e!cmi - web based CATIA Metaphase Interface

e!cmi - web based CATIA Metaphase Interface e!cmi Release 2.0 for CF2.0 User s Manual

Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 T-Systems International GmbH. All rights reserved. Printed in Germany. Contact T-Systems International GmbH BC EPDM/D Fasanenweg 5 70771 Leinfelden-Echterdingen Germany cmi_support@t-systems.com www.cmi-support.com Manual History Version 1.0 1.1 2.0 Date January 2003 May 2003 August 2003 Trademarks CATIA is a registered trademark of Dassault Systèmes. Metaphase is a registered trademark of Metaphase Technology, Inc. Teamcenter is a registered trademark of EDS PLM Solutions. Names of other products mentioned in this manual are used only for identification purpose and may be trademarks of their companies. ii e!cmi User s Manual

Preface This manual describes the usage of the web based CATIA Metaphase Interface (e!cmi). It contains the description how to store, modify and manage CATIA V5 models and assembly structures in Teamcenter 2.0 via a simple web browser. It is not possible to create new structures or append new CATIA models to existing product structures. You can just modify product structures which already exist in the Teamcenter database. Because of this restriction we suppose this product to be a good solution for a supplier integration where suppliers should do some modifications to existing structures and CAD models. For example it could be possible that the OEM creates the whole product structure with empty CATIA models and the supplier has to fill them with life. About this Manual This manual is intended for end users of e!cmi. It assumes that the reader is familiar with the CATIA V5 application and with Teamcenter Collaboration Foundation 2.0 (formally known as Metaphase) Object Management Framework (OMF) as described in the Object Management Framework User s Manual. Related Documents The following manuals contain information about installation, usage and customization of the standard CATIA Metaphase Interface (CMI), and information about the installation and administration of e!cmi: Manual Title Version CATIA Metaphase Interface Installation Guide 8.4 CATIA Metaphase Interface User s Manual 8.4 CATIA Metaphase Interface Customizing Guide 8.4 Web based CATIA Metaphase Interface Installation & 2.0 Administration Guide Your Comments are Welcome Please feel free to give us your opinion; we are always interested in improving our publications. Mail your comments to: T-Systems International GmbH Business Center EPDM/D Fasanenweg 5 70771 Leinfelden-Echterdingen Germany mailto: cmi_support@t-systems.com e!cmi User s Manual iii

Table of Contents CHAPTER 1... 1 OVERVIEW... 1 INTRODUCING E!CMI... 1 E!CMI JOINS THE ADVANTAGES OF CAD WITH PDM VIA THE WEB... 1 ARCHITECTURE OF E!CMI... 1 CHAPTER 2... 3 BASIC CONCEPTS... 3 UNDERSTANDING THE STRUCTURE... 3 CREATING A PART OR DOCUMENT WITHIN THE WEB CLIENT... 3 SEARCHING FOR PARTS OR DOCUMENTS WITHIN THE WEB CLIENT... 5 CREATING A STRUCTURE... 6 PREDEFINED OBJECT STRUCTURE... 7 OBJECT MAPPING... 7 CMI PREFERENCES... 8 CHAPTER 3... 9 GETTING STARTED... 9 ASSUMPTIONS... 9 STARTING APPLICATIONS... 9 OVERVIEW OF E!CMI FUNCTIONALITY... 10 Simple Search and Advanced Search for CATIA V5 files... 10 Expand and De-Expand functionality of Product structures in the e!cmi Workbench... 10 Downloading/Copying of CATIA V5 files to a Transfer Map for modifying activities in CATIA V5.... 11 Updating all changes to the product structure and the CATIA V5 files... 11 Launching this user manual... 11 CHAPTER 4... 13 WORKING WITH CATIA V5 FILES... 13 SIMPLE SEARCH... 13 ADVANCED SEARCH... 13 SEND TO TRANSFER MAP OF SINGLE CATIA V5 FILES... 14 CHAPTER 5... 17 THE E!CMI WORKBENCH... 17 WHAT IS THE E!CMI WORKBENCH?... 17 THE TO WORKBENCH FUNCTIONALITY... 18 THE E!CMI WORKBENCH FUNCTIONS... 18 e!cmi Multiple Expand... 18 e!cmi Single Expand... 19 e!cmi De-Expand... 20 Send All To Transfer Map... 21 Send Marked Items to Transfer Map... 23 CHAPTER 6... 25 WORKING WITH THE CATIA V5 E!CMI MODULE... 25 INTRODUCTION... 25 E!CMI TOOLBAR... 25 CMI TOOLBAR: READ FROM TRANSFERMAP... 25 CMI TOOLBAR: WRITE TO TRANSFER MAP... 25 CHAPTER 7... 27 UPDATING CHANGES MADE IN CATIA V5... 27 e!cmi User s Manual v

