Works Manager and TCC Conflicts

Works Manager
1

Over the last couple of weeks I have been working with a UK based customer on Works Manager / TCC related issues. The symptoms he was seeing were that machines (Earthworks Machines) were not syncing with TCC (Traditional TCC Approach) on the Site that they are on. The following information is what I have tracked down here

Works Manager when you create a Project creates a TCC Group (starts with the name WM_trn) and the Machines that you associate with that Project get added to this Group. Each Project created has its own Group created on TCC. A single Device can be associated with more than one Works Manager Group. That association is done when you add the Device to a project in Works Manager.

The Project Folder in the Project Library on TCC is then assigned Permissions - you can only see this through TCC Legacy, you cannot see it in TCC (Modern). In TCC Legacy, the added permissions are indicated using the Padlock Icon on the Folder in the Filespace view.

Here is the first reason why things were not syncing. The Permissions adds the WM Group (just the devices that are associated with the WM Project) and the TCC Admin and or the person that set the permissions on the folder. So while the Project Library Filespace has the Permissions for All Devices, at the Project Level Folder there is now an override permission that stops All Devices getting access to the Project. This means that a Device that is on the project, is in the All Devices Permission Group will no longer have access to the project folder where Works Manager added the permissions.

The resolution to the problem is one of the following

  1. Add the All Devices Group to each Works Manager Permissions Group - this will allow devices currently connecting to TCC to get access to the Project Folder that is protected by the Works Manager Permissions

  2. Add Specific Devices to the Works Manager Permissions Group to allow each one to synchronize with the Project Folder on TCC

  3. Delete the Site from Works Manager and then remove the Works Manager Permissions from the Folders in TCC, freeing the folders up for the All Devices Group on TCC.

Secondly
The customer stated that the above problem would then stop a machine from synchronizing with Other Projects on TCC entirely. The customer view was that the failure to sync with the above project was what was stopping the device from syncing with other projects. I don’t believe that this is in fact what
was happening. When you Add a Device into Works Manager, Works Manager is creating Permissions that appear to take over the control of the Device when it Syncs to TCC. If the Device has not been associated with the Project in Works Manager, it is being stopped from Syncing with that Project Folder on TCC.

The Customer is going back to Site next week where they can work with the Machines and TCC directly, and can restore a Machine if they screw something up - they are going to implement the above changes to see if this can free up the problems that they have been experiencing.

This highlights a couple of issues for me

  1. Understand how TCC Permissions work - and understand how Traditional TCC and Works Manager Permissions are being used to control access to folders on machines. Learn how to set up and manage Members, Groups, Devices and Permissions at Filespace and Folder Level on TCC using TCC Legacy, so that if you find things not working correctly you can troubleshoot them quickly.

  2. Try not to mix and match Traditional TCC Sync Workflows with Works Manager Sync Workflows. Try to keep the Devices tied to Works Manager separate from Traditional TCC Sync work processes. Try to keep Projects tied to Works Manager separate from Projects tied to the Traditional TCC Sync Processes. Or at least understand that you will have Permissions Issues to address in TCC if you try to Mix and Match things.

  3. If you are getting stuck or things aren’t working right, call us in. An hour or two of consulting support time with Rockpile experts may save you weeks of heartache trying to troubleshoot this stuff yourself.

I will update this post next week once I know that this cured the customers issues