Turnkey PLM Reports & Extensions Library for Pro.File

extensionv2.0.5Runs on: Server10.4 & 10.5

Document Number Generator

Leave the number field empty and the document arrives numbered, uniquely, on save.

Fills in the document number when a document is created or duplicated, following your site’s convention, and can rename the stored file to match.

How it’s configured

In use: Create a document as normal and leave the number field empty. The number appears on save. Duplicating a document gives the copy its own new number rather than the original’s, because a duplicate is a new document and needs its own identity.
Notable: The only numbering extension that can apply a different convention to different documents, specifications numbered one way and everything else another.
Configured: Cre8tiveDocNumberGenerator.cfg
[DOCUMENT_NUMBERING]
DOC_NUM
Which convention applies to which document, by field value, by document type, or to all. Rows are tried in order and the first match wins, so the catch-all goes last.
DOC_NUM1…n
How each convention builds its number. Every row contributes one piece, a literal string, a field from the document, or a counter, joined in order, with zero-padding, dates and initials available as formatting.
RENAME_FILE
Rename the stored file to match the number. Ships 0: it is a visible change for users, so it is turned on deliberately.
ORIGINAL_NAME_FIELD
Where the file’s original name is preserved when renaming is on.
Out of the box: Ships working out of the box, producing numbers like DOC-000123.
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

extensionv2.0.5Runs on: Server10.4 & 10.5

Part Number Generator

The same for parts, with a different convention per classification, if you want one.

Fills in the part number when a part is created or duplicated, following your site’s convention.

How it’s configured

In use: Create a part as normal and leave the number field empty. The number appears on save. As with documents, a duplicate is given its own new number.
Notable: Conventions can be selected by the part’s classification or by a field on the part, so purchased parts can be numbered differently from manufactured ones.
Configured: Cre8tivePartNumberGenerator.cfg
[PART_NUMBERING]
PART_NUM
Which convention applies to which part, by classification or by field value. First match wins.
PART_NUM1…n
How each convention builds its number: literal text, a field from the part, or a counter, each optionally formatted and joined in order.
Out of the box: Ships with one convention applied to every part, so it works on a clean install.
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

extensionv2.0.6Runs on: Server10.4 & 10.5

Process Number Generator

A process is numbered the moment somebody starts it.

Fills in the process number the moment a process is created.

How it’s configured

In use: Start a process as normal, leaving the number field empty. The number is allocated on creation.
Configured: Cre8tiveProcessNumberGenerator.cfg
[PROCESS_NUMBERING]
PROCESS_NUM
How the number is built, literal text, a field from the process, or a counter, each row formatted and joined in order.
Out of the box: Ships producing numbers like PR-00001009.
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

extensionv2.0.5Runs on: Server10.4 & 10.5

Project Number Generator

And the same again for projects.

Fills in the project number the moment a project is created.

How it’s configured

In use: Create a project as normal, leaving the number field empty.
Configured: Cre8tiveProjectNumberGenerator.cfg
[PROJECT_NUMBERING]
PROJECT_NUM
How the number is built, in the same row-by-row way as the other generators.
Out of the box: Ships producing numbers like PJ-00001001.
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

extensionv2.0.4Runs on: Desktop Client10.4 & 10.5

Part Number Validation

Catches a mistyped part number on the form, where a mistake is still cheap to fix.

Checks a hand-typed part number while the user is still on the form, characters, length, prefix and uniqueness.

How it’s configured

In use: Type a part number and it is checked as you leave the field, and again as you leave the form. Four things are caught: disallowed characters, a number that is too long, a number that does not start with an approved prefix, and a number another part already has. Leave the field empty instead and it fills itself with {AUTO GENERATED}, handing the job to the server.
Configured: Cre8tivePartNumberRegex.cfg
[PART_REGEX]
REGEX
The character rules, each with the message the user sees when it fails. Ships allowing uppercase letters, digits and . - / \.
MAX_LENGTH
Longest acceptable part number. Ships at 39.
PREFIX_LIST
Approved prefixes a number must start with. Ships at 0, the prefix check is off until you list some.
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

extensionv2.0.2Runs on: Desktop Client10.4 & 10.5

Duplicate Defaults

A copy should not inherit an identity it has not earned.

Clears the fields that must not carry over when a document or part is copied, above all, its number.

