Simply creating an external object does not allow the object to be displayed or selected in Creo Parametric. For this, you must supply external object data that is used, stored, and retrieved by Creo Parametric. The data is removed from the model database when the external object is deleted.

External object data is described by the opaque workspace handle ProWExtobjdata. The functions required to initialize and modify this object are specific to the type of data being created. That is, creating display data requires one set of functions, whereas creating selection data requires another.

Once you have created a ProWExtobjdata object, the manipulation of the external object data is independent of its contents: the functions required to add or remove data are the same for both display and selection data.

The following sections describe the Creo TOOLKIT functions that relate to external object data. The sections are as follows: