About Generative View Styles

Generative view styles are defined by an administrator and specify the appearance and behavior of a generated view.

This page discusses:

See Also
Creating a View using Generative View Styles

Generative View Styles

Generative view styles are defined in an XML file.

Go to Me > Preferences > App Preferences > 3D Modeling > Mechanical Systems > Drafting > Administration section, and clear the Disable generative view style usage check box. This activates the generative view style functionality.

  • The generative view styles are listed in the Generative View Style toolbar.
  • The generative view styles available in the list refer to the external files that can be found in specific directories as explained in Administering Standards and Generative View Styles as well as the generative view style files embedded in the drawing, but if those files have the same name, only the embedded file is taken into account.
  • The generative view style used for creating a view is stored in the CATPreferences file and is displayed as the default option when creating the next view, if the generative view style is valid. This persistence of the last used generative view style, is also applicable across two sessions. The recently used generative view style moves up to the first position in the selection list.
  • If there is no valid last used generative view style available, then the user will get the list with the first option available in alphabetical order as the default option.
  • The Generative View Style toolbar is displayed when creating most view types. The View Parameters dialog box features an additional list, which enables you to select a generative view style.
  • If you clear the Disable generative view style usage check box in Me > Preferences > App Preferences > 3D Modeling > Mechanical Systems > Drafting > Administration section, under Generative view style, then the 3D colors check box is not available in the Properties > Generation tab any more.

Generative View Styles Parameter Check

Using the standards editor, you can check the parameters defined in the generative view style you selected.

To do this, go to Me > Preferences > Standards. In the standards editor, choose the generativeparameters category, and then open the DefaultGenerativeStyle.xml file from the list. For example, go to DefaultGenerativeStyle > Drafting > ViewDressup > GeneratedGeometry > VividEdges, and select the Color parameter. You will see the what color is specified in your generative view style for the projection of hidden edges.

Generative View Style Parameters Override

Overriding generative view style parameters locally is possible using the dedicated GVS Editor dialog box.

You can also select the Enable parameter override check box (through Me > Preferences > App Preferences > 3D Modeling > Mechanical Systems > Drafting > Administration section, under Generative view style) to enable parameter override.

Note:

When you select the Enable parameter override check box, you can right-click the view and select Properties > GVS, and click Override GVS Parameter to override the parameters of the view.

Later if you clear the Enable parameter override check box, the parameter override is disabled for the newly created views. The views with overridden parameters are not affected. You can still override the parameters of such views.

The GVS Editor dialog box lets you override the generative view style parameter values for the selected view(s). It is composed of the following:

  • The left pane: The left pane of the dialog box displays various app specific generative view styles. You can click the required generative view style node and navigate through the generative view style XML tree structure.
  • Parameter tab: Once you click on any of the nodes (parameters) in the left pane for edition, the Parameter tab in the right pane displays the actual value of the chosen parameter. You can change the values as per your requirement.
    Note: An asterisk (*) symbol appears with the parameter name indicating that the value of the chosen parameter is overridden. Additionally, Reset appears which lets you reset the overridden parameter value to the original value being defined in the generative view style for that view.
  • All Overridden Parameters tab: It displays all the parameters at a glance which are being modified/overridden for that particular view. ll the overridden parameters are grouped with respect to the first level app node for easy identification and classification. You can edit the values of the overridden parameters.

    This tab also displays the following buttons:

    • Reset: Lets you reset the overridden parameter value to the original value being defined in the generative view style for that view.
    • Reset All: Lets you reset all the overridden parameter values with one single click.

  • Search: The Search box lets you search the required parameters quickly by entering the first letters of the desired parameter name. The search results are immediately displayed in a list below the Search box. You can select the desired parameter from search result which is then displayed in the tree structure in the left pane and also in the Parameter tab for overriding.
  • Filter: Lets you filter the tree structure based on the first level app related nodes of the generative view style xml. For example, if you want only Drafting related nodes in the tree structure, then you can select Drafting in this filter list.

    The first default option in the Filter list shows the name of the current generative view style which is being edited. When you select any option from the list, then only the tree structure is filtered.