Placing variant data

When you populate a structure with variant data, you decide the items to which options, defaults, and variant rule checks are attached. Guidelines for the location of variant data follow: Options Most often, you attach options to the top-level item in the product. However, if an assembly is shared between products, you must attach any options directly to the assembly. Default option values Generally, you attach default option values to the assembly item to which they apply. For the same option, defaults set at the top of the structure take precedence over any defaults lower down the structure tree. If you load the top-level structure, any defaults are always configured if there is conflict of option values. If option values are specified at lower levels of the structure, the option value that takes precedence. In this case, users who set defaults at lower levels in the structure may also have to duplicate them at the top level to ensure they take effect. Variant rule checks You can attach variant rule checks to the top-level item in the product. However, Teamcenter does not make these checks if the item to which they are attached is not loaded, as would happen if you open an assembly lower down the structure. If this occurs, you can duplicate the variant rule checks on assemblies lower down the structure, where relevant. If you duplicate many checks, they may only be meaningful in the context of the top-level item. The arrangement of variant BOMs always depends closely on the product type. The structure of the BOM also influences your approach to variant management, for example, the modularity of the structure with respect to the options and structure reuse in other products.