Additional Windchill Capabilities > Manufacturing Process Management > Transforming an eBOM into an mBOM > Creating an Equivalence Link
  
Creating an Equivalence Link
The ability to create, modify or delete equivalence links is dependent on the filter, view, and view hierarchy defined for each object being used. Actions are disabled if they do not conform to a valid view hierarchy. For example, you cannot create an equivalence link if the displayed upstream structure is actually a child view of the displayed downstream structure’s view.
To create an equivalence link:
1. Select the upstream part or assembly containing the part for which you want to create an equivalence link.
2. Select the downstream part or assembly containing the part for which you want to create an equivalence link.
3. Click the icon. The Create Equivalence Link dialog appears.
4. In the Create Equivalence Link dialog enter the following:
◦ Link Description:
A description describing or naming the link between the selected parts.
◦ Occurrence Link Enabler:
Select to allow the equivalence link to be used as a context for the creation of occurrence links.
◦ Carry over from upstream:
Select to allow the attributes from the upstream part to be used on the equivalent downstream part.
You can also link parts by copying a part from any Windchill MPMLink explorer and pasting it onto the Equivalent Parts tab, or by dragging and dropping a part from any Windchill MPMLink explorer onto the Equivalent Parts tab. You can also link parts by using the Manufacturing Product Structure Explorer to construct an mBOM, and by using dual structure mode.
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Equivalence links can be created to an upstream object, even if that object is checked out to another user. If the object is checked out to another user the last checked-in version of the object is used to create the equivalence link.
Equivalence Link Preferences
The creation of equivalence links can be modified through the use of the Preference Management Utility. The following preferences can be used to modify creation of equivalence links:
Preference
Description
Allow Creation Of Equivalence Link To Self
Some BOM Transformation actions result in the reuse of an upstream part iteration in the downstream BOM. For example, copying a part from the upstream BOM and using Paste in the downstream BOM reuses that part "as-is". This preference controls whether or not the BOM transformation actions create equivalence links between the upstream parts that are used downstream "as-is". In other words, whether an equivalence link to itself is created on the reused part.
Ask To Carry Over During Create or Update
When creating or updating an equivalence link use this preference to define whether or not attributes from the upstream equivalent part are automatically copied to the downstream part.
Force Checkout
Creating an equivalent does not require that you check out the upstream object, such as a part or enterprise data, from which you are creating the link. However, in certain organizations it can be preferable to ensure that no changes can be made to a downstream object without first having that object checked out. For example, a downstream object can be checked out to one user, but a second user can create an equivalence link to that object and potentially affect the work being done by the first user. To avoid this scenario set this preference to Yes. Doing this automatically checks out the downstream object if an equivalence link is created or edited. This preference is only used if the preference Ask to Carry Over on Create and Update Actions has been set to Yes.
Remove Previous Equivalence Links
Determines system behavior when updating upstream equivalence links. By default existing links between part iterations are kept. If enabled however, when a downstream part iteration of an equivalence link is updated all existing links between the downstream part iteration and the upstream part iteration are deleted.
Enable Equivalent Occurrences
Allows for the creation of equivalent occurrences and consumption links when performing BOM transformations.
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