About Graphic Properties

Graphic properties are not duplicated during instantiation. If a graphic property is defined on a reference, it is taken into account on the instance (if there is no property defined on the instance). Children inherit graphic properties.

Note: By default, the graphic properties of a product are volatile. Their modifications cannot be saved. To make them persistent and share them in the database, you must run the Keep Modifications command.

This page discusses:

Access

The Graphic Properties commands are accessed through:

  • The Object Properties panel. To access the Object Properties panel, from the Tools section of the action bar, select Object Properties .

  • The context menu of the selected object.

The Hide/Show command is available from the context menu of the selected object.

Inheritance Mechanism

The following inheritance mechanisms are applied for all graphic properties:

  • Instance/reference inheritance: You can assign a property to an instance by changing the graphic properties of its reference.
    Important: Priority is given to the overloaded properties of an instance. If you have overloaded graphic properties on an instance, the reference graphic properties change is not be taken into account.
  • Parent/child inheritance: You can assign a property to subproducts by changing the graphic property of their root product or parent.

    The parent/child inheritance mechanism has priority over the instance/reference mechanism.

You can apply both instance/reference and parent/child inheritance for graphic properties.

Copy Product Graphic Properties

Product graphic properties that are persistent are copied.

By default, product graphic properties are volatile. They are persistent in the following cases:

  • If they are inherited from the product reference
  • If they are not inherited, but made persistent using the Keep Modifications command.

Available Commands

The inheritance mechanism is applied for the following properties:

  • Graphic properties:
    • Color
    • Transparency
    • Thickness
    • Line Types
  • Hide/Show

You cannot assign a layer number to a product. This property is unavailable (grayed) in the Object Properties panel.