Exploring Usage and Comparing Items

The Product Engineering application features the Where Used and Structure browsers to explore and compare items and their structures.

In this section, the term Item means an item of explorable ItemTypes: Parts, Manufacturers, Manufacturer Parts, Vendors, Documents, and CAD Documents. Examples shown on Parts are generic and applicable to other Items. However, detailed information on an Item depends on its type. The appropriate subsections of ItemTypes provide additional information or features for explorations specific to these ItemTypes.

The Where Used page displays a reverse-dependency tree for the selected Item. Each expandable level shows Items that reference it through a relationship or an Item property.

The page contains a filter panel on the left and the Where Used tree on the right. Drag the splitter between the panels to resize them.

The selected Item appears as the collapsed root of the tree. Its label shows:

• ItemType
• Keyed name
• Revision
• Generation

Expand a row to load the Items that directly reference it. Continue expanding rows to explore the reverse-dependency tree level by level.

To access the Where Used browser for an Item, use one of the following methods:

• Go to the Item Search Grid Page, right-click the Item, and then click Navigate → Where Used.

  

• Open the Item, click Navigate on the Item toolbar, and then click Where Used

  

• In the Item versions dialog, right-click a version and click Where Used

  

From an Item Search Grid or Item view, Where Used opens as a separate tab in the main Aras Innovator window. From the Item versions dialog, it opens as a dialog.

Working with Filtering Reference Paths

Select a row to display its available reference paths in the filter panel. A reference path identifies the relationship or Item property through which another Item references the selected row.

To filter reference paths:

1. Use the search field to filter the reference path cards by ItemType or reference path name.
2. Select the cards for the reference paths you want to include.
3. Click Apply Filters.

With no cards selected, all reference paths are included. When several cards are selected, results matching any selected path are included.

After you search, Select All selects or clears only the cards currently visible in the results. If selected cards are hidden by the search, a badge shows how many selected cards are hidden.

The first time you expand a row, Where Used applies your current filter selection to load its children. To change the results of an already-expanded row, select the required cards and click Apply Filters again.

Working with the Where Used Tree

1. Right-click a row in the tree to use one of the following actions:
   
   • Open Item… - Opens the selected Item in a new tab.
   • Properties - Opens the Properties dialog for the selected Item.

   

2. Double-click a row to open the selected Item.

To quit the Where Used Browser, close its view in Aras Innovator.

To compare side-by-side complex multi-level hierarchies of Items, Aras Innovator offers the Structure Browser. You can also use it to explore the usage of a single Item.

There are several ways to access the Structure Browser:

• Go the Item Search Grid Page, right-click an Item to be compared, and then click Navigate → Structure Browser.

• Open the view of an Item to be compared. Click Navigate on the Item toolbar, and then click Structure Browser.

When you access the Structure Browser, it appears as a new Aras Innovator view showing the Item hierarchy tree where you can see the Number and Revision for each Item.

In addition to the standard tree navigation features, the following buttons are available in the Structure Browser toolbar:

• Expand All, which opens the whole hierarchy tree.

• Collapse All, which closes the whole hierarchy tree.

To quit the Structure Browser, close its view.

Use the following procedure to compare the current version of an Item with an older one:

1. Click Side-by-side with other Version on the Structure Browser toolbar.

The Item versions dialog appears.

2. Double-click the version to be compared. The hierarchy tree of the selected Item version appears on the right side of the Structure Browser, and the Highlight button becomes available on the Structure Browser toolbar.

3. Click Highlight on the Structure Browser toolbar.

The trees open. Differences are highlighted.

• Black means that both Item versions use the same version of this Item.
• Red means that both Item versions have different versions of this Item.
• Blue means that this Item does not exist in the opposite Item version.

4. If it is necessary to view detailed information on an Item version, double-click the Item to open its view.

To compare the hierarchies of two different CAD Documents:

1. Click Side-by-Side with other ItemType in the Structure Browser toolbar. The Search dialog appears.

2. Using the standard search procedure, search for and select the Item to be compared. The tree of the selected Item hierarchy appears on the right side of the Structure Browser, and the Highlight button becomes available on the Structure Browser toolbar.

3. Click Highlight in the Structure Browser toolbar. The trees appear with differences highlighted.

• Black means that both Item hierarchies use the same version of this Item.
• Red means that both Item hierarchies have different versions of this Item.
• Blue means that this Item does not exist in the opposite Item hierarchy.

4. If it is necessary to view detailed information on an Item, double-click the Item to open its view.