DocDokuPLM : Using web technologiesin a desktop application

Morgan Guimard - 17 nov 2015 - OW2 con' 2015

We are DocDoku

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We help industrial organizations digitize their business

Based in France● Toulouse● Paris

Committed to the Open Source, wemake DocDokuPLM:

● https://github.com/docdoku/docdoku-plm● Twitter: @docdoku

#PLM #HTML5 #Java #BigData#WebGL #IoT #Industry

About me

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Tech experience● 10 years in Web Technologies● JavaScript developer● Java EE developer

Morgan Guimard● DocDokuPLM dev leader● Technical trainer

Agenda

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1 – Introduction to Product Lifecycle Management2 – Working with CAD files3 - Our cross-platform solution

1 - Introduction to Product LifecycleManagement

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Manages the entire lifecycle of a product from its conception toits disposal.

Integrates people, data, processes and business systems andprovides a product information backbone.

Product Lifecycle Management

PBS?

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Product Breakdown Structure

A hierarchical listing of assemblies and components, and thequantities there-of, necessary to produce a final product

Parts

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Each node of a PBS is a part

Stores every information of a component, as its name, customattributes, and its geometry file.

The part number is its identifier. You may find the same part atmultiple PBS levels.

V54S3434RTX

Assembly / Leaf

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● Assembly nodes stores the structure informations● Leaves stores the geometry● Assemblies and leaves are both considered as parts

Example: An office desk

Everything is tracked

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● Through Check-in / Check-out mechanism● Iteration (1, 2, 3...) and Revision (A, B, C...)

Example: Part 100 A.3A is the revision, 3 is the iteration and A.3 is the version

● Iteration = minor changes● Revision = major ones

2 – Working with CAD files

Working with CAD files

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● Our target: CAD designers● They are editing lot of files / large files

Check in / Check out

● Those files need to be synchronized on a server● Collaborative work is a main topic

Standard formats ?

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Some formats are standard

● STEP, IFC, OBJ, …

And some other formats are not standard

● SLDPRT, CATPART, …

We're trying to convert any format, even if not standard

CAD files content

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Depends on the format, can contains

● Geometry only● Structure only● Both

Managed server side with DocDokuPLM server

● Converting many formats to a WebGL format● Extracting the structure from CAD files and creating the PBS● May require proprietary SDK to parse some none standard formats

Multiple editors

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Many edition tools / platforms

● Windows - Mac OS X - Linux● AutoCAD, SolidWorks, CATIA, BIM Editor ...

● Developing a plugin for all of them isn't realistic● Should also be maintained for every software update

How can we help every CAD designer ?

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Editor plugins ?

● Not realistic: too many editors, versions, languages

Operating system integration ?

● Would be a great solution, but requires more than a single code base

The easiest way for us is a cross platform application

3 – Our cross platform solution

Command line interface

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Fits for most advanced users...

● Scriptable● Lightweight● Easy to use● Check in / Check out and synchronize files from command line with a

single command

● ...but lacks a graphical user interface to easily make bulk operations

$ dplm checkin some-part-number

Choosing a cross-platform technology

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Native ? Web based ? What do we need ?

● Read and write the user's FileSystem● Be able to interact with our JSON WebServices● Interact with our CLI● Have a responsive design for each display● 3D preview

Node Webkit

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Just a nutshell ...

● Wrapping NodeJS and a Webkit browser● Let's keep a standard API: HTML5● And let's use NodeJS low level API

NodeJS brings us ...

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… exactly what we need

● Ability to walk the user's FileSystem to discover CAD files● Read CAD files contents to display them in a 3D preview● An API to interact with our CLI (Directly in java or bash)● FileSystem watchers to detect any change made on a file● An easy way to work with JSON objects

Webkit browser

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Helps us to :

● Create a responsive design● Keep a single code base for each platform● Allow HTTP connections and easy JSON parsing● Load 3D file with WebGL technology for a live preview

Pros and cons of this choice

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We like...● One code base, and code reuse● Standard API● Fast development process● Latest web technologies can be used● Easy to package

We don't like so much…● App size (must embed Webkit and NodeJs)● Requires more RAM and CPU● Hard to mimic the OS look and feel● May have bugs for NodeWebkit (notification, file system changes)

Our web based solution

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DocDokuDPLM

● Built with NodeWebkit● Using AngularJS as the main framework● Using NodeJS API

Architecture

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User's desktop

DocDokuDPLM APP

DocDokuCLINodeJS

Webkit + AngularJS

DocDokuPLM server

FSCAD editor

Remote and local navigation

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● Allows the designer to browse remote and local folders

File change detection

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● Allows the designer quickly see which files are out of sync● Green tick icon means synchronized● Orange cloud icon means modified

Recursive download

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● Allows the designer to check out / download a whole structure within asingle action

● Select existing baseline

Synchronizing a whole folder

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● Allows the designer to check in / upload a whole folder

3D preview

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● Allows the designers to see their files in 3D before uploading them● The same 3D engine is used in the DocDokuPLM server

To come soon

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We'd like to bring the following features to our solution

● Desktop notifications (synchronization done, etc…)● Better errors handling● Shortcuts to open a part in the user's favorite editor from our app● SMART check-in order when pushing many files in a single operation● ...

Questions ?

Thank you !