Connector Entity Browser

The middle section of the Connector Browser contains a tree view of all the connections contained in the model, and has its own set of tools similar to the ones found in the Link Entity Browser.

All the connectors in the model are displayed in folders organized based on the respective realization types. The names of the folders are obtained from the FE configuration names specified for respective solvers in the feconfig.cfg file.

The connector information in the tree can be used to find link entities connected by specific connectors, and also to modify certain connector attributes. The columns display a sub-set of connector information that is important for recognizing connection information easily.

Connectors are organized into three categories:

General – all of the links are within the same subsystem
Subsystem – one or all of the links are in multiple subsystems
Attachment – a new single lined connector entity

Unless all view option toggle buttons in the global display tool set are inactive, the action mode tool set and the context menu actions (show, hide, isolate, isolate only) work similarly to their functions in the Model Browser's component view.

If at least one of the view option toggle buttons is active (appearing in orange), the behavior of show, hide, isolate and isolate only is different. The image on the action buttons changes to include a connector symbol, indicating the different behavior.

The actions take into account connector-link relations, and the display result depends on the active view options. Therefore parts of the model are separated into three different categories based on the connector selection:

1st connector entity: Selected connectors.
linked entities: Links which are referenced by one of the selected connectors.
2nd connector entity: Connectors which reference at least one of the linked entities.

Note: In this case connectors and their realizations are treated as being a separate category from their links, in order to prevent unpredictable cross-references.

This kind of categorical separation is only used for the actions show, hide, isolate and isolate only, and only when one of the view option toggle buttons is active, regardless of whether the actions are taken from the context menu or the action buttons. No other functionality uses this categorization at all.

You can also change the base features of the Connector Entity Browser in the Connector Entity Browser configuration window.

The following connector details are displayed as column data in the browser tree:

Option	Description
Entities	ID of the connector and an image that represents the respective connector’s style (spot, seam, bolt, and so on).
Status	Realization state of the connector entity: unrealized, realized, failed, or modified. Note: For those writing scripts instead of using the GUI, a more detailed report can be created by using the following lines in your script: set error_report [ hm_ce_errorreport CE_ID 1 ].
Tolerance	Realization tolerance of the connector. You can change this by right-clicking the field and typing in a new value, then pressing Enter.
(link type)	Type of entity that can be added to the selected connector(s) as a link reference. Supported entities are assemblies, components, surfaces, elements, tags, and nodes. Tip: Left-click on a link to highlight the relevant entity (part) in the graphics area. Figure 3.
Rule	Defines how a connector treats an entity added as a link. Adding a link with an ID or name rule forces the connector to retain the link’s ID or name even if that link entity no longer exists in the database. This aids in part replacement when a new part replaces an old part and both share the same ID or name. Adding a link with the at fe-realize rule ensures that each time a connector is realized the closest entity of the correct type is found and connected. This is useful when connectors need to connect to a closest part in an assembly.
Link	ID or name of the entity added as a link to a connector.
Layer	Total number of link entities to be joined by the connector. This is also marked as thickness layers (2T/3T/4T, and so on).
Subsystem	Displays connectors associated with a subsystem.
Connector Group	Name of the Connector Group to which the connector belongs.
Comment	Input comments for a connector.
Error Message	Error messages for a connector.

Functionality is accessed from the global display tool set, an action modes tool set and a right-click context menu.