When viewing a WTPart or EPMDocument structure in Creo View, or from the Visualization tab in the Product Structure Browser, the graphics for the structure are dynamically generated by merging the default representations for objects in the structure (Part or CAD) into a single PVS file. The current navigation criteria is used to select which WTParts or EPMDocuments are selected for display.

When visualizing these structures there can be several situations where the expected visualization that the user might like to see is not held on the default representation of the parts in the structure. This section will walk through how to handle these different types of situations and considerations when modifying the behavior of the dynamic visualization.

If an assembly contains features which modify the geometry of its children, an example being a cut-out of a child, this can cause the resulting geometry to be incorrect displayed in the dynamic visualization. If an assembly contains these types of modifications, they are typically published as a static representation or an extended positioning assembly and the correct geometry of the children will only be stored in the representation of the assembly (and not the child). This results in the dynamic structure visualization being incorrect because it loads the geometry of the child from the default representation of the child.

Visualization of assembly features in dynamic part structures can be enabled by setting the user preference Visualization > Dynamic Structure > Assembly Features in Dynamic Part Structures to Yes. Visualization of assembly features in dynamic CAD structures can be enabled by setting the user preference Visualization > Dynamic Structure > Assembly Features in Dynamic CAD Structures to Yes.

Enabling this preference allows the Windchill system read the representations of assembly files and identify when an assembly feature exists. When this happens it chooses to use the resulting geometry in the assembly’s representation instead of the default representation of the child.

Handling of assembly features in dynamic visualization is limited by its ability to access the “correct” geometry based on the combination of navigation criteria applied to the structure and representations which exist in the system. The OL file containing the assembly feature is retrieved from the assembly’s representation. If there are multiple iterations/versions of the child parts, there is no way to guarantee that the OL file used to display the assembly feature is the one created for the iteration/version selected by the current navigation criteria for the assembly.

This is heavily dependent on the publishing strategy which has been developed and whether or not assemblies are being republished when it’s children are changed.

For example, if you have an assembly with two child parts with two versions each, there are four possible combinations of geometry:

When generating the part structure using the latest configuration specification, Part1 A.2 and Part2 A.2 is displayed in the part structure. However, if Part1 has assembly features, it can use the OL file for Part1 A.1 instead of Part1 A.2.

Flexible assemblies provide the ability for a parent assembly to override the positioning information of one of its children assembly’s components. This means that in the case of dynamic visualization, the location of the component is loaded from the parent assembly’s representation. This overrides the position present in the lower child assembly.

Flexible assemblies are visible in their alternate location in dynamic CAD or Part structures as dictated by their parent assemblies when opening the dynamic CAD or Part structure in Creo View and its user preference is set to Yes.

When a dynamic structure with flexible features and assembly features is used, the geometry from the parent assembly is used for the assembly features, and the transforms (locations) from the parent assembly are used for the flexible features.

When a dynamic part structure is displayed, the graphics are composed of the merged representations of parts in the structure. For certain WTParts, the child part structure is either not present, or is incomplete and the children do not have graphics associated to them. Supplier parts are an example of this. With supplier parts, there is a single WTPart in the structure which represents the complete supplier assembly. In these cases, the 3D graphic is not complete. WTPart structures that are missing the child part structure are called CAD Represented Parts.

Beginning at Windchill 10.2 M030, it is possible to configure Windchill to display the 3D graphic for CAD Represented Parts. The whole representation of CAD Represented Parts is used to display the 3D graphic. The representation used to display the graphic is the default representation of the part. If the default representation is missing, it uses the default representation on an image associated EPMDocument, and the complete representation, including all children, is merged. Any child WTParts of the CAD Represented Part in the WTPart structure are removed from the visualization structure.

In the example below, WTPart “ASSYA” has an image association to a CAD Assembly that has three children. The CAD Assembly has a published representation. When this part is identified as a CAD Represented Part, the resulting visualization structure includes the children of the CAD Assembly.

It is possible to modify the way WTPart dynamic structures are generated by providing a custom hook to exclude parts, use representations other than the default representation of the part, or to include the entire representation for an assembly instead of merging the representations associated to its children. For more information, see the “Modifying the Default Behavior of Dynamic Part Generation” section of the Windchill Customization Guide, or by examining <Windchill>\ prog_examples\wvs\com\ptc\wvs\PartStructureFilter.java.

The following WVS properties are used to control the visualization of Assembly Features:

Configuring groups for identifying CAD Represented Parts — An XML file is used to control the definition of what is identified as a CAD Represented Part. The XML file can be configured to have multiple groups to represent CAD Represented Parts. Each group can consist of multiple global attributes and/or WTPart Soft Types. A WVS preference, available in the Site and Organizations contexts at Visualization > Dynamic Structure > Location of CAD Represented Part Configuration XML, configures the location and name of the xml file used to configure parts identified as CAD Represented Parts. The location can be specified relative to the <Windchill> directory or can be absolute. For detailed information on how to create a configuration file for identifying CAD Represented Parts, including the ability to localize the name and description, refer to the CADRepresentedPartConfiguration.xml file located at <Windchill>\codebase\com\ptc\wvs\server\xml\ .

User Preference for selecting groups used to identify CAD Represented Parts — Users can select which groups they want to use for identifying parts as CAD Represented Parts by setting the Visualization > Dynamic Structure > CAD Represented Parts in Dynamic Part Structures user preference. In the example below, Bucket Cylinder, Main Cylinders, and Head Lights are all selected for identifying parts as CAD Represented Parts.

User Preference for determining whether to show unplaced components to be used in dynamic part structures — Users can decide whether to display unplaced components to be used in a dynamic part structure by setting the Visualization > Dynamic Structure > Show Unplaced Components in Dynamic Part Structures user preference. For example, when this preference is set to Yes, unplaced components are displayed when opening the dynamic part structure in Creo View.

An example XML file showing control of CAD Represented Part Filtering is provided below.