The Get Structure integration allows you to generate the domain model and microflows to configure a Bill-of-Material (BOM) window and retrieve BOM structures from Teamcenter. A BOM window displays a BOM structure inside a Mendix application.
This document takes you through a use case of creating logic using the Teamcenter Extension to display a simple BOM structure with options to configure it according to our needs.
Step-by-Step Guide
Make sure you have set up your credentials in the Settings tab before following these instructions. For more instructions on how to configure your settings, follow the steps in the Settings Tab section of Teamcenter Extension.
Click the Get Structure button on the home page to start configuring your integration.
When you click this integration for the first time, you will see a warning indicating that Mendix should be used to display small BOM structures. For larger BOM structures, it is recommended to use Teamcenter Active Workspace. Click OK to proceed.
This warning is only displayed the first time you click the integration.
The Import Mapping page is displayed. This determines what data is retrieved from Teamcenter, and what type of objects are created in Mendix.
By default, the Configure structure side panel is displayed. This allows you to either configure the BOM structure at design time, or have the Teamcenter extension generate microflows where the BOM configurations are input parameters.
Follow these steps:
Enable Revision rule. This will generate the following:
A microflow to retrieve Structure with Revision Rule as the input parameter
A microflow to retrieve Revision Rules.
In other words, this lets you build a feature in your app where you can give end-users the ability to select a Revision Rule at run time, and to configure the BOM with the selected Revision Rule.
If the option is disabled, the Teamcenter extension will generate a microflow to retrieve Structures using the default revision rule, which is typically LatestWorking.
Enable Variant rules. Just like with Revision rule, this will generate the following:
A microflow to retrieve Structures with Variant Rules as an input parameter
A microflow to retrieve Variant Rules.
Just like with Revision rule, this also lets you build a feature in your app where you can give end-users the ability to select a Revision Rule at run-time, and to configure the BOM with the selected Variant Rule.
If the option is disabled, the Teamcenter extension will generate a microflow to retrieve structures without applying any variant rules.
Enable BOM Window properties. This allows you to configure the BOM window properties at design time. The Teamcenter extension will generate a microflow to retrieve Structures with the selected properties.
If the option is disabled, the Teamcenter extension will generate a microflow to retrieve structures with the TcConnector.BOMWindowPropFlagMap object as input parameter. This is a HashMap used in the Teamcenter Java SOA API when creating BOM windows, and it controls various display and behavior settings for BOM windows.
For details on BOM Window properties, refer to the Teamcenter Documentation.
Click Close to close the stucture configuration panel.
On the import mapping page, click the BOMLine entity. This opens the Object mapping window.
In the object mapping panel that opens, follow these steps:
The left side of the panel displays BOMLine and its subtypes. In Teamcenter, a BOMLine is a runtime object that represents a single entry or row in a product structure.
BOM lines define the hierarchy of the structure. Each BOMLine has an Item Revision attached to it.
The BOMLine is not a persistent item in the database. Instead, it is generated dynamically when a BOMWindow is created.
Select the parent BOMLine object.
The right side of the panel shows the relevant Mendix entities that can serve as input parameters for the generated microflow.
Select the TeamcenterToolkit.BOMLine marketplace entity.
Select the Create new specialization of selected entity checkbox. The entity will be automatically named BOMLine after the Teamcenter Object name, but it can be renamed here if required.
Click OK to finish the object mapping and to close the object mapping panel.
Once you close the object mapping panel, the attributes and associations sidebar is displayed. From here, select the properties you want to have within your Mendix app. For this use case, you do not need to add any additional properties, so no selections are necessary.
Click Close to close the object mapping panel.
Click the other entity placeholder, namely ItemRevision, to reopen the object mapping panel.
For this use case, you want to display Item Revisions in the BOM tree, so you select ItemRevision on the left side.
Select the Create new specialization of selected entity on the right.
Click OK to close the object mapping panel.
In the Attributes and Associations panel that is displayed, select the following attributes:
Last Saved Date
Maturity
Click Close to close the panel.
Click the Generate button to generate the appropriate domain model and microflows.
Once the generation is complete, you are redirected to the History tab, which displays a summary of what has been generated.
Result
The following sections describe the resulting domain model and microflows.
Domain Model
The extension generated the following entities in your domain model:
BOMLine – This is an entity that represents the BOMLine object in Teamcenter. BOMLines define the hierarchy in a structure. When navigating the BOM, the BOMLine serves as an input for the microflow that expands the BOM structure.
ItemRevision – This is an entity that represents the Item Revision object in Teamcenter. ItemRevision also serves as an input for microflows that create the BOM window and retrieve variant rules.
Microflows
The following microflows are generated:
ItemRevision_CreateBOMWindow – This microflow implements the logic to create a BOM window with input item revision as its top line.
BOMWindow_GetTopBOMLine – This microflow implements the logic to retrieve the top line or root of the BOM structure.
BOMLine_ExpandAllLevels_GetAll – This microflow implements the logic to expand all levels of the BOM structure.
BOMLine_ExpandOneLevel_GetChildren – This microflow implements the logic to expand just one level of the BOM structure.
BOMWindow_Close – This microflow implements the logic to close the BOM Window.
GetRevisionRules – This microflow implements the logic to retrieve revision rules from your Teamcenter instance.
ItemRevision_VariantRules – This microflow implements the logic to retrieve variant rules from your Teamcenter instance.
