Simulations and the Collaborative Lifecycle App

Saving a Simulation

When you save a simulation object, three-dimensional thumbnail images are created automatically for the Scenario and Result categories based on images of the product being simulated. These thumbnail images are used to represent the Scenario and Result categories for the simulation in the Simulation Finder.

You cannot save a simulation as a new simulation or as a new version of a simulation. You can save the entire simulation or objects within the simulation. However, if you save the entire simulation, you cannot exclude objects within the simulation, such as products or mesh representations.

Locking and Unlocking a Simulation

You can lock a simulation and/or its content to prevent other users from modifying it. When you lock a simulation, its simulation categories and their content are also locked. When you lock a category, categories that reside below the selected category in the specification tree are also locked along with the content of the locked categories. For example, if you lock the Model category, the Scenario and Results categories are also locked along with the content of the Model, Scenario, and Results categories. When you lock a simulation or a category, any attached documents or any objects that are linked to the simulation or category are not locked, such as a product.

For detailed information, see Locking and Unlocking Objects.

Changing the Maturity of a Simulation

A simulation is promoted through a sequence of states as it moves through its lifecycle. The following rules apply when you are changing the maturity of a simulation:

• The state of a simulation determines which people can access the simulation and the actions they can perform.
• When you change the maturity of a simulation, the maturity of its categories and their content changes accordingly.
• When you change the maturity of a simulation, the maturity of its attached documents and references (such as products) does not change.
• The maturity of only the root simulation can be changed; you cannot change the maturity of a category within a simulation.

For detailed information, see Changing Maturity.

Versioning a Simulation

When you version a simulation, a new simulation is created with the same relationships and attributes as the original. However, the new simulation does not inherit the maturity and lock status from the original. The new simulation is created in the initial state and is unlocked. You can create a new version of a simulation from either the last version or a selected version.

The new simulation inherits the attributes of the original simulation, including the status of the previous execution. Therefore, if the original simulation aborted during the previous execution, the new simulation will also indicate that it aborted during the previous execution, even though it has never been executed.

The simulation must be in the correct lifecycle state before you can create a new version. In most cases, your administrator determines the lifecycle states for which a simulation can be versioned. For example, your administrator can prevent users from changing the version of a simulation that is In Work.

For detailed information, see Creating a Revision.

Transferring the Ownership of a Simulation

If you have ownership rights to a simulation, you can transfer its ownership to another user. For example, you might want to allow a second user to modify the scenario and recompute the results or to change the product being simulated. The following rules apply when you are transferring the ownership of a simulation:

• You must have ownership rights to the simulation you intend to transfer.
• The new ownership applies to both the simulation and its categories and their content.
• The new ownership does not apply to attached documents and references (such as products).
• The ownership of only the root simulation can be transferred; you cannot transfer the ownership of a category within a simulation.
• The simulation must be unlocked and closed to transfer the ownership.

For detailed information, see Moving Objects to Another Collaborative Space or Organization.

Duplicating a Simulation

You can duplicate a simulation from a Navigation or Search Results window and create a new copy. There is no relationship between the new simulation and the original. However, objects that are referred to by the original simulation, such as a product, are also referred to by the new simulation.

When you duplicate a selected simulation, the content of the Scenario and Result categories of the new simulation is a copy of the content from the original simulation. However, the Model category of the new simulation does not contain a copy of the content from the original simulation. Instead, the Model category of the new simulation contains products that refer to the same objects in the database as the products in the original simulation.

To duplicate a simulation that includes copies of the products from the original simulation, you must explore the simulation and select both the simulation and the products (and all the shapes and representations under the product) that you want to duplicate in the Navigation window.

The duplicate simulation inherits the attributes of the original simulation, including the status of the previous execution. Therefore, if the original simulation aborted during the previous execution, the duplicate simulation will also indicate that it aborted during the previous execution, even though it has never been executed.

For detailed information, see Duplicating Objects.

In addition, you can use the Duplicate Advanced command to duplicate a selected simulation and its content from a Navigation or Search Results window. By default, the Duplicate Advanced command copies the content of the Model, Scenario, and Result categories of the the original simulation to the new simulation. Alternatively, you can choose to reuse parts and representations, and the Model category of the new simulation will contain parts and representations that refer to the same PLM objects in the database as the parts and representations in the original simulation. Similarly, you can exclude selected parts and representations from the duplication process, and they will not appear in the new simulation.

The following table summarizes which objects in a simulation can be excluded from or reused by the Duplicate Advanced command:

The Duplicate Advance command provides options that allow you to name the new simulation and to transfer the lock status and the ownership of the original simulation over to the new simulation. The Keep configuration option applies only to product structures and has no effect on a simulation. The Optimize reuse option applies only if your administrator has applied business rule scripting to simulation objects.

For detailed information, see Duplicating Objects with Advanced Options.

Deleting a Simulation

You can delete a simulation from the database using the Search Results window. The simulation you are deleting must not be referred to by another object. In addition, the simulation must not be shown in a Navigation window or open in an Authoring window. You cannot recover a simulation after you have deleted it.

For detailed information, see Deleting Objects.