Associative Topology Bus > Working with Creo Elements/Direct > About ATB-enabled Creo Elements/Direct Formats
  
About ATB-enabled Creo Elements/Direct Formats
The import of Creo Elements/Direct part and assembly models creates Translated Image Models (TIMs) in Creo Parametric. The TIMs show standard Associative Topology Bus (ATB) behavior just as the TIMs created by the import of all other 3D formats that support ATB. You can use the ATB commands of Check Status, Update, Change Link, and Make Independent on the TIMs created by the import of the Creo Elements/Direct model files to Creo Parametric.
You can import the following Creo Elements/Direct 3D model file types to Creo Parametric:
*.pkg package files
*.sda assembly instance files
*.sdac assembly content files
*.sdp part instance files
*.sdpc part content files
*.bdl bundle files with 2D and 3D data
The *.pkg and the *.bdl files are single-file formats that contain information about individual or multiple part and assembly models. The *.pkg and the *.bdlCreo Elements/Direct formats show the same ATB behavior as the monolithic CATIA V4 .model assembly files. That is, the top-level assembly and all its sub-models and components in a *.pkg or a *.bdl file are linked to a single source file, as in a CATIA V4 *.model assembly file. Therefore, when you modify a *.pkg or a *.bdl file, Check Status identifies the top-level TIM assembly, its components, and sub-models as out-of-date, as is the case when you modify a CATIA V4 .model assembly file. You can then use the Update command to update the out-of-date top-level TIM assembly, its component TIMs, and the sub-model TIMs so that the entire TIM assembly is up-to-date with the source *.pkg or *.bdl file that you modified.
However, the Creo Elements/Direct multiple file formats show the ATB behavior of the multi-file CATIA V5 and NX assembly formats with exceptions. That is, each TIM component or sub-model in the Creo Elements/Direct multi-file formats imported to Creo Parametric is linked to its unique component or sub-model source file, as in CATIA V5 and NX. Therefore, for changes in the Creo Elements/Direct multi-file formats, Check Status may identify individual TIM components or sub-models as out-of-date, independent of the top-level TIM assembly.
Creo Elements/Direct mutli-file formats consist of the instance and the content files. A *.sdac assembly content file and a *.sda assembly instance file define a top-level Creo Elements/Direct assembly. Several *.sda instance files can reference a single *.sdac content file. The *.sda instance files that reference the *.sdac content file can modify the information in the *.sdac content file, such as component color and position. Similarly, Creo Elements/Direct part models consist of the *.sdpc part content and the *.sdp part instance files. Several *.sdp part instance files can reference a single *.sdpc part content file with the instance variations defined in the *.sdp reference files.
You can directly import the *.sdac or the *.sdpc content file or their reference instance files. The *.sdac and the *.sdpc content files show standard ATB behavior after import. However, when you import a *.sda or a *.sdp instance file that references a *.sdac or a *.sdpc content file, the resultant TIM part or assembly is only linked to its source *.sda or *.sdp instance file. The TIM part or assembly is not linked to the *.sdac or the *.sdpc content file with which its source *.sda or *.sdp instance file is associated.