CATIA V5 Tip: CATIA Component Instance Importance

When working in CATIA V5 assemblies, the importance of specifying the component instance can be overlooked. If you have a CATIA administrator at your company then they may have already configured your installation of CATIA to display the instance name. Let’s discuss how to check if this is the case. In this example, I have created a CATIA assembly and then created a part file in context. This component was automatically called “Part1” and notice that nothing comes after it. This shows that the instance name is not displayed.

Instance Importance 1

The instance display on your specification tree is turned on in your internal settings, starting with Tools --> Options.
Instance Importance 2
 

Instance Importance 3

 

Once you apply these changes, your specification tree will look like the following:
Instance Importance 4
 

Now, as a general rule of thumb, all your files should have a unique naming convention.
Instance Importance 5
 

Instance Importance 6

Instance Importance 7

Instance Importance 8

Another thing to note is that for some PDM systems, it will use the instance name to place the files in alphabetical order. So if your instance name does not match the part name, it will not show up in the proper alphabetical order.

 

 

About the Author

Trisha West

Technical Training Engineer<br><br>Trisha has been providing professional training services for Rand 3D clients since 2012. Her extensive experience makes her an ideal instructor for both on-site and online classes for people at all levels, from introductory to advanced. She currently focuses on teaching end users how to effectively use CATIA V5, VPM Navi, and Creo Parametric. She also helps develop and review training material. Trisha has a B.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering from Ohio State University, and she is a Dassault Systèmes Certified instructor for CATIA V5 Part, Assembly and Surfacing modeling.

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