Basic Customization > User Interface Customization > Presenting Information in the UI > Windchill Client Architecture Tree > Objective > Background > Expand/Collapse Behavior
  
Expand/Collapse Behavior
The expand/collapse functionality is used to traverse the hierarchy of the tree. Your expansion of the tree will be sticky within a session and will return to the default between sessions. You can expand or collapse a tree in two ways:
By using the “Expand” and “Collapse” actions in the menu or toolbar.
Expand action enlarged to show detail
Collapse action enlarged to show detail
If used in combination with the selection radio button/checkboxes, the selected nodes will only be expanded to the last level. If you try to expand or collapse without checking any nodes, then all the nodes will be expanded to the last level.
By using the Expand/Collapse icons:
Expand icon enlarged to show detail
Collapse icon enlarged to show detail
The expand icon will populate its next level children, where as the Collapse icon merely changes the node from an open to a closed state.