Simulator and Windchill integration

What Acolad hands over, whether it can be reused, and whether a full Windchill round trip works in the test environment. This is the critical path for Phase 1.

Spike 1 at riskSpike 2 in progressSpike 11 blocked
Step 6 of 24 · Presenter note
The Windchill integration is the critical path. It depends on what Acolad hands over and on a full round trip working in the test environment.

Acolad transfer package

6 of 10 usable
  • Simulator source code and binaries
    Received 18 Nov
  • Interface specifications (requestDoc, publishPDFDraft, publishDoc)
    Received 18 Nov
  • Configuration files
    Received 18 Nov
  • Third-party dependencies and licences
    14 libraries, 2 licences unclear
  • Architecture and deployment documentation
    Partial: no deployment guide
  • Build instructions
    Requested 21 Oct, overdue
  • Logs and error catalogue
    Requested
  • Test scenarios
    Requested
  • Rights to modify and maintain
    With Acolad legal
  • Transition support
    Offered: 20 days over 3 months

Windchill round trip in WCTEST2

DOC-TEST-0007, English to German
  • requestDoc: create language package
    Package PKG-TEST-0007-DE, 7 topics
  • Retrieve package from exchange area
    SFTP pickup in 40 s
  • Parse, segment and create XLIFF
    184 units
  • Return translated XLIFF
    Checksum verified
  • Import and associate target topics
    7 topics linked to source A.1
  • publishPDFDraft
    Draft PDF, 12 pages
  • publishDoc
    Permission denied for service account svc-gtl-tp (WC-8841)
  • Confirm target state
    Not run

Reuse options for the Simulator

Dots: 1 low, 3 high
OptionEffortRiskMaintainabilityAcolad dependencyNotes
Reuse complete SimulatorFastest start, but keeps the desktop client and end-of-life runtime.
Reuse back end, replace front end
Tentative recommendation
Keeps proven Windchill calls; UI moves into the Operations Console.
Reuse selected integration logicPort method calls and package handling into new services.
Rewrite, keep Windchill methodsNo Acolad dependency; most effort; needs full method documentation.
The recommendation is tentative
It depends on reproducible builds and on the right to modify the code. If either is missing by 11 Dec, the rewrite option becomes the plan. It is estimated in parallel so the choice does not delay Phase 1.

Publication connectors for Phase 1

  • Windchill, through the existing methods
    requestDoc, import and publishPDFDraft work. publishDoc is waiting for a permission.
  • SAP/PNC
    Interface documentation requested 4 Nov and not received. Idempotency analysis cannot start.
  • FieldCheckEditor and SuccessFactors
    Phase 2

Early findings

  • End-of-life runtime
    The Simulator service layer needs a runtime upgrade before it can be hosted in the approved environment.
  • The methods behave as documented
    requestDoc correctly leaves out topics that are already translated or in translation.
  • No retry or duplicate protection today
    The current Simulator relies on the operator. The new connector must add idempotency.