Best way to add a relation to a part

[AJ_TROGLIO]

As part of our migration to Creo 8 / Windchill 12, we came up w/ smart formats fed by parameters in our new start parts.    When we have a new part on a new format life is ezpz.

However, if we have an existing part w/o the required parameters things get complicated.  I came up w/ a mapkey to add the needed parameters to the existing part that works well when we want to put this part on a new format.

Problem lies in a relation we have in our new start parts.  It's the one below that sets the value of the MATERIAL parameter equal to the value of PTC_MATERIAL_DESCRIPTION.  Each material has a defined description in it. 

       /*This relation sets the material parameter equal to the material description thru a yes/no parameter
      IF (USE_MATL_DEF_DESC)==YES
      MATERIAL=material_param("PTC_MATERIAL_DESCRIPTION")
      ENDIF

      /*

This information needs to be pasted into the existing relations for the part.  The easiest place to paste it is at the bottom of the other relations in the dialog.  I created a mapkey to do it but it involves a pause in the mapkey telling the user to scroll to the bottom of the dialog, locate the cursor at the end of the last line and then put in a carriage return.  From there, they hit resume on the mapkey and the info will get pasted in.

I'd like a better way to do this that doesn't involve so much user interaction if possible.   Relations in the parts are not always the same so I can't just paste an entire new set of relations in.

Thanks.

[Tdaugherty · Accepted solution]

I recommend looking into ModelCHECK. You could add your parameters and relations with a start config pretty easily. The advantage is that you can run ModelCHECK at the assembly level to affect all children. In general, ModelCHECK is old, outdated, and tough to set up, but once you have it working, it works very well for things like this. Here's an example of a start config which is used to add relations and parameters to parts and assemblies.

I do recommend this book if you have never used ModelCHECK. It's one of the better resources out there to get you started. 

[AJ_TROGLIO]

Thanks for the suggestion.  We have been discussing the need for this module but that's about it.  

[YaroslavSin]

You can record an incremental mapkey by setting the relation_text_trail_output configuration option to yes and the relation_tool_mapkey_behavior configuration option to increment.

[BenLoosli]

I have a mapkey that I use to add relations to a file.

I copy the relations from my source document, then when I do the paste from the mapkey, the relations go to the bottom of any relations already in the file.

[AJ_TROGLIO]

Ben,

I guess I don't follow.  You're pasting from an external source document (a text file?) and into the relations dialog in Creo?

I've not been able to get the cursor to the end of the file automatically in the relations dialog.

[joe_morton]

I think he's saying to: open the relations box, copy all the text there, paste what you just copied and add the new relation at the end. 

That right @BenLoosli ?