Creating and publishing Virtual Components

When you start a new design project, you may want to define the overall product structure for the project before creating new Solid Edge documents, or before positioning 3D geometry for existing Solid Edge documents in the top-level assembly. In effect, you use a top-down design approach to define the assembly structure using virtual components as place holders until real components are defined.

You can use the Virtual Component functionality in Solid Edge or in Teamcenter to define the assembly structure for a new design project.

When you have finished defining the assembly structure, you can publish the assembly. Publishing the assembly creates the new Solid Edge documents required, copies assembly sketch geometry to the new documents, and adds the 3D geometry for existing Solid Edge documents to the assembly.

Virtual components in Solid Edge

The basic workflow for creating and publishing a virtual assembly in the unmanaged Solid Edge environment is:

Virtual components in a Teamcenter-managed Solid Edge environment

While you can use the virtual component functionality in Solid Edge to develop unmanaged assembly structures, most often in a managed environment, your product structure is created and modified in another Teamcenter PDM client such as Teamcenter Structure Manager. Then the empty items that are created in the PDM client are opened for further development along with the remaining structure in either Solid Edge or Structure Editor.

Note:

As a best practice, you should choose between using Solid Edge Virtual Components and a workflow where Teamcenter empty items are created in a PDM client. Using both in the same structure is not recommended.

Once you have finished defining the assembly structure, you can publish the virtual components, converting non-modeled objects into physical documents containing Solid Edge 3D datasets. Publishing the components assigns the Solid Edge template (part, assembly, sheet metal or weldment), and Teamcenter attributes to the real document.

The basic workflow for working with Teamcenter-managed virtual assembly is:

Defining the assembly structure

The Virtual Component Structure Editor command defines the assembly structure for a new design project in an unmanaged environment. When you click the Virtual Component Structure Editor command, the Virtual Component Structure Editor dialog box is displayed.

The Virtual Component Structure Editor defines the name and document type for new virtual components, and allows you to drag any existing Solid Edge documents into the virtual assembly structure.

Assigning sketch geometry to Virtual Components

You can assign 2D sketch geometry from the assembly layout to a virtual component. You can create the 2D geometry before or after you define the assembly structure.

Assigning geometry to a virtual component defines its size and position in the assembly sketch. You can only assign geometry to one occurrence of a particular virtual component.

When you assign 2D geometry to a virtual component, it becomes the master, or source component. You can edit the sketch geometry associated with the source component directly. If there are additional occurrences of a particular virtual component, they become slave or instance components.

The sketch geometry for an instance component is an associative copy of the sketch geometry of the source component. When you update the sketch geometry for a source component, the sketch geometry for the instance components updates automatically. You cannot modify the sketch graphics for an instance component directly.

You assign geometry to a virtual component using the Edit Definition command on the Assembly PathFinder shortcut menu. This command is available only when an assembly sketch window is open.

When you click the Edit Definition command, a command bar is displayed so you can select the geometry and define an origin. You can select the 2D sketch geometry using the cursor or by dragging a fence. When you finish selecting geometry, click Accept or right-click to proceed to the Orientation Step.

The Orientation Step defines the origin location for the virtual component and the reference plane that the 2D sketch graphics are placed on when you publish the virtual component. You can specify that the graphics are placed on one of the three base reference planes.

When defining the origin you can specify that the origin is based on a keypoint or a free space point. With either method you must also define the x-axis direction. When you click the Finish button, a symbol is displayed that represents the origin (A) and x-axis direction (B) for the virtual component geometry.

You can constrain to the origin point on a virtual component to position it within the assembly.

Creating sketch geometry for pre-defined Virtual Components

You create the sketch geometry for a pre-defined virtual component by opening the parent document, then using the Component Sketch command to create a component sketch.

There are two types of graphics you can create in a component sketch: component image graphics, and wireframe graphics. Component image graphics are created using the Component Image command. This command creates a 2D representation of the visible edges on a part.

Component image graphics are not individually selectable in the assembly sketch, but provide a reference envelope.

You supplement the component image graphics with wireframe graphics you create using the Include command or drawing wireframe graphics manually. The wireframe graphics can be selected and used for constraining the component sketch in the assembly sketch.

You typically would create both types of graphics for a component sketch. In some cases, you may only create component image graphics, then use the virtual component symbol origin to constrain the predefined component in the assembly sketch.

Using too many wireframe graphic elements can impact performance when placing the component sketch in the assembly sketch.

Updating sketch geometry for pre-defined Virtual Components

As discussed earlier, pre-defined components are typically purchased or released parts. If the parent 3D geometry for a pre-defined component sketch changes, you must delete the component image graphics and create new graphics using the Component Image command.

You can then open the assembly sketch and select the pre-defined component within PathFinder. Click the Update Component command on the shortcut menu to update the pre-defined component graphics in the assembly.

Replacing pre-defined components

You can use the Replace command on the shortcut menu when a sketch is active to replace a pre-defined component with another Solid Edge document you specify. you can select the pre-defined component in Assembly PathFinder or the sketch window.

Displaying Virtual Component sketch geometry

Before you assign assembly sketch graphics to a virtual component, you use the Show and Hide commands on the Layers tab shortcut menu to display and hide the assembly sketch graphics. An effective layer management scheme can make working with complex assembly sketches more productive.

