Relation Browser view

The Relation Browser view provides the following features and functionality:

• When you select an object in the navigation pane, the Relation Browser view displays the newly selected object as the root object, and the Properties view displays properties of the object.
• When you open an object in Systems Engineering, and activate the Relation Browser view, the object you select appears in the Relation Browser view as the root object.
• You can select any node to browse further related objects one level at a time.
• Zoom in, zoom out, and fit content buttons are available.

Contexts

Choose a context from the Relation Browser view menu.

Menu command	Description
Contexts→Default	View structure relations in the Relation Browser view. In this context, defined structure relations display when you show successors or predecessors. This is the default view context.
Contexts→Traceability	View trace links in the Relation Browser view. In this context, defined trace links appear when you show successors.
Contexts→Genealogy	When a requirement object is duplicated, Teamcenter remembers its source. In this context, you can view the source or duplicate objects, if any, related to a requirement object selected in the Relation Browser view. To view the source of the selected object, right-click and choose Hide/Show Predecessors. To view the duplicate or duplicates of the selected object, right-click and choose Hide/Show Successors.

Note: The Genealogy context is enabled by setting IMAN_based_on as a shown relation for the requirement revision item type:

1. In the toolbar, choose Edit→Options→General→Item Revision.
2. In the Options dialog box, General tab: select Requirement Revision in the Item Revision type selected box; select Specifications in the Default paste relation box; add the IMAN_based_on relation type to the Shown Relations list.
3. Click OK.

Note: Context display is controlled by the TC_RelationBrowser_Context preference. To view or edit preference information, use the rich client Edit→Options dialog box.

Layout orientation

Choose a layout orientation from the Relation Browser view menu.

Menu command	Description
Hierarchical→Top-to-Bottom	Creates a graph beginning with a top node and flowing to the bottom. (Example: the requirement specification appears at the top-level and the associated requirements appear at a lower level of the structure.)
Hierarchical→Right-to-Left	Creates a graph beginning with node at the right and flowing to the left.
Hierarchical→Left-to-Right	Creates a graph beginning with a node at the left and flowing to the right.
Hierarchical→Bottom-to-Top	Creates a graph beginning with a node at the bottom and flowing to the top.
Hierarchical→Incremental	Creates a graph beginning with a top node in the upper-left corner and flowing to the bottom and to the right.
Circular	Displays group and tree structures within a network in a ring and star pattern.
Orthographic	Creates compact graphs with no overlaps, few crossings, and few bends. Most appropriate for medium-sized sparse graphs.
Organic	Creates a layout with the nodes spaced as far away from each other as possible, while minimizing this distance. Most appropriate for undirected, complex graphs.
Balloon	Creates a layout with a central node and child nodes extending from this in a radial fashion. Most appropriate for large, hierarchical structures.

Working with nodes

You can select any node to browse further related objects one level at a time.

Each node has a type symbol and object string to represent the component on the graph. If any node has an associated 2D preview image, the preview image can be displayed as a thumbnail image along with the text string in the Relation Browser layout and is also displayed in the Image Preview view.

When you right-click a node in the graph, the shortcut menu displays the same commands as when you select a node on the navigation pane tree, based on the type of object.

Each node can have predecessors and successors, based on the application with which the object is associated. You can select an object and use the shortcut menu to expand or collapse predecessors and successors. For example, an application can show predecessors as where-referenced objects and can show successors by showing default children context.

Related topics

• Open Relation Browser