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Please add a configuration option that would force the user to resolve a circular reference as soon as it is created. The option could be turned off for users who are fine with creating circular references temporarily.
I really think circular references should be disallowed all together. The performance hits and the inoperability/inconsistency of functionality allegedly due to circular references is crippling to the program usability. Most CAD programs i've used do not allow circular references where as CREO allows them, but just quietly notifies you the problem is there, causing huge issues with constraints and such at higher level assemblies.
My vote is to remove and disallow circular references in CAD all together.
1. Describe your environment: What is your industry? What is your role in your organization? Describe your stakeholders. We work for NASA and design spacecraft and related systems. I am a member of the CAD Admins team, and our stakeholders are our team and our users.
2. What version of Creo Parametric are you currently running? We currently run 7.0.2.0
3. Describe the problem you are trying to solve. Please include detailed documentation such as screenshots, images or video.
Some users are not immediately aware when they create a circular reference. We think it is easier to undo the last steps immediately after creating a circular reference, than to go back after many more changes have been made. Some user's refuse to fix the circular reference even if they are aware.
4. What is the use case for your organization? Trying to make higher level assemblies easier to work with. The regeneration caused by the circular reference can cause many users to wait many hours each day.
5. What business value would your suggestion represent for your organization? Prevent time wasted waiting for large assemblies to regenerate.
Some thought needs to be given to what constitutes a "circular reference" here. For instance solid welding in the welding module would not be possible without circular references. The user picks assembly surfaces and then Creo creates a model behind the scenes to represent that weld.
The cabling module allows for cabling to be routed using assembly surfaces. With this option enabled how would you create locations for the harness?
What happens to legacy data when you turn this option on?
I voted for the idea but I think what may be better is to have an option that simply breaks all of the references and then forces the user to go and replace the broken references ... again some thought would be needed for this because I wouldn't want all of my harness locations to be broken.
I would assume only those items that Creo actually flags as circular references and includes in the .crc file. I'm pretty sure none of the things you're talking about (hidden behind the scenes stuff) get flagged or included in that file.
This is all my take on the subject (based on my usage of the software for the last 25+ years):
Circular references are often created when a user is attempting to change the model construction in a way that is reasonable but "circular" to the original construction method. Editing references, restructuring, editing component placement can all create circular references. Eliminating the creation of circular references would eliminate many ways of editing the model to a desired outcome. Disallowing the creation of circular references would require you to build your model exactly the way you want it built on your first attempt, no exceptions. If you mess up, sorry, you must scrap it and start over, sorry. Well, that's a little extreme, maybe. All I know is that as I am designing something, mainly something that is new, I don't always know where and how every component will relate to other components. I iterate to my design objective. I need my models to allow me to iterate without major hurdles. I've been known to create a mess of circular references. Most of which I clean up, either along my design path or when I get to a production model. Some occasionally slip thru to "the next guy" to figure out, sorry.
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