1 Introducing Agile Drive

Agile Drive is a system of managing the file attachments of Agile objects from your computer system in the form of files and folders, without requiring you to invoke Agile PLM application. It connects Agile's Distributed File Manager as a network place on your system, thus enabling Explorer like operations, such as copy or delete, on file attachments of Agile objects. It simplifies file management, leveraging existing intuitive client applications, like Explorer, Mac Finder and so on.

Definitions

Name	Descriptions
Agile Drive	A file system that helps manage the files attached to objects in the Agile PLM system. It is a logical representation of the Agile PLM objects and their associated attachments.
Agile object	An entity defined in Agile PLM that groups a set of attributes and relationships related to that object. Examples: Item, Folder and so on.
Agile PLM folder	A folder in Agile PLM system that holds attachments of other Agile objects, such as Item, Change Order and so on. Agile PLM folder is also treated as an independent Agile object.
Agile Drive folder	A folder that represents an Agile object on your system.
Non-Agile Drive folder	A folder on your system drive or any network drive other than Agile Drive.

Working with Agile Drive

Agile Drive enables you to use the files and folders available in Agile PLM without having to download them.

With Agile Drive, you can work on:

Files such as documents, drawings, associated with Agile objects as file attachments in Agile PLM system.
Folders. Select Properties from right-click menu to view file properties of an Agile Drive folder.

Action	Description
View	Opens a file directly from an Agile Drive folder and views it in its native application, without downloading or checking out.
Save	Saves a file directly in an Agile Drive folder and creates a file attachment to the corresponding Agile object in the Agile PLM system.
Edit	Edits a file in its native application directly from an Agile Drive folder without downloading or checking out. To create a new version, save it as a new file.
Create	Creates a new file in Agile Drive using drag and drop from a non-Agile Drive.
Delete	Deletes a file from an Agile Drive folder, which in turn deletes the file attachment from the corresponding Agile object in the Agile PLM system.
View File Properties	View file properties, such as data of creation, date of last modification, size and more. Right-click a file in the Agile folder to locate View File Properties.
Add	Adds a file from your local drive, or any non-Agile network drive to an Agile Drive folder. Agile Drive stores this file as a file attachment to the corresponding Agile object in Agile PLM system. Agile Drive creates a version of every file that you add (this applicable only for Design and File Folder objects). You can choose either the Drag-Drop option or Copy-Paste option to add a file.
Move	Moves a file from Agile Drive folder. You can use the Cut-Paste option to move a file from Agile Drive folder. Agile Drive creates a version of every file that you remove (this is applicable only for Design and File Folder objects).
Copy	Copies files from a non-Agile Drive folder into an Agile Drive folder. You can also drag-drop the required file.

Limitations

Agile Drive does not support the following functionalities:

File Functions

Saving a file to a folder on the Agile Drive. Use the Save As option to save the file under a different name.
Renaming a file.
Checking-in files from Agile Drive folders.
Checking-out files into Agile Drive folders
Creating files in Agile Drive folder.
Extracting data out of an uploaded file in Agile PLM.
Undo operations.

Folder Functions

Creating Agile Drive folders.
Using the Copy-Paste option or the Drag-Drop option to move an Agile Drive folder into another Agile Drive folder.
Using the Copy-Paste option or the Drag-Drop option to move a non-Agile Drive folder to an Agile Drive folder.
Renaming Agile Drive folders.

Business Functions

Rendering Affected Items & BOM revisions only for ECOs.
Design Structure expansion.
Workflow approvals.
Status change.
Display of Application data (Cover Page/P2/P3).
PPM Content Tab.

Structure of Agile Drive

Agile Drive displays Agile objects as folders, and attachments as files in these folders. The table below gives us a better understanding of Agile objects in both; Agile Drive and Agile PLM system.

Entity	In Agile PLM System	In Agile Drive
Part	A Part is an Agile object. Example - P00003	A Part is a folder, called as Agile Drive folder, named after the Agile object it represents. Example - P00003
Revision	A Revision is a state of an Agile object. Example: Introductory	A Revision is a Sub-folder, again called as Agile Drive folder, named after the Revision state of the Agile object it represents. Example: Introductory
Attachments	An Attachment is a file associated to an Agile object. Example: - agile_20090224_075051312.axml - agile_20090224_113543937.axml - MirrorBolt1.SLDPRT	An Attachment is a Agile Drive file contained in an Agile Drive folder. The name of this Agile Drive file is the same as that of corresponding Attachment. Example: - agile_20090224_075051312.axml - agile_20090224_113543937.axml - MirrorBolt1.SLDPRT

Figure 1-1 An Agile Object and its File Attachment in Agile Drive

Figure 1-2 An Agile Object and its File Attachment in Agile