How it’s configured

In use: Duplicate as normal; the copy opens with the nominated fields already reset. Despite the name it also applies to new items added through the check-in wizard, on the same principle.
Why it matters: Without it a duplicate arrives carrying the original’s part number. Two records claiming one number is cheap to prevent and expensive to unpick later.
Configured: Cre8tiveDuplicateDefaults.cfg
[DUPLICATE_DEFAULTS]
DOCUMENT_DEFAULT
Which document fields are reset, and to what.
PART_DEFAULT
The same for parts.
Out of the box: Ships setting the number to {AUTO GENERATED} and the revision back to A.
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

extensionv2.0.2Runs on: Server10.4 & 10.5

Custom Revision Schemes

The next revision code, worked out for you, and last revision’s fields cleared.

Works out the next revision code when a new version of a released document or part is created, and clears the fields that belong to the old revision.

How it’s configured

In use: Create a new version as normal. The revision field arrives already filled in, A becomes B, H becomes J, Z becomes AA, and last revision’s change note or ECO reference has been cleared rather than silently carried over.
Notable: It acts only on released items: an item that has not been released has not earned a revision, so re-versioning it should not consume the next code. The ladder is held in the database and skips the letters that are easy to misread, I, O, Q and V.
Configured: Cre8tiveCustomRev.cfg
[CUSTOM_REV]
DOC_REV_BLANK
Document fields cleared on the new revision.
PART_REV_BLANK
Part fields cleared on the new revision.
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

extensionVideov2.0.3Runs on: Server10.4 & 10.5

Previous Revision Supersede

Release rev B and rev A stops looking current.

When a new revision is released, moves the earlier revision on, to superseded, obsolete, or whatever your site calls it.

Watch the explainer

How it’s configured

In use: Nothing to click. It acts in two situations: when a new version of a document is created, and when a document’s status changes. Matching earlier revisions are moved as part of the same operation.
Why it matters: Without it, releasing rev B leaves rev A still marked released. Two revisions both look current, and eventually somebody builds to the wrong one.
Configured: Cre8tivePrevRevStatusChange.cfg
[PREV_REV_STATUS_CHANGE]
DOC_PREV
One row per rule, and all three conditions must line up: the document type, the status the new revision has reached, and the status the earlier revision is currently in, plus the status to move it to.
Out of the box: Ships with no rules, and therefore does nothing until they are written. That third condition is the one that surprises people: a rule that supersedes a Released rev A will not touch a rev A that was still In Work.
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

extensionVideov2.0.2Runs on: Server10.4 & 10.5

Automatic Document Status Change

Move the part, and its paperwork moves with it.

Cascades a part’s status change down to the documents hanging off it, so the paperwork follows the part.

Watch the explainer

How it’s configured

In use: Change a part’s status the way you normally do, say from In Work to Released, and save. Matching child documents move at the same time, instead of being opened and released one by one.
Notable: It runs one way only: a part can move its documents, a document never moves its part. And it acts on direct children only, documents hanging off a different part further down the structure are left alone.
Configured: Cre8tiveAutoDocStatusChange.cfg
[AUTO_DOC_STATUS_CHANGE]
DOC_STATUS_CHANGE_TABLE
One row per rule: the status the part moved to, the document type, the status the document must currently be in, and the status to move it to. All three conditions must match.
Out of the box: Ships with no rules and is inert until they are written.
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

extensionv2.0.2Runs on: Server10.4 & 10.5

Dynamic Start Status by Group

A new document starts where it should, based on who created it.

Gives a new document a starting status that reflects who created it and what kind of document it is.

How it’s configured

In use: Add or duplicate a document as normal, its status is set for you. An engineer adding a drawing and a contractor adding the same kind of drawing can land in different starting statuses, without either having to remember to set it.
Notable: New documents only, existing ones are never re-statused, and changing the configuration does not reach back. If nothing matches, the document simply keeps the system default; that is normal, not an error.
Configured: Cre8tiveDynamicStartStatusByGroup.cfg
[DYNAMIC_START_STATUS_GROUP]
START_STATUS_GROUP
The user groups that carry a rule, in priority order. The first listed group the creator belongs to is the one that applies; the rest are not considered.
START_STATUS_GROUP1…n
For that group, the starting status for each document type.
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

extensionv2.0.2Runs on: Server10.4 & 10.5

Restricted Status Sync

Flag a document as restricted and its status follows, and follows back.

Keeps a document’s status in step with its restriction flag, swapping between paired ordinary and restricted statuses.