GLOSSARY... 29 vi e!cmi User s Manual

Table of Figures FIGURE 1: THE E!CMI ARCHITECTURE.... 2 FIGURE 2: CREATING NEW PART OR DOCUMENT... 4 FIGURE 3: CREATING NEW PART OR DOCUMENT - PROPERTIES... 4 FIGURE 4: SEARCHING FOR PARTS OR DOCUMENTS ADVANCED SEARCH.... 5 FIGURE 5: SEARCHING FOR PARTS OR DOCUMENTS SIMPLE SEARCH... 6 FIGURE 6: A SIMPLE PRODUCT STRUCTURE.... 7 FIGURE 7: AN OBJECT STRUCTURE IN CMI.... 7 FIGURE 8: OBJECT MAPPING... 8 FIGURE 9: THE TEAMCENTER LOGIN PAGE... 9 FIGURE 10: THE TEAMCENTER START PAGE.... 10 FIGURE 11: THE SIMPLE SEARCH FOR CATIA V5 PART FILES.... 13 FIGURE 12: THE ADVANCED SEARCH FOR CATIA V5 PART FILES.... 14 FIGURE 13: SEND TO TRANSFER MAP OF SINGLE CATIA V5 FILES.... 15 FIGURE 14: THE E!CMI WORKBENCH.... 17 FIGURE 15: THE E!CMI MULTIPLE EXPAND.... 19 FIGURE 16: THE E!CMI SINGLE EXPAND... 20 FIGURE 17: THE E!CMI DE-EXPAND... 21 FIGURE 18: THE DIRECTORY CHOOSER.... 22 FIGURE 19: THE SEND TO TRANSFER MAP FUNCTIONALITY.... 22 FIGURE 21: E!CMI TOOLBAR IN CATIA V5... 25 FIGURE 22: UPDATE OF CATIA V5 CHANGES... 27 e!cmi User s Manual vii

CHAPTER 1 Overview This chapter provides basic information about the web based CATIA Metaphase Interface called e!cmi and lists some features of this application interface. Introducing e!cmi The web based CATIA Metaphase Interface (e!cmi), developed by T-Systems, is a highend integration between the CAD system CATIA V5 and the PDM system Teamcenter 2.0 (Collaboration Foundation + Product Collaboration). With this interface it is possible to manage CATIA V5 files and parts via a web browser. e!cmi is supposed to be used for a supplier integration. The supplier can access via the web to the Teamcenter database and get all relevant data for modifying it offline in the CATIA V5 system and then send it back for update purpose. e!cmi joins the advantages of CAD with PDM via the web e!cmi combines the CAD superiority of CATIA V5 with the powerful PDM functionality of Teamcenter via a web browser. It allows a selective providing of information via access control. All changes are immediately visible to all logged-in participants. The information is passed in real-time and therefore saves time and money. The web native thin client lets users work with web browsers that they already use and understand. No installation of any special PDM software on their personal delivery platforms is required. Easy access of the product data from a single web source that will deliver the relevant product information whenever and wherever the user requests it. Architecture of e!cmi The following figure explains the architectural basics of e!cmi. e!cmi User s Manual 1

Web Application Server (Product Collaboration) Collaboration Foundation 2.0 Server Client Web Browser HTML Display File Java VM Collaboration Foundation Servers CMI/GMI Server CATIA V5 e!cmi CATIA Extension Java VM e!cmi Applet Team-center Classes / JSPs e!cmi Classes / JSPs XDR MUX CAD Data MP Vaults DB HTTP(S) Communication e!cmi-protocol Optional Firewall Figure 1: The e!cmi architecture. 2 e!cmi User s Manual

