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DriveWorks Pro 21
Autopilot PowerPack

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DriveWorks Labs PowerPacks can be updated more often than the main release.

Please consult the Online Help File for the most up to date information and functionality.

Autopilot PowerPack

The Autopilot PowerPack plugin provides tasks that can be run on specifications on a scheduled day or time.

This plugin is machine specific.

It should be installed on the machine running DriveWorks Autopilot.

If multiple DriveWorks Autopilot machines are deployed, it should be installed on each one and have the same settings applied.

Please Note

When specifications, that require processing, are detected the plugin will temporarily stop the DriveWorks Autopilot machine.

Once the tasks are complete it will automatically start DriveWorks Autopilot again.

Install/Uninstall

The installation file is available from the DriveWorks Community website at https://my.driveworks.co.uk/ (login required).

Once downloaded double click the DriveWorks-AutopilotPowerPack-[version number].msi file to begin the installation process.

DriveWorks and SOLIDWORKS should be closed while installing the plugin.

Once installed the plugin is automatically loaded in DriveWorks.

The plugin is uninstalled from Windows Programs and Features, and will be listed as DriveWorks Autopilot PowerPack [version number].

DriveWorks should be closed and restarted once the plugin has been uninstalled to remove it from the plugin list in the DriveWorks settings.

Plugin Settings

Once installed the plugin can be configured by:

  1. Launch DriveWorks Autopilot.

    The plugin will also be available from other DriveWorks modules that are installed on the same machine as DriveWorks Autopilot.

  2. Click the Settings button from the header bar.
  3. Select plugin Settings from the list on the left of the Settings dialog.
  4. Select DriveWorks Autopilot PowerPack plugin, from the section under Application Plugins.

Once selected, the following options are available for the plugin.

  • Enable/ Disable
  • Settings
  • Details

Enable/ Disable

Once installed the plugin is disabled by default.

It must be enabled once the settings have been applied to perform the specified tasks.

To enable the plugin:

  1. Select DriveWorks Autopilot PowerPack from the list of Application Plugins.
  2. Click the Enable button at the bottom of the list.

The plugin can be disabled without requiring Autopilot to be stopped.

Settings

To access the plugin settings:

  1. Select DriveWorks Autopilot PowerPack from the list of Application Plugins.
  2. Click the Settings button at the bottom of the list.
  3. The Scheduler Settings dialog will launch.

See Scheduler Settings below for more information.

Details

The Details button shows information about the plugin.

Scheduler Settings

The Scheduler Settings dialog displays all the settings that are used to configure the plugin.


General Settings

There is one option in the General Settings section:

  • Stop/Start DriveWorks Autopilot every interval

With this option checked the plugin will stop DriveWorks Autopilot at each set interval in which the tasks are to be run. Once completed the plugin will start DriveWorks Autopilot.

Scheduled Tasks

There are four types of task that can be performed:

  • Delete archived specifications
  • Invoke a transition on specifications
  • Invoke a transition on named specifications
  • Invoke an operation on specifications

Delete archived specifications

This task will delete archived specifications that meet the given criteria.

Once the task is checked the criteria box is shown.

This allows archived specifications to be deleted when the specification is a set number of days old or more.

Enter the number of days old the specifications are, that this task is will run on.

For example:

  • 0 (zero) - will delete specifications that have been archived from today.
  • 1 or more - will delete specifications that have been archived for one day or more.

Invoke a transition on specifications

This task will invoke a transition on specifications.

Once the task is checked the criteria box is shown.

This allows the following criteria to be entered:

  • The name of the Transition to run on the specifications.

    For example - ReleaseLocal

  • The name of the State that the transition exists in.

    For example - Pending

  • The number of days old the specifications are, that this task is will run on.

    For example:

    • 0 (zero) - will run on specifications that have been in the specified state from today.
    • 1 or more - will run on specifications that have been in the specified state for one day or more.

Invoke a transition on named specifications

This task will invoke a transition on named specifications.

Once the task is checked the criteria box is shown.

This allows the following criteria to be entered:

  • The name of the Transition to run on the specifications.

    For example - ReleaseLocal

  • The name or the ID of the Specifications to run the Task on.

    For example:

    • MyProjectName 2001 - will transition the specification MyProjectName 2001.
    • 2005 will transition the corresponding Specification to this specification ID, let's consider in this example that it is MyProjectName 2005.
    • MyProjectName 2001|2005 will transition the Specifications MyProjectName 2001 and MyProjectName 2005.

Invoke an operation on specifications

This task will invoke an operation on specifications.

Once the task is checked the criteria box is shown.

This allows the following criteria to be entered:

  • Only run on non-archived specifications - With this checked the task will only run on specifications that have not been archived.
    If the operation being run is the Archive operation, please ensure this setting is checked.

    If an Archive operation is run on an archived specification it will reappear in the specification explorer.

  • The name of the Operation to run on the specifications.

    For example - Archive

  • The name of the State that the operation exists in.

    For example - Completed

  • The number of days old the specifications are, that this task is will run on.

    For example:

    • 0 (zero) - will run on specifications that have been in the specified state from today.
    • 1 or more - will run on specifications that have been in the specified state for one day or more.

Schedule Day/Time

This allows the setting of the day and time to run the tasks.

Individual days can be set by checking the appropriate box.

Tasks can run between specified hours.

This minimises the impact on DriveWorks Autopilot performing its usual function (generating models, processing specifications, etc.).

The time the tasks are to run works over a 24 hour period.

So 00:00 to 00:00 will run the tasks between midnight and midnight.

Setting the tasks to run continuously between the set time will stop DriveWorks Autopilot, run the tasks, and start it again according to the applied time interval.

When unchecked, the tasks will run just once during the set time.

The time interval can be set to 30, 60, 120, 240 and 600 second intervals.