Direct vs. Indirect Property Assignment

Many solver user profiles include a column called Direct Property when in Component view. When checked, the component uses a direct property assignment When unchecked, the component's direct property assignment is "unassigned" and the component will use indirect property assignment, if available.



When checked, the component uses a direct property assignment. When unchecked, the component's direct property assignment is "unassigned" and the component will use indirect property assignment, if available. The Direct Property column displays for all solver profiles except Ansys, LS-DYNA, PamCrash2G, RADIOSS, and any profile in Manufacturing Solutions. The Indirect Property column displays for all user profiles except Pamcrash2G and Samcef. The checkbox may be checked or unchecked based on the type of assignment already defined in the model, but you can change the assignment type by changing the state of the checkbox. You can check or uncheck multiple components at a time, if you have multiple components selected before changing the state of the checkbox. The exact results depend on a number of factors:

• If you select more than one component and uncheck the DIRECT checkbox for one of them, then all selected components should have their property relationship unassigned.
• If you select more than one component and check one of the DIRECT checkboxes for that selection, then if and only if the INDIRECT properties are common they will be assigned. If there is a mixture of INDIRECT properties, the operation fails because multiple property assignments are not possible.
• If the component has no INDIRECT property, but does have DIRECT property assignment, and you uncheck the checkbox, then the component has NO property assignment. This means that if you then recheck the checkbox, you receive an error stating that no property is available, so automatic direct property assignment is not possible. The checkbox, in this instance, will be disabled until you make an indirect/direct property assignment for the relevant components.

Like most browser columns, you can sort components by the state of their Direct Property flag.

Direct/Indirect Property View

When in Property view, the Model browser gains another icon in its toolbar . The icons within this list allow you to filter the elements that display in the graphics area based on their property assignments. Both direct and indirect properties Direct properties only Indirect properties only.

	Both direct and indirect properties
	Direct properties only
	Indirect properties only

Selecting one of these options immediately filters the view in the graphics area. These filters are accumulative with the current component display state -- so, for example, if you have only a few components displayed in the graphics area and the rest are hidden, selecting Direct Properties Only will filter out any elements from the currently displayed set, but will not cause previously-hidden elements to become visible again even if they have direct properties assigned. Similarly, Show, Hide, and Isolate functions work in conjunction with these controls rather than overriding them. If you switch to a different Model browser view, the effects of your current direct/indirect property view remain.

Selecting any of these view modes automatically hides any non-element entities, such as boundary conditions or morphing domains.

Examples

The simple model shown below (using the properties view) has elements organized into four components, each representing a property state: direct only, indirect only, mixed, and no property. The mixed component consists of three elements with indirect properties and one element with direct properties, but this only becomes apparent when using one of the property views.

	Property View: Both
Property View: Indirect Only	Property View: Direct Only