Your Pro/INTRALINK FAQs Answered

I thought I'd take a break this week from my overview of new capabilities in Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 to address some basic frequently asked questions that have come up lately, both in the forums and in my discussions with customers and certified resellers.

Q: Is there a summary of Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 capabilities and other useful information?
A: I recommend the "Getting Stated with Pro/INTRALINK 8.0" document:

Q: When will Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 be released?
A: Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 was released on June 17, 2005 and is currently available. Always refer to the software availability guide for availability of all PTC products: http://www.ptc.com/cgi/support/apps/sft_upd_dsp/sft_upd_dsp.pl

Q: Do I need to wait for Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 3.0 before migrating to Pro/INTRALINK 8.0?
A: No, Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 is compatible with Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2.0, build M130 and higher. Refer to the Compatibility Matrix for more information.

Q: I'm using the Graphics Server with Pro/INTRALINK 3.x to publish and share ProductView viewables. Can I use the Graphics Server with Pro/INTRALINK 8.0?
A: There will be no need of the Graphics Server with Pro/INTRALINK 8.0, since the Windchill Visualization Services will be available directly within Pro/INTRALINK 8.0. Note however that ProductView is an optional (extra charge) module within Pro/INTRALINK 8.0. If you do not have ProductView, you won't be able to see thumbnails or access viewables in property pages. (You'll still be able to see a preview image in Pro/ENGINEER however, as is currently possible without ProductView.) If you've seen a demonstration of Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 (or PDMLink for that matter) then you have probably seen the integrated ProductView visualization. So remember that if you want this capability in your own Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 implementation - and I think that it's well worth it - then you'll need to use the optional ProductView module! If you currently pay maintenance on ProductView, you won't need to re-purchase it; you'll be entitled to use it with the Windchill Visualization Services in Pro/INTRALINK 8.0. Viewables are still created using a CAD Worker, but now they are managed directly within Pro/INTRALINK 8.0. However, there is no way currently to migrate existing viewables from the Graphics Server into Pro/INTRALINK 8.0; my suggestion is to publish the baseline viewables of your data after migrating the data into 8.0. The Graphics Server can be "kept alive" for reference if necessary.

Q: We currently use triggers in Pro/INTRALINK 3.x. Will this functionality be available in Pro/INTRALINK 8.0?
A: I find it best to quote the answer directly from the "Getting Started" guide on page 72: Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 provides comparable capabilities to the Pro/INTRALINK 3.x platform in all respects, including customization; however, additional licenses may be required for some customization capabilities.

While Pro/INTRALINK 3.x Toolkit applications and triggers are coded in C programming language which has to be compiled and distributed for each hardware target platform, Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 is fully based on the JAVA programming language which is platform independent. Note: your existing triggers will not work with Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 and in some cases may not even be necessary anymore.

Don't forget to browse the Pro/INTRALINK Advisor Site and the (searchable!) discussion forums for more information.