Associating Work Areas with Projects or Streams

See the sections below for how to enable and configure the Windows Explorer:

• To associate a Windows folder as a work area:

• To get copies of files and associate the selected Windows folder as a work area:

• To view or update the properties of a folder associated as a Dimensions work area:

• To view or update the properties of a file:

• To disassociate a folder as a Dimensions work area:

• To set Dimensions CM preferences for files:

• To enable support for network folders

• To disable support for network folders

To associate a Windows folder as a work area:

1. Create a new folder or select a folder that has not previously been associated with a project or stream. Right-click and select Dimensions | Associate with source control.

NOTE  This option does not appear if the folder:

• Has CM metadata associated with it.

• Is a child of a folder that is associated with Dimensions source control.

2. Login in if prompted. The Work Area Defaults dialog box appears.For Project Type select:

• Stream to associate the folder with a stream.

• Project to associate the folder with a project.

3. In the Associated Dimensions Project/Stream field accept the default or click Browse. In the Select Project/Stream dialog box select one of the options. If you select Another project/stream do one of the following:

•      Start typing the ID of a project or stream. Projects/streams that contain any characters in the string are displayed. For example, to find ’QLARIUS:VS_BRANCHA’ type ’vs’.

•      Select a project or stream from the list. Favorites and recently used projects/streams are displayed at the top.

•      (Streams only) To create a new stream select Create New and complete the Create Stream wizard, see page 296.

Click OK.

4. If you want to change the settings that Dimensions CM makes by default, click the Show defaults button, and change the defaults as necessary:

• In the Comment for check in field, enter any text you want to be used by default for any items that you check in or deliver.

• In the Default request field, enter a request ID if you require a request to be related to any new item revisions you create.

• In the Part specification field, if required, enter an owning design part for new items that are created. This value will override the design part that is determined for a new item when a file has been added to a folder within this work area. The owning design part of a new item is normally determined from the upload rules based on the file type, but can be overridden by this field.

• If required, in the Local file exclusions field, enter an expression to specify file types in the work area that you do not want to deliver to the repository. For examples, see Example Expressions for Specifying File Inclusions and Exclusions.

• In the Repository file exclusions field, enter an expression to specify file types in the repository that you do not want include when updating the work area.

• For Permissions after update, choose between Make read only and Make writable for the permissions to be set on the file after updating the work area from the repository.

NOTE  It is not necessary to set file permissions to read only just to distinguish files that have been updated. The Change Type column maintained by Dimensions CM provides a more accurate account of whether files need updating. It is now possible to always work with writable files. Setting the Permissions after update and Permissions after deliver to Make writable saves you having to first set permissions each time you want to edit a file.

• For Permissions after deliver, choose between Make read only and Keep unchanged for the permissions to be set on the file after delivering to the repository. See note above.

• For Enable synchronize logging, select Yes If you require an output log for the results of synchronizations between the work area and the repository.

• In the Log folder field, if you want to change the default folder where the logs are written, use the browse button to select another folder.

5. Click OK.

To get copies of files and associate the selected Windows folder as a work area:

1. Right-click a folder that is not already associated with a Dimensions CM project or stream and select Dimensions | Get. Login if prompted.

NOTE  This option does not appear if the folder you select has metadata associated with it, or if it is beneath a folder that has already been associated with Dimensions source control.

2. In the Project/Stream box do one of the following:

• Start typing the ID of a project or stream. Projects and streams that contain any characters in the string are displayed. For example, to find ’QLARIUS:VS_BRANCHA’ type ’vs’.

• Select a project or stream from the list. Favorite and recently used projects and streams are displayed at the top.

Click OK.

3. If you only want to get files from a subfolder of the stream or project, click Select repository folder to get, and select a folder from the tree.

4. Select the options you require for the files that are to be copied:

• Expand substitution variables

• Automatically overwrite files

• Apply system date/time to files.

5. Click OK.

To view or update the properties of a folder associated as a Dimensions work area:

1. Right-click a folder that has already been associated as a work area (This has an icon overlay: ) and select Dimensions | Folder Settings. If necessary, complete the Log in to Dimensions dialog box and click OK.

The Folder Settings dialog box is displayed.

2. If you want to change the Associated Dimensions Project/Stream, click the browse button and select the project/stream as described in Step 3 on page 506.

3. If the Work area defaults fields are not visible, click the Show defaults button.

4. Update the required fields:

• Comment for check in

• Request under work

• Part specification

• Local file exclusions

• Repository file exclusions

• Permissions after update

• Permissions after deliver

• Enable synchronize logging

• Log folder.

See Step 4 on page 506 for details of these fields.

5. Click OK.

To view or update the properties of a file:

1. Right-click the file and select Properties.

2. Click the Dimensions tab.

You will be able to update the following fields:

• In the Comment for check-in field, enter any text you want to be automatically used for the items that you check in or deliver.

• In the Request under work field, browse for, or enter a request ID if you require a request to be related to any new item revision you create using this file.

• In the Part specification field, browse for, or enter a design part specification for the design part to be used for any new items that are created in the project/stream.

• If required, in the Local file exclusions field, enter an expression to specify file types in the work area that you do not want to deliver to the repository. For examples, see Example Expressions for Specifying File Inclusions and Exclusions.

• In the Repository file exclusions field, enter an expression to specify file types in the repository that you do not want include when updating the work area.

• For Permissions after update, choose between Make read only and Make writable for the permissions to be set on the file after updating the work area from the repository, or set to <Use default> to take the default action.

• For Permissions after deliver, choose between Make read only and Keep unchanged for the permissions to be set on the file after delivering changes to the repository, or set to <Use default> to take the default action.

You can also view the following fields:

• Header substituted indicates whether header substitution was used when the item file was fetched from the repository.

• Is extracted indicates whether the item was checked out at the time that the item file was fetched from the repository.

• Item specification displays the item specification

• Item status displays the status of the item revision at the time that the item file was updated from the repository.

• Original modification date displays the modification date of the file at the time it was updated from the repository.

3. Click OK.

To disassociate a folder as a Dimensions work area:

1. Right-click the folder and select Disassociate from source control.

2. Click OK.

To set Dimensions CM preferences for files:

1. Right-click a file or folder and select Dimensions | Preferences.

2. Select the change detection option you require:

• Select Use modification time If you want Dimensions CM to use the timestamp to detect whether the selected file, or the files in the selected folder, have changed when the file sizes are the same.

• Select Checksum file content if you want Dimensions CM to also use the file checksum to detect whether the selected file, or the files in the selected folder, have changed when the timestamps are the same.

• If you want to apply item header substitution to this file, select Expand substitution variables. Note that you should specify reversible substitution variables to prevent the variables from being overwritten by the expanded values when the items are delivered back to the repository.

• If you want to enable network folder support, select Enable support for network folders. By default this is disabled for performance reasons.

3. Click OK.

To enable support for network folders

Do one of the following:

• Right-click a file or folder under Dimensions CM control, select Dimensions | Preferences, and select Enable support for network folders.

• In Windows Explorer, right-click a file or folder on the network and select Dimensions | Enable support for network folders.

The Dimensions CM menus and icon decorations will now appear for network folders.

If this option is disabled you will not see most of the Dimensions menu options for network files and folders or their icon decorations. If you access a network folder that has been associated with Dimensions CM, on the first occasion you will be prompted as to whether you want to enable support for network folders.

To disable support for network folders

1. In Windows Explorer, right-click a file folder and select Dimensions | Preferences.

2. Uncheck Enable support for network folders.