3D PLM Enterprise Architecture

What You Will Learn With This Use Case

This use case is intended to show you how to use the CATIAfrActivateWorkbench interface to define the workbench [1] to launch when an object is UI-activated. An UI-active object [2] is editable thanks commands distributed in workbenches. When the end user double clicks such object, opens or creates a document, the application must choose a workbench among those of the current UI-active object. The choice for a given UI-active object is done according to this protocol:

• For its first UI-activation, it is the last used workbench in the previous session and kept in a setting file. If this setting file does not exist, it is the first workbench in the list of the application.
• For the next UI-activations, it is the last used workbench in the session.

This interface enables you to modify this protocol. You have the possibility imposing such or such workbenches according to your criteria.

This interface may be implemented on the following UI-active objects:

• ASMProduct for Product documents,
• DrwDrawing for Drawing,
• MechanicalPart for Part,
• AnalysisManager for Analysis.

However, for the following UI-active objects it is useless since this UI-active object has no workbench, but only a workshop [2].

• PRTSketch for a sketcher,
• this of Material documents,
• this of Catalog.

This interface can be only once implemented for a given object.

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The CAAAfrInitialWorkbench Use Case

CAAAfrInitialWorkbench is a use case of the CAAApplicationFrame.edu framework that illustrates ApplicationFrame framework capabilities.

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What Does CAAAfrInitialWorkbench Do

This article shows an implementation of the CATIAfrActivateWorkbench interface on the MechanicalPart object. The activated workbench, among the Part workbenches, is the Part Design workbench.

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How to Launch CAAAfrInitialWorkbench

To launch CAAAfrInitialWorkbench, you will need to set up the build time environment, then compile CAAAfrInitialWorkbench along with its prerequisites, set up the run time environment, and then execute the use case [3].

But just before launching the execution, edit the CAAApplicationFrame.edu.dico interface dictionary file located in the dictionary directory of the CAAApplicationFrame.edu framework:

where InstallRootDirectory is the directory where the CAA CD-ROM is installed.

In this file, remove the "#" character before the following line,

...
#MechanicalPart      CATIAfrActivateWorkbench  libCAAAfrInitialWorkbench 
...

and run mkCreateRuntimeView.

Then, in the window where you run the mkrun command, do not type the module name on the command line, but type CNEXT instead. When the application is ready, do the following:

1. On the Start menu, select Shape and click FreeStyle
2. On the Start menu, select Exit
3. Relaunch CNEXT
4. On the File menu, click New
5. New Dialog box click Part and click OK, you are in the Part Design workbench

Without the CATIAfrActivateWorkbench implementation, the current workbench would have been FreeStyle, the last used workbench kept in a setting file.

6. On the Start menu, select Mechanical Design, and click Wireframe and Surface Design

You have explicitly ask a workbench, it is the new current one.

7. New Dialog box click Part and click OK, you are always in the Part Design workbench

Without the CATIAfrActivateWorkbench implementation, the current workbench would have been Wireframe and Surface Design, the last used workbench in the session.

8. On the File menu, click Open
9. File Selection Dialog box click CAAAfrProduct.CATProduct (*) and click Open
10. Edit Part1, you are in the Part Design workbench

Without the CATIAfrActivateWorkbench implementation, the current workbench would have been Wireframe and Surface Design, the last used workbench for a Part.

11. On the Start menu, select Mechanical Design, and click Wireframe and Surface Design

You have explicitly ask a workbench, it is the new current one.

12. Edit Part2, you are always in the Part Design workbench

Without the CATIAfrActivateWorkbench implementation, the current workbench would have been Wireframe and Surface Design, the last used workbench for a Part.

(*)The document is located in the InputData directory of the CAAApplicationFrame.edu framework:

where InstallRootDirectory is the directory where the CAA CD-ROM is installed.

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Where to Find the CAAAfrInitialWorkbench Code

The CAAAfrInitialWorkbench use case is made of one single class, the CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart class, located in the CAAAfrInitialWorkbench.m module of the CAAApplicationFrame.edu framework:

where InstallRootDirectory is the directory where the CAA CD-ROM is installed.

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Step-by-Step

To implement the CATIAfrActivateWorkbench interface, there are two steps:

1. Creating the Header File
2. Creating the Source File

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Creating the Header File

// System framework
#include "CATBaseUnknown.h"  
#include "CATString.h"        

class CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart: public CATBaseUnknown
{
  CATDeclareClass;

  public:

    CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart();
    virtual ~CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart();

    CATString & GetInitialWorkbench();

  private:

    CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart(const CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart &iObjectToCopy);
    CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart & operator = (const CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart &iObjectToCopy);

  private:

      CATString _WbName ;
};

The CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart class derives from CATBaseUnkown. The GetInitialWorkbench method is the only one method of the CATIAfrActivateWorkbench interface. The CATDeclareClass macro declares that the CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart class belongs to a component. Note that the copy constructor and the assignment operator are set as private, and are not implemented in the source file. This prevents the compiler from creating them as public without you know. _WbName is the data returned by the GetInitialWorkbench method.

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Creating the Source File

#include "CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart.h"

#include "TIE_CATIAfrActivateWorkbench.h"              
TIE_CATIAfrActivateWorkbench(CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart); 

CATImplementClass (CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart,DataExtension, 
                   CATBaseUnknown, MechanicalPart);

The CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart class states that it implements the CATIAfrActivateWorkbench interface thanks to the TIE_CATIAfrActivateWorkbench macro. The CATImplementClass macro declares that the CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart class is a data extension, thanks to the DataExtension keyword, that extends MechanicalPart. The third argument must always be set as CATBaseUnknown or CATNull for any kind of extension.

...
CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart::CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart()
                            
{
    _WbName = "PrtCfg" ;
}
CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart::~CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart()
{
}
CATString & CAAEAfrActivateWorkbenchOnPart::GetInitialWorkbench()
{
 
    return _WbName;
}

In this implementation, the workbench is always the Part Design workbench. The name of this workbench is PrtCfg.

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In Short

This use case explains how to implement the CATIAfrActivateWorkbench interface.

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References

History

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