Documenting Processes

A CATScript file named DocumentNewGeneratorHTML.CATScript is located in the code/command directory of the DELMIA installation. This script can be executed using the command "Generate Documentation" in the DPM Tools toolbar in the DPM Planner Workbench.

An analysis of this script is provided below for educational purposes. The interfaces that are used and their purpose are described. 

In the following script, interfaces of interest are highlighted in bold green text, and additional descriptive remarks (which are not part of the program) are highlighted in red text with a gray background.
 

 
'********************************************************************
'********************************************************************
'****  VBSCRIPT MACRO FOR THE GENERATION OF HTML DOCUMENTATION   **** 
'****              Steve Morissette 11/01/99                     ****
'********************************************************************
'********************************************************************
' 11/01/99 : Modified to make URL references to attributes named URL
The lines above represent a series of comment lines. All comment 
lines must begin with the single-quote (') character.
Language="VBSCRIPT"  This is mandatory.
Dim OutRef, OutPath, OutIndex  This declares global variables to be 
used later.
Sub CATMain() This is the script that is going to be called by the 
documentation function.
   CATDocument "Process", "Test", "c:\temp\" 
   The Subroutine CATDocument will be called with these default 
   values if no other values are given.
End Sub
'--------------------------------------------------------------------
' Main Procedure  This procedure will set up starting variables for  
this particular documentation method (this is related to the way the 
documentation method is called, and is not pertinent in knowing how  
to use Process Data interfaces).
'--------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub CATDocument( RootActivityName, HtmlFilesName, HtmlFilesPath)
CATIA.SystemService.Print "RootActivityName : " & RootActivityName
CATIA.SystemService.Print "HtmlFilesName : " & HtmlFilesName
CATIA.SystemService.Print "HtmlFilesPath : " & HtmlFilesPath
  Dim RootActivity
  Dim RootActName
  RootActName = RootActivityName
  OutPath = HtmlFilesPath
  OutRef = HtmlFilesName
  OutIndex = OutRef & "_index.html"
  Set RootActivity = Catia.ActiveDocument.GetItem(RootActName) 
CATIA will find the object called RootActName in the current 
ActiveDocument and set RootActivity at this value.
  CreateIndex RootActivity, OutPath, OutRef, OutIndex  
Calling the CreateIndex method.
End Sub

'---------------------------------------------------------------
' Create the index file
'---------------------------------------------------------------'
Sub CreateIndex(RootActivity, OutPath, OutRef, OutIndex)
  Dim indexfs
  Dim indexf
  Set indexfs = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
  Set indexf = Indexfs.OpenTextFile(OutPath & OutIndex, 2, True)
This created an output file for the data to be written, and 
opened the file to receive the data All the data will be    
written using the indexf.WriteLine statement.

