Hello,
What is the expected behavior of using Annotation States together with Simp Reps for large top level assemblies? I was working on an antenna field of view (FOV) analysis where I was trying to determine at what different angles the antenna FOVs would be obstructed by other stuff. So my plan was to create a Simp Rep with nearly everything excluded, set the FOVs to Master, and the nearby components to Automatic (BTW: Creo 4.0 M060). I also created an Annotation State, based on this Simp Rep, with some 3D annotations. The 3D annotations were simple text leader notes identifying which antenna is which, and I also took the part-level angle dimension and displayed it at the top level assembly Annotation State. I expected the Simp Rep would prevent Creo from loading any data from the unwanted components. Instead, the presence of the 3D annotations seemed to override the data limiting features of the Simp Rep. While the excluded components continued to not be displayed, the Status Bar Message Area indicated Creo was performing some kind of operations on all the component throughout the assembly. Also, pan and rotate commands, as well as save operations, took a lot longer than normal (minute(s) to perform pan/rotate, and tens of minutes to perform save). But that's what the Simp Rep was supposed to prevent, right? I tried several iterations and sequences of erasing not displayed, exit and reload Creo and the assembly Simp Rep. Several times Creo just stalled out and became unresponsive and I had to end the task with the Windows Task Manager. After a few more tries, I eventually noticed the pan/rotate performance seemed to slow down as soon as I tried to turn on the 3D annotations with the Annotation State. So I dispensed with the 3D annotations and just simply loaded the Simp Rep. Pan/Rotate and save operations all behaved normally with the Simp Rep and without the 3D annotations. I was able to load the FOV model separately, change the angle, switch back to the top level, let it spend a few seconds to update, and then check for interference.
So, I'm very curious. Are there any known issues with assembly level Annotation States, 3D annotations, and Simp Reps that would explain this behavior? Are there any PTC documents that would explain best practices for top level Annotation States, that would enable me to avoid the lag I experienced?
Bonus: Are there any CAE / design analysis tools that would allow me to specify the FOV angle dimension, incrementally increase it until interference is detected, and then report the angle value?
Thanks in advance!
-Devin
