Overview

These instructions are for customers wanting to utilize Sepasoft Document Management as a standalone module on their Ignition 7.9 or 8.0 platform. The Document Management module is only available for Sepasoft MES 3.0. A database connection within Ignition is required for all Sepasoft MES modules, including Document Management. If your environment doesn't already have one, instructions are provided below to create one.

Installation

These instructions assume the user already has Ignition 7.9 or Ignition 8.0 installed on a server and running.

1. Download both the Sepasoft Document Management module and the Production module appropriate for the destination Ignition version from here:
   1. For Ignition 8.0: https://www.sepasoft.com/downloads/#Platform_3_Ignition_8
   2. For ignition 7.9: https://www.sepasoft.com/downloads/#Platform_3_Ignition_7_9
      
      
2. If your environment doesn't already include a database connection within Ignition, set one up by following the instructions from the Sepasoft MES 3.0 Tutorial course here.
   Note: These instructions are for a MySQL database. For other databases, contact Sepasoft Support.
   
   
3. Using the steps on the Installation Guide page, install the Document Management module. Repeat the same steps to install the Production module.
   
   
4. If your environment doesn't already include a database connection within Ignition, configure the new database just created in Step 2 above by following the instructions from the Sepasoft MES 3.0 Tutorial course here.
   Note: These instructions are for a MySQL database. For other databases, contact Sepasoft Support.
   
   
5. Using the steps on the Licenses Views page for the MES Equipment Manager, apply the Sepasoft license to the Document Management module.
   
   
6. (optional) Create a sample Material Class, Material Definition and document artifact (stored on the Material Definition):
   1. Option 1: Using an MES Object Editor component (in the Production section of the Ignition Designer palette), create the desired hierarchy of Material Classes. Create Material Definitions (as children of the various Classes)  where Artifacts can be created by the Document Management module.

   2. Option 2: Create Material Classes and Material Definitions via Python scripting (see example below).

       Example script to create Material Class and Material Definition objects

      Create one Material Class and one Material Definition, assign the definition as a child object of the class, and then create a new document artifact containing the phrase "Hello World":

      #Create a Material Class
      matClassName = 'My Document Folder'
      mat_class = system.mes.createMESObject('MaterialClass')
      mat_class.setPropertyValue('Name', matClassName)
      system.mes.saveMESObject(mat_class)
      
      #Create a Material Definition
      matDefName = 'My Document Storage Bucket'
      mat_def = system.mes.createMESObject('MaterialDef')
      mat_def.setPropertyValue('Name', matDefName)
      system.mes.saveMESObject(mat_def)
      
      #Assign the Material Definition to the Material Class
      mat_class = system.mes.loadMESObject(matClassName, 'MaterialClass')
      mat_def = system.mes.loadMESObject(matDefName, 'MaterialDef')
      mat_class.addChild(mat_def)
      system.mes.saveMESObject(mat_class)
      
      #Create a new unversioned document artifact on the Material Definition
      #   containing the phrase "Hello World"
      mat_def = system.mes.loadMESObject(matDefName, 'MaterialDef')
      mat_def.createArtifact('demo unversioned artifact', 'Hello World', False)
      system.mes.saveMESObject(mat_def)

       
      The two entities are now created and associated (visible in an MES Object Editor):

      

      
      Right-click on and Edit the Material Definition to see the new artifact:

      

Best Practices

The Document Management module utilizes objects called 'Artifacts', which can be created as properties on a Sepasoft MES Object. There is no 'Document Object', but most MES Objects are allowed to contain Artifacts as properties.

We recommend using one or more Material Objects, for the following reasons:

• They require the least amount of configuration to use.
• They are easiest to understand and script for.
• Material Classes (a parent entity for Material Definitions) can be nested into a hierarchical tree, which can help with organizing document artifacts stored as properties of Material Definitions.

References

Document Management Module

Document Management Components

Keywords