CHAPTER 2 Basic concepts This chapter explains the concepts underlying the work with structures and describes how to create assemblies and components. Further on it describes the structure of assemblies when working with CATIA V5. Understanding the Structure A structure is made of one or more parts. Teamcenter Collaboration Foundation knows two kinds of parts, Assemblies: and Components: An Assembly is a Part that can contain other parts (i.e. Assemblies or Components). A Component cannot contain other Parts. Please refer to the Document CMI User Manual for more information about a default product data structure. It is possible to use the CmponentDataModel in the Teamcenter Collaboration Foundation installation All changes for this data model are added to the description of the classical data model in this manual in this style. Creating a Part or Document within the web client Click on My Data New. In the mainframe appears a dialog, where you can choose which class to create a Generic Document or a Part. Select Part and click Next. On the next side choose the type of your new Part Assembly or Component and click Next. A dialog like in the OMF client will appear. Fill in all relevant attributes and click Next. The new Part has been created. e!cmi User s Manual 3

Figure 2: Creating new Part or Document. Figure 3: Creating new Part or Document - Properties. 4 e!cmi User s Manual

Searching for Parts or Documents within the web client You can search (query) for Parts or Documents in the database in two different ways. You can do either a simple search or an advanced search. The advanced search works like a query in the old OMF client. You get a dialog mask and can fill in several search attributes for the class you are looking for in the database. Click on the button Advanced in the Teamcenter browser, then select a class and click on the Next button. You will then see the dialog mask where to enter your search criteria. Result of the search will be a table with all objects which fit to this criteria. Figure 4: Searching for Parts or Documents Advanced Search. e!cmi User s Manual 5

Figure 5: Searching for Parts or Documents Simple Search. With the Simple Search you can quickly search for Parts or Documents by the attribute Part Number or Document Name. The result will be a table with all objects which fit to the criteria. Attention: Only 50 objects which fit to the search criteria will be returned. If there are more objects they are not seen in the table! You cannot change this settings. Creating a Structure To create a structure in Teamcenter, at least one part of the assembly has to be created yet (see the section Creating a Part in this chapter). 6 e!cmi User s Manual

For generating a relation uses part between two Parts you have to click on one created Part for example on a search result page and then select the tab BOM on the tabbar of this Part. You will see the BOM structure of this Part and on the bottom there are some buttons for creating relations called Search And Add or Create And Add. For example: to create the relationship part 1 uses part part 2 just click on part 1 and then go to the BOM View. Then click on the Button Search And Add, search for part 2, select it and click Next. You will return to the BOM View with part 2 related to part 1. The relationships need not to be made in a specific order. Figure 6: A simple product structure. Predefined Object Structure The web based CATIA Metaphase Interface contains the following predefined object structure to support CATIA V5 like standard CMI: Is Described By Attaches Assembly Document CATPart Figure 7: An object structure in CMI. The relation Is Described By exists between a Part and a Document. This relation can be created by clicking on the button Search and Add or Create and Add on the Related Items tab of Parts. [Please refer to the Teamcenter user documentation for managing relationships between Metaphase elements]. The Document can contain at least one relation Attaches for CATIA V5 file elements. It is possible to attach more than one CATIA V5 file to a single Document, however, a particular CATIA V5 file may only be attached once within a Document. More than one Document can be associated with each Part. In the CmponentDataModel are the following restrictions: It is not allowed to have Catia V5 Files under Assembly objects. Only one Catia V5 Part File can be under a Part object. Object Mapping Teamcenter uses the product structure classes Assembly and Component, CATIA V5 uses CATProducts, CATParts and CATDrawings. e!cmi User s Manual 7

Both Assemblies and Components are mapped to CATProducts in CATIA V5. Models in Teamcenter are represented by CATParts or CATDrawings in CATIA V5. Assembly CATProduct Component Figure 8: Object Mapping Model CATPart CATDrawing The CATProduct and the CATParts/CATDrawings are stored under different documents of a Part. CMI Preferences It is necessary to set the CMI preferences correctly in order to work with CATIA V5. The following actions open the CMI Preferences dialog window: CATIA Workbench: Options Change Preferences CMI Preferences It is not possible to set these preferences in the e!cmi web browser. The administrator has to set them within the old OMF client when creating the user. The main preference settings for working with CATIA V5 and e!cmi are as follows: CATProduct Worklocation Use CATIA V4 files Use CATIA V5 files Work with CATIA Storage location for saving CATProducts if the user wants to work in that mode is not used for e!cmi because you can t create new Product files but you have to set this value when Use CATIA V5 Product files is set to TRUE in Teamcenter System Configuration. We recommend to set its value to a temp directory. If it is set to TRUE CATIA V4 model files will be expanded. If it is set to TRUE CATIA V5 files will be expanded. Toggles modes between working with CATIA V4 or working with CATIA V5. 8 e!cmi User s Manual

