You can use the Save As command in View and Markup or in Solid Edge to create a package collaboration file. In either case, the initial contents of the file are based on the data contained in the active document.

After creating a .pcf, you can add more documents to the collaboration file. You can use View and Markup to create a .pcf for a draft document and then use the Add Document command to add the 3-D files linked to the draft file to the .pcf.

When you create a package collaboration file, you have the option to assign permissions and a password to the file. This enables you to control access to the file whether it is mailed, viewed using a viewer, or opened in View and Markup.

Default security settings are defined on the Security and Password page of the View and Markup Options dialog box. The default security settings can be changed by updating the settings when you save the file.

You can use View and Markup or the Solid Edge Viewer to open a package collaboration file. When you open the .pcf, the viewer displays a tree structure that lists the contents in the file. The first entry in the list is displayed in the viewing window. If the active document is an assembly it is displayed in the BOM view. If the file has a password, the package list displays an asterisk beside the root entry.

During the Engineering Change Order (ECO) process, you may want to flag potential changes to the product structure or revision levels and have these changes approved before the ECO work begins. You can take a snapshot of the requested changes from Revision Manager and store it as an engineering change package inside the package collaboration file. The engineering change package contains all of the information displayed in Revision Manager. The package collaboration file can only have one engineering change plan in the package list tree.

• In Revision Manager, open the assembly that you want to change.

• Make the changes that you want to have approved. For example, you might want to replace thread271a.par with thread371a.par.

• Save your actions.

• Do one of the following:

  • If no package collaboration file is open, on the Open a File dialog box, select an existing package collaboration file or create a new one by opening an existing Solid Edge document.

  • If an valid package collaboration files are open and the files are in the package list tree, on the Select PCF dialog box, select the appropriate package collaboration file.

• Add the engineering change plan to the package collaboration file.

When you initially open a CAD document in View and Markup, the Save command is disabled. Use the Save As command to initially save your viewing data to a package collaboration file. Once you save the package collaboration file to disk, the Save command is enabled and you can use it to save subsequent changes to the collaboration file.

You can save a package collaboration file to either a managed or unmanaged location. When saving the file to a managed location, you can use the File Locations tab on the Options dialog box to specify a root folder location for the collaboration files. The location you specify becomes the default folder location for saving collaboration files.

You can use the View and Markup tab on the Options dialog box to specify how you want to save the document.  You can specify that the .pcf is password protected and determine the default features that are stored within the password protected .pcf.

The Store Viewing Data in the File option on the View and Markup tab embeds the viewing data in the file you are saving.  If you do not select this option, you are required to resolve links back to the original CAD documents when you open the file.

The Store Viewing Data in the File option on the View and Markup tab stores the precise geometry in the file you are saving.

Using the Close command to close a package collaboration file closes the entire file. If the collaboration file contains multiple substorages with graphics windows open for each of the substorages, all windows will be closed.  If you make changes to any of the substorages, you are prompted to save the packaged collaboration file.