Assignment Assistant OverviewThe Assembly Assignment Assistant can be used to assign products and fasteners to items. The assignment assistant dialog box appears when you select Assembly
Assignment Assistant
Click the image to enlarge it: The assistant comprises the following main parts: Items, Products, Fasteners, and 3D viewer. Selection and DisplayWhen you select an item in the right-hand and left-hand item lists, all products implemented by this item are displayed in the corresponding 3D viewer. These products are also listed in the Available Products and Assigned Products lists under the 3D viewer. Selecting Not Assigned in the left-hand item list displays the products that are available for assignment. Note:
If the product is not declared as
Manufacturable/Procurable, it does not appear in the
Available Products list and the 3D viewer.
When you select an item in the right-hand item list, the list of unassigned products is updated. A product that is assigned to a predecessor is identified as Output of: <predecessor> in the Products list and is displayed in the 3D viewer. However, it is not available for assignment. Selecting the Output of: line in the list highlights the resulting product in the viewer. Similarly, selecting the product in the viewer highlights the Output of: line in the list. When you click the Show Fasteners command, a Fasteners frame appears under the Products frame, allowing you to manage the consumption of fasteners. The behavior is the same as for products. For more information, see Fastener Assignments and Additional Options. However, fasteners assigned on predecessors are not available in the Fasteners list and are not displayed in the 3D viewer. The 3D viewer offers Zoom, Pan, and Trap Selection capabilities, as well as a menu. Cross highlighting is available between the 3D viewer and the lists in the assistant. Note:
In this document, objects in left-hand lists are known as source objects and
objects in right-hand lists are known as destination objects.
Center Tree and Reframe on Selection for ProductsA menu is available for the left and right product lists. The menu consists of two menu items Center Tree and Reframe On Selection.
Product AssignmentsThe assignment assistant allows you to assign, unassign, or reassign a product, or a list of products between two items. This is done using the assignment arrows
In the following example, Products P1, P2, and P3 are instantiated under a Root Product:
Note:
The assignment arrows in the assistant are disabled if:
Under the source products list and the destination products list, there are two fields:
Fastener Assignments and Additional OptionsWhen you click Fasteners in the assignment assistant, a number of additional options become available for managing product and fastener assignments, including automatic assignment and validity checks. When the Fasteners frame appears under the Products frame in the assignment assistant, you can manage the consumption of the fasteners. The behavior is the same as for products: fasteners can be assigned, unassigned, and reassigned, although, instead of a Provided Part, a Fasten step is created for each fastener and instantiated under the item on which the fastener is assigned. Find Fasteners OptionsFind Parts OptionsCheck the Status of Assigned FastenersThe Check the Status of Assigned Fasteners option verifies the validity of the assigned fasteners. It verifies if the fasteners assigned to a destination assembly join all products assigned to the same assembly (or item):
 The last two fasteners join the assigned products: they are valid. All products joined by the first two fasteners are not assigned: these fasteners are not valid. Note:
The fasteners list can be sorted by status.
In addition to the fastener names and status, the following information is given in the corresponding lists:
Toggle Fastener Axis RepresentationThe Toggle command lets you display or hide the fastener axes in the 3D viewers. The arrow on the axis representation shows the orientation of the fastener. Manage Fasteners with Same Diameter and TypeYou can filter the fasteners displayed in the fasteners lists by diameter, by type, or both. The fastener lists display the available diameters and types of fasteners according to the selected Diameter and Type filter criteria. Assignable Parts/Fasteners in ContextThe Assignable Parts/Fasteners in Context option allows you to list the fasteners linked to or joining a group of parts, or to list parts joined by a group of fasteners. The fasteners or parts are listed within the scope of a selected item. If Assignable Parts/Fasteners in Context is selected in the left-hand item selection list, then the parts and fasteners lists are updated according to the item selection in the right-hand side. The right-hand viewer displays the parts and fasteners directly assigned to the item selected in the right-hand list, as well as the input assemblies (listed as Output of: in the parts list). On the left-hand side, all the available parts and fasteners (assigned and not yet assigned) in the scope and lower scopes of the right-hand item are displayed. Only the left-hand parts and fasteners lists remain active so you can select parts/fasteners. Right-hand lists are disabled. This allows you to better understand your assembly because you have access to all parts and fasteners inside a given scope. Freeze Status of Fasten StepsA Freeze Status column is available in the fasteners list. The orange pin
To change the Freeze status on a Fasten step implementing the selected fasteners, two commands are available in the context menu of the fasteners list:
Note:
If no fasteners are selected or if Not
Assigned is selected, these two commands are not
available.
For more information, see Freezing or Releasing Fasten Steps Position.
Center Tree and Reframe on Selection for FastenersA menu is available for the left and right fasteners lists. The menu consists of two menu items Center Tree and Reframe On Selection. Clicking Reframe On Selection reframes the selected product in the 3D viewer of the appropriate list. Center Tree contains the following submenu items:
Automatic Fastener Assignment from OptionsThe assistant can automatically assign fasteners to items where their joined parts are assembled, not only to the destination item. To do so, select the Automatically
Assign and Re-assign Fasteners option in
Me Defining that option allows you to automatically assign fasteners that join movable parts. When you select parts to assign, unassign, or reassign, all fasteners joining these parts together are assigned on the first parent Manufacturing Assembly where the parts are assembled. Similarly, fasteners joining these parts with already-assigned parts are assigned on the first parent Manufacturing Assembly where the parts are assembled. Create New or Use Existing Fasten Reference from OptionsYou can use the same Fasten step reference for identical fasteners. To do so, select the Use same Fasten
step reference to implement fasteners option in
Me Identical fasteners can have the same diameter, the same type, and the same group of joined parts.
Bead FastenersA bead fastener is a specific type of fastener that connects two or more parts and whose location is defined by a 3D curve. Bead fasteners are widely used in the automotive industry. A bead fastener comprises the following entities:
The 3D parts linked to a bead fastener are not supported in the assignment assistant. These parts are not listed in the product lists. However, their 3D representation is used to represent the bead fastener. When a bead fastener exists, to visualize it in the assignment assistant viewer, the representation of the 3D part linked to it is shown in the viewer:
Bead fasteners are managed in the assignment assistant as follows:
For more information, see Product to Item Assignments. | |||||||||||||||
. 
: Centers the selected part in the tree. 
: Centers the selected item in the tree. 
and 
as
follows: 
option allows you to identify the fasteners that
join selected parts. It highlights these fasteners in the lists and 3D
viewers.
option allows you to identify the fasteners that
are directly linked to selected parts. It highlights these fasteners in the
lists and 3D viewers. 
option selects and highlights the parts that are
joined by one or more selected fasteners. 
option selects and highlights parts that are linked
to the selected parts by at least one fastener. 
is
displayed next to the fastener name in the fasteners list.
is
displayed next to the fastener name in the fasteners list. 
icon in the column shows the Freeze status of the 