Control parent-child product structures

You can control parent-child product structures by creating conditions in BMIDE that either allow or prohibit specific object instances from being placed as children under others. The following example shows how to create conditions that allow or prohibit an object instance to be placed as a child under another object instance in a product structure. In this example, you first create an ItemRevision-ItemRevision condition that resolves to true (expression 1=1) and an ItemRevision-GeneralDesginElement condition that resolves to true, and then create verification rules that add these conditions to the Fnd0OccurrentConditionValidation Teamcenter Component object.

Tip Siemens Digital Industries Software recommends that you create these kinds of conditions to allow all required parent-child product structures that users create. The example also shows you how to change the conditions to resolve to false (expression 1=0) to prevent these parent-child occurrence structures. This demonstrates how you can create a condition to prevent one object type from being a child of another object type.

Procedure If you have not already done so, create a custom template project to hold your data model changes. In the Business Modeler IDE, create the following conditions.

Note In the following examples, O5_ is the naming prefix associated with the template. When you create your own conditions, use the naming prefix associated with your template. O5_ItemItemRule This condition allows users to add ItemRevision instances under other ItemRevision instances. O5_ItemGDERule This condition allows users to add GeneralDesignElement instances under ItemRevision instances. Create the verification rules. On the menu bar, choose BMIDE→Editors→Verification Rules Editor. Click the Add button in the Verification Rule tab and add verification rules as shown in the following figure. These rules use the Fnd0OccurrenceConditionValidation Teamcenter Component object, which assigns conditions to business object types for product structure validation.

Note The context filter for the verification rule must be set to isTrue. If multiple conditions are applied for the parent-child pair and at least one of them is matched, then it resolves to true. To save your changes to the template, on the menu bar, choose BMIDE→Save Data Model. Then choose BMIDE→Generate Software Package to package the template. Finally, use Teamcenter Environment Manager to install the packaged template to your server. Verify the conditions. Log on to the rich client and open Structure Manager. To verify that you can add an item as a child under another item, create an item revision under another item revision. Then choose Tools→Validate Occurrences. You should receive the following message. Create a GeneralDesignElement instance under an item revision and repeat the validation step. It should also pass the occurrence validation.

Note To create GeneralDesignElement instances, choose File→New→Item Element. All available item elements are children of the GeneralDesignElement business object type, and therefore inherit the product structure conditions created for the GeneralDesignElement business object. In the Business Modeler IDE, change the expressions on the conditions to resolve to false. O5_ItemItemRule Change the Expression to 1=0 so that it resolves to false. Also change the Description to read: Copy O5_ItemItemRule: You cannot make an ItemRevision a child of another ItemRevision This text is included in the error message when occurrence validation fails when an ItemRevision instance is added under another ItemRevision instance. O5_ItemGDERule Change the Expression to 1=0 so that it resolves to false. Also change the Description to read: Copy O5_ItemGDERule: You cannot make a GeneralDesignElement a child of an ItemRevision This text is included in the error message when occurrence validation fails when a GeneralDesignElement instance is added under an ItemRevision instance. Verify the conditions. Log on to the rich client and open Structure Manager. Create an item revision under another item revision, or select the structure you previously created (of an item revision under another item revision), and choose Tools→Validate Occurrences. You should receive an error message similar to the following: Copy The child object has failed the validation of the condition "O5_ItemItemRule: You cannot make an ItemRevision a child of another ItemRevision". The occurrence condition validation has failed for the line "000022/A;2-Another test item (View). The condition description text is incorporated into the error message. This verifies that the condition successfully prevents adding an item revision as a child of another item revision. Attempt to make a product structure with a general design element under an item revision, or select the structure you previously created. You receive an error message similar to the following: Copy The child object has failed the validation of the condition "O5_ItemGDERule: You cannot make a GeneralDesignElement a child of an ItemRevision". The occurrence condition validation has failed for the line "test gde". What to do next Now that you know how to create parent-child conditions to allow or prohibit certain occurrence structures, you can experiment on your own to create other conditions. This example is for illustration purposes only. You should create conditions that fit your business needs.