Configure variants in guided mode

Configure variants in guided mode You can configure variants using the guided mode. The guided mode simplifies the configuration process by displaying only valid features and helps you create customized variant configurations. It also supports both complete and partial configurations while providing real-time feedback on configuration validity and completeness. Procedure Find and open the product to be configured and choose Details > Variant Configuration. The system displays a list of available product lines, product models, and groups. If the product has a variant configuration defined, the selections in the configuration are shown with the variability in the context. Note Your administrator can deploy the system with the Cfg0PrimaryBusinessRelevantAttribute global constant that allows you to use either Name or ID as the primary business-relevant attribute. When the system is configured with the global constant that points to Name as a primary business property, all Product Configurator views display Name instead of ID in the corresponding areas. Select the Guided mode. This is the default mode. In this mode, only valid features are displayed. Guided mode allows you to navigate only valid selections and configurations. If no configuration is applied, a model opens in guided mode, and the system guides you to select a valid group of features in which to configure a product. Every time a selection is made, the system reevaluates the rules and refreshes the list of features. Guided mode supports both complete and partial configurations. While radio buttons are displayed for making selections in Guided mode, check boxes are displayed for Manual mode. Note If you have an invalid configuration, the system does not allow you to switch from manual to guided mode. To begin creating a customized variant configuration, do one of the following: Select the product line containing the product model with which you would like to work. The model families in the selected product line are selected by the system. Select a product model with which you would like to work. The system automatically selects the product line containing the selected product model. When you make some selection changes and revert them, the system continues to display the Save icon. Note Product lines are only listed if they are defined in the configurator model. After you have selected the appropriate product model in the work area, select each group from the list in the left panel and make the necessary feature selections in the work area. Use the Filter box to help locate the appropriate feature. The text filter is not case-sensitive and is based on the family and feature properties shown (Name and Description, for example). Example You type mfv into the Filter box. The filtered list shows the families containing mfv in the family name, along with all the features in that family. The filtered list shows the features containing mfv in the feature name, along with its parent family. An option button displays when a single-select feature is selected. Click the feature again to deselect. In multiselect and Boolean families, you can select as follows: indicates include. indicates unselected. indicates exclude. To exclude a feature, hover over it and select the Exclude icon. Select one feature in a single-select family or one or more features in a multiselect family. The completeness indicator at the top displays one of three states: Valid and Complete, Valid and Incomplete, and Invalid. Valid and Complete (applicable for both guided mode and manual mode) Valid and complete means that the BOM is targeting a complete structure, that is, a 100% BOM. When a configuration is valid and complete, you could take this configuration input and execute an order entry in the order system. On the contrary, if you do not see this completeness indicator, you should not typically perform the above action. It means that you have less content or more content. When a configuration is valid and complete, it assigns a value to every family. This is irrespective of whether the family is mandatory or discretionary. Valid and Incomplete (applicable for both guided mode and manual mode) In guided mode, you can select the Next Required or the Previous Required option to navigate to the next or the previous family or feature that requires a value to be assigned to complete the configuration. Invalid (applicable for manual mode only) It means that the input criteria is invalid based on the configurator rules set in the current configurator context. It may also refresh features displayed for other families as it applies the relevant rules by hiding invalid features. If none of the features in a family is still valid, the family itself is hidden. Default features are selected by the system if they do not already have a value and designated with the indicator. Constraints are applied, validating the expression and adding any additional expression terms. Select a family or feature that has a specified revision rule, effectivity, or rule date. Apply a different revision rule, effectivity, or rule date. This becomes an unconfigured family or feature. Such families and features are displayed with a different icon and have a question mark and an indicator that shows it as configured out. In such cases, the system switches to the manual mode. To proceed in guided mode, you can clear your selection of the unconfigured family or feature and select another family or feature. The system switches to the guided mode and you can continue to configure the structure. If a family is unconfigured and you select a feature within it, then both the family and feature are shown as unconfigured. If you deselect an unconfigured feature or family and navigate to a different group, both the family and feature are not displayed by the system. Similarly, if you deselect an unconfigured feature or family, save it, and reopen it, neither the family nor the feature are displayed by the system. You can optionally save the content with an unconfigured family or feature as an SVR. An optional feature family contains product configurations where users are not required to select a feature for the family. For example, you may have a family with features for optional equipment. If optional feature families are defined in a product model, an additional option is displayed in the family section header. Click if you want none of the optional family features to appear in the structure. When Teamcenter configures out all features from an optional family based on constraints, the family itself is hidden from the Variant Configuration view. This does not impact the configuration. If you select Selection Summary, and All from the Selection Type, the optional family that is hidden from the GUI is displayed as a System Negative type. When you click the optional family that is hidden from the GUI, the system displays a message as shown below. Typically, features are predefined for each family, but free-form families allow you to enter a value for a feature at any time. If a family is specified as free-form, you can enter numbers, strings, or dates, depending on the data type defined. Select an assembly that contains free-form families in the Variant Conditions tab, and click the Add Feature option. You can use operators such as >=, >, <=, and <. If you select <= or < in the From field, the To field is disabled. If you have a SpeakerWire free form family in your configuration context, then you can enter the free form value as a discreet value or a range in the text box or use the Add panel to author the range. According to the range or the discreet value you specified, the configuration context displays only the correct BOM lines. For combining the values, you can use the AND (&) operator. The OR (|) operator is not supported. When you apply the configuration to the structure, the system filters the structure to show only the items that meet the condition for the feature. As you make selections for the custom configuration, in the Selection Summary , filter your selections using one of the following options from the Selection Type list. Selection Type Description User Displays the features selected by the user. All Displays all features that are selected. These include user and system selections. Incomplete Families Displays the families from which you have not made any selections yet. In the selection summary table, you can: Identify the type of selection by viewing the icon in the first column. For example, user positive selections are indicated by . To know more about the icons and the type of selection they indicate, hover over the icon in the column header. View information about the Family, Feature, and Group of the selected features. Sort the columns in ascending or descending order as required. To do this, click the header cell of the specific column and select the required option. Filter the column contents. To do this, click the header cell of the specific column, select the option from the Contains list, enter the filter criteria in the search box and click Filter. The selection summary options help you cross-probe to narrow down and select specific features to complete your configuration. At any time, click Clear All to clear all user and system selections as well as any reported violations across all groups. This provides a blank configuration from which to start. (Optional) Save the custom configuration. Click Apply Configuration to apply the selected variant configuration to the current content and to refresh the content in the product. Engineering BOM Management ─ Usage, 2606 Unpublished work. © 2026 Siemens