Overview

This section introduces you to the concepts and features of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

MQL is intended for deep customization of the system, and should only be used in specifically identified areas (such as access control customization through policies definition). Do not use it for administration purposes. Instead, use these apps:

  • Members Control Center for inviting persons and assigning roles to them
  • 3DSpace for managing collaborative spaces
  • Collaboration and Approvals: Advanced profile for managing organizations
  • Manage P&O and content for roles definition
  • Collaborative Spaces Configuration Center for naming rules, versioning scheme, editing maturity graph, and attribute definition
  • Data Model Customization for extending the data model

This page discusses:

See Also
What's New

The 3DEXPERIENCE platform

3DEXPERIENCE platform is a comprehensive platform for managing any type of information in any business environment. It provides the flexibility required to organize this information according to your projects, products, or business model.

Most companies produce volumes of documentation and information that must be shared and controlled. Data overload is a common problem in any business environment. Any type of job activity—managing time, developing plans, supervising people, overseeing projects, coordinating team members, tracking critical assignments—can contribute to information and documentation overload. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform helps you manage, control, and improve the process and related information flow. You can turn potential chaos into managed control using the 3DEXPERIENCE platform as the central shared information repository.

The heart of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform is a database that may contain the types of products created in your business, the attributes associated with those products, and the processes that govern their lifecycles. Storage locations, called vaults, are used to organize the data within the database.

Non-ASCII Characters

MQL is not intended to be an end-user presentation or viewing tool, and as a consequence there are cases where some non-ASCII character sets (for example, some Japanese characters) will have characters that do not display properly, such as when a history record is printed to the console in interactive mode. This is due to low-level handling of the byte code when attempting to display. However, the data is intact when retrieved in any programmatic way, such as:

  • Retrieving data into a tcl variable. For example: set var sOut [mql print bus T N R select history]
  • Retrieving data from a Java program via ADK calls.
  • Writing data into a file. For example: print bus T N R select history output d:/temp/TNR_History.txt;

Data Creation Using MQL

MQL is used to develop and customize applications. It should not be used for data creation or manipulation. It is important to restrict the use of MQL to developers who understand the relationships between the various administrative objects, existing code, and business processes.

Apps run JavaBean code that requires data to have specific characteristics and conditions. For example, objects may have to have certain relationships defined, have specific values entered for attributes, be in specific lifecycle states, or be in particular vaults. When a person uses an app in the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, these data conditions are met. However, MQL is not aware of these conditions and therefore a person executing MQL commands can easily compromise data integrity.

Certain actions have different results depending on where the action is taken. A command on a JSP page could include options (such as additional MQL clauses) to ensure that the operation is completed as the app expects, but a user issuing MQL commands has no guidance on what options should be specified.

MQL can be used in the following situations:

  • App features require data that cannot be created within the app user interface.
  • Automated business rules and processes need to be configured, such as triggers and autonamers.
  • Data needs to be investigated for troubleshooting, testing, or data conversion.

MQL should only be used in these situations, using the instructions provided in the administration roadmaps or in conjunction with DS professional services or customer support, and only by specially-trained business administrators. Also, using any programming interface that does not go through the applications bean layer has the potential to cause undesirable results within the app data.