Simulations and Documents

Documents can be attached to an explored simulation from the 3D area. In most cases, documents are attached that are related to the simulation but are not used during the analysis of the model. Documents are VPM objects; they have a lifecycle and can be versioned.

For example, a file could be attached that contains guidelines for creating and running the simulation, or a file could be attached that contains empirical data to compare with the results of the simulation.

The following describes how you can work with simulations and documents:

Attach documents to a simulation

You can attach a document to a simulation or to a category within the simulation. To attach a document, right-click on a simulation or category from the 3D area, and select Document > Attach New Document from the contextual menu that appears.

Documents that you attach to the Result category appear in the Authoring window in a Documents folder, also under the Result category. Conversely, files that you generate from simulation results in an Authoring window appear as attached documents under the Results category in a Simulation Finder window. For example, reports that you generate in the Generative Structural Analysis app or geometric traces that you generate in the Kinematics app appear as attached documents in a Simulation Finder window. You can double-click on the document to open it in the appropriate application; however, the document is stored in the database in read-only mode and cannot be modified.

Note: When you are exploring a simulation, you cannot change the properties of an attached document if you previously opened the simulation.

Show attached documents

Documents are not displayed in the tree by default. To display your documents, right-click on a simulation or category from the 3D area, and select Document > Show Attached Documents from the contextual menu that appears.

Important: For documents to be displayed, Show Attached Documents in Navigator Trees must be selected from Me > My Preferences > PLM Access > External Documents.

Detach documents from a simulation

To detach a document, right-click on a simulation or category from the 3D area, and select Detach Document from the contextual menu that appears. Detaching a document does not delete this document.