CHAPTER 3 Getting Started This chapter describes how to start working with the e!cmi functionality within the Teamcenter 2.0 thin client and gives an overview of all functions. Assumptions Some assumptions, for a better understanding of the descriptions and examples: The CATIA V5 e!cmi module is installed. Standard CMI is installed within the Teamcenter server installation and e!cmi is installed on the web application server. Starting Applications Before working with e!cmi you have to log in to the Teamcenter environment on the login page of the Teamcenter 2.0 thin client. The URL to this login page normally looks like this: http://webappserver_name:port/ecmi Figure 9: The Teamcenter login page. You can start CATIA V5 separately when it will be needed for modifications on CATIA V5 models. e!cmi User s Manual 9

After the login you will get a browser window like this: Figure 10: The Teamcenter start page. Overview of e!cmi functionality Simple Search and Advanced Search for CATIA V5 files You can search for Catia V5 Part Files, Catia V5 Drawing Files and Catia V5 Product Files with the Simple Search and also with the Advanced Search like it is already provided for Parts and Documents. Expand and De-Expand functionality of Product structures in the e!cmi Workbench Product structures can be expanded in the e!cmi Workbench like in standard CMI. Documents will not be seen in this tree view (list view) of the product structure. You can do: a Single Expand (1 level): only the direct subassemblies and CATIA V5 files are expanded a Multiple Level Expand: several levels of subparts and attached CATIA V5 files will be expanded. a Multiple Expand : all levels of the product structure (until max level) will be expanded a De-Expand : selected part and the whole sub branch will be de-expanded. 10 e!cmi User s Manual

Downloading/Copying of CATIA V5 files to a Transfer Map for modifying activities in CATIA V5. Before working in CATIA V5 and modifying existing CATIA V5 files and product structures, the user has to get all relevant files and meta information out of the database and provide it for the CAD system. Therefore he has the possibility to expand a structure in the e!cmi Workbench and then send the whole structure or just some selected items to a directory (Transfer Map) where the CAD system CATIA V5 is expecting the information to be. The buttons to use are: - Send All To Transfer Map: all content of the Workbench will be transferred to the Transfer Map - Send Marked Items To Transfer Map: the marked items and their attached CATIA data will be transferred to the Transfer Map Updating all changes to the product structure and the CATIA V5 files When the user has finished his modifications on the CATIA V5 files he has to update everything again in the database. Therefore the user just has to login again to the Teamcenter thin client and click on Save CATIA V5 Changes within the navigation bar entry e!cmi. Launching this user manual This user manual can be launched out of the browser at everytime the user needs it. It can be accessed via the button e!cmi Manual within the navigation bar entry called e!cmi. e!cmi User s Manual 11

CHAPTER 4 Working with CATIA V5 files This chapter describes how to search for CATIA V5 files within the Teamcenter 2.0 thin client in detail and how to send them to the Transfer Map for further development. Simple Search You can search quickly for the three different CATIA V5 files Catia V5 Part Files, Catia V5 Drawing Files and Catia V5 Product Files within the database by using the Simple Search command when entering the class and the name of the file or any wildcard sign. When using the wildcard * always keep in mind that only 50 objects will be returned and shown in the result table. Example: Searching for all CATParts which begin with a T. Figure 11: The Simple Search for CATIA V5 Part Files. Advanced Search The other possibility to search for CATIA V5 files is to use the Advanced Search. There you can query for Catia V5 Part Files, Catia V5 Drawing Files and Catia V5 Product Files by different search attributes via a dialog mask. The advanced search works like a query in the old OMF client. You get a dialog mask and can fill in several search attributes for the class you are looking for in the database. Click on the button Advanced in the Teamcenter browser, then select a class and click on the Next button. You will then see the dialog mask where to enter your search criteria. Result of the search will be a table with all objects which fit to this criteria. You can also determine how many items will be returned by the database query for example when you click on the search tab Limits. e!cmi User s Manual 13

