Working with the What If Mode

The What if mode (impacts) helps you understand to what extent changing any parameter of your design (such as material, pressure, or a dimensional parameter) changes the operation or design of the Product on which you are working. It can be used to examine interactions of parameters with each other and with the rules that make up the Product specifications. A Geometric Update"option enables you to visualize the result of your modification in the 3D area.

Note: Do not use the F(x) capabilities with the Knowledge Inspector.

Before you begin: You must have opened a design.
  1. From the Tools section of the action bar , click Knowledge Inspector .
  2. In the Knowledge Inspector window, check the What If option.
  3. Select one of the parameters (at this stage, do not modify its value in the Equals box).
  4. Click Apply.
    A list of parameters and parameter values appears in the Then area. The first line describes the parameter which has just been selected. The other lines describe the impacted parameters.
  5. Use the Equals box to replace the parameter value, then click Apply.
    In the Then area, the parameter values are updated. The InitialValue column shows the initial parameter values (when you open the Knowledge Inspector). The OldValue column shows the parameter values resulting from the previous 'What if' operation. The Var (variations) columns show comparison operators between values located in adjacent columns.
  6. Check Geometric Update to display in the 3D area the modifications resulting from the 'What If' operation. Click Apply to update the document in the 3D area.
  7. Click OK to apply the values resulting from the current 'What If' operation to your document. Otherwise, click Cancel.
    Important:
    • Using Back and Forward reloads in the 'Then' area the previous or next values in the history of the 'What if" operations.
    • Checking the Show All Parameters option displays all the document parameters. A f letter in the Dvn column indicates that the parameter is constrained by a formula.
    • Selecting a parameter in the Then area when the Show All Parameters is checked, highlights the selected parameter in the parameter list above.
    • Modifying a parameter value does not imply that the values of the impacted parameters are automatically updated by a 'What If' operation. For example, if a parameter is constrained by a formula such as: if Parameter1 > A then Parameter2 = B replacing the Parameter1 value with a value greater than A will not modify Parameter2 if Parameter2 was previously set to B.