Parts Lists for Product Variants (G4)

A model (part or assembly) becomes a variant model if more than one configuration is created for it, and different item data is defined for each. A variant of a part has a different material or geometry. A variant of an assembly has a different number of parts or the parts are different.

In the basic case, a model has only one configuration and only one set of item data. This model configuration is called 0:Basic. When you add a configuration to the model and specify configuration-specific item data for it, the model changes into a table model. More than one set of item data exists for the same model. This data should also be displayed in the drawing.

The model drawing is created from the configuration that is active at the moment the new drawing is created. You can invoke a model's other configurations projection-specifically in the model drawing. The parts list, however, is collected from the configuration from which the drawing was originally created. You can include a configuration table in a drawing's parts list, listing all items and their quantities in the model.

In Vertex, this is implemented as a table model with configuration-specific item data and table drawings.

The following concepts relate to these features:

  • Table model

    A model becomes a table model, when the first configuration-specific item in addition to configuration 0: Basic is created. You can check whether a model is a table model by selecting a part/assembly and the Properties function. The Table Model (multiple items) property is selected if the part/assembly is a table model.

  • Configuration-specific item

    A variant item can be defined for each configuration. This set of item data is displayed in the drawing's configuration table. If a configuration does not have an item, the configuration's symbol is displayed in the drawing's configuration table.

  • Table drawing

    You can create a table drawing from a table model. A table drawing is displayed in the feature tree of a part or the assembly tree for all configurations of the model. Additionally, the table drawing uses the item of the table model. You can define a drawing as a table drawing when collecting a parts list in the Collect parts list dialog box.

    Drawings related to the active configuration are displayed in the tree when you click the tree's Drawings symbol.

    If you want to view all drawings created from the table model, select the context-sensitive function, Drawings. The dialog box contains a listing of all drawings.