The Assembly Navigator gives you a graphical display of the assembly structure of the displayed part in a separate window, and provides a quick and easy method of manipulating components in an assembly. For example, you can use the Assembly Navigator to select components for various operations, as well as to perform assembly management functions, such as changing the work part or changing the displayed part.

The Assembly Navigator provides columns that contain information about the assembly items. You can configure the columns by right-clicking on a column and selecting Columns→Configure. The columns available for display may be different than the ones available when you are running native NX (not in Teamcenter Integration mode).

You can also control the scrolling of columns and add and configure additional columns in Assembly Navigator. For additional information, see Adding Teamcenter columns, Configuring columns, and Controlling scrolling of columns.

For information on the basics of using Assembly Navigator, see the Assemblies help.

The Assembly Navigator menu contains options for getting parts in and out of Teamcenter that are unique to Teamcenter Integration:

• Check-Out and Check-In

  These options are used to manually check parts out and in from Teamcenter.

  Check-Out is used to check out a part (including the dataset geometry and BOMView Revision (BVR) structure) corresponding to a component that is available on the Assembly Navigator. This prevents other users from modifying the part while you are working on it. Check-In checks the part back in so others can check it out. You cannot check in/out an Item or Item Revision.

• Check-In Local Only and Check-Out Local Only

  These options are available when you select multiple items. This lets you check in or out only items owned by the local database in a multi-site environment.

• Check-In All and Check-Out All

  These options are available when you select multiple items. This lets you check in or out all selected items regardless of the owning site in a multi-site environment (provided you have permissions).

You can assign an Item, Item Revision, or dataset to a Teamcenter project. The Projects menu selection opens the Assign to Project dialog box which displays the available projects in Teamcenter. You can assign one or more projects for the item. If you select an assembly, it is assigned to the project, the components of the assembly are not. The Projects column shows the projects to which the item belongs. For additional information, see Projects.

When you have an assembly open in Assembly Navigator, it automatically becomes synchronized with the assembly structure in Teamcenter as the assembly is expanded. To provide improved performance and achieve the correct structure, some parts may not be loaded and are shown as greyed out in Assembly Navigator. This applies to assemblies that contain part datasets, part JT datasets, and unpopulated parts.

This functionality is part of the Update Structure on Expand option (File→Utilities→CustomerDefaults→Assemblies→General). This option is off by default.

When you replace a component in an assembly with the Replace component command, the component retains the characteristics provided in Teamcenter (when maintain relationships is on). The occurrence notes and variant information provided in Teamcenter PSE for the replacement component are kept upon substitution.

You can replace a component in an assembly with this command regardless of where it is used in the assembly. In Assembly Navigator, right-click on a component and choose Replace component.

The assembly structure in Assembly Navigator displays non-geometric components (NGC) to match what is shown in the parts list and Teamcenter PSE. You can control whether you see NGC items in the Assembly Navigator by right-clicking on a column and choosing the Include Non-Geometric Components filter.

To designate a component as NGC, right-click on a component and choose Properties. On the Component Properties dialog box, Assembly page, select the Component is Non-Geometric check box.

The following also apply to NGC items:

• You cannot make an NGC the displayed part or the work part.

• Many assembly commands are not valid for use with an NGC and are blocked.

• Once a component is designated as a NGC, it is no longer displayed in the NX graphics window. It is still displayed in the Assembly Navigator and the parts list.

• You cannot set an NGC as a reference-only component.

If multiple components of different types are selected, such as geometric components and NGCs, only the commands that are valid for all types of selected components are available on the shortcut menu (right-click menu).

For additional information on geometric components, see NX Parts List.

You can specify the quantity of a component by right-clicking on the component and choosing Properties. On the Component Properties dialog box, Assembly page, enter the number of items in the Quantity box.

The Quantity Type list on the Assembly page lets you select Number to enter a specific quantity, or As Required (A/R) to set the value to A/R. If the component has a unit of measure, such as 6.5 for gallons of paint, the number option lets you input the real number; otherwise, the quantity is an integer.

You cannot edit the quantity of packed components, they must be unpacked first. Reference-only and suppressed components do not have a quantity.