Release Notes GRANTA MI:Materials Gateway Version 4.0 for Windchill Document version: Gateway 4.0/02 Published: February 2016
Introduction GRANTA MI from Granta Design is the leading materials information management software system for engineering enterprises. GRANTA MI meets the disparate needs of the materials experts, product designers, engineering analysts, data publishers, and other professionals who work with information related to metals, composites, ceramics, plastics, and other materials. GRANTA MI:Materials Gateway enables data and tools from GRANTA MI to be accessed from within CAD, CAE, and PLM software. Users can access and browse a corporate materials database (and/or Grantasupplied reference data), choose applicable materials, and assign those materials to parts within their design or simulation model. A variety of analytics, dashboard, reporting and data output tools are available, depending on the host system and the GRANTA MI modules licensed for your corporate installation. GRANTA MI:Materials Gateway for Windchill is an application running within the Windchill product lifecycle management software from PTC. MI:Materials Gateway is also available for the Creo Parametric product lifecycle management software from PTC, and can be configured to support materials information management in an integrated Windchill/Creo environment. Scope of these Release Notes These Release Notes are for MI:Materials Gateway 4.0 for Windchill, software version 4.0.1509. This version of MI:Materials Gateway is compatible with GRANTA MI versions 8.1 and 9.0, and supports Windchill 10.0 and 10.2. For comprehensive instructions on installing and configuring this software, see the two documents included in your MI:Materials Gateway installer package: the main guide Installing and Configuring GRANTA MI:Materials Gateway, which covers initial installation and configuration, and the supplementary guide GRANTA MI:Materials Gateway for Windchill Implementation Guide, which covers the additional steps required to configure MI:Materials Gateway in an integrated Windchill/Creo environment. For full end-user resources and User Guide, see www.grantadesign.com/products/mi/windchill/ 2016 Granta Design Ltd page 2 of 5
How can installing this release help you? Version 4.0 of MI:Materials Gateway for Windchill is an update to Version 3.1, and contains a number of new features and enhancements. Table 1 on page 4 summarizes the benefits to specific categories of user. New features introduced in Version 4.0 for Windchill include: Version support Compatibility with GRANTA MI Versions 8.1 (Update 3) and 9.0 New features and workflow options Enhanced and streamlined searching for materials. Users can rapidly search across all databases in their current profile by typing a text search term on the main Search page. The existing facility to define database-specific searches for specified values of material properties, and to save and modify searches, is available as an Advanced search option. When viewing search results: the ability to switch between the existing list format and a structured 'tree' view that shows how the materials are categorized in the database. New workflow option that enables users to specify variants of materials currently in the Granta database, which can then be evaluated and approved by materials teams before being made available for use. When this option is configured, the user can create a variant that is a copy of an existing material, and modify its data as required (subject to the appropriate database access control). The variant is created in a designated folder structure for variants and new materials. Users can search for all variants of a material, and run a report that shows the differences between the variants. New workflow option that enables users to define new material specifications, which can then be evaluated and approved by materials teams before being made available for use. When this option is configured, the user can create a new material associated with a particular folder location in the database (subject to the appropriate access controls). The new material record is created in a designated folder structure for variants and new materials. When using dashboards and reports: the ability to remove a baseline that has previously been set for comparison. Interoperability Security In integrated CAD/PLM environments: the facility for GRANTA MI Administrators to specify whether or not CAD users can edit assignments. When this read-only option is specified for MI:Materials Gateway for Creo, users can search or browse for materials and CAE material models, update favorites, and view assignments made in MI:Materials Gateway for Windchill, but they cannot edit assignments. Enhanced security and faster start-up of MI:Materials Gateway when using HTTPS, due to improved handling of SSL certificates. 2016 Granta Design Ltd page 3 of 5
Usability and performance Faster start-up of the MI:Materials Gateway application; faster searching; and quicker and smoother UI response when browsing for materials or navigating search results. Ability to change profile directly from the Browse and Search pages, without having to access the Settings page. Ability to import search definitions and lists of favorite materials to MI:Materials Gateway by dragging and dropping a file onto the Gateway window. Users can more easily share their saved searches and favorites with other Gateway users; administrators can more easily distribute and apply standardized search definitions and favorites. Table 1 Benefits of this release, categorized by applicability to specific interest groups Interest group Relevant features Key benefits Business process owners, for Materials Data Management Design/CAD and Simulation/CAE communities Compatibility with GRANTA MI versions 8.1 and 9, Creo 3.0 and Windchill 10.2 Traceability all CAD and CAE projects can be linked to a single GRANTA MI materials database Requirements that lie outside of existing material specifications can be captured as variants Specify whether or not CAD users can make material assignments Streamlined search workflow and browse tree performance Enables your organization to take advantage of the latest functionality in GRANTA MI, Creo and Windchill Ensures consistency between product design and simulation, including in a multi- CAD environment, and provides a means of collaborating and sharing data between these departments Enables material experts to have full visibility of functional requirements from design, and to validate early, avoiding delays in the product lifecycle Enables administrators to control where assignments can be made either in CAD and PLM or just in PLM Designers can now find the right material faster and more efficiently, reducing the time spent making assignments 2016 Granta Design Ltd page 4 of 5
Installing MI:Materials Gateway for Windchill There are two aspects to installing MI:Materials Gateway for Windchill: ensuring that your company has the appropriate server components installed, and installing the MI:Materials Gateway clients. Server installation Check with your GRANTA MI system administrator that your company s MI:Server installation includes the correct versions (see Table 2 below) of the MI:Service Layer and reporting package, and any appropriate Granta reference data modules. Client installation on the host machines Follow the installation instructions available with the download. Note that, especially for installations on multiple machines, it is likely that your deployment may be required to follow procedures relating to deployment and support of the host system. On completion of the software installation, make sure that the MI:Materials Gateway configuration settings have been updated, as applicable. For comprehensive instructions on installing and configuring this software, see the document Installing and Configuring GRANTA MI:Materials Gateway, included in your MI:Materials Gateway installer package. If you have any problems, questions or feedback, please contact us: www.grantadesign.com/contact/. Prerequisites and supported platforms Table 2 System requirements for MI:Materials Gateway 4.0 for Windchill Host application version Windchill 10.0, Windchill 10.2 Client operating system Client web browser Windows 7, 64-bit As per GRANTA MI support policy GRANTA MI system Version 8.1 (Update 3) Version 9 MI:Server version (min) 8.1.1967.0 9.0.2344.0 MI:Service Layer version (min) 28.0.50.1509 29.0.9037.1510 MI:Reports (min) 4.2.0 4.2.0 Important notes: This version of MI:Materials Gateway may require an MI:Service Layer version more recent than that supplied with your original GRANTA MI installation please check the specified versions above. MI:Materials Gateway requires Gateway-ready versions of GRANTA MI databases. This is a straightforward configuration, which is done already for Granta-supplied reference data modules. If you are accessing Granta reference data modules and wish to take advantage of the latest data and features, you should also ensure that you have installed the latest version of these data modules that are compatible with your GRANTA MI version. If you have a requirement for a production implementation of MI:Materials Gateway for a prerequisite or platform not listed here, please contact us at www.grantadesign.com/contact/ 2016 Granta Design Ltd page 5 of 5