Manage Subsystem Revisions

Manage, control, and update Major, Study, and Library subsystem revisions using the Subsystem Library.

About Subsystem Library and Revisions

The Subsystem Library is an integral part of data management and revision control within the Subsystem Browser.

The Part Library serves as a centralized library of HyperMesh subsystems, which in turn facilitates the collaboration between simulation teams. You must be connected to a subsystem library to access all subsystem library related options.

Revisions

In the Subsystem Browser, the Revision column displays the Major revision, Study revision, and Library revision. All appropriate workflows have entry or access points to the part library, enabling quick and easy access to previous revisions or simply generating new revisions.

You can review the following revisions in the Entity Editor:
Major Revision
Depicts a change or set of changes that have been finalized and released for further review. In most cases the Major Revision should be mapped to the PDM Revision, but you can modify it.
Study Revision
Created locally to track experimental changes or prototyping changes that may or may not be published. The purpose of the Study Revision is to manage design and prototype exploratory concepts. You can modify the Study Revision.
Library Revision
Locally, published revision within the Subsystem Library. You cannot modify the Library Subsystem Revision. It automatically increments on each save when major and study revision are not changed

Register and Connect Libraries

Register and connect to new libraries.

A default subsystem library is generated when the Subsystem Browser is enabled. It is located at <user home>\AltairLibraries\2020.

  1. In the Subsystem Browser, right-click and select Library > Libraries from the context menu.
    The Libraries dialog opens.
  2. Register a new library:
    1. Click +.
    2. Select the library type. This can be either local or shared. Refer to Connect to Shared Library.
    3. Type the library name and library path. The location should be on a drive accessible by all users as well as the hosting machine. It does not have to be on the same machine as that with Postgres installed.
    4. Click Add.
  3. Connect to local library:
    1. Select a disconnected library.
    2. Click Connect. If you are currently connected to a different library, you will be disconnected from it.
  4. Connect to the <postgres library>. Refer to Connect to Shared Library.

Sync Library Revisions

Sync the in-session version of the library with the latest available Library version in the Subsystem Library.

If the version available in the current session is out of sync with what is saved in the Library, for example, because another user has saved an updated revision, use Sync to update the Revision column with the latest Library revision. Before you can sync library revisions, you must be connected to the library. Refer to Register and Connect Libraries. Once the revision column is synced, you need to load the representation from the library to update your session with the latest revision.

In the Subsystem Browser, right-click on a subsystem and select Library > Sync from the context menu.

Manage Subsystem Configurations

Group unique subsystems together into subsystem sets and organize both subsystems and subsystem sets into configurations.

The typical model assembly workflow is to set each subsystem up as an include file. Each configuration of subsystems is then managed through a separate header deck referencing the appropriate include files. This is an efficient way of building a model since updates can be performed per subsystem rather than per system model. However, this requires multiple header decks to be updated, strict management of ID ranges for each include, as well as control over the connectivity between includes.

Subsystems support and enhance this workflow since each subsystem can be written out as an include file. Additionally, all subsystems and subsystem configurations are stored in a single .hm file. When a particular subsystem is updated, multiple header decks can be written out from a single file using configurations rather than editing multiple header decks.

ID management is covered through ID Manager. Connectivity between subsystems is managed through Subsystem Attachments and Connectors. This ensures that connectivity is maintained to the other subsystems even if one subsystem is worked on independently.

Activation of a configuration will keep active the common subsystems, the unique subsystems in that configuration, and deactivate any unique subsystems that are in a different configuration. Take the vehicle crash model, for example. All vehicle subsystems are common, unique subsystems are front impact left-hand side, front impact right-hand side, side pole impact, and rear barrier impact.


Figure 1.