Structure Browser

Each Innovator ItemType can contain one or more relationship instances.  The Structure Browser is used for a quick view of the relationship instances in an expandable format.  This type of viewing is most useful with part structure such as a Bill of Materials (BOM) or the viewing of complex relationships between ItemTypes.

You can access the Structure Browser from the context menu that opens by right-clicking on an Item in the main grid.

 

The Structure Browser window displays the selected Item in a single line with ItemType – Name – Revision.Generation format.  You can click to expand and view the structure of relationship instances.

The following table describes the icons in the Structure Browser toolbar.

Icon Name	Icon	Description
Expand All		Expands all levels of structure.
Collapse All		Collapses all levels of structure.
Side-by-Side with other Version		Opens a search dialog with all prior generations of the Item is displayed.  On selection, the two different versions of the same Item are displayed side with expanded structure. For example, a Part item can be compared to another version of the same Part.
Side-by-Side with other ItemType		Opens a search dialog for selection of another Item that belongs to the same ItemType.  On selection, the two different Items of the same ItemType are displayed side with expanded structure. For example, you can compare two different Part Items.  A comparison of this type compares all relationships existing on each Item.
Highlight		Expands entire structure and displays the differences between Items being compared using red, blue, and black colors.

 

In the examples, we use a simple Bill of Material (BOM) to show the simplicity of the Structure Browser.

Opening an Item in a Structure Browser

1. Log on to Aras Innovator.
2. From the TOC, navigate to the Item.
3. Let us consider a Part ItemType. Navigate to Design--> Parts.
4. From the main grid, select the Item and use the right mouse button (right-click) to open the context menu.
5. Select Structure Browser.
6. The Structure Browser window appears.
7. Click  to view relationships of the Part Item.

Performing a Side-by-Side comparison with a different Item of the same Type

1. Open an ItemType in a Structure Browser.  For detailed steps, refer to To open an Item in a Structure Browser.
2. In the Structure Browser window,click    on the toolbar to search a Part for relationship comparison.

In this example, we only compare the Part-BOM relationships, other relationships have been removed for clarity. A Search dialog box appears.

 

3. Use the search toolbar to search for the required Part Item and then select the required Part Item from the grid.
4. Click  and select Structure Browser from the menu.

 

Each side of the Structure Browser is fully expandable.

Highlighting the differences in Side-by-Side comparison for Different Items (same ItemType)

1. Open two different Items of the same Type in the Structure Browser window for side-by-side comparison.  For detailed steps, refer to To do a Side-by-Side comparison with a different Item of same Type.
2. Click  on the Structure Browser toolbar to view color- coded differences between the Items being compared.

 

A description of the Highlight color legend as shown in this example follows.

BLACK –  Indicates no difference between Items in structure or version/generation.  Part-BOM relationship to the related Part Item BR-0301 is found to match in structure and version/generation.

Root Item types always appear black since the difference is known.

RED –  Indicates a difference in generation between two items of matching base number.  The Part-BOM relationship between related Part Items BR-0101 is found to match in structure and base number, but generation differs between the two.

BLUE –  Indicates no Item found with matching structure.  Part-BOM relationship to related Part Items California and BR-0201 are not found under BRAKE-02.

3. Close the Structure Browser window.

Performing a Side-by-Side comparison with another version of the same Item

1. Open an ItemType and select Structure Browser from the menu.  For detailed steps, refer to To open an Item in a Structure Browser.
2. In the Structure Browser window,click   on the toolbar to view the different versions of the selected Part Item. In this example, we only compare the Part-BOM relationships, other relationships have been removed for clarity. A Search dialog box is displayed that lists all versions of the Part Item to choose from.

 

3. Click twice to select a version. In this example, version A.7 and Version A.2 are selected.

 

 

Highlighting differences of the Side-by-Side comparison of different versions of the same Item

1. Open two versions of the same Item in the Structure Browser window for side-by-side comparison.  For detailed steps, refer to To do a Side-by-Side compare with another version of ItemType.
2. Click    on the Structure Browser toolbar to view color- coded differences between the Items being compared.

 

The Item version highlight comparison is confirming Part Item California was added to BRAKE-01 Revision A Version 3, but also that part item BR-0101 had a version change.  This version change is more readily apparent when a highlight is run on a comparison.  A brief description of the color legend as shown in this example follows.

BLACK –  Indicates no difference between items in structure or version/generation.  Part BOM relationship to related part item BR-0301 is found to match in structure and version/generation.

Root Items always appear black since the difference is known.

RED –  Indicates a difference in generation between two items with matching structure.  Part BOM relationship to related part item BR-0101 is found to match in structure, but generation differs between the two.

BLUE –  Indicates no Item found with matching structure.  Part-BOM relationship to related Part Items California and BR-0201 are not found under BRAKE-01 -A.2.

3. Close the Structure Browser window.