Comparing Catalog Item Details

About Comparing Catalog Item Details

One of the benefits of CES is that it provides sourcing and manufacturing information to the designers and engineers. This information can be used during development to determine which parts already exist within the enterprise and are readily available, and which need to be created. To decide which part to use in development, it is often helpful to compare the attributes of similar parts. To compare the attributes of two or more parts, access the Sourcing Compare window by selecting the desired items in the Sourcing Search Results window and either (1) right-click and select Compare Items in the contextual menu, or (2) click the Compare CES Items button in the CES toolbar. (You can also access it by selecting two or more items in various tabs of the Item Details window.)

You can also compare the geometry of two items in the Sourcing Search Results window. For more information about this, refer to Comparing Catalog Item CAD Info.

When Comparing Catalog Item Details

  • The Compare Items option and the Compare CES Items button are disabled if only one item is selected in the Sourcing Search Results or Item Details windows.
  • In the Sourcing Compare window, one item is designated the reference or base item. This is the item to which all the other items are compared. You can change the reference or base item by clicking the radio button beside the item you wish to use. By default, the first item is the reference item.
  • In the Sourcing Compare window, the attributes in the compared item(s) that differ from the attributes in the reference or base item are designated with an arrow beside the attribute.
  • The compare functionality also supports V4 models.

How To Compare Catalog Item Details

This task explains how to compare two or more items:
This example assumes that:
  • you have CATIA Client running and it has access to a database that has been populated with manufacturer, supplier and internal item information
  • you have logged in to ENOVIA V5 VPM and CES. For more information on logging in, refer to Logging in to ENOVIA V5 VPM in CATIA and Accessing CES Functionality.
  • you have performed a search for internal items using attribute values appropriate for your database
  • you have obtained search results with two or more items
  1. In the Sourcing Search Results window, select two or more items. Right-click and select Compare Items in the contextual menu. Alternately, you can select the items in the Sourcing Search Results and click the Compare CES Items button. The Sourcing Compare window appears.



  2. The compared items are shown side-by-side, with the Base Part designated by the selected radio button and the words Base Part at the top of the attribute list. The compared parts are designated by the words Compared Part at the top of the attribute list. If there is an image available, a preview of the item is displayed at the top of the window for each item. To change the Base Part, click the radio button next to the item you wish to designate as the Base Part.

  3. Each Compared Part is compared to the designated Base Part. Any difference between the attributes of the Compared Part and the Base Part attribute is indicated by an arrow beside the Compared Part attribute.

Sourcing Compare Window

This table describes the fields displayed in the Sourcing Compare window.

Fields Description

Various Attribute Fields

The attribute fields that are displayed vary depending on the type of items being compared.


This table describes the buttons displayed in the Sourcing Compare window:

Button Description

Radio buttons

Located next to each item included in the comparison, click a radio button to designate the base item.

Close

Close the Sourcing Compare window and return to the window in which the compare was initiated.