How it’s configured

In use: Set the restriction field on a document, export-controlled, commercially sensitive, however your organisation frames it, and save. The status switches to the restricted twin. Clear the field and it switches back. This applies both to new documents and to existing ones being edited.
Notable: The document moves sideways, not forwards: In Review becomes In Review (Restricted), holding its place in the workflow while its restriction changes.
Configured: Cre8tiveSetRestrictedStatus.cfg
[RESTRICTED_STATUS]
RESTRICTED_FIELD
The field on the document that carries the restriction.
RESTRICTED_VALUE
The value in that field that means “restricted”. Ships as a placeholder that must be set before the extension does anything.
RES_STATUS
The status pairs, each ordinary status alongside its restricted twin.
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

extensionv2.0.2Runs on: Server10.4 & 10.5

Bill of Operations & Material Linking

Two fields typed on a new part become a BOM line and a routing.

Turns two fields filled in on a new part into real structure: a bill of materials line for the material, and a Bill of Operations for the routing.

How it’s configured

In use: When creating a part, fill in the material field with a material part number and the quantity used, and list the operations in the operations field. On save the BOM line is linked and a Bill of Operations document is built, with one Operation document beneath it for each step.
Writing the list: Each operation is the operation code followed by its time in brackets, separated by commas or one per line, OP1[2], OP2[5], OP3[1.5].
Configured: Cre8tiveBoOandMaterialLinking.cfg
[MATERIAL_LINKING] / [BILL_OF_OPERATIONS]
MATERIAL_FIELD MATERIAL_QTY_FIELD
Which fields on the part hold the material number and its quantity.
OPERATION_FIELD
Which field holds the operations list.
OPERATION_DELIMITER OPERATION_END_CHAR
The characters that wrap the time. Ship as [ and ]; your site may use others.
OPERATION_CODE_FIELD OPERATION_TIME_FIELD_OP
Where the code and the time are written on each Operation document.
OPERATION_DOC_TYPE BOO_DOC_TYPE
The document types used for an operation and for the Bill of Operations that holds them.
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

extensionv2.0.2Runs on: Server10.4 & 10.5

Engineering Unit of Measure Sync

A part stocked in metres never ends up on a line measured in each.

Keeps a BOM line’s engineering unit of measure in step with the inventory unit of the component part it points at.

How it’s configured

In use: Nothing to click. Add a part to a bill of materials and the line’s unit of measure is filled in from the part. Change that unit on the part later and every BOM line already using it is updated in the same operation.
Notable: It acts only on parts classified as PLM Component; other kinds of part are deliberately left alone. It reads the part and writes the line, never the reverse, and changing the unit on a widely used component can update a great many lines at once, so check before saving.
Configured: No configuration file. Field locations come from the shipped field-path configuration, which needs adjusting only if your site keeps these values somewhere non-standard.
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

extensionv2.0.4Runs on: Server10.4 & 10.5

Process Initiator Role

Start a process and its first task is already waiting for you.

Casts whoever starts a process into the Process Initiator role, and hands them the tasks that role is responsible for.

How it’s configured

In use: Start a process from its template. That is all, you are cast into the role and its first task is already waiting, instead of your having to work through the wizard casting yourself before anything can happen.
Notable: It happens once, at start; tasks created later in the process are not re-delegated, and processes already running are unaffected. Any existing casting of that one role is replaced, the role means “whoever started this run”. Every other role is left exactly as configured.
Configured: Cre8tiveProcessInitiator.cfg
[PROCESS_INITIATOR]
PROCESS_INITIATOR_ROLE
The name of the role to cast. Ships as Process Initiator.
PROCESS_INITIATOR_USER_ID
Optional stand-in user account. Where a template assigns its first task to a placeholder “Process Initiator” user, that task is handed to the real starter instead.
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

extensionv2.0.2Runs on: Desktop Client10.4 & 10.5

Assign Process Roles

Staff a whole process, sub-processes included, from one dialog.

A single dialog for casting every process role at once, including the roles belonging to sub-processes that have not started yet.

