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CADWorx Plant

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English
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CADWorx
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Smart Isometrics Version
8
Spoolgen Version
10
CADWorx Version
20.2
CADWorx Structure Version
4.2

You perform the tasks listed below frequently when using the Get External Data function.

Define an external data source

The Get External Data function supports a large range of external data sources by using the DSN (Data Source Name) and UDL (Universal Data Link) options. You can use any data source with an OLEDB or ODBC driver, which includes all commercially available database systems, from SQL Server and Oracle to MySQL and DB2. The basic requirement is that data is held in tables and can be accessed using SQL statements.

One of the most common data sources is an Excel spreadsheet. Because a spreadsheet is not a true database, there are special considerations when using Excel spreadsheets as a data source.

  • Data must be contiguous with no blank rows or columns.

  • There must be a single header row, containing field names.

  • Field names must be alpha numeric.

  • Each table must be given a user-defined name (for use in SQL statements).

  • If a column contains a mixture of numbers and strings, SQL statements can return unexpected values. This is because the first few rows of data are used to determine the contents of the column. For example, if the first 10 rows contain numbers, the whole column is treated as if it contains numbers. In this situation, the software may return strings as zero or blank.

Set up the GED configuration file

Setting up the GED configuration file involves:

  • Defining specific instructions for each of the elements that are pertinent to your GED solution.

  • Defining the mapping between the data in the external data source to the attributes in the current POD file. For example, you can define mapping for only specific components, or you can create filters so that certain components are excluded from the GED solution.

  • For more information about the format and structure of the configuration file, see GED Configuration File.

  • For specific examples of how to configure the GED .xml configuration file, see Best Practices.

  • A sample GED configuration file, PGP_GED.xml, is delivered with the software. In a default CADWorx Plant installation, this file is delivered to the [Product Folder]:\Isogen\I-Configure\I-Configure\Tutorial Data folder.

Set up the POD Graphics Processor configuration file

To execute the GED function, you must reference the GED configuration file using the GET-EXTERNAL-DATA element in the POD Graphics Processor configuration file. This reference enables the GED script to run when the POD Graphics Processor executes after drawing generation.

Configure the Isogen POD Processor

Before you can use the POD Graphics Processor, you must use Isogen Configuration to reference the utility in the active style and specify the location of the POD Graphics Processor .xml configuration file. For more information, see Configure the Isogen POD Processor in the POD Graphics Processor User's Guide. The document is available in the [Product Folder]\Isogen\I-Configure\POD Graphics Processor folder.

View the GED log files

The software writes the results of the GED process to a log file. This log file contains all the messages that the software generates as it goes through the GED process. The software logs the current user and machine at the start of each call to the GED function, as well as the execution time for each database query. You specify the location of the log file using the LogFile attribute in the GET-EXTERNAL-DATA element of the POD Graphics Processor .xml configuration file.

For more information, see GET-EXTERNAL-DATA element in the POD Graphics Processor User's Guide.