Integration with Other Applications > Managing CAD and Part Relationships in Windchill > Customizing Auto Associate > Controlling the Associations Formed by Auto Associate
  
Controlling the Associations Formed by Auto Associate
There are several preferences that affect the type of associations formed during an Auto Associate action, as well as the CAD document types and subtypes, or model item types and subtypes that are allowed to form them.
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Model items types with .prt and .asm extensions are not subject to the following preferences. If you want to add or remove model item types that are valid for an association, then you need to explicitly identify all types or sub-types that are expected to associate.
Example 1
To set the highest priority association type to be “Contributing Content” followed by “Content”, use the following preference values:
• Operation > Auto Associate > Disallow Product Structure Links by Document Types
• Operation > Auto Associate > Disallow Product Structure Links by Document Sub-types
Example 2
To set the highest priority association type to be “Contributing Image”, followed by “Image”, use the following preference values:
• Operation > Auto Associate > Disallow Structure Model Item Types
• Operation > Auto Associate > Disallow Structure Model Item Sub-types
Example 3
To enable a CAD document-to-part association to be created or modified when the latest matching part version found during Auto Associate already has an existing association, set the following Windchill preference to Yes or No. The default is No.
Operation > Auto Associate > Modify Already Associated Parts On Check In
A Yes value allows the check in to continue without conflict and automatically does one the following when you Auto Associate a new CAD document version.
• If the matching part is already associated to a different CAD document, then the next available association type is created.
• If the matching part is already associated to the same CAD document, then the following is done.
◦ The existing part association is deleted.
◦ The part is iterated.
◦ A new association of the strongest type (based on existing rules of priority) is created between the new CAD document being auto associated and the latest matching part version.
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• In cases where an Image association was “manually created” between the CAD document and the part, the system does not attempt to preserve the existing association type.
• Removing and creating associations requires the part to be iterated. Therefore, you must have Modify access to the matching part for the Auto Associate action to be successful.
• If the latest matching part version has associations to multiple CAD document versions of the same master, then all associations are deleted and one association of the strongest type is created between the new CAD document and the latest matching part version.
A No value allows the check in to fail with an over-ridable conflict. This enables you to modify the existing CAD document-to part association, if desired, by confirming an option, as outlined in the following table.
Conflict
Severity
Description
Options
Check In
Failed with over-ridable conflicts.
The matching part already has an Owner association to another version of this document.
1. Typically, one of the following three:
◦ Continue by removing the existing association and create an Owner association to the document version being checked in.
◦ Continue by removing the existing association and create a Contributing Image association to the document version being checked in.
◦ Continue by removing the existing association and create an Image association to the document version being checked in.
2. Check in the document without associating it to a part.
The matching part already has a Contributing Image association to another version of this document.
1. Typically, one of the following three:
◦ Continue by removing the existing association and create an Owner association to the document version being checked in.
◦ Continue by removing the existing association and create a Contributing Image association to the document version being checked in.
◦ Continue by removing the existing association and create an Image association to the document version being checked in.
2. Check in the document without associating it to a part.
The matching part already has an Image association to another version of this document.
1. Typically, one of the following three:
◦ Continue by removing the existing association and create an Owner association to the document version being checked in.
◦ Continue by removing the existing association and create a Contributing Image association to the document version being checked in.
◦ Continue by removing the existing association and create an Image association to the document version being checked in.
2. Check in the document without associating it to a part.
The matching part already has a Contributing Content association to another version of this document.
1. Typically, one of the following two:
◦ Continue by removing the existing association and create a Contributing Content association to the document version being checked in.
◦ Continue by removing the existing association and create a Content association to the document version being checked in.
2. Check in the document without associating it to a part.
The matching part already has a Content association to another version of this document.
1. Typically, one of the following two:
◦ Continue by removing the existing association and create a Contributing Content association to the document version being checked in.
◦ Continue by removing the existing association and create a Content association to the document version being checked in.
2. Check in the document without associating it to a part.
For more information about context preferences, see About Application Context Preferences.