Configuring mandatory choices and accessories

In most structures, there are generally two categories of options: Mandatory choice In certain cases, the user must make a choice, for example, of an engine or radio. The user must choose one of many, mutually exclusive, options. You can set a default option, for example, radio = mono. When setting variant conditions on a set of mutually exclusive occurrences in this way, the product design engineer must ensure the conditions have the desired effect. One way to indicate mutually exclusive components is to set them all at the same find number in the structure. You could also create a special note type to give further information about variant data, for example, the associated occurrences.

Note Teamcenter does not enforce mandatory selections of options. The APICS term option corresponds to mandatory choice in Teamcenter. Accessory Accessories are options for which the user does not have to make a choice. They are additional components and the user can select none, some, or all of the accessory options. By default, no accessories are configured. For example, fog lights may be offered as an accessory option.

Tip Siemens Digital Industries Software recommends the following strategies: Use yes and no values for an accessory option. Set a Load IF <accessory option 1> = yes variant condition on the component occurrence or occurrences that are loaded if the accessory is chosen. Set an <accessory option 1> = no fixed default. As a result, Teamcenter displays No in the Variant Rule dialog box for the option, making clear that the option is an accessory and is not provided unless specifically requested (that is, set to Yes in the variant rule).