Figure 12: The Advanced Search for CATIA V5 Part Files. Send To Transfer Map of single CATIA V5 files After a search for CATIA V5 files you can select one or more Catia V5 Part Files or Catia V5 Drawing Files (for Catia V5 Product Files it is not possible) and then click the button Send To Transfer Map. In the CmponentDataModel are the following restrictions: It is not allowed to transfer Catia V5 Part Files to the Transfer Map. An applet will be started and all selected models will either be downloaded (vault files) or copied (files which are checked out by the user) to the Transfer Map which has to be chosen for each transfer. 14 e!cmi User s Manual

Figure 13: Send To Transfer Map of Single CATIA V5 files. e!cmi User s Manual 15

CHAPTER 5 The e!cmi Workbench What is the e!cmi Workbench? The e!cmi Workbench contains all functions that are needed to expand whole assembly structures with attached CATIA V5 files in a tree view and send all relevant data to a Transfer Map. Afterwards these data items can be modified in CATIA V5. Figure 14: The e!cmi Workbench. The e!cmi Workbench page consists of a button bar on the top where all functionalities of the Workbench are listed. The content of the Workbench you can find below. It is possible to send Parts (Assemblies & Components) and Documents to the Workbench but no other types of objects. In the CmponentDataModel are the following restrictions: It is not allowed to send Documents to the Workbench. Every selected Part which has been sent to the Workbench will be shown in a tree view with all its CATIA V5 files attached but without the Documents. e!cmi User s Manual 17

The different Parts or Documents sent to the Workbench are separated by separator lines. The To Workbench functionality You can find the To Workbench button on different html pages of Teamcenter Parts & Document Management and e!cmi. On every Search Result Page you can find a To Workbench button in the top button bar when having searched for Parts or Documents. And you can find this button as well in the top button bar of the result page when clicking on My Data Show List in the navigation bar on the left side of the browser. On one of these result pages you just can select one or more items of the type Part or Document and then click on the To Workbench button. All selected items will be transferred to the e!cmi Workbench and shown in a certain kind of tree view. If one of the selected items has the wrong type you will get an error message and nothing will be sent to the e!cmi Workbench. In the CmponentDataModel are the following restrictions: It is not allowed to send Documents to the Workbench. The e!cmi Workbench functions e!cmi Multiple Expand You can expand the whole product structure to the maximum expand level as defined in the preferences of the session by selecting one or more Parts in the Workbench and clicking on the button e!cmi Multiple Expand. You will see as a result the whole product structure with all subparts and attached CATIA V5 files. The Documents between Parts and CATIA V5 files are not shown in this tree view. 18 e!cmi User s Manual

Figure 15: The e!cmi Multiple Expand. If you don t want to expand the whole assembly structure (max expand level) but just some levels of this structure, then fill in a valid integer value to the text field Expand Level before clicking on the button e!cmi Multiple Expand. The result will be a x-level expanded assembly structure. That means that only subparts and attached CATIA V5 files to the x th level will be seen. e!cmi Single Expand If you only want to see the direct subparts and direct attached CATIA V5 files of any part in the e!cmi Workbench then use the Single Expand functionality. You have two possibilities to execute such a single expand. First possibility is to select one or more items in the e!cmi Workbench and then click on the button e!cmi Single Expand. As result you will see the direct subparts and all attached CATIA V5 files. Or you just click onto the + sign in front of any Part or Document item in the e!cmi Workbench. This will have the same effect on the product structure. e!cmi User s Manual 19

Figure 16: The e!cmi Single Expand. e!cmi De-Expand For de-expanding whole branches or just single CATIA V5 files you also have two possibilities. You can either use the button e!cmi De-Expand in the top button bar after selecting all items which should be de-expanded or you can just click on the - sign in front of an item in the e!cmi Workbench. As result the selected item and all its subassemblies and attached CATIA V5 files will be removed from the Workbench and will no longer be seen. 20 e!cmi User s Manual

Figure 17: The e!cmi De-Expand. Send All To Transfer Map In the CmponentDataModel are the following restrictions: It is not possible to de-expand Catia V5 Part files. There is no - sign in front of the item. To work within CATIA V5 with the assembly structure and models inside the Teamcenter database you have to send them to a special Transfer Map. This directory Transfer Map is known by both systems Teamcenter and CATIA V5. After expanding one or more product structures in the e!cmi Workbench you can click on the button Send All To Transfer Map and the whole content of the e!cmi Workbench will be transferred to the Transfer Map. e!cmi User s Manual 21

