Glossary

   

A

 

 

Access privileges

Access privileges enable users to access designated processes.

Alternate Part

A Part that can be used as an alternative to another. An Alternate Part will apply to all instances of the Part.

Applicability

The use of an instance in a configuration. Applicability can be defined by an effectivity expression or by a modification effectivity.

Assembly

Hierarchical organization of parts consisting of a part with one or more component parts. Component parts may themselves contain component parts. The number of levels in the total assembly is its "depth".

Attributes Characteristics of a particular item. Also called parameters. Attribute values can be used to search for items within the CES database.

B

 

Bill of Material (BOM)

A listing of the Product Structure components.

Bookmark The "favorites" link created between an object and the user's homepage.  Bookmarks create an "ease of use" for the user, allowing them to access information by simply clicking on the created link, which results in the object's display.

C

 

Catalog A catalog is a way of storing and classifying objects, each with its own specific characteristics (such as shape, color, size, diameter, length, standard, etc.) so that they can be retrieved fast and easily.
Category (aka Specification Catetgory) A category is a logical group of specifications.  For example, "Engine Displacement" can be a category that contains all related variant specifications like 2L, 3L, 4L, etc. 
Component A part instance.

Configurable Object 

Identifies a set of configuration applicabilities associated with the Product. 

Configurable Product A product that is configured to contain part instances, assemblies, and component structures.

Configuration 

Configuration is a technique allowing one to manage product variability without having to maintain a distinct part list for each product variant.  The key to configuration is the ability for the system extract meaningful subsets of parts out of a consolidated collection of all parts needed to build an entire family of products.

Context  

A stored Product expansion and Product Editor layout. 

Copy  

Duplicate data and place it in the clipboard. 

Cut 

Remove data and place it in the clipboard. 

D

 

Demote

Reduces the maturity status of an object. 

Dependency Graph

A graph that describes the relationship between CATIA generated documents attached to objects within a product structure.

Deselect

Remove an object from a set of selected objects. If one or several objects constitute a set of selected objects, then to remove one of them from the set, click on the object with the left mouse button while simultaneously holding down the control key.

Digital mockup (DMU)

A digital representation of a product. A digital mockup is created in a visualization tool such as CATIA or the 4D Navigator. The digital mockup can be constructed from the contents of a Product Structure. 

Document 

A document is any file of physical data such as 3D models, text and image files. 

E

 

EBOM An Engineering Bill of Material which normally denotes the design intent and engineering integrity of a product structure.
Editors Specific User Interfaces that allow the user to create, edit, or delete particular objects.

Expand Product Structure 

Render visible lower levels of a Product structure. 

Expansion depth 

When you expand a graph, the expansion depth defines the number of additional levels that will be rendered visible. 

F

 

Filters A search criteria that is applied to a product structure, after which, returns a specified product view .

G

 

Grant privilege

Privileges to access Processes are granted to Persons or to Roles (a Role, in the shortcut of access to Processes, are sets of Persons). 

Graph Compare Graph Compare enables you to graph comparisons based on product specifications, configuration handlers, product contexts and generic components, and enables you to save your product structure comparisons to a report.
Generic Component A sub-category of a Product. 

I

 

Instance

An individual occurrence of a part in an assembly. Each instance of a part in the assembly is identical except as regards certain external characteristics such as the position. 

Instantiate Create a new instance of a part in an assembly.

Insert 

Add a new Instance to the Product Structure. An inserted Instance will be added below the selected branch of the Product Structure. 

Interface The place at which independent and often unrelated systems meet and act on or communicate with each other.
Internal Item An item that is used internally by the company or organization.

L

 

Layout

An arrangement of Views in the Product Editor. 

Level 

The relative hierarchical position of a component within a product assembly. 

Lifecycle The series of stages relating to form, fit, and function, and maturity, of which a part instance evolves.
 
Link The connection between two objects.

Lock  

The status of an instance is locked when under modification by a User. An instance locked to one User cannot be worked on by other Users.

Lock Status The status of part instance relating to its lock or unlock state.

M

 

Manufacturer Item An item from a manufacturer, usually defined by a unique manufacturer identifier number.
Manufacturing Hub The manufacturing view of information that is visible to the design engineering group, which allows allows engineers to collaborate during their process planning and detailing activities.

Model

CAD-CAM geometry. 

O

 

Object

An entity of the data base that can be manipulated. Objects include parts, models, actions and documents. 

Operations The defining of effectivity expressions for part instances.

Organization 

A hierarchical representation of the different departments of a company.  

P

 

Pane

A pane in which you can view or enter information. 

Part 

An entity that is the focal point of all data managed by ENOVIA V5 VPM. A part is identified by a part number. 

Part Family A set of components referring to a .CATPart document. This part is unique but has been assigned different sets of parameter values, each of them being managed by a design table.

Part Instance 

An occurrence of a Part Reference in the Product Structure. 

