Migrating to Teamcenter Connector 2606

Introduction

Teamcenter Connector 2606 contains both the Teamcenter Connector and the Teamcenter Extension. From this version onwards, the Teamcenter Extension does not need to be downloaded separately. If you have an existing app using Teamcenter Connector 2512 and the Teamcenter Extension v4.x, you can migrate to version 2606.

This migration involves some breaking changes, but they are outweighed by the benefits:

• Unified module
• Modern Extension framework
• Improved security
• Better error handling

Pre-Migration Checklist

Follow these steps carefully to avoid issues:

1. Upgrade to Studio Pro 11.12.1 or above. If you are using Studio Pro 10, you must upgrade before importing Teamcenter 2606.
2. Have only one developer perform the migration. If multiple developers migrate simultaneously, there will be duplicate artifacts. Coordinate with your team and designate one person to handle the migration, then have others pull the updated code from version control.
3. Migrate from Teamcenter 2512. If the project still contains an older version of the Teamcenter Connector, such as 2506 or older, first follow the steps for Upgrading Teamcenter Connector 2506.0.0 to 2512.0.0.
4. Make a backup. Before starting, either create a full backup of your app or commit all current changes to version control. This gives you a safety net in case you need to roll back.

Migration Process

Follow these steps in this exact order to ensure a proper migration:

1. Prepare your environment.

   1. Open your app in Studio Pro 11.12.1 or above.
   2. Make sure all changes are committed, if using version control, or backed up.

2. Move the Toolkit contents to the TcConnector module.

   1. Remove the old TcConnector module from your project, and ignore the errors for now.
   2. Rename the old TeamcenterToolkit module to TcConnector module, then remove the TeamcenterToolkit module. By doing this, the old Toolkit references in the project are now pointing to the TcConnector module.
      This step does not change the BOMapping. This is fixed in a later step.

3. Import the new connector.

   1. Remove the TeamcenterExtension module under add-ons, as the old extension is not compatible with version 2606 of the Teamcenter Connector.
   2. Download the Teamcenter Connector 2606 from Mendix Marketplace. This now also contains the new version of the extension.
      The Teamcenter Extension is no longer included in Extensions. It is available as a new Service Document, similar to a microflow. You can find it by right-clicking the module, selecting Add other, then selecting Teamcenter service.

4. Resolve breaking changes.

   1. Studio Pro displays errors where your microflows or domain model reference things that have changed. Work through these systematically.

      The most common issues you will encounter are:

      • Errors in microflows that were generated by the Teamcenter Extension can best be recreated by the new version of the extension. Refer to step 9 for details.
      • Missing microflows/Java actions can be found in the Deprecated Microflows and Their Replacements and Deprecated Java Actions and Their Replacements tables.
      • References to TeamcenterToolkit.* — Change these to TcConnector.*, because Toolkit was merged into TcConnector.
      • References to FileType — Change these to NamedReference.
      • Microflows that handle the Boolean return value from Login — Remove this handling, as Login now throws an exception instead.
      • Refer to Breaking Changes on this page.

5. Update security.

   1. Click Update Security in Studio Pro.
   2. Make sure that all attributes on persistent entities have read rights. The Administrator role now only has access to Teamcenter Configuration, so assign the User role to module roles that need entity access.

6. Enable the React client.

   1. In your App Settings, go to the Runtime tab.
   2. Select Yes next to Use React client.

7. Create a Teamcenter Service Document.

   1. In the module where your Teamcenter integrations live, right-click and select Add others, then click Teamcenter Service.
   2. Give it a name.

8. Reconfigure your connection.

   1. Open the Teamcenter Service Document and go to the Settings tab.
   2. Enter your Teamcenter URL and authentication settings.
   3. Click Sign In and log in to Teamcenter.

9. Recreate your integrations.

   Your existing domain model entities and microflows are still in your app. However, you need to regenerate them using the new Extension to take advantage of improvements and ensure compatibility with the new connector. To do that, follow these steps:

   1. In the Service Document, click +Add integration and start a journey that matches each of your existing integrations.
   2. Configure the integration the same way as before. The journey types and options are the same.
   3. Click Generate to save and generate the integration.
   4. Replace the old microflows with the newly generated microflows.
   5. You can use the Duplicate feature on the History tab to create variations of an integration without reconfiguring from scratch.

10. Test thoroughly.

    1. Run each generated microflow against your Teamcenter instance.
    2. Verify that search, create, update, and retrieval operations work as expected.
    3. Test error handling by triggering error conditions, such as invalid search criteria.
    4. If you have automated tests, run them to ensure integration behavior is correct.

Breaking Changes

This is a comprehensive table of breaking changes and actions to take for each one:

Deprecated Microflows and Their Replacements

These microflows still exist in the deprecated folder, but should no longer be used. Replace them with the recommended alternatives:

Deprecated Java Actions and Their Replacements

These Java actions still exist in the deprecated folder, but should no longer be used. Replace them with the recommended alternatives:

Automatically Migrated Items

Not everything needs to be rebuilt from scratch. These items are automatically migrated as they are:

• Domain model – Entities and associations generated by the previous Extension remain in your module. They are part of your app, so they do not disappear during the migration.
• Microflows – Generated microflows remain in your app. Only those affected by specific breaking changes, such as input entity naming or Toolkit module references, need to be regenerated or updated.