Reusing knowledge-enabled components in Teamcenter

This page documents the underlying Teamcenter dataset structure used to store and version knowledge-enabled reusable components (KRX-based components) — directly relevant to understanding how MCD's reuse/knowledge-enabled component mechanism actually persists in Teamcenter.

Storage model

In a Teamcenter environment, the files used to manage reusable components are stored as datasets with the item revision of the component.

When you use either the Create KRX file or Edit KRX file command, you can select:

• a .bmp file that contains the object image, and
• an .xlsx spreadsheet that contains the component parameters.

After you create or edit the KRX file, the image and spreadsheet files are uploaded and saved to Teamcenter, along with the KRX file itself.

Item revision structure — example (first revision)

reusable component/A;1
├── ug master/A;1
├── image/A;1
├── spreadsheet/A;1
└── krx/A;1

Revising: what changes and what doesn't

If you create a new item revision in Teamcenter, the KRX, spreadsheet, and image datasets are NOT revised. This is an important and easy-to-miss detail: the knowledge-enablement data (KRX file plus its supporting spreadsheet/image datasets) does not automatically get a new revision alongside the geometry — it persists across item revisions.

The KRX dataset itself is unique for all revisions (i.e., not duplicated per revision). However, an item revision CAN contain multiple spreadsheet and image datasets, and the KRX file can reference any of them for the knowledge-enabled behavior. This is illustrated in the expanded example below, which shows a later revision (B;1) with two spreadsheet datasets:

reusable component/A;1
├── ug master/A;1
├── image/A;1
├── spreadsheet_one/A;1
├── spreadsheet_two/A;1
└── krx/A;1

reusable component/B;1
├── ug master/A;1
├── image/A;1
├── spreadsheet_one/A;1
├── spreadsheet_two/A;1
└── krx/A;1

Note how ug master, image, spreadsheet_one, spreadsheet_two, and krx all stay at their original A;1 sub-revision even though the parent reusable component item revision advanced to B;1 — confirming that these supporting datasets are shared/referenced rather than re-versioned per parent revision.

Note: For additional information, see the My Teamcenter Guide.

Related documentation

Related Concepts

• Adding and editing knowledge-enabled parts
• Integrating reusable components with a spreadsheet
• How to edit reusable components

Related Tasks

• Create knowledge-enabled parts
• Integrate a reusable component with a spreadsheet
• Add a reusable component from the Reuse Library
• Add multiple occurrences of a reusable component from the Reuse Library
• Create a pattern from multiple occurrences of a reusable component from the Reuse Library
• Create a pattern of reusable components on a positioning feature
• Create a pattern of reusable components and a positioning feature
• Edit a reusable component from the Reuse Library
• Create a reusable component in Teamcenter

Related Reference

• Create/Edit KRX file dialog box
• Add Reusable Component dialog box (truncated in source)