The few next statements are related to the html header, since in 
this example, we are trying to create a set of html pages.
  'Write index file header
  indexf.WriteLine "<!doctype html public ""-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"">"
  indexf.WriteLine "<html>"
  indexf.WriteLine "<head>"
  indexf.WriteLine "   <meta http-equiv=""Content-Type"" content=""text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"">"
  indexf.WriteLine "   <meta name=""GENERATOR"" content=""IPD v2"">"
  indexf.WriteLine "   <meta name=""Author"" content=""IPD v2"">"
  indexf.WriteLine "   <title>Activities Index for Process : " & RootActivity.Name & "</title>"
RootActivity is an object of type Activity, for which the Name attribute will return a label.
  indexf.WriteLine "</head>"
  indexf.WriteLine "<body background=""back.gif"" bgcolor=#EEEEFF>"
  indexf.WriteLine "<CENTER>"
  indexf.WriteLine "<P><h2>Activities Index for Process : <I>" & RootActivity.Name & "</I></h2>"
  indexf.WriteLine "<I>Generation Date : " & Date & " at " & Time & "</I></P>"
  indexf.WriteLine "</CENTER>"
  indexf.WriteLine "<P><TABLE BORDER COLS=1 WIDTH=""100%"" >"
  indexf.WriteLine "<TR ALIGN=CENTER BGCOLOR=#CCCCCC><TD><B>Activities Hierarchy</B></TD></TR></TABLE>"
  indexf.WriteLine "<TABLE BORDER COLS=5 WIDTH=""100%"" >"
  indexf.WriteLine "<TR ALIGN=CENTER BGCOLOR=#EEEEEE>"
  indexf.WriteLine "<TD WIDTH=""30%""><B>Name</B></TD>"
  indexf.WriteLine "<TD WIDTH=""40%""><B>Description</B></TD>"
  indexf.WriteLine "<TD WIDTH=""10%""><B>Cycle Time</B></TD>"
  indexf.WriteLine "<TD WIDTH=""10%""><B>Begin Date</B></TD>"
  indexf.WriteLine "<TD WIDTH=""10%""><B>End Date</B></TD>"
  indexf.WriteLine "</TR>"
  'Write reference
  WriteIndexRef RootActivity, indexf, OutPath, OutRef, 0
  indexf.WriteLine "</TD></TR></TABLE></P>"
The main page of the documentation has now been written and another subroutine, 
WriteIndexRef, is now being called to extract all the details of the operations.
End Sub
'---------------------------------------------------------------
' Write the index reference for an activity
'---------------------------------------------------------------
Function WriteIndexRef(Activity, File, OutPath, OutRef, Level)
  Dim childs
  Dim child
  Dim quantity
  Dim I
   If (Activity.IsSubTypeOf("PhysicalActivity")) Then
This method of the Activity Object allows to test for the type of 
an Activity object.
    'Write reference for the activity itself
    File.WriteLine "<TR VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF><TD><A HREF = " & OutRef & "_" 
        & Activity.Name & ".html>"
	'Indent the name according to the level of the activity
	Dim J
	For J = 0 To Level
	  File.Write "--"
	Next
	File.WriteLine Activity.Name & "</A></TD>"
	File.WriteLine "<TD>" & Activity.Description & "</TD>"
	File.WriteLine "<TD>" & Activity.CycleTime & "</TD>"
	File.WriteLine "<TD>" & Activity.BeginningDate & "</TD>"
    File.WriteLine "<TD>" & Activity.EndDate & "</TD></TR>"
All of the above methods are also available using the Activity Object. 
They will return the values of the Description, the CycleTime, and the 
Beginning and End Dates. Please note that Time and Dates are updated   
once the Gantt Chart is opened in DPM.
    'Write the activity detail file
    WriteActivityFile Activity, OutPath, OutRef
    'Write the list
    Set childs = Activity.ChildrenActivities
This will get a list of children activities of the selected Activity.
    quantity = childs.Count This will give the number of elements in 
that returned list.
    if quantity <= 0 then
      Exit Function
    End if
    'Recursively write sons
    For I=1 To quantity
      Set child = childs.Item(I)  This will extract all elements 
of the child's list. Each extracted element is also an Activity, 
and therefore, we can recursively call the method to extract the 
Activity data for this son element.
      WriteIndexRef child,File,OutPath,OutRef,Level+1
    Next
  End if
End Function

