Configuring allocations

You can define configurations in which an allocation is valid. A nonconfigurable allocation represents a relationship between two items in two structures. The allocation is fixed and always exists if the items exist in the structures, for example, Function 1 is allocated to Part 2. However, if an allocation is configurable, you can attach conditions and configure it in a similar way to items in a structure. By associating conditions with relationships, you can configure various allocations in and out of a product. For example, this allows you to manipulate whether a function is allocated to a certain engine control unit (ECU): you could put a condition on an allocation of the form "If Model==Sport and Color==Green then configure this allocation", and on a second allocation use the condition "If Model==Sport and Color==Blue then configure that allocation".

Once the option values are set, you can determine the necessary set of allocations. For each of these allocations, if the source is not configured in, the allocation can be discarded. If the destination is not configured in, the allocation can be noted as unallocated or discarded, depending on your site's business practice.

To define the context of a set of allocations, you must define an allocation map, as described previously. The allocation map ties together the two structures that are being allocated and provides the necessary context.

When you create allocations, the structures you work with are typically unconfigured products. You can then create allocations between many items in the structure; multiple allocations can originate from a source item and be allocated to several target items. If the source item is configured out, the allocation is assumed to be configured out with the source item. If the target item is missing, Teamcenter notifies an error as all allocated items must be allocated to a target.

Allocations can be configured in this way for an electromechanical product.