How it’s configured

In use: Select a started process, run the Assign Process Roles command, and staff the whole thing in one sitting: roles already cast can be reassigned, and roles not yet cast are gathered from the template and its sub-processes. Cancelling changes nothing.
Who sees it: The command appears only when the user is looking at a process that has started and not finished, and is a member of the nominated user group. Not seeing it is a condition not being met, not an error. Where user groups named PR_<role> exist, their members are offered as suggestions, a convenience, not a restriction.
Configured: Cre8tiveAssignProcessRoles.cfg
[ASSIGN_PROCESS_ROLES]
ASSIGN_GROUP_ID
The user group allowed to cast roles. Ships at 0, which is not a real group, so the command stays hidden for everyone until it is set. That is the safe default.
COMMAND_ID
The command id used to wire the dialog into the client’s navigation. Ships at 0, meaning “use the built-in default”.
TASKS_ASSIGN_PR
Task names that open the dialog automatically when reached.
Requires: Cre8tiveAssignProcessRolesExt on the server. The two are a pair.
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

extensionv2.0.2Runs on: Server10.4 & 10.5

Assign Process Roles, Server Actions

The half you never see: it answers the dialog’s two questions.

The server companion to Assign Process Roles, it supplies which roles a process has, and which sub-processes hang off it.

How it’s configured

In use: Nothing visible, by design. Users interact with the dialog in Cre8tiveAssignProcessRoles; this component supplies its content.
Notable: The pair must be deployed together and kept on matching versions. With the client half alone the dialog opens but cannot fill itself in. With this half alone, nothing calls it and nothing happens.
Configured: No configuration. Its behaviour is entirely governed by the client half’s settings.
Requires: Cre8tiveAssignProcessRoles on the Desktop Client.
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

reportv2.0.2SSRS

BOM Compare, Latest Two Revisions

Run it on a part and it works out which two revisions to compare for you.

Answers the most common change-review question, what changed between this part’s last two revisions?, without making you identify either revision.

How it’s run

In use: Supply one part. The report resolves its revision family itself and always compares the two most recent revisions, then heads the output with both, so a printed copy always records which two it describes. You can pass any revision in the family, not only the latest.
Requires: The part must have at least two revisions. With only one there is nothing to compare, and the report reports an error rather than an empty page.
Parameters: PARAM_PLMID required
Any part in the revision family to compare.
Published: Report server → PARTS
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

reportv2.0.2SSRS

BOM Compare, Any Two Items

The general-purpose structure diff: pick both sides, set the depth, filter to what moved.

Compares any two PLM items you choose and lists what was added, removed and changed.

How it’s run

In use: Supply both sides. Differences are described as the changes needed to reach the left-hand side, so putting the newer revision on the left makes “added” mean “added in the newer one”. The same report is published in two places for convenience; either gives identical results.
Watch for: Depth defaults to 1, only the immediate children are compared, so a change three levels down does not appear until you raise it. This is the single most common surprise. Deep comparisons of large structures take noticeably longer, so raise it deliberately.
Parameters: PARAM_LHS_PDMID required
Left-hand item, conventionally the newer.
PARAM_RHS_PDMID required
Right-hand item, conventionally the older.
PARAM_MAX_DEPTH default 1
How many structure levels to descend.
PARAM_DELTA_ONLY default 0
1 lists only the lines that differ.
PARAM_PARTS_ONLY default 0
1 ignores documents and compares parts only.
Published: Report server → COMMON and PARTS
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

reportv2.0.2SSRS

Change Management Document

The one to bookmark: it prints whichever change document you happen to be looking at.

One report that prints any change document. It works out whether the id you gave it is a Problem Report, a Change Request or a Change Notice, and renders the matching format.

How it’s run

In use: Without it you would have to know which of the three specific reports to open before you could print anything. The output is identical to opening the right one directly, this report adds no content of its own, it only chooses.
Requires: The three format reports below must be published, since it renders through them.
Parameters: DOCID required
PLMID of any change document.
Published: Report server → DOCUMENTS
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

reportv2.0.2SSRS

Problem Report, Print Format

A problem found against one or more parts, recorded before anyone has decided what to do about it.

The printable Problem Report: header detail and every part the reported problem affects.

How it’s run

In use: Header, number, title, status, workflow state, originator, dates and the descriptive free-text fields, with multi-line descriptions laid out as readable blocks rather than truncated to one line. Affected parts, every part linked to the report, with number, revision, description and its own current status.
Reading it: A part’s status is its own lifecycle state, independent of the Problem Report’s, a released part under an open PR is the normal case, not a contradiction.
Parameters: DOCPLMID required
PLMID of the Problem Report.
Published: Report server → DOCUMENTS
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

reportv2.0.2SSRS

Change Request, Print Format

The proposal, printed together with the problems that led to it.