These are other subroutines that may be called with an Activity 
and an output File.
'---------------------------------------------------------------
' Write an activity item list This will return the list of 
items attached to an activity (that is the list of items   
products that an Activity will be working on).
'---------------------------------------------------------------
Sub WriteItems(Activity, File)
  Dim items,item,quantity
  Set items = Activity.Items 
  quantity = items.Count
  if quantity <= 0 then
    File.WriteLine "None"
    exit sub
  end if
  File.WriteLine "<UL>"
  For I=1 To quantity
    Set item = items.Item(I)
	File.WriteLine "<LI>" & item.Name & "</LI>"  Each of the 
        items, as any Object, has a name that can be extracted. 
  Next
  File.WriteLine "</UL>"
End Sub
'---------------------------------------------------------------
' Write an activity resource list  This will return the list    
of resources attached to the Activity so that it may be properly
performed.
'---------------------------------------------------------------
Sub WriteResources(Activity, File)
  Dim resources,item,quantity
  Set resources = Activity.Resources
  quantity = resources.Count
  if quantity <= 0 then
    File.WriteLine "None"
    exit sub
  end if
  File.WriteLine "<UL>"
  For I=1 To quantity
    Set resource = resources.Item(I)
	File.WriteLine "<LI>" & resource.Name & "</LI>"
  Next
  File.WriteLine "</UL>"
End Sub
'---------------------------------------------------------------
' Write the previous list This method will allow you to extract
the list of previous Activities (in Sequence) for an Activity, 
inside an output File
'---------------------------------------------------------------
Sub WritePrevious(Activity, File)
  Dim activities
  Dim one
  Dim quantity
  Dim I
  Set activities = Activity.PreviousCFActivities
  quantity = activities.Count
  if quantity <= 0 then
    exit sub
  end if
   File.WriteLine "<UL>"
  for I = 1 to quantity
    Set one = activities.Item(I)
    If (one.IsSubTypeOf("PhysicalActivity")) Then
      File.WriteLine "<LI><A HREF = """ & OutRef & "_" & one.Name & ".html" & """>" 
        & one.Name & "</A></LI>"
	End If
	next
  File.WriteLine "</UL>"
End Sub
'---------------------------------------------------------------
' Write the next list This method will allow you to extract the 
list of next Activities (in Sequence) for an Activity, inside   
an output File 
'---------------------------------------------------------------
Sub WriteNext(Activity, File)
  Dim activities
  Dim one
  Dim quantity
  Dim I
  Set activities = Activity.NextCFActivities
  quantity = activities.Count
  if quantity <= 0 then
    exit sub
  end if
  File.WriteLine "<UL>"
  for I = 1 to quantity
    Set one = activities.Item(I)
    If (one.IsSubTypeOf("PhysicalActivity")) Then
	  File.WriteLine "<LI><A HREF = """ & OutRef & "_" & one.Name & ".html" & """>" 
            & one.Name & "</A></LI>"
	
  next
  File.WriteLine "</UL>"
End Sub
'---------------------------------------------------------------
' Write an activity file specific data block This method will 
allow you to extract the list of specific attributes attached 
to an Activity, inside an output File 
'---------------------------------------------------------------
Sub WriteSpecific(Activity, File)
  If (Activity.IsSubTypeOf("PhysicalActivity")) Then This If 
statement is necessary since only the Physical Activity have 
the capability to have additional specific user attributes.  
    Nbr=Activity.AttrCount This will give the number of extra
 attributes on the Activity
    If (Nbr > 0) Then
      For I=1 To Nbr
        name = Activity.AttrName(I) This will give the name 
of the attribute of rank I in the list of extra attributes. 
        If (name = "URL") Then
            File.WriteLine "<B>" & name & " : </B>"
            AttrVal = Activity.AttrValue(I) This will give  
the value of the attribute of rank I in the list of extra   
attributes.
            File.WriteLine "<A HREF=file:/" & AttrVal & ">" & AttrVal & "</A><BR>"
        Else
            File.WriteLine "<B>" & name & " : </B>"
            AttrVal = Activity.AttrValue(I)
            File.WriteLine AttrVal & "<BR>"
        End If
      Next
	Else
	  File.WriteLine "None"
    End If
  End If
End Sub

Notes
  • Most of the methods that are used come from the Activity Object.

  • Some methods that were not discussed in this example are:

    • Activity.Resources, which returns the list of resources on an Activity, and on which the Resources Object can then be used.
    • Activity.Items, which returns the list of Items transformed by an Activity, and on which the Items Object can then be used.
    • Activity.Create("PhysicalActivity"), which creates a son Activity to an existing Activity. The type of the Activity to be created will be specified in the method (this type must exist, and the relevant Process Library loaded in DELMIA DPM Planner). 
    • L1.CreateLink L2, which creates a sequence link between two activities objects L1 and L2.
    • ChildrenActivities.Remove("xxx"), which removes Children Activity of name xxx from a list of Activities ChildrenActivities.
    •  L1. RemoveLink L2, which removes Sequence Link between Activities L1 and L2.