Part Master 

The definition of a Part common to all Versions. 

Part Number 

An attribute that uniquely identifies a part. 

Part Reference 

The definition of a Part defined by the Part Master and Part Version data. 

Part Version 

The definition of a Part specific to one version. 

Paste  

Insert data that has been copied or cut into the clipboard.  

Positioning matrix  

The x, y, z coordinates of an assembly or part instance relative to a global co-ordinate system. 

Primary Document The initial document created, which becomes the cornerstone of all future revisions and iterations.

Privilege 

Different combinations of People, Organizations and Roles define Privileges which restrict or allow access to data and processes in ENOVIA V5 VPM.  

Process 

A Process is an individual task within the software, such as Create Zone or Delete Part. These are the building blocks that are used to define access to ENOVIA V5 VPM functionality. 

Product  

A set of parts linked together by parent/child relationships constituting a part that is a commercially deliverable entity to an external client. 

Product-Category A unique specification holder, that allows users to pair the many specifications that make up a unique configurable view of a product, with the product itself.  By creating the various specifications that will define any given product series (i.e. Car A, Car B, etc.), users can organize their configurable views in a more efficient and manageable fashion. 

Product Instance  

An occurrence of one Product within the Product Structure of another. 

Product Specification  

A product specification is one parameter used to extract subsets in a configuration.  A product specification identifies a specific variant of a given product that is allowed.  For example, an engine can have variations in engine displacement (2L, 3L, or 4L), propulsion (water jet or propeller), etc., which together can be identified as a product specification.

Product Structure 

The set of multi-level relationships that together constitute the bill of material of the product. 

Product Type A third tier classification of product categories.  For example, a Product Class could be "Engines", and a "Product" could possibly be a "2.3 Liter Engine".  A Product Type would be the 3rd Tier classification of this product, which could possibly be "USA Model".  Both the Product and the Product Type can be configured, and contain component structures.

Promote 

Increase the maturity status of an object. 

Properties 

Attributes associated with an object. 

Publish 

When an event on an object changes, its result is published in the system. Users subscribing to the event will be informed of the change. 

Q

 

Query The search for a particular object based on criteria defined by the user.

R

 

Refresh

Update the Product Structure to reflect changes. A Refresh can be made from the data in memory or from the stored database.

Result pane 

Table that lists the results of a database query for a particular object (part, model, action, document). 

Revision An amended part instance, which has been revised to display a change in its component structure as it relates to form, fit, or function.

Role 

A set of Persons performing similar tasks in the shortcut of their organization entity. Roles are always attached to a specific organization entity. 

Root part 

The origin part of a product structure graph.

S

 

Search

Search for an object in the database. Search criteria can be set in the search query to make the search quicker and specific. For example, use of the User Id will find all searched objects owned by the User. 

Select

Make an object active, so that an action will be applied to it. An object is selected by pointing to it with the mouse and clicking on the left mouse button. 

Select Multiple 

Make a number of objects simultaneously active; the next action is applied to all the objects. The first object in a multi-selection is activated as described in "Select" above, then the other objects are added by keeping the shift key pressed and clicking on the objects with the left mouse button. 

Session 

A CATIA work area comprising one or more models. 

Shortcut menu 

A menu that displays when the user clicks the right mouse button. This menu varies as a function of the software shortcut. It contains often-used functions. 

Specification 

Specification is a code identifying a specific variant that is allowed for a given product.  Specification can also be understood as a code identifying a specific feature or a characteristic of products in an enterprise.  For example, an engine manufacturer can have displacement variations (2L, 3L, or 4L), each of which is identified as a specification.

Specification Category 

A category is a logical group of specifications.  For example, "Engine Displacement" can be a category that contains all related variant specifications like 2L, 3L, 4L, etc. 

Status 

Indicator that indicates the state of advancement of a modification to the product structure during the course of its life cycle. 

Status Graph 

A series of statuses through which an Action will pass for a particular Action type. The status graph is defined by the VPM administrator. 

Style sheet 

File determining the layout of a report. 

Sub-assembly 

An assembly which is itself a component in another assembly. 

Supplier Item  An item from a supplier, usually defined by a unique supplier identifier number, that may be related to more than one manufacturer item number.

U

 

Unlock

The status of an instance available to be worked on by a User. 

V

 

Version A number assigned to an object to identify a particular iteration of the object at a particular stage, before and after release. Major releases of an object are assigned "Revisions", while version numbers are usually associated with minor changes to the object, whereas only the number after the decimal point increases.

View

An area of the Product Editor displaying a different aspect of the Product Structure. 

Viewer  

A Viewer is an application that allows a document to be read or modified. For example, viewers that can read CATIA model document include CATIA V4 and the 4D Navigator. 

VRML 

Virtual Reality Modeling Language. 

W

 

Workpackage

The Workpackage Exchange application enables the user to extract data from his company information systems and to re-import the data once updated by his supplier.