from the Compass if CATIA is already launched on the client computer (CATIA V5 should be started from the Compass).
    • If you open a document (Document 1) that is already loaded in CATIA, the documents to which the Document 1 is pointing, can get modified due to link rerouting.
    • When you save a product, the active shapes in the structure will also be saved. When you open the product from the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, the active shapes will be reactivated.
    • For saving active shapes, you must create a new attribute on CATProduct objects in 3DEXPERIENCE: Name: “ActiveShapes” Type: multi lines string. Also, you must add “CATProduct,ActiveShapes|assembly,sys:ActiveShapes” in MCADInteg-MxToCADAttribMapping, and add “assembly,sys:ActiveShapes|CATProduct,ActiveShapes” in MCADInteg-CADToMxAttribMapping. This customization is not done automatically during server installation.
    • The child components of the documents that are downloaded with the Open With list, and set to All Children are not opened in a separate CATIA window.
    • If the value of the GCOattribute MCADInteg-ExpandedSubcomponent is set as TRUE, all the instances of a CAD design appear in the Open dialog box. If the value of the GCO attribute MCADInteg-ExpandedSubcomponent is set as FALSE, only one node appears in the Open dialog box. This happens when the same child part is inserted multiple times under a parent. The number of child parts that are inserted appears in the Quantity column.