Create variant items automatically

You can create a fully instantiated structure by manually searching for generic items and substituting a variant item for each such generic item, as described previously. However, this process is time-consuming if your structure is large and complex. In this case, consider creating variant item structures automatically as follows.

Note Item IDs are generated automatically, according to the naming rule for the item type of the generic structure; however, if you set the PSEAutoViNewItemPopup preference to True, you are prompted for an item ID during the creation process. If you set this preference to False, no prompts are displayed. If you configure automatic creation, you can set a prefix for the name with the PSEAutoViNamePrefix preference.

Note Beginning with Teamcenter 10, the order in which variant items are automatically created is changed. Prior to Teamcenter 10, lines were processed according to their position or appearance with respect to the top line. Consequently, children of the first subassembly under the top line were processed before the second subassembly. This is referred to as the depth-first-search method. After Teamcenter 10, lines are processed in order of their level in the structure. For example, all subassemblies of an equivalent level are processed together before any of their children. This is referred to as the breadth-first-search method. When the PSEAutoVINewItemPopup preference is set to false, all valid modules in a level are processed in bulk to improve performance as well as reduce chattiness. However, when the PSEAutoVINewItemPopup preference is set to true, bulk processing is not done.

Procedure Load and select the generic structure for which you want to automatically create variant items. Click the Variant Rule button on the toolbar or choose Tools→Variants→ Configure. Teamcenter displays the Configuration dialog box, showing all the options of the top-level module. Click the VI button on the dialog box. Teamcenter displays the Search dialog box. Select the required option and click the Search button. If there is not already a variant item for the top line, the search results list is empty and Teamcenter enables the Auto VI button. To begin automatic creation of variant items, click the Auto VI button. Teamcenter displays the Auto Create VI Structures confirmation dialog box. Click Yes in the dialog box. Teamcenter begins the automatic creation process. It displays a progress bar until all variant items are complete. The dialog box is updated constantly with results as the variant items are created and substituted. The preceding Search dialog box also shows feedback as the process continues. This process may take a significant time to complete if you have a large generic structure and particularly if the variant logic is large and complex at the upper levels.

Tip If performance is not acceptable, try creating variant items for the upper level manually and automatically populating the generic structure for the lower levels. You can then manually substitute these variant items into the variant item for the top level. If you request a prompt for each item identifier, item revision identifier, and item name, Teamcenter displays the New Variant Item dialog box each time and the process pauses until you enter values in the dialog box and click Finish.

Note This prompt displays only if the PSEAutoViNewItemPopup preference is set to ON. When the automatic creation process is complete, Teamcenter enables the OK button, and you can click this button to close the progress window.