Assembly Browser

Use the Assembly Browser to manage parts and modules during the assembly building process.

From the menu bar, click View > Assembly Browser.

Currently, Bill-of-Material (BOM) file support is limited to PLMXML assembly files from Teamcenter. For more details on the required Teamcenter configuration, supported PLMXML file formats, and supported transfer modes, contact your local Teamcenter support. Once the necessary configuration is made in Teamcenter, you can import the file in Engineering Solutions for representation management, batch meshing, connectors, and exporting the meshes and solver files.

The Assembly Browser structure is laid out in a table format. The different modules are displayed in the Entities column, and each module’s representation, material, PID, and thickness information is displayed in the columns that follow.

The Assembly Browser contains advanced filtering tools to filter BOMs based on their properties, existence of representation, and so on. To display the filtering tools, click .


Figure 1.

To filter BOMs, apply the following advanced filters:

Apply Attribute Filters

Use these filters to determine, which Attribute(s) to filter upon.

  1. To select which Attribute(s) to filter upon, select the check box next to the desired Attribute(s).
  2. From the Name list, select the attribute you wish to filter upon.
    The options available in this list include: Part name, Material, PID, or Thickness.
  3. From the Option list, select the one of the following options:
    • Contains
    • ==
    • !=
    • REGEXP
  4. In the Value column, specify specific information about the Attribute(s).
  5. Optional: To add an additional attribute filter, click .
  6. Optional: To remove an attribute filter, click .

Apply Data Filters

Use these filters to determine what data appears in the Assembly Browser.

  1. To activate the Representation File filter, select its checkbox.
  2. Click the Representation File toggle and select:
    • Exists
    • Does Not Exist
  3. To activate the Representation Loaded filter, select its checkbox.
  4. Click the Representation Loaded toggle and select:
    • True
    • False

Apply Global Filters

From the Apply multiple filters using list, select:
  • And:
  • Or:

Assembly Browser Context Menu

Access advanced Assembly Browser options from the context menu when you right-click on a module in the browser.

Load BOM

PLMXML is the exchange format that transports the assembly information between Teamcenter and Engineering Solutions.

To load a PLMXML (.xml) file:
  1. Right-click in the Assembly Browser and select Load BOM from the context menu.
    The XML Import dialog appears.


    Figure 2.
  2. In the File Name field, navigate to your working directory and open the .xml file.
  3. Click OK.
    Engineering Solutions imports the .xml file into the Assembly Browser.
    Note: In the Assembly Browser, many operations are recursive, meaning that when you select a module and perform an operation on it, the same applies to all the children modules.

    Representations are various versions associated with any module. You can use any of these at a given time. Basically, each representation has a file associated with it, and that file for the current representation will be imported into Engineering Solutions when you import a module.

    A representation cannot have more than one file attached to it.

    When you select a representation, it is set as the current representation for that particular module. When that module is imported into Engineering Solutions, the file associated with that particular representation is imported into Engineering Solutions. If you want to import a different file, change the representation to the one that contains the desired file and then import that particular module.

Save WIP

To save your work-in-progress data, select Save WIP from the right-click context menu.
Once you select Save WIP, Engineering Solutions saves a UDMXML file in the assembly working directory. This file captures the assembly structure state, including the current representations and all metadata values. After you have saved your work-in-progress to the UDMXML file, you can safely close the Assembly Browser or Engineering Solutions.
Note: Saving the Engineering Solutions file by clicking File > Save from the menu bar will not save the assembly structure or state.

To continue working with a saved UDMXML assembly BOM, load the WIP BOM using the Load BOM process. Select the saved WIP UDMXML BOM instead of the original PLMXML BOM.

Save PLMXML

In order to import the meshed parts into Teamcenter, an updated PLMXML .xml file is needed. This file captures any changes that were made to the assembly after it was imported into Engineering Solutions. If the original .xml file contained only CAD parts with thickness and material attributes, and if you meshed these parts in Engineering Solutions and made changes to the thickness for certain parts, then the delta PLMXML file will capture the changes made.

