Searching Classes Using Admin Browser

About Searching Classes Using Admin Browser

As Administrator, you can search the classes of the databases using the Power Search application of the Administrative Desktop Utility, or you can search them directly from VPM Lifecycle Navigator Web, using the Admin Browser. For more information about the Power Search application, refer to Power Search.

VPM Lifecycle Navigator Web uses the Relationship Navigator functionality to let you view databases, assemblies, parts, etc. graphically, as a tree structure. This allows you to visualize relationships between classes and subclasses, or assemblies and subparts. Each node in the tree that represents an intermediate class or folder can be expanded to display its leaf classes. Within the CES database, the leaf classes can be searched for properties (attributes) of the respective class. To view the classes of the CES database, you must send the Admin Browser to the Relationship Navigator.

For Engineering processes, you can use Admin Browser to:

  • Identify a list of classes available in the database.
  • Locate a design-specific class.
  • Locate a specific class of interest
  • Navigate through the hierarchy to locate sub-classes of a class.
  • Launch a search to find properties within a class.

For Sourcing processes, you can use Category Browser to:

  • Locate a specific class of interest.
  • Display the class hierarchy to better understand the data model.

Once you have selected a class to search, the CES Admin Search panes appears. In this pane you can:

  • Search for items using values you set in the class properties.
  • Use Valid Values or Query Builder to determine the value to set for a property. Query Builder and Valid Values are explained extensively in the CES Enterprise Navigator User Guide, so will not be covered here. For more information on Query Builder and Valid Values, refer to CES Enterprise Navigator User Guide : User Tasks : Searching the Database : Using Query Builder and CES Enterprise Navigator User Guide : User Tasks : Searching the Database : Using Valid Values.
  • See properties associated with the class and set values to use for the search.
  • Select the form to use for viewing the class properties. Most classes will have a Default form, that displays the basic properties of the class, and  Detail form, that includes all properties of the class.

 

When Searching Classes Using Admin Browser

  • You must be logged in to CES with Administrator privileges to access the Admin Browser.
  • Only leaf classes in the tree can be searched. If you select an intermediate node in the tree, and right click, you will notice there is no Search Class option in the contextual menu. If you select a leaf node in the tree and right-click, you will see the Search Class option.
  • When you select a leaf class, right-click and select Search Class, the CES Admin Search pane appears.
  • In the CES Admin Search pane a list of forms defined for that class is displayed. These forms or configurations are customizable views that contain properties of that class. Select a form to display the properties of the class. You can create new forms or modify existing forms using the Forms Editor application of the Administration Desktop Utility. For more information on creating and editing forms, refer to Forms Editor.

How to Search Classes Using Admin Browser

This task explains how to search the database using Admin Browser:

  1. In the VPM Lifecycle Navigator Web environment, log on to CES with administrative privileges. It is not necessary to log in to ENOVIA V5 VPM.




     

  2. In the Favorites pane, right-click Admin Browser and select Add to Navigator.

  3. In the Relationship Navigator, expand the Explore tree until you reach the leaf class you wish to search.
     

  4. Right-click the node and select Search Class.

  5. The CES Admin Search pane appears below the Relationship Navigator. Notice that the FORM drop down box is set to DEFAULT. This form is displaying the basic properties for the selected class. You can select any other form in the drop down list to display other sets of properties for this class. In the CES Admin Search window, enter the desired property values directly, or use the Query Builder/Valid Values button to select proper values, and click Search.


     

  6. In the AdminSearchResults list, the items that correspond to the User Group Name CSM_USER are displayed. Notice that in this window too you can change the display by selecting a form in the FORMS drop down list.