Derivatives

Derivatives are files which can be derived from Assemblies or Parts (components) or items

Derivatives section icon

Derivatives are files or URLs that are derived from BOMs and Components in the CAD source, such as STEP, DWG, PDF, etc... files. SharpSync's derivatives feature allows the manual or automated transfer of CAD BOM derivatives from the CAD Data Source to the ERP Data Source. The derivatives feature is currently only available for:

• CAD

  • Onshape

• ERP

  • Propel PLM

Instructions

Adding Derivative Types

1. First, make sure you have loaded all available derivatives from your source by clicking on the update source derivatives types button.

2. Second, click on the DERIVATIVE TEMPLATE NAME input to list the available derivative types to select from, then select a derivative type, and finally click on the ADD DERIVATIVE button to add the derivative type.

Derivatives: Select from Source Templates

1. After adding all the desired derivative types, you can now start to configure their settings

Configure Derivative Types

There are different types of mappings for derivatives:

• Model geometry for assemblies (e.g. STEP, IGES)

• Model geometry for components (e.g. STEP, IGES)

• Drawing derivative (e.g. DRAWING) (search patterns) (e.g. first find DRAWING matching the pattern DRW-{componentName})

• Drawing derivatives (e.g. PDF / DXF / DWG) based on the found DRAWING

For each type of mapping you can select one or more (depending on the type) of option:

• Transfer URL: creates a copy of the URL value int the selected property mapping **

• Transfer File: creates a copy of the file in the destination ERP

**Not available for offline sources at the time of writing

It is important to note the following logic:

[Work in progress - can change]

• When mapping assembly derivatives [checkbox FOR ASSEMBLIES] (e.g. STEP, IGES):

  • The derivative is always generated based on the version + configuration provided for the component.

  • The derivative is searched for (opt-in) (Not Yet Implemented)

• When mapping component derivatives [checkbox FOR COMPONENTS] (e.g. STEP, IGES):

  • The derivative is always generated based on the version + configuration provided for the component.

  • The derivative is searched for (opt-in) (Not Yet Implemented)

• When mapping the DRAWING derivative [checkbox FOR DRAWINGS] (e.g. SLDDRW / ONSHAPE DRAWING documents):

  • No new drawings will be generated in the source.

  • A new DRAWING BOM Row will be created in the BOM view in SharpSync as child of each item (assemblies + parts) during the BOM loading process, only if a corresponding DRAWING is found in the source matching the defined file pattern exactly (the search will be based on the DRAWING derivative template file pattern and the metadata of the parent item. e.g.: If the parent item part name is P1-PN The pattern DRW-{componentName} will search for a source DRAWING exactly named DRW-P1-PN).

  • This created row will be read only and will not be included as part of bom submission, instead it will act as a placeholder for possible drawing derivatives (DRAWING, PDF, DWG, etc...).

  • The DRAWING row derivative can be configured in the DERIVATIVES menu but can only be added to a DRAWING BOM Row.

  • When processing derivatives, the application will use the found source DRAWING. The application will then make a copy of the link only (in the case of online CAD document system (e.g. Onshape)) or a copy of the link and/or file (in the case of online CAD file system (e.g. SolidWorks PDM))

• When mapping drawing derivatives [checkbox FOR DRAWINGS] (e.g. PDF / DXF / DWG ):

  • Drawing derivatives can be configured in the DERIVATIVES menu but can only be added to DRAWING BOM Rows as defined above.

  • The derivative is always generated based on the DRAWING Bom Row and its parent item metadata. This means that the application will use the found source DRAWING, and convert it to the supported format specified, and copy the link and/or the file to the destination.

  • The derivative is searched for (opt-in) (Not Yet Implemented)

Configure Derivative Name (or Search) Patterns

1. You can double click on the PATTERN cell of each derivative type to change the file naming pattern of the derivative that will be transferred to your ERP source. If the naming pattern is for a DRAWING document type, then this will be the search pattern used to search for drawings. Not that when searching for drawings, only exact matches are considered. Partial matching is not supported at the time of writing due to the possibility of 1000s of results being returned.

Derivatives: Configure Naming Pattern

1. You can check/uncheck the GENERATE FOR ASSEMBLIES or the GENERATE FOR COMPONENTS or the GENERATE FOR DRAWINGS checkbox of a derivative type to control which BOM row derivatives can be generated for which BOM component type (assemblies or components or drawings). For example, if the "STEP" derivative type is checked for assemblies, then the "STEP" BOM row derivative can be generated for any assembly row of your loaded BOM. (See also Configure BOM Row Derivatives)

Derivatives: Select Auto Generation

1. You can check/uncheck the TRANSFER FILE or the TRANSFER URL checkbox of a derivative type to have the corresponding BOM row derivative checkbox Store File or Store Url checked by default when the BOM row derivative is generated. (See also Configure BOM Row Derivatives)

Derivatives: Default Transfer Options

1. You can uncheck the ENABLED checkbox of a derivative type to prevent it from being available to be generated as a BOM row derivative. You can set a derivative type as READ ONLY to prevent the related generated BOM row derivatives from being configured on a per row basis. (See also Configure BOM Row Derivatives)

Derivatives: Other Options

Auto Generate Default Derivatives

• In Settings -> Display , you can check/uncheck the Generate default BOM row derivatives in order to auto-generate the BOM row derivatives on SharpSync BOM load according to the derivative type configurations that you have set up in the previous section. (See also Configure BOM Row Derivatives)

Derivatives: Enable Auto Generate

Configure BOM Row Derivatives

1. If you have the user setting Generate default BOM row derivatives checked, all the BOM row derivatives should be auto-generated each time you load your BOM according to the derivative types configurations that you have set up in the previous sections.

2. Otherwise you can always manually add BOM row derivatives per row by:

   • Clicking on each BOM row's DERIVATIVES icon

   • Selecting the required derivative type from the selection list

   • Clicking on the ADD DERIVATIVE button

3. Note that the available derivative type list changes based on you configured derivative types.

Derivatives: BOM Comparison

1. You can further configure your generated BOM row derivative (if your derivative types settings permit it) on a per row basis. For example, you can manually change the File Name that will be stored in you ERP source. (Note: Some ERP sources such as Propel PLM have a pre-set logic on where to store component derivatives; other ERP sources have a more flexible logic where you can specify the secondary source mapping that will be used to store the url or file derivative. To specify the mapping the to be used to store derivative, in the corresponding DERIVATIVE type template simply select the associated property mapping from the drop down menu of available defined mappings)

Derivatives: Edit name

1. You can also change the Store File or Store Url option on a per row basis.

Derivatives Transfer

The CAD source derivatives will automatically be transferred to your ERP source as part of the SharpSync BOM Submittal process (when you click on the SUBMIT BOM button) according to your configured Derivative Types and BOM Row Derivatives settings.