Update a solution variant for changes to structures

If the source structure or the solution variant structure has changed, when you search for the solution variant, the system displays that an update is required. If an update is required for a Managed category solution variant structure, the system displays the Update Solution Variant from Source Assembly dialog box. You can make selections and manually merge or automatically merge the changes. If an update is required for a Reuse category solution variant structure, in the Search Solution Variants pane, you must click Update for the changes to take effect. To update a solution variant:

Procedure In Structure Manager, create a source structure as follows. Enable the Solution Variant Category column. This column is not available by default. To insert this column, right-click on a column, select Insert columns, choose Solution Variant Category, click Add, and click Apply. Select Managed from the Solution Variant Category column for the root structure, and Body, and Color as subassemblies. To open the Variant Configuration view, click Set option values for selected module on the main toolbar. Select the required features. Selections are indicated by a check mark or a circle backslash icon in a cell. The check mark indicates that the option is included in the product configuration. The circle backslash icon indicates that the option is excluded from the configuration. Alternatively, click Load Variant Rules and select a saved variant rule. To validate if the selected features are applicable to the structure, click Validate . To apply the selected features to the structure, click Applies the current configuration to the associated structure . To create the solution variant, click Solution Variant . The system creates solution variants as follows. Modify the source structure by adding an item. In this example, Chassis is added. Modify the solution variant structure by adding an item. In this example, Gearbox is added. Open both the source structure and the solution variant structure in two views side-by-side. Click Search Solution Variant in the main toolbar. The system displays Update Required as Yes. Click Yes. In the Update Solution Variant from Source Assembly dialog box, you can merge the changes manually or automatically. (Optional) Select Merge. When you do a merge, the system adds Chassis to the target solution variant assembly and removes Gearbox from the target assembly. (Optional) Select Auto-Merge. The system adds both Chassis and Gearbox to the target assembly. The final source structure is as follows when you merge the changes automatically: