Search for a variant item

A variant item is a specific variant of a completely configured module, for example, a door assembly. Variant items are physical parts with no variability and may be allocated a manufacturing part number.

You cannot manufacture modules themselves. Modules may have a large number of options, potentially resulting in a correspondingly large number of product permutations, not all of which can be manufactured. You may want to reuse permutations that have previously been manufactured, particularly if significant work was invested in creating the associated technical documentation, drawings, and manufacturing data. You can attach such associated data to the variant items.

Procedure

1. Choose Tools→Variants→Search.Teamcenter displays the Variant Item Search dialog box. The dialog box contains a table that shows the public options of the selected module, including the option name and a default value (if set). You can display further details about the options (for example, the allowed values and option type) in a tool tip by positioning the cursor over the option name.

2. Define variant item requirements, that is, the option values to find, in the Required Value column. To increase the chances of finding the variant item, define search requirements as loosely as possible, as follows:

Do not provide requirements for nonessential options. Enter value requirements for logical options and freeform string options (allowable values not defined) in the same way as you set configuration values. Leave the value blank, select a single value for a logical option or type a string value.

Select multiple allowable values for enumerated string options from the list. Each time you click a value, Teamcenter adds it to the dialog box. Click a value again to remove it from the dialog box.

Enter ranges for numeric options. When you type in requirements for numeric options, a parser checks that the entered value conforms to the modular variant language (MVL) syntax. It also checks that the ranges are within the allowable values of the option. Examples of allowable numeric ranges are:

<=200, >500

100200

-5–10, <20

For information about MVL, see the Structure Management on Rich Client ─ Usage.

3. After you specify the requirements, execute a query for matching variant items by clicking the Search button. Teamcenter displays the search results at the bottom of the dialog box showing the matching variant items.If the query is successful, the identifiers and names of variant items whose values match the search criteria populate the list next to the Search button. If more than 25 variant items are found, Teamcenter displays a message recommending you refine the search requirements.The search only finds linked variant items—unlinked variant items may have structure changes and would therefore not be applicable.

4. If the variant item search is successful, Teamcenter loads the first variant returned by the query and shows its values in the Value Found column. You can select a different variant item from the list, and Teamcenter loads it and updates the Value Found column. If you alter the search requirements in any way, Teamcenter changes the summary above the Search button to indicate you should execute the query again.