Variant configurations allow you to create options and allowed values for those options to create different configurations of an assembly. The variant items, rules, and configurations are created in Teamcenter. In NX, you can apply a predefined variant rule to an assembly to load different assembly configurations.

Variant configurations are loaded using the following methods:

• Choose Assemblies→Variant Configuration

• Choose File→Options→Assembly Load Options to display the Assembly Load Options dialog box. Click on the Variant Configurations button.

The Variant Configuration Display Options dialog box controls which assemblies and variant rules are loaded by Teamcenter Integration when you open an assembly. The components of the dialog box are:

Option	Description
Product Assembly	Displays the product assemblies associated with the variant rules.
Variant Rule	Shows the associated variant rules for the product assembly thereby providing distinct variant configurations.
Description	Provides a description of the variant rules.
Apply to All Assemblies	(Only displays when you access variant configurations from Assemblies→Variant Configuration) Applies the same variant configurations to all the available displayed parts, allowing you to configure multiple available displayed parts without exiting the dialog box.
Add	Produces the File Selection dialog box, from which you can select an item revision. If that item revision contains no saved variant rules, a warning will be displayed and the File Selection dialog box will be presented again. Otherwise, the selected item revision will be added as a Product Assembly, with its attached variant rules.
Remove	Removes any product assemblies selected from the current set. If any Available Displayed Parts are currently configured with any of the variant rules associated with the selected assembly, a warning dialog box will display and you will have the opportunity to cancel the removal. If you proceed, the application for the variant rules to the Available Displayed Parts will be removed.
Find	Generates a search for the candidate product assembly among the current set of Available Displayed Parts and adds them to the current set if it is not already present. A candidate product assembly is any ancestor of the Available Displayed Part which has saved variant rules in its item revision. Ancestors can be found using the Where Used link, and in this context includes the Available Displayed Part itself .
Update	Reloads the list of variant rules associated with the selected product assemblies (or all of them, if none are selected). Use Update when a new variant rule has been saved while the NX session was active.

Absolute occurrences are used when an individual property is assigned to a specific occurrence of a part, but the property is not from the immediate parent of the part; it is traversed through other parts/assemblies. This is different than a relative occurrence where the property comes from the direct parent.

Absolute occurrences created in Teamcenter PSE that are contained in variant configurations are not supported in NX; those variants are not honored when the assembly is loaded.

You are able to select components from Product Structure Editor (PSE) and have them opened in Teamcenter Integration as a configured assembly.

When you configure an assembly in PSE using a saved variant rule (SVR), Teamcenter Integration adds that variant rule to the current load options and loads the assembly. Only SVRs are used by NX in the load options.

When you are creating an SVR in Teamcenter, set the following Teamcenter preference (set to hybrid by default) to enable NX to recognize SVRs:

• PSEVariantsMode=legacy

Teamcenter supports two types of variants: classic and modular. Classic variant configurations allow you to create options and allowed values for those options, such as door and the options small, medium, large, and extra wide. You then define a variant rule, such as door=large, color=blue, handle=standard.

Modular variant configurations allow you to set options on a piece part and map the options to an associated expression in NX that determines the geometry of the part. For example, you could map the Width option to the geometry of a door. When the model is opened in NX, the value of the width option, for example Width=500, sets the width of the door in NX. In this case you do not need to have a large number of components available for each size of door. It is more efficient to design the piece part for the door as a module with an option for the width. The variability is then determined by the variant items which are created on demand as required without having to modify the parent door assembly for every new size of door.

To use modular variants, you require a modular product structure and parts that are engineered for modularity. This may require a change to your design and business practices.

Use classic variants when you:

• Have a nonmodular product structure that you do not want to restructure

• Have limited scope for reuse of generic assemblies

Use modular variants when you:

• Enforce modularity to facilitate reuse of lower level assemblies. To do this, you create modules at the top-level item with variant conditions at all lower levels.

• Instantiate business part numbers for a specific configuration. You can create variant items and link them back to the generic modules in which they were generated. Unconfigured occurrences are removed.

• Integrate with expressions in NX. You can create one module item with options that drive the various expressions controlling the geometry of the design. This results in a simpler structure. You can also set the positions of components with mating condition offsets.

• Configure the same part differently in different locations.

Variant configurations are usually structured at the top level of an assembly but can be implemented anywhere in the BOM. When opening an assembly with classic variants, you may have to open the top level assembly first even though a lower level assembly is configured with variants.

Associativity is maintained when loading the modular variant items created in Teamcenter. For example, the drawings in the modular variant items retain dimensions as associative which references various parts in the assemblies.