Briefcase technical advanced topics
Zipping the files
The files that were in previous versions compressed using the .gz algorithm are not compressed inside the .zip of the briefcase because the double compression would not being any significant advantage.
The file DBW_BC_INFO.TXT
The file DBW_BC_INFO.TXT contains information about the creator, the date, the sending company and the destination company, plus all the options with which the briefcase has been created. The GetFromBriefcase will consider such options when loading the briefcase.
Briefcase zip file name
The file name of the zip that contains the briefcase is self-explanatory in the following format:
[Sender company][Destination company][Created_by user][Date-time]<actual name chosen in the input form>.ZIP
Seeing the company of documents when you create a briefcase
On the right side of the dialog used for selecting the documents to be modified or not info is displayed on the sending company, the destination company, the date and the current user
Seeing the preview when you get files from the briefcase
In the dialog that displays the files available in the briefcase a preview is displayed. The preview image reflects the file in the briefcase which is being temporarily unzipped to read the preview image.
Opening in view only the documents before actually loading them from the briefcase
The Open button in the dialog that displays the documents in the briefcase allows you to open the files in view only mode before actually loading them locally and in the database.
Controlling the imported records OWNER_COMPANY_ID value
The option alwaysResetOwnerCompanyIdForModifiableImportedDocuments (values "0" or "1") can be passed to the DBWShell("GetFromBriefcaseTree …") to control if the imported modifiable records must have the OWNER_COMPANY_ID field reset to NULL or if they must maintain the send-back status with the OWNER_COMPANY_ID set to <sender company>\<sender user>.
Typically this option must be set to "0" when getting a briefcase in the External Designer site, and "1" when getting a briefcase in the Main Company site.
For the usage and for an example look at the LST\SYSTEM\briefcase.vbs script.
The following is an example of how to modify the briefcase.vbs script for using this new option:
…...
sub GetFromBriefcase()
…....
'20040629: new option:
alwaysResetOwnerCompanyIdForModifiableImportedDocuments = "1"
strCommand="GetFromBriefCaseTree " +_
replace(BcFilename," ","|") + " " +_
replace(choosed_project," ","|") + " " +_
restoreMode + " " +_
replace(restorepath," ","|") + " " +_
restoreDBMode + " " +_
restoreProjectsMode + " " +_
okCreateWorkingSet + " " +_
silent + " " +_
BcAutoCheckOut + " " +_
replace(backupFolder," ","|") + " " +_
alwaysResetOwnerCompanyIdForModifiableImportedDocuments
…....
Briefcase Event Log
MechworksPDM checks for the existance of a table named DBW_BC_EVENT_LOG and, if found, keeps track of every file inserted into a briefcase for both reference or modification.
The structure of the DBW_BC_EVENT_LOG table is similar to that of the EVENT_LOG table (and so it is language dependend), and it adds at the end of the table structure the following (not localized) fields:
SENT_FROM varchar(50)
SENT_TO varchar(50)
For clarity, the ENGLISH version of this table would be similar to the following (you can adapt the field width per your needs):
DBW_BC_EVENT_LOG
USERID varchar(40)
COMPUTER varchar(40)
ACTION varchar(40)
DOCUMENT varchar(256)
EVENTDATE varchar(40)
EVENTTIME varchar(40)
EVENTID int ( PRIMARY KEY, IDENTITY )
UNIQUE_ID int
SENT_FROM varchar(50)
SENT_TO varchar(50)
MechworksPDM puts into the table the entries related to the proprietary files inserted into a briefcase.
The ACTION field may contain two (not localized) fixed values:
SENT_FOR_REFERENCE
SENT_FOR_MODIFICATION
Through the UNIQUE_ID it is possible to get any additional field from the database.
A useful query, that can be executed in the Query Page, and allows the preview of the documents sent into briefcases, is the following:
SELECT
DBW_BC_EVENT_LOG.USERID,
DBW_BC_EVENT_LOG.COMPUTER,
DBW_BC_EVENT_LOG.ACTION,
DBW_BC_EVENT_LOG.DOCUMENT,
DBW_BC_EVENT_LOG.EVENTDATE,
DBW_BC_EVENT_LOG.EVENTTIME,
DBW_BC_EVENT_LOG.EVENTID,
DBW_BC_EVENT_LOG.UNIQUE_ID,
DBW_BC_EVENT_LOG.SENT_FROM,
DBW_BC_EVENT_LOG.SENT_TO,
DOCUMENT.T,
DOCUMENT.ID,
DOCUMENT.CONFIGURATION,
DOCUMENT.FILE_NAME,
DOCUMENT.FILE_DIRECTORY,
DOCUMENT.STATE
FROM
DBW_BC_EVENT_LOG,DOCUMENT
WHERE
DBW_BC_EVENT_LOG.UNIQUE_ID=DOCUMENT.UNIQUE_ID
ORDER BY
DBW_BC_EVENT_LOG.EVENTID DESC