The printable Change Request, the document that proposes a change and asks for approval, shown with its affected parts and the Problem Reports behind them.

How it’s run

In use: Header, affected parts, and associated Problem Reports. That third section is what makes this more than a form print: it answers “why are we being asked to approve this?” without anyone having to go and look.
Notable: The Problem Reports are found through the parts the request affects, not through a direct link.
Parameters: DOCPLMID required
PLMID of the Change Request.
Published: Report server → DOCUMENTS
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

reportv2.0.2SSRS

Change Notice, Print Format

The end of the change chain, and the requests that caused it.

The printable Change Notice, the document that implements an approved change, with its affected parts and the Change Requests raised against each part’s previous revision.

How it’s run

In use: Header, affected parts, and the Change Requests raised against each affected part’s previous revision.
Why the previous revision: Deliberate, and the one genuinely subtle thing here. A Change Notice creates a new revision of a part; the Change Request that asked for it was raised earlier, against the revision that existed at the time, the previous one. Looking there is what finds the request that caused the notice.
Parameters: DOCPLMID required
PLMID of the Change Notice.
Published: Report server → DOCUMENTS
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

reportv2.0.2SSRS

Engineering Change Dashboard

The change board’s landing page: all change work in flight, on one screen.

Problem Reports, Change Notices and Change Requests broken down by status, with the parts each pulls in, and the PLMIDs the other reports need.

How it’s run

In use: Problem Reports, Change Notices and Change Requests each broken down by status, including transfer-failure states such as PLM transfer failed, usually the first place an ERP hand-off problem becomes visible, then the parts pulled into open Change Requests and the in-process parts from Change Notices, with number, revision, description and status.
Watch for: The one parameter changes which question the report answers, not just how much comes back. 0 shows everything currently open, unfiltered by date. A value of N instead shows change activity whose status moved in the last N days, whether or not it is still open.
Parameters: daysback default 0
0 = all open work. N = activity in the last N days, open or closed.
Published: Report server → COMMON
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

reportv2.0.2SSRS

PRO.FILE System Analytics

The page you want open in a system review or a licence renewal conversation.

A one-page health and growth summary of a PRO.FILE installation, object counts, storage, twelve months of growth, and licences against enabled users.

How it’s run

In use: Object counts, documents, parts, projects, processes, tasks. Total storage, the combined size of all managed files, in GB. Storage by document type, which types account for the space. Documents and disc space by month, and parts by month, the last twelve months, so the growth trend is visible. Licence versus users, full and limited licences held, against enabled user accounts.
Parameters: NUMBEROF default 1
A noise filter on the storage-by-document-type chart only: a type appears only if it has more than this many documents. Every other panel ignores it.
Published: Report server → COMMON
Ships with: User Guide Admin Guide Installation Guide Changelog

Turnkey PLM Reports & Extensions Library for Pro.File

The solution, defined.

At a glance

Why teams choose it.

Close gaps without custom code

Standards enforced automatically

See exactly what changed

Visibility into change work

Upgrade without fear

A library that keeps growing

Where it makes a difference.

Engineering & document controlAutomated numbering

Document controlRevision control

PLM administrationStatus automation

EngineeringBOM change analysis

Change managementChange board reporting

IT & managementSystem insight

Field-proven PLM capability, delivered as configuration, not a custom project.

Without it

With Turnkey Report and Extension Library

Simple to deploy. Simple to own.

Up and running in four steps

Easy to manage, day after day

The two halves of the library.

Extensions change how PRO.FILE behaves

Reports present what is already there

Where an extension runs

Two platform lines, one feature set

Configured, never customised

Every report and extension in the library.

Document Number Generator

Part Number Generator

Process Number Generator

Project Number Generator

Part Number Validation

Duplicate Defaults

Custom Revision Schemes

Previous Revision Supersede

Automatic Document Status Change

Dynamic Start Status by Group

Restricted Status Sync

Bill of Operations & Material Linking

Engineering Unit of Measure Sync

Process Initiator Role

Assign Process Roles

Assign Process Roles, Server Actions

BOM Compare, Latest Two Revisions

BOM Compare, Any Two Items

Change Management Document

Problem Report, Print Format

Change Request, Print Format

Change Notice, Print Format

Engineering Change Dashboard

PRO.FILE System Analytics

How the library is delivered.

An extension package

A report package

The installer window

The script

Install to every config point

Version numbers advance together, and your tuning survives.

Take the guide with you.

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