To Import Using Investigate Mode

You can use the Investigate mode to examine final component placement before you complete the import procedure. In the Investigate mode, you can accept or reject the placement of an existing component that is modified into your assembly.

In the ECAD Input - Assembly dialog box, you can:

• Select Investigate Placement, only if you have selected an ECAD IDF format as your import format.

• Select Investigate Geometry only if you have selected Investigate Placement in the ECAD Input - Assembly dialog box.

• You can check the results of the import by selecting Open log window.

In the investigate placement mode, component placement in the imported file is compared with its previous placement. Components with reference designators that did not exist in the assembly earlier are treated as new components. Each of these new or changed components is imported and displayed as a working component, and the Investigate Component dialog box opens.

Two components are compared for placement changes only if they have the same reference designator. Therefore, if a reference designator has changed, any change in its placement is not detected, and the component is treated as if it were a new component in the imported file.

The Investigate Component dialog box lists the reference designators of all components that are new, changed, or missing in the assembly along with the Creo Parametric name and its status. The status of each component is one of the following:

• Replace—The placement of this component is replaced with the new component placement from the file being imported.

• Keep—The placement of this component overrides any new component placement in the file being imported.

• Reject New—This new component is not placed in the imported assembly.

• Keep Missing—This component is missing in the imported file, but is kept in the assembly.

• Delete Missing—This component is missing in the imported file and is deleted in the assembly.

By default, all changed components are replaced and all new components are accepted.

The ecad_missing_component_status configuration option enables you to keep missing components or delete missing components by default, in the Investigate Component dialog box. Use the keep_missing configuration option value to keep missing components by default.

Filter the components displayed in the Investigate Component dialog box to display only new components, changed components, or both, by selecting from the list at the bottom of the dialog box. The default is to display both new and changed components. If you select a component in the list, it is highlighted in the assembly.

To change the status of a component, select the component in the dialog box and then click Change status to switch between Replace and Keep for changed components or Accept New and Reject New for new components.

To preview any changes you make to the new or modified components, click Preview. The new or modified components change according to the specifications in the dialog box.

When you finish making changes to the status of the component placements, click OK to complete the import.

2. Click the required ECAD package from the Type list, and select the ECAD file that you want to import from the list of available files. The ECAD Input - Board dialog box opens.

The ECAD Input - Board dialog box opens only if you have inserted shared data from a file.

3. Click Yes to activate the Investigate Geometry option in the ECAD - Input Board dialog box.

4. Click OK. The Investigate Board Geometry dialog box opens. The feature identified for the geometry update is displayed under Feature Type and its status is displayed under Status.

Depending on your selection in the Filter list, the relevant feature is displayed under Feature Type.

6. To change the status of a feature type, select the feature type in the dialog box and click Change status to switch between Replace and Keep.

7. If required, click Open Log Window for more information on the import operation.