PDMSDatabases

UpdatedonSeptember1,2015

Introduction
ForanyPDMSProject,EverydatarelatedtothatProjectisstoredinparticular
typeofDatabase.Databasesarecreatedbyadministratorbasedonphysicalarea
orcomplexityofPlantatthetimeofProjectsetup.Databasescanbeincludedor
copiedfromotherProjectalso.TheseDatabasescanbefoundinxxx000folder
(xxxProjectCode).EachModuleusesoneorseveraldatabasestoworkon
Project,ifrequireddatabasesarenotfoundoruserdoesnothaveaccessto
thosedatabasesthenEntrytothatmodulewillbeprohibitedanduserwillbe
directedtoMonitorModule.
Aspergoodpractice,eachdiscipline(suchasPiping,Mechanical,etc.)for
particularprocessunitorconstructionunitshouldhaveseparatedatabaseto
work.
DatabaseElements
BeforeweproceedwithdatabasestypesandStructure,understandfollowing
FundamentalElementsrelatedtoDatabases:
TeamThisElementownsdatabasecreatedinProject,Teamcanownoneto
severaldatabasesofsametypeorofdifferenttype.
UserMemberofTeam,hasUsernameandPassword,hasreadorwriteaccess
todatabasedependinguponaccessrightsetbyadministrator.
UsercanbeFreeorGeneral.FreeUserhasaccesstoAllmodulesandcanmodify
allDatabases,whileGeneralUserscan'tenterrestrictedmodulesbutcanmodify
databasestowhichtheyhaveaccessassetbyadministrator.
MDBCollectionofDBs,normallyitgroupsofallrequireddatabasesforProject.
ProjectmusthaveatleastoneMDB.MDBscanbecreatedforeveryuserorfor
UnitsdependingvolumeorComplexityofPlant.MDBsmustcontainreference
databaseswhichareusedbymodules.E.g.MDBcontainingdesignDatabases
mustContainCataloguedatabase/s.
DatabaseAccess
DatabasescanbeaccessedinUPDATEorMULTIWRITEaccessMode.Access
ModeissetattimeofDatabaseCreation,lateritcanbechangedifrequired.
InUPDATEaccessMode,onlyoneuserhaswriteaccesstothatdatabasewhile
otherscanaccessthatdatabaseinReadonlymode.
InMULTIWRITEAccessMode,severaluserscanwriteandreaddatabaseat
sametime.
DESIGN,CATALOGUE,DRAFTandISODRAFT,SYSTEMDatabasesare
MULTIWRITEdatabases.
InMULTIWRITEDatabases,ClaimModecanbesettoImplicitinwhichDatabase
elementsareclaimedautomaticallywheneverUsermodifieselements
orExplicitModeinwhichDatabaseelementsneedtobeclaimedfirstbeforeuser
canstartworkonthem.
Note:OnlyOneUsercanworkonsameelementorsamepartofDatabaseat
sametime.
InordertoOtherUserstartworkingonsameelement,firstusermustrelease
claimoverthatelement.

DatabaseSessions
SessioninPDMSissectionofDatabasewhichholdsdataaboutworkuserhas
donetillSaveworkormodulechange.workdoneinthatsessioncanbesavedor
discardedbyuser.wheneverUserswitchesModuleorSavesworkbySAVEWORK
Command,sessiondatawillbestoredtoDatabasewithSessionNumber.after
thatnewpdmssessionwillbecreated.Everydatabaseonwhichuserworkshas
separateDatabasesessionwhichcanbesavedbySAVEWORKCommand.
SessionsareusefulforBacktrackingandMergingdatabasesaspartof
MaintenanceactivityforProject.
DatabaseFunctionality
DABACON
DatabaseConstructorissystemusedbyPDMStoconstruct,navigate,interrogate
adatabasestructure.DABACONinstancesaredataobjectswhichcanbe
equipmentorPrimitiveinPDMS,whichareholdinparticularhierarchyin
Database,hassetofattributestodefinepropertiesofitems.
E.g.EquipmentissignificantelementinPDMSwhichownsSUBEorPrimitives
suchasBOX,CYLI,etc.,whichhasattributessuchasXlen,Ylen,Zlentodefine
geometryorpropertiesofitem.
TheDABACONbufferisanareaofdatastoragespacewithineachmodule,
reservedforholdingpagesofdatawhichhavebeenreadfromdatabasesor
whicharetobewrittentodatabases.Datatransfersbetweenthedatabasesand
themodulealwaystakeplaceinexactmultiplesofonepage.
Thedefaultbuffersizeis5,120,000words(20Mbyte)forallmodules.
DatabaseTypes
ForanyPlantDesignProject,thereare10differenttypesofDatabaseswhichcan
becreateddependinguponrequirement.Databasescanbemajorlyclassifiedas
followsbaseduponthefunctionality.
1.DesignandDrawingdatabases
Design(DESI)Database
Draft(PADD)Database
Isodraft(ISOD)Database
Schematic(SCHE)Database
2.ReferenceDatabases
Catalogue(CATA)Database
Dictionary(DICT)Database
Properties(PROP)Database
3.AdministrationDatabases
SYSTEMDatabase
COMMSDatabase
TRANSACTIONDatabase