# Document Management

## Introduction

Document Management is used to administrate documents of different types in a shared document management system. The documents administered in Agile e6 are 3D CAD models, 2D CAD drawings, calculation programs, layouts, NC programs, text documents, etc. as well as documents created manually (scanned paper documents, paper documents) of technical documentation.

The following elements are refered to as documents:

- Drawings created with CAD or manually
- 3D models
- NC programs
- Specifications, technical documentation
- Calculations / quality information
- Operating instructions, customer service documents, etc.

Document Management enables the user to save documents, to find documents, to display, edit and send documents over a network.

The documents are administered in the so-called Electronic Vault.

The Electronic Vault is kind of a safe which is used for electronic document administration. The document access is only possible via the PLM system, i.e. documents can only be requested and loaded by persons with the appropriate access rights. This is to ensure that a document cannot be edited by several persons simultaneously and the most current document version is provided.

As described above, many different types of documents are managed in Agile e6. The different kinds of documents are represented in the different document types. Besides the document-specific information, all documents have common attributes which are collected in the so-called Document Master. The Document Master consists of the following fields:

Identifying fields (key fields) | Document number, page numbers, index
Descriptive fields | Name, material, source
Organizational fields | Creator, reviewer, review date
State-oriented fields | Document state, safety key, access protection, progress indicator
EDP-specific fields | Storage location on the computer, file size
Application-specific fields | Version of the creation system, library references
Modification histories | Modification number, modification text, date of modification

| The key fields are used to uniquely identify documents, the document number, version and page number. The document type does not determine the unambiguity of the document. In order to also use the document type as a key field, the table T_DOC_DAT must be modified.

Besides the general attributes, the different documents have specific attributes depending on the document type. They are used to uniquely describe the individual kinds of document. The system provides type-specific and type-independent functions (e.g. Find).

The standard Agile e6 provides the following document types:

- Stored documents
- 2D drawings
- 3D models
- Physical models
- Documents with file location
- Archived Documents (On Paper)

| Document Management can be customized and new document types can be created for each customer.

Stored Documents

Stored documents represent a kind of document that is available on a storage medium (as a file). However, the creation system is not a CAD system. An example for stored documents are text files created by a word processing system (e.g. doc files, tiff files, etc.)

2D Drawings

2D drawings represent a kind of document for administrating 2D drawings. The drawings were created electronically on a CAD system, e.g. 2D drawings created with 2D or 3D CAD systems (e.g. ME10, AutoCAD, etc.)

3D Models

3D models represent a kind of document for administrating 3D models. The models were created electronically on a CAD system, e.g. 3D models created with 3D CAD system: (e.g. Pro Engineer, EUCLID, CATIA, etc.)

Physical Models

Physical models represent a document type for administrating models created physically. These are prototypes, respectively test models. Therefore, a separate document type is available for prototype administration (existing physical models). A document (e.g.: a Stereo Lithographic Model created from a 3D model) with the appropriate attributes is administered in this document type. The document structure is used to provide the reference to the original model.

Documents with File Location

Documents with file information represents a document type for administrating documents, which are electronically available (files). However, administration is not performed with the Agile e6 file server. The files are stored at a location on operating system level. This location is stored in Document management together with additional descriptive data. For this purpose, this document type is provided with special fields. Documents of this type can be (but not exclusively) any 2D or 3D documents managed without the file server. Generally, this type is used to administer documents which do not required a high security level.

Archived Documents (On Paper)

Archived (hardcopy) documents represent a document type for documents, which are not managed electronically . Besides additional document information, Document Management is used to describe the storage location of the document. This type of document includes e.g. standards, tracing paper drawings, etc.