1. S15-1 ADM740, Section 15, June 2007 Copyright  2007 MSC.Software Corporation SECTION 15 EXPLORING TEMPLATES

2. S15-2 ADM740, Section 15, June 2007 Copyright  2007 MSC.Software Corporation

3. S15-3 ADM740, Section 15, June 2007 Copyright  2007 MSC.Software Corporation ● Before you build or modify templates, it is important that you know how templates are built and organized. This includes not only how parts are connected with joints, motions, and forces, but also how the templates exchange information with communicators. This chapter introduces methods of exploring templates to enable you to modify existing templates for you own use and create new templates which are compatible with others. Exploring Templates

4. S15-4 ADM740, Section 15, June 2007 Copyright  2007 MSC.Software Corporation ● What’s in this section: ● Investigating Templates ● Understanding Templates ● About the Database Navigator Exploring Templates

5. S15-5 ADM740, Section 15, June 2007 Copyright  2007 MSC.Software Corporation ● Investigating templates primarily involves: ● Getting information about the template components. Once you understand what components make up a template and how they relate to each other, you can modify the components to make your template unique. ● Getting information about communicators. Understanding how the template works mechanically is not enough: you must also understand how it communicates with other templates and test rigs. This understanding will help you connect your templates correctly. Investigating Templates

6. S15-6 ADM740, Section 15, June 2007 Copyright  2007 MSC.Software Corporation ● Guidelines to help you understand how a template is built: 1. Right-click the component for which you want to obtain information, point to the component name, and then select Modify or Info. 2. You can use the Template Builder's Build menu to list all components by type, as well as their specifications, such as mass, location, orientation, and so on. When requesting information for most components, your template-based product displays the Entity Information dialog box. From this dialog box you can select the type of component on which you request information. You can get entity information in Standard Interface from Tools  Entity Info. Understanding Templates

7. S15-7 ADM740, Section 15, June 2007 Copyright  2007 MSC.Software Corporation 3. When requesting information for communicators, your template- based product displays the Communicators Info dialog box. Use the Communicator Info dialog box to list the communicators in different templates and test rigs. 4. For a visual representation of how parts are connected, select Tools  Highlight Connectivity. 5. To get a text file listing all the parts and the joints and parts to which they are connected, on the Status bar, right-click and then select either or. 6. Use the Database Navigator to explore your template. Understanding Templates (Cont.)

8. S15-8 ADM740, Section 15, June 2007 Copyright  2007 MSC.Software Corporation ● Displaying the Database Navigator ● You can display the Database Navigator by doing any of the following: ● From the Tools menu, select Database Navigator. ● From the Edit menu, execute an editing command, such as Modify, when no object is currently selected. ● From the Edit pop-up menu, request to view information about an object using the Info command. ● Using the Browse command, browse for the name of an object to enter in a dialog box. About the Database Navigator

9. S15-9 ADM740, Section 15, June 2007 Copyright  2007 MSC.Software Corporation ● The Database Navigator has several modes in which you can display object information. You can set it to just let you browse for objects or you can set it to view information about the objects (such as to view how an object relates to other objects and view dependencies). The Database Navigator only displays the types of objects that are appropriate for the command you are executing. For example, if you are renaming a model, it only displays models in your database. On the other hand, if you are searching for any modeling object in the database, it displays all types of modeling objects. You can also set a filter for the types of objects that the Database Navigator displays. ● The Database Navigator shows objects in their database hierarchy. About the Database Navigator (Cont.)

10. S15-10 ADM740, Section 15, June 2007 Copyright  2007 MSC.Software Corporation ● Viewing model topology ● You can use the Database Navigator to display information about the parts in your model. You can: ● View the topology of a model - When you request information about a model's topology, Adams/View determines what constraints are owned by the model and what parts the constraints connect. There are two different ways in which you can show the part connection information: by part and by connection. For more information on the two ways, see the Adams/View online help. ● Graphically view the topology - In graphical topology, the Database Navigator displays a representation of the selected part and shows its connections to other parts. The connections represent the constraints (blue lines) or forces (red lines) between the parts (circles). Each time you select a different part in the tree list of the Database Navigator, the graphical display changes to show the selected part at the center of the display. About the Database Navigator (Cont.)