To create a delta PLMXML file and a monolithic Engineering Solutions or solver file, select the Module Model module and then select Save PLMXML from the right-click context menu.
The type of monolithic file Engineering Solutions creates is determined by the settings you selected within Teamcenter prior to exporting the original PLMXML file.
Teamcenter uses the delta PLMXML file to update metadata and files when you upload the updated assembly file. You cannot use the delta PLMXML file to save work-in-progress information, or load it into the Assembly Browser.
Note: You cannot save the Engineering Solutions file by clicking File > Save from the menu bar because it will not save the assembly structure or state. To save your work-in-progress data, select Save WIP from the right-click context menu.

Set Rep

  1. To change the representation of a module, right-click on the representation and then select Set Rep from the context menu.


    Figure 3.
  2. Select a representation category.
    • Choose Geom to set the geometry as the current representation. The type of CAD that is set as the current representation is based on the order of preference as set in the config file, which is provided by Teamcenter.
    • Choose Mesh to set the mesh file as the current representation. The last representation in the list of mesh representations is set to current.
    A module can have multiple representations associated with it. The representations are basically categorized into two types, Geom and Mesh. The Geom representations have CAD files associated with them and Mesh representations have mesh files associated with them.

    Generally, CAD representations are provided along with the BOM file and the representations are added based on a failing order. The format that is on top of failing order is associated first, and so on.

    Most of the time, the mesh representations are created after operations likes Batchmeshing, mesh editing, penetration checks, and so on. The last representation of Mesh type is generally the latest representation and is of primary concern.

    When you select Set Rep > Geom, Engineering Solutions searches for a list of Geom representations and sets the first one in the list as the current representation. This is in alignment with the failing order as the representation on top of the failing order is set as current.

    When you select Set Rep > Mesh, Engineering Solutions searches for a list of Mesh representations and sets the last one in the list as the current representation. This way, you set the last created representation as current.

    There might be representations that do not have any files associated with them, which may come with a .xml file. Engineering Solutions ignores these representations when searching for the appropriate Geom/Mesh representations. In a case where a representation of a selected type is not present, Engineering Solutions does not change the current representation. For example, if the current representation is of type Mesh and there is no Geom representation associated with the module, when you select Set Rep > Geom, the current representation does not change and Engineering Solutions leaves it as type Mesh. If the current representation does change, Engineering Solutions purges the module, as well.

Purge Rep

To remove all of the contents under the modules from the current Engineering Solutions session, select Purge Rep from the right-click context menu.
Before you are able to remove all of the contents under a module, the Confirm delete dialog appears asking if you want to purge the selected modules.


Figure 4.

Engineering Solutions will still maintain the representation in the hierarchy, and you can import when desired. When you purge a module, all of the changes you have made to the contents of the module will be lost permanently. Engineering Solutions will not automatically update the files in the current representation with the updated content. To retain the changes, you must save the modules as a HM file (or Solver file) before purging.

Import Rep

To import the associated representation into Engineering Solutions, right-click on a representation and then select Import Rep from the context menu.
If there are children modules in the module you select, then all of the children will be imported. In general, the operations in the right-click context menu work on everything under the selected module.

Set Param-Criteria

  1. To set individual mesh parameter and criteria for selected module(s), select Set Param-Criteria from the right-click context menu.
    The Select Mesh Parameters & Criteria dialog appears.


    Figure 5.
  2. From the Select Parameter list, select a parameter to assign to the selected module.

Batchmesh

  1. To batchmesh a module or modules, right-click on a module or modules and then select Batchmesh from the context menu.
    The Batchmesh Representation dialog appears.


