Accessing the Change Illustrator Documentation

When ChangeIllustrator.exe is run, a local server is launched on which packages are hosted. A browser tab is then opened in the default browser to view the package content. If multiple packages are available for this viewing platform, a landing page listing all the available packages is displayed. This means no software installation of any kind is required to view change illustration packages.

Note: Change Illustrator is designed for internal viewing and requires a valid concurrent, per-user basis license in order to enable its functionality. Contact Siemens Customer Support to obtain this license.

All of the diagrams are in SVG (Scalar Vector Graphics) format, with full intelligent cross-highlighting, signal tracing, and links to other resources. This package includes vehicle-specific diagram filtering, based upon VIN data downloaded from an external database, or via pre-defined vehicle configurations.

The documentation package can be delivered in various ways, including for example, as an email link to a hosted package on a server, or shipped on a CD or USB memory stick. Where physical media is provided, you can load the package onto a laptop, where it is stored and run locally. To access updates to the documentation package, load a new version of the package onto the device.

Packages are managed through the use of the Package Manager Application. Please see the "Package Manager Application" section in the Capital Publisher User Guide for more details.

There is also an option to save the package to Microsoft Excel, both .xls and .xlsx formats are supported, or similar spreadsheet software. This may be used to post-process the report in spreadsheet editing software or to save a lightweight version to your PLM systems.

Procedure

To launch the Change Illustrator viewer, run the requisite file located at the root of your designated documentation package folder:

• ChangeIllustrator.exe - this will launch Change Illustrator, configured to show one entry per design in the Navigation Panel.

Tip: To increase viewing platform performance, try launching the executable with additional heap memory.

If the Change Illustrator viewer has more than one package associated with it, the Package Selection Page will appear, listing available packages. Double-click the package you want to view.

Note: Packages are made available for use in the viewer application through the use of the Package Manager. Please see the "Package Manager Application" section in the Capital Publisher User Guide for more details.

(Demonstration videos of Change Illustrator functionality are embedded in the source page.)

Results

After choosing a package to view, the entry screen opens displaying the documentation package. Further options are also available:

• Click the return icon to go back to the package selection page which lists all of the available packages for this viewing platform.
• Click the save icon to save the package to Microsoft Excel. The package will be saved in an appropriate spreadsheet readable format to your browser's default Save location. The spreadsheet file format of either .xls or .xlsx can be specified in the config.xml file contained in the Publisher/Illustrator folder of your Capital installation. The .xls format is the default Microsoft Excel file format, while the .xlsx file extension allows you to save an open XML spreadsheet format to allow easier interoperability of spreadsheet files.
• When opened in your spreadsheet software the report will be displayed as one tab per view, including old diagram, new diagram, and any reports that were available in the Navigation panel. Diagram background and change highlights, as well as table cell highlighting, are maintained in the Excel file.
• You can also change the default language used, if alternative languages have been specified. For further information see User Interface Language in the Capital Design Tools - Common Functions User Guide.

Once the application is closed, licenses are released according to the following scenarios:

• When you close the browser (or browser tab if many tabs are open). It is important to note that no session is maintained, so if you have opened the application in many browsers (or tabs), closing any one of them will terminate the server and release its license.
• After a specified idle time, the server automatically shuts down and releases the license.

If you attempt to open a different package while another package is already open, the application will first close the existing server instance and then it will start the new package by creating a new server instance.

CAUTION: To avoid having multiple sessions of Change Illustrator open at the same time, it is strongly recommended you use the stopserver.exe application contained in the Publisher/capital-explorer-runtime folder to correctly shut down each session, thus avoiding possible system process clashes.

Parent Topic: Viewing HTML, Capital Explorer and Change Illustrator Service Documentation