PDMWorks Enterprise Cache Tips

For those familiar with PDMWorks Enterprise, it uses a local cache when a user accesses a file.  This local cache works like Internet caching.  As you may or may not know, when you browse internet pages, images from those pages are copied down to your local hard drive so the page displays faster the next time you browse.  PDMWorks Enterprise works the same way.  Any time you access a file by viewing or modifying, that file is copied into your cache.  So the next time you view the file, the system will access it from the local cache instead of from the server saving valuable time, especially when you are accessing a large CAD assembly that can be over 100MB.  So when you view a file here is the process that PDMWorks Enterprise follows:

1.  Looks for the file in the cache
2.  Compares the version with the version in the cache
3.  If the version in the vault is newer that the one in your cache, the version tab will look like this screenshot:

4.  If you want a more recent version, you can just right-click on the file and “Get Latest Version” or “Get Version” to get a specific version.  See screenshots:

Note: the admin can force “Get Latest Version” only for users and groups so those users cannot accidentally get older versions.

So, you might ask, if it stores a copy of every file I view, won’t my hard drive fill up quickly?  The answer is “yes” and that it why there is a “Clear Local Cache” selection available from any folder inside of PDMWorks Enterprise. 

So if you are done with a project, you can clear it’s cache and it will remove all the files from your local machine.  If you are starting work on a project, you can just right-click on a project and select “Get Latest Version” and then it will load your cache with all the project files.  For more information visit InFlow Technology.