Figure 18: The Directory Chooser. The first step is to choose a directory for the Transfer Map. The second step is to start the action by clicking on Start transfer. Figure 19: The Send to Transfer Map functionality. All files that are checked out by the user (via Teamcenter thin client) and therefore are already in the WORKLOCATION on the user s computer will be copied to the Transfer Map. All vault models will be downloaded from the Vault Locations to the Transfer Map. Additionally a so called structure file will be created and stored in the Transfer Map. It contains information about the product structure and will be read in by the CATIA V5. 22 e!cmi User s Manual

The user will get information messages on the To Transfer Map Applet Window about the state of the transfer process. In case of success there will be the message: Send to Transfer Map ended successfully! Now you can start CATIA and go on. In any other case there will be an error message. Send Marked Items to Transfer Map If you don t want to send the whole content of the e!cmi Workbench to the Transfer Map or you just want to work on special items inside a whole product structure, then you can select some items in the e!cmi Workbench and then click on the button Send Marked Items to Transfer Map. The behaviour of the system will be nearly the same as the behaviour when sending all to the Transfer Map. The only difference will be that only selected CATIA V5 files will be in the Show modus when working with CATIA V5. e!cmi User s Manual 23

CHAPTER 6 Working with the CATIA V5 e!cmi module Introduction This chapter describes how to use the e!cmi toolbar within CATIA V5. You can log out of the Teamcenter thin client and work offline with CATIA V5. e!cmi Toolbar The following figure shows the toolbar of the CATIA V5 e!cmi module. Descriptions of the toolbar and the two command icons follow the diagram. Figure 20: e!cmi Toolbar in CATIA V5 When using the e!cmi toolbar in the CATIA Product Structure Workbench it is possible to read files from the Transfer Map. You can then modify the geometry and positions in your CATIA V5 session. The modifications can be written back to the Transfer Map via the Write to Transfer Map button in CATIA V5. CMI toolbar: Read From TransferMap With the Read from Transfer Map button in the e!cmi toolbar the contents of the e!cmi Workbench in Teamcenter (which have been sent to Transfer Map before) are read to CATIA V5. The CATIA Workbench may contain CATParts, CATDrawings, CATIA documents and assembly structures. CMI toolbar: Write to Transfer Map With the Write to Transfer Map button in the e!cmi toolbar all the changes made in CATIA V5 are saved in the Transfer Map. These changes could be changes of the geometry of the models or positions of the assembly structures. e!cmi User s Manual 25

CHAPTER 7 Updating Changes made in CATIA V5 After finishing the work in CATIA V5 and saving all changes back to the Transfer Map you can finally update these changes to the Teamcenter database. Therefore you have to log in again to the Teamcenter thin client and then just click on the button e!cmi Save CATIA V5 Changes in the navigation bar on the left side. Figure 21: Update of CATIA V5 changes The e!cmi Update Applet will be started and you get status messages of the update process. All changed CATIA models which are checked out by the user will be copied back to his WORKLOCATION (check out location) and the meta data will be updated directly in the database. In the case of success you can check in again all your checked out items to the database. In any other case all transactions made by the update applet will be rolled back. e!cmi User s Manual 27

Administrator Browser Check In Check Out Configuration Context Dialog Window Field GII Icon List View Object Glossary Person, who configures the system, inserts users, manages users permissions and maintains the database. Window that displays icons representing objects. Action that takes from the users the right to update a work item. Action that gives the user the exclusive right to update a work item. Checking out an item creates a copy of the work item in the specified work location. An attribute that determines which Part versions should be displayed (for example, only the last revisions). Window in which the user enters information. Component of a dialog window in which the user can enter text. Graphics Interactive Interface. The GII is a powerful programming tool, which completes the Open System Access to the CATIA environment. Graphical representation of an object. Style of browser window in which objects are viewed as small icons in a list with attribute values in columns. An item or relationship. Object Management Framework (OMF) Vault Metaphase module where it is possible to find the tools and the information needed to the common users activities. Within OMF, each piece of information is an object represented by an icon that users can manipulate. Secure place for storing information. To access the data confined in a vault it is necessary to check out or revise the data. e!cmi User s Manual 29