Creo Elements/Direct Modeling provides you with a mechanism to store an assembly as one single item in Creo Elements/Direct Model Manager by marking the assembly as inseparable in Creo Elements/Direct Modeling.
This allows you to access the complete geometry and structure of the assembly in Creo Elements/Direct Modeling even as the assembly is treated as a single inseparable object in Creo Elements/Direct Model Manager.
Few of the typical cases where you can mark an object as an inseparable object are:
• An assembly that has CAD models integrated from different sources. This allows you to treat the CAD models as a single object in Creo Elements/Direct Model Manager. For example, if you import a motor block into a larger assembly such as a car, you can mark the motor block as inseparable.
• The keep-out areas or the board outlines with the PCB integration assembly. You can use the keep-out areas and the board outlines as reference in Creo Elements/Direct Modeling.
• The workplanes and the tooling elements along with the part or the assembly. You can use the workplanes and the tooling elements as reference in Creo Elements/Direct Modeling. It is a good practice to hold the workplanes and the tooling elements in a container.
The object that you select to mark as an inseparable object is called the inseparable master. The inseparable master’s components are also marked as inseparable objects. Inseparable objects are represented with a small red circle in the Structure Browser.
In Creo Elements/Direct Modeling 17.0 and later, the application takes care of maintaining the consistency of inseparable objects and ensures that the rules for inseparables are followed.
Creo Elements/Direct Modeling versions prior to version 17.0 do not have the functionality to support inseparable objects yet, and hence cannot automatically maintain the consistency of inseparable objects.
While working with inseparable objects in the older versions of Creo Elements/Direct Modeling, you may actually violate the consistency rules. When you load such a model into a Creo Elements/Direct Modeling version that supports inseparable objects, violations are detected and, in most cases, automatically repaired.
In some cases, automatic repair is not possible. This will then be reported as a message. You can load the object in an older version of Creo Elements/Direct Modeling and then manually fix the sharing violation.