After you assign assembly sketch graphics to a virtual component, you can use the Show and Hide commands on the PathFinder shortcut menu to display and hide the virtual component sketch graphics. For example, you can select the virtual component in PathFinder, or in the graphics widow, then click the Show and Hide commands on the shortcut menu.

You control the display of dimensions you apply to the sketch geometry by showing and hiding the layers on which the dimensions were created, both before and after you assign graphics to a virtual component.

Because geometric relationship handles do not reside on a layer, you always control their display using the Relationship Handles command on the Tools menu when in the assembly sketch.

Positioning Virtual Components

You use the Position Virtual Component command on the PathFinder shortcut menu to position virtual components. This command is only available when you are editing an assembly sketch. You can position an empty virtual component (a virtual component that has no geometry assigned), an instance virtual component, or a pre-defined component.

You can position a virtual component by dragging it from the PathFinder tab and dropping it into the sketch window.

As discussed earlier, source virtual components are positioned as part of the process of assigning geometry.

Determining the status of a Virtual Component

The symbols in PathFinder and the Virtual Component Structure Editor dialog box reflect the current status of the virtual components in the assembly.

Teamcenter-managed non-modeled nodes can either be assembly or leaf nodes. Assembly nodes contain references or children, while leaf nodes do not contain references or children. The symbols in PathFinder, Assembly Reports, and the Property Manager dialog box reflect the state of the virtual components in the assembly. The following table explains the symbols used:

Note:

The Teamcenter Status and Checked Out By information displayed in PathFinder is not available for an object until it is published.

Publishing Virtual Components

When you are ready to create the document set for the new design project, you can click the Publish Virtual Components command. You can then use the Publish Virtual Components dialog box to specify the target folder and template you want to use to create the document set.

In an unmanaged Solid Edge environment, when you click Publish, all virtual components are published at one time. The unmanaged Solid Edge documents are created using the names, folder path, and templates you specified.

If you have associated 2D assembly sketch graphics with source virtual components, the sketch graphics, including dimensions and relationships, are copied to the proper document as sketches. The sketch graphics are positioned in the new document using the Publish On option you specified on the Edit Definition command bar when you assigned the sketch geometry to the source component.

There is no associative link between the sketch graphics in the original assembly and the sketch graphics copied to the new documents.

The sketch graphics associated with instance virtual components are deleted from the source assembly.

You cannot publish a virtual component to the same folder as a real component of the same name. For example, if you add both a pre-defined component named bolt.par and a virtual component named bolt to the virtual component structure, they are not allowed to reside in the same folder when you publish the virtual components.

Conflicts such as these are indicated in the Publish Virtual Components dialog box using red text and an exclamation mark (!). In this example, you can resolve the conflict by renaming the virtual component or by specifying a different folder for the virtual component.

If you do not rename the virtual component or specify a different folder, the existing document will be used and the new document for the virtual component will not be created. The existing part is positioned as defined by the virtual component sketch, but the sketch geometry is not added to the existing document.

Publishing documents in the Teamcenter-managed environment

When you are ready to create the document set for the new design project, you have three options. You can perform an ad hoc publish on a single object by selecting the virtual component in PathFinder and dragging it into the Solid Edge graphic window. You are then prompted to choose the template for the object to give it a Solid Edge dataset, and then the New Document dialog box displays so you can check in the real document.

Another option is to use the Publish Virtual Components command. You can then use the Publish Virtual Components dialog box to select components for either a partial or full publish, and to determine the template you want to use to create the document.

During a partial publish, you select a component of an assembly for publishing by selecting the associated check box. Then you are given the opportunity to assign a template. The New Document common property dialog box assigns Teamcenter attributes, and the physical document is created with a Solid Edge dataset.

A full publish involves selecting all components of a structure. The entire virtual structure is published at the same time. You use the New Document common property dialog box to assign Teamcenter attributes, and the documents are created with Solid Edge datasets.

In all three cases, if a virtual component is denoted as an assembly, only Solid Edge assembly templates are displayed during template selection. If the virtual component is a leaf node (one that has no references or children), then you can choose from the 3D Solid Edge templates during template selection.

Virtual Components and assembly reports

If the assembly for which you are creating a report contains virtual components, you should always use the Reports command in the Assembly environment.

When you run the Reports command from Windows Explorer on an assembly that has virtual components, the virtual components will not be contained in the report. If the assembly contains only virtual components, a message may be displayed that states that no parts are in the file.

When you run the Reports command from Windows Explorer on an assembly that has virtual components, the Assembly Report shows Teamcenter virtual components and uses the same symbols for identification that you see in PathFinder.

Assigning properties to Virtual Components

When an active document contains a virtual component, you can use the Property Manager command to modify existing properties or create new properties for the virtual component in Solid Edge.

Note:

Virtual components created in Teamcenter are shown, but are read-only and cannot be edited.

When you select the Property Manager command, the Property Manager dialog box is displayed for editing property values. Any properties that you cannot edit are disabled and appear in gray.

To edit a value, click the appropriate property cell and type in the new value. When you edit a property, if the document containing the property is a managed document, it is checked out to prevent others from making changes. After you edit a property value, the property cell is underlined to indicate that it has been changed.  The cell remains underlined until you click the Save button to save the changes or click the Restore button to set the value back to the previous value.  You can use the Copy, Cut, and Paste buttons to edit information between cells. When you click OK, the property changes are written back to the document in memory. The changes are not written until you save the document.

When you publish the virtual components, the properties you assigned to the virtual components are added to the new documents.

For more information on editing document properties, see Document Properties.

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