Creating a Dependency Net 

Use

Constraints are grouped together in dependency nets. For this reason, the variant configuration menu does not support a function for creating constraints directly. You always create a constraint within a dependency net.

Procedure

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       1.      From the variant configuration menu, choose Dependency → Dependency net → Create.

       2.      You see the initial screen. Enter a name for your dependency net.

       3.      You see the basic data screen.

¡        You must enter a language-dependent description for your dependency net.

¡        The default dependency net type is constraint net, because this is the only type of dependency net currently supported.

¡        In the standard system, you see the status ‘In preparation’ when you first create a dependency net. You cannot set the status to ‘Released’ until you have created a language-dependent description.

       4.      If you select the Allocations pushbutton, you see a screen on which you can allocate constraints to the dependency net.

       5.      Enter a name for the constraint.

       6.      You see a dialog box, where you confirm the constraint name.

       7.      You see the basic data screen for creating a constraint.

On the basic data screen, you enter a language-dependent description for the constraint.

¡        You can choose Extras → Documentation to maintain a text describing the dependency net.

The documentation is divided into two sections: Explanation and Documentation.

In the Explanation section, you can enter a language-dependent explanatory text for the dependency. This text is displayed on the value assignment screen when you call the explanation component for a constraint.

In the Documentation section, you can save technical documentation, which is not displayed.

 

a)   A constraint has been violated when configuring a material, and the Inconsistency pushbutton appears.

b)   Choose Inconsistency.

You see a dialog box containing the error message.

c)   Place the cursor on the error message and choose Detail.

You see the Explanation and the source code of the constraint.

       8.      Choose Goto → Dependency editor to see the dependency editor. This is where you enter your source code.

       9.      Once you have entered your source code, you can use the Dependency → Check function to run a syntax check on your source code.

You can still save a constraint if the syntax contains errors. The status of the constraint is automatically set to ‘Locked’ and you cannot use the constraint in configuration.

   10.      Save your source code. If the source code is finished, change the status of the constraint to ‘Released’, so that you can use the constraint in configuration.

   11.      Once you have saved your constraint, you see the allocation screen again. Save the allocation of the constraint to the dependency net.

Check whether the status of the dependency net is also‘Released’.

Result

To allocate the dependency net to a configurable material, choose Extras → Object dependencies → Allocations from the configuration profile.