Adding UDAs to aPriori
Now that you know which CAD properties you want to map; you need to ensure that there are corresponding attributes in aPriori for them.
To demonstrate various aspects of property mapping, we will give one UDA the same name as its corresponding CAD property, and different names for the others. We will use mixed-case and spaces for displaying them in the UI.
For more general information about UDAs, see: Managing User Defined Attributes (UDAs).
This table shows the properties and attributes used in this example:
CAD Property | aPriori Attribute | aPriori Display Name | aPriori Type | Comment |
ITEM_DESCRIPTION | Description | Description | System | Does not need to be created, but does need to be mapped |
MATERIAL | Material | Material | System | Does not need to be created but does need to be mapped. Also requires additional configuration. |
PROJECT | PROJECT | Project_2 | UDA | There is a non-mappable aPriori system-defined attribute named PROJECT, so need to create a new UDA. |
CURRENT_REL_NUMBER | Current_Rel | Current Release | UDA | Create a UDA with a different name and map it in the XML file. |
REV_LEVEL | REV_LEVEL | Rev Level | UDA | Create a UDA with the exact same name as the property and map it in the XML file.. |
To add UDAs
Follow the same procedure as you would to create any UDA (see Managing User Defined Attributes).
1 In the aPriori client, click Tools > System Admin Toolset.
2 Click the System Administrator button ( 
) on the resulting window.
) on the resulting window.3 Click User Defined Attributes in the System Administrator window.
4 In the User Defined Attribute pane, double-click the fields to enter information from the table above. (Remember, ITEM_DESCRIPTION and MATERIAL are aPriori system-defined production inputs that do not need to be created as UDAs.) When done, the results should look like the screenshot below.
5 When done, click the Publish Changes button ( 
) in the toolbar.
) in the toolbar. 6 Now that the UDAs exist, you can adjust their appearance (if necessary) on the Cost Guide. By default, the new UDAs will appear in section "1.2 Company-Defined Attributes". The following steps are completely optional. In fact, if you are exploring CAD property mapping for the first time, you should probably skip this step to keep things simple. But for a production environment, you might need to perform steps similar to these to configure the Cost Guide for your users. See Managing dialog views for general information.
7 Click Dialog Views in the left pane.
8 Click the Search pull-down menu and click Cost Guide.
9 Use the left and right arrows to move entries between the Available Fields: and Displayed Fields:. Use the up and down arrows to change the relative position of items in the Cost Guide. For example, if you do not use the default aPriori fields such as Product Line or CAD Version, you can move them out of the Displayed Fields column to make more room for your new mappings. You can move the new UDAs up and down if necessary to reflect a logical workflow. Note that you have two similarly-named entries: "Project" is the aPriori system-defined attribute which cannot be mapped, and "Project 2" is the display name of the Project UDA you created in the previous step. We are displaying both to show that a UDA can have the same name as a system-defined attribute but will not conflict with it.
10 When done, click the Publish Changes button ( ) in the toolbar. After completing these steps, the Company Attributes section of the Cost Guide should now look like the following screenshot (you need to have a part open to display the Cost Guide):
) in the toolbar. After completing these steps, the Company Attributes section of the Cost Guide should now look like the following screenshot (you need to have a part open to display the Cost Guide):
Creating an XML Mapping File
Once you have identified the CAD properties that you want to map and have identified or created the aPriori attributes that you want to map them to, you must create the XML mapping file to define these pairings.
Notes:
It is critical that you use an XML-cognizant editor such as Notepad++ that can help you catch syntax errors while editing this file. You can also try to display the edited file in Microsoft Internet Explorer to catch typos and errors prior to using the file. See Troubleshooting for more information.
Because installations differ so much from company to company, the following screenshot is only meant to give you an idea of how a valid mapping file might look for this example. We do not provide templates or copies of examples.
1 Create an XML mapping file in an editor that recognizes XML.
2 The following screenshot provides an idea of how these mappings might look:
3 Save the XML file when done and take note of the folder where you save it.
4 IMPORTANT: Ensure that the file contains valid XML with no errors.
5 Load the mapping file: In the aPriori client, click Tools > System Admin Toolset.
6 Click the System Administrator button ( ) on the resulting window.
) on the resulting window.7 In the System Administrator window, click File > Import > CAD Property Mapping File .
Note: If there is a problem with your XML mapping file, you will see the following error dialog when you attempt to load the mapping file :
Proceed to the Troubleshooting section below if you need help tracking down the problem.
The mapping file is loaded into the aPriori database and will now be used whenever you read or update GCDs from the CAD file and will map the CAD properties to the aPriori attributes.