    Figure 6.
  2. Set the desired operation.
    • Choose Generate, if not present to create a new mesh for the given module using the selected parameter and criteria files, as long as a mesh for the given module and selected parameter and criteria files does not already exist.
    • Choose Force Generate to create a new mesh for the given module using the selected parameter and criteria files, even if a mesh for the given module and selected parameter and criteria files already exists.
  3. Make a selection for generating mesh.
    • Choose Use Current to use the current representation as input to the batch mesher for creating the new mesh.
    • Choose Geom to use the geometry representation as input to the batch mesher for creating the new mesh.
    • Choose Mesh to use the existing mesh representation as input to the batch mesher for creating the new mesh.
  4. Click Advanced Options to edit the following:
    Option Description
    Respect module attributes if exist (discipline and mesh quality) If module attributes exist and you would like to leave them as is during batchmeshing, select this checkbox.
    CPUs to use In order to run the BatchMesher faster on a system with multiple processors, enter the number of CPU values. This will run that many instances of BatchMesher.
    Show BatchMesher To show the BatchMesher GUI instead of running the batchmesh in the background, select this checkbox.
    Keep BatchMesher open after completion To keep the BatchMesher open after the batch meshing process is finished, select this checkbox.
  5. To start BatchMesher, click Run.
    The following messages appear during the batch mesh process:


    Figure 7. . Message displayed when BatchMesher is running in GUI mode


    Figure 8. . Message shown when BatchMesher is running in background

Associate Mesh Files

To associate mesh files for modules shown in the Assembly Browser, right-click on a module and then select Associate Mesh Files > All files or Latest only from the context menu.
  • Choose All files to assign all files to the module, if several representations exist for a particular module.
  • Choose Latest only to set the latest file, based on time stamp, as the only representation associated with the module.


Figure 9.
Associate mesh files search the mesh files based on their CAD file name. If the module does not have any CAD files associated with it, then no file will be associated. When Engineering Solutions is associating mesh files, a CAD representation is necessary. For example, when the initial PLMXML file contains only solver/hm files, nothing can be associated.

The associate mesh file also searches the mesh files based on their extension and CAD file name. If Engineering Solutions associates the wrong mesh file, select Associate Mesh Files > All files and then locate the appropriate file.

Show Contents in Module

To display all of the contents in a selected module, select Show Contents from the right-click context menu.
HyperMath opens a new Content Browser, which displays all the contents in the selected module.

Export a Model

To export a model for a given module, select Export Model > HM File or Solver File from the right-click context menu.
  • Choose HM File to save all of the information about a particular module into an Engineering Solutions file and associates that file as a representation for the selected module.
  • Choose Solver File to save all of the information about a particular module into a Solver file and associates that file as a representation for the selected module. The file format is determined by the current user profile.
You are only able to save a file when entities are organized under the module and the current representation of the module is not empty. After Engineering Solutions creates the new file, it is set as the current representation to the module.

Show, Hide and Isolate Modules

To show, hide, or isolate a module in the graphics area, right-click on the module and then select Show, Hide or Isolate from the context menu.
Show will bring the module to the display; Hide will hide the module; Isolate will turn off all other modules and display the selected one.
Note: This operation is recursive, meaning that when you select a module and perform an operation on it, the same applies to all the children modules.

Realize Connectors

  1. To import and realize the connectors from a .mcf file, click in the Assembly Browser.
    The Mcf Import dialog opens.


    Figure 10.
  2. In the MCF File field, navigate to your working directory and open the connector file.
Tip:
  • To automatically realize the connectors when you import the connector file, select the Realize on import checkbox.
  • To view the connectors that you have imported, click View > Connector Browser from the menu bar.

Show All Attributes in a Module

To display all of the attributes in a selected module, select Show All Attributes from the right-click context menu.
Engineering Solutions opens a dialog that displays all the attributes in the selected module.

Collapse and Expand All Modules in the Assembly Browser

To collapse or expand all of the modules models in the Assembly Browser, select Collapse All or Expand All from the right-click context menu.

To close all of the modules models in the tree structure and only display the top-most module, select Collapse All. To open all of the modules models in the entire tree structure and expose every item nested at every level, select Expand All.

Configure the Assembly Browser

  1. To change what columns display in the Assembly Browser, select Configure Browser in the right-click context menu.
    The Column Visibility dialog opens.
  2. From this dialog, select the check boxes of the columns you wish to display.