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DriveWorks Pro 21
Using Autopilot

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Using Autopilot

The Autopilot task is used to allow DriveWorks Autopilot to begin listening for new specifications that are made, through any DriveWorks Pro module connected to the same group open in DriveWorks Autopilot.

When Autopilot is running (see Start DriveWorks Autopilot below) each task Autopilot performs is logged in the main screen. Select "Show Information" on the Command Bar to see the tasks being reported,.

The tasks Autopilot reports on include:

  • Specification processing

    The Specification Queue is enabled

  • SOLIDWORKS model generation

    The Model Generation Queue is enabled

  • Email sending

    The Email Queue is enabled

  • Triggered Actions

    The Triggered Action Queue is enabled

  • 3D Preview

    The 3D Preview Queue is enabled

The logging of the above tasks is dependent on Autopilot being set up to perform that task. See Settings for more information.

Model Generation Order

DriveWorks Autopilot will give generation priority in the following order:

  1. Tags - Any components that have been tagged will be generated next.
  2. Date Released - The date a component set was released (oldest first) will be generated next.

Components Released in DriveWorks 14 or earlier

Any components released using DriveWorks 14 or earlier will be generated before anything released after installing the latest version of DriveWorks.

Import Specifications

DriveWorks Autopilot has the ability to import specifications in XML or Tab delimited format and translate the content into a DriveWorks specification.

This allows for the automation of specification creation but is also particularly useful when performing tests on the Autopilot function, as the xml can contain many specifications for processing at once.

Please see Import Specifications for more information.

Start DriveWorks Autopilot

To allow Autopilot to begin listening for new specifications it must be started.

To start Autopilot click the Start button on the Command Bar.

System Tray

Once DriveWorks Autopilot is launched it will appear in the Windows System Tray.

With a group open right click the icon and select Start Autopilot.

Closing Autopilot or a Group while it is running

If Autopilot is closed or the current Group is closed or another Group opened, before pressing Stop, the following message will be displayed:

Please ensure DriveWorks Autopilot has completed all running tasks before continuing.

Click Cancel to return to DriveWorks Autopilot.

Click OK to allow DriveWorks Autopilot to complete any running tasks before closing.

Stop DriveWorks Autopilot

To stop Autopilot click the Stop button on the command bar.

System Tray

Once DriveWorks Autopilot is launched it will appear in the Windows System Tray.

With a group open and Autopilot started right click the icon and select Stop Autopilot.

Edit Tags

Tags are relevant when two or more DriveWorks Autopilot machines are deployed.

Tags allow control over which DriveWorks Autopilot processes the information required for a specification.

Tags can be applied to:

The Tag Editor determines which Autopilots can process the tags set in each of the document types listed above.

Once Autopilot is started a notification will appear in the Autopilot Log giving the current Priority and Blocked Tags status.

Tag Editor

To launch the Tag Editor, from DriveWorks Autopilot:

  1. Select Autopilot from the task explorer.
  2. Click the Edit Tags button from the command bar.

The Tag Editor will open for adding tags to the tag lists.

The tag editor consists of two lists:

  • Priority
  • Blocked

The two lists are accessed from the drop down box at the top of the editor (Priority list is the default).

When a Tag has been added to one list it cannot be added to the other list.

If the Tag has been incorrectly added to the wrong list, it must be deleted before adding to the correct list.

To add a tag:

  1. Select the required list from the drop down.
  2. Enter the Tag name in the text box under the list drop down.
  3. Click Add.

Priority List

By default a DriveWorks Autopilot machine will process all tags.

If a tag is added to this list then that tag will be processed before jobs with tags not in this list.

The order of the tags in this list matters. So if you add:

  • High
  • Medium
  • Low

Then jobs tagged with High will be processed first, then Medium, then Low, then any other jobs (that don't have a tag in the blocked list)

The priority list allows tags to be added, removed, renamed and moved up and down the list.

Process Priority Tags Only

By default a DriveWorks Autopilot machine will process all tags

If the Process Priority Tags Only is checked then only the tags that are in the Priority List will be processed.

So if your Priority list has High and Medium and a job with a tag of Low is specified then this DriveWorks Autopilot machine will not process that job.

Blocked List

This dictates which tags this Autopilot will ignore.

Tags are case insensitive so "high" and "HIGH" will be considered a match
Conflicting Tags

If a tag is in the Blocked List and in the Priority List then a job with that tag will not be processed by that Autopilot as Blocked List wins over Priority List.

Clear Log

To remove all information from the Autopilot Log click the Clear Log button on the command bar.

Export Log

The Log can be exported as a text (.txt) file by:

  1. Click the Export Log button.
  2. Select a location to save the exported log, and enter a name in the Export Log dialog.

Autopilot Log

The Autopilot Log can be filtered to find a specific entry or remove some of the information displayed.

Filter the Log

Entries can be filtered using the filter box above the log.

Please see How To: Use Filters for more information.

Verbose Logging

The Verbose Logging button will toggle between reporting on commenced and completed tasks to completed tasks only.

When Verbose Logging is enabled and any transition, triggered action or sent email task is run the log will report:

Processing... (with the description of the transition, triggered action or email given).

When Verbose Logging is disabled the log will report on what has or could not be processed.

Show Information

Toggle between the display of informational entries.

Show Successful

Toggle between the display of successful entries.

Show Errors

Toggle between the display of error entries.