Navigating Data

The following tasks show you how to navigate data.

This task shows you how to:

 

See Also
More help on this topic

Expand an Object

This task shows you how to expand an object in your object structure.

  1. To expand an object, do one of the following:
    • in the 3D, double-click the object
    • in the tree, double-click the object name
    • in the tree, click the "+" node
  2. To expand the tree to the first level below a selected node, right-click a node and select Expand First Level or, in the Navigation section of the action bar, click Expand First Level .
  3. To expand the tree to the second level below a selected node, right-click a node and select Expand Second Level or, in the Navigation section of the action bar, click Expand Second Level .
  4. To expand selected nodes, right-click a node and select Expand Selection or, in the Navigation section of the action bar click Expand Selection .
    A pop-up dialog box will ask you how many levels you want to expand.
  5. To expand all levels of an object, select the object and, in the Navigation section of the action bar, click Expand All .
    All branches of the selected object are expanded down to their leaf components.
    Tip: To order tree nodes alphabetically, your administrator can select the appropriate option in the Preferences.
  6. To collapse an object, in the specification tree, click the "-" node.
  7. To collapse all levels of the tree below a selected node, right-click the node and select Collapse All.
  8. To expand an object a configured number of levels:
    1. In the View section of the action bar, select Set Expand Level.
      A Set Expand Level dialog box appears.
    2. Select the number of levels you want to expand objects and click OK.
    3. In the tree, right-click an object and select Customized Expand.
      The object will be expanded by the configured number of levels.
      Tip: To define a smaller number of levels for subsequent expands, you must:
      • first run the Collapse All command
      • then redefine the number of levels using Set Expand Level.

Modify the Expand Strategy

The strategy used for the tree expansion is the default defined in the Product Finder Preferences. It can be modified for each tab using the command provided in the action bar.

  1. In the Navigation section of the action bar, click Nothing but simplified geometry on local leaves .
    Visualize the simplified geometry of the node in the 3D area when expanding it down to its Representation level.
  2. In the Navigation section of the action bar, click Partial outer skin of each child .
    Visualize a partial indexed simplified geometry of the structure in the 3D area when expanding a node. Only the outer skin of each child is displayed with a variable quality. Move the quality slider to modify the number of rays intersecting the geometry to visualize. The higher the number, the less partial the geometry. Since the outer skin is computed by an index that may not be up to date, the displayed geometry might not exactly represent the design structure but it is faster to load.
  3. In the Navigation section of the action bar, click Indexed simplified geometry of all children .
    Visualize an indexed simplified geometry of the complete branch in the 3D area when expanding a node. Since the index may not be up to date, the displayed geometry might not represent the exact structure as it is saved in the database but it is faster to load.
  4. In the Navigation section of the action bar, click Simplified geometry of all children .
    Visualize a simplified representation of the geometry of the complete branch of the selected node in the 3D area.

The following table summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of the above strategies.

Strategy Advantages Disadvantages
Nothing but simplified geometry on local leaves Short computation, light use of memory No 3D on intermediate nodes
Partial outer skin of each child Short computation, light use of memory Dependent on the index, not complete (ray tracing strategy)
Indexed simplified geometry of all children Large use of memory Dependent on the index, long computation
Simplified geometry of all children Large use of memory, not dependent of the index Long computation, intensive use of the server

Complete the 3D

The 3D Completion command allows you to complete 3D objects that were only partially loaded. You define volumes for areas of the 3D you want to complete. You can define as many volumes as you want. You can complete them one-by-one or all at once.

  1. Click 3D Completion .
    The 3D Completion dialog box appears.
  2. In the 3D area or the tree, select a node in the structure and, from the Navigation section of the action bar, click Set as Active Level . You can also do this after having selected the volume type.
  3. Choose a volume type from among the following:
    • Box
    • Sphere
    • Proximity
    • Box from Current Viewpoint.
  4. Move the cursor around the volume.
    Arrows appear to indicate the activation handles that can be used to resize the volume.
  5. Drag one of the handles to resize the volume.
    The volume is resized accordingly.
  6. Double-click in the tab anywhere not on the representations.
    A control appears in which you can explicitly redefine the radius or clearance value.
  7. Click the value, edit it, and press Enter.
    The volume is redimensioned accordingly.
  8. In the volume definition, a Query Mode selection list allows you to select:
    • Fully in: elements that are inside the volume
    • Partly in: elements that intersect the defined volume
    • Partly out: elements that intersect the volume but are not fully in
    • Fully out: elements that do not intersect the volume.
  9. You can translate the bounding box (maintaining its dimensions) by dragging the Robot along one of the axes X, Y, or Z and you can rotate the bounding box by dragging one of the Robot arcs.
  10. Click Complete when you are satisfied with the definition of the volume.
    The 3D of the defined volume is completed accordingly .
  11. Click Delete to remove a volume definition.

Unload Selected Objects

The Unload command removes all occurrences of the references of the selected objects. The unloaded objects are also removed from memory. If an expand is done after an unload, content is reloaded conform to the defined expand strategy.

  1. In the tree or in the 3D area, select the objects you want to unload.
  2. Right-click the objects and select Unload or, in the View section of the action bar, click Unload.
    The selected objects are unloaded from the display and from memory.

The unload operation is validated before implementation. Cases in which the operation is impossible include:

  • Instances are strongly pointed by objects in session that are not part of the list of objects to be unloaded.
  • Instances are strongly pointed by the Clipboard content.
  • If any unsaved modifications are to be unloaded, then you will be notified. If you confirm the unload, then those modifications will be lost.

Remove Selected Occurrences of an Object

The Remove command removes only selected occurrences. All other occurrences of the same reference remain in session. The removed objects are not removed from memory. If an expand is done after a remove, then the content is reloaded conform to the defined expand strategy.

  1. In the tree or in the 3D area, select the objects you want to unload.
  2. Right-click the objects and select Remove.
    The selected objects are removed from the display.

  • The Remove command is not available on the root product. To remove a root product, you must use the "Remove from Experience" command.

  • If the expand strategy is set to "Direct children only", then the 3D is not loaded and only the element in the tree is loaded.
  • The command will support multiselections.

Adjust the Horizontal Split

The Splitter vertically divides the Navigation app into two sections. You can adjust the Splitter position to modify the partition, which allows you to disengage space on the right-hand side.

To adjust the Splitter position, drag it right or left.
The horizontal split is adjusted accordingly.