The Comparison Process

There are three conditions the interface looks for:

• items in the imported file that are not in the original model - Added items;

• items in the original model that are not in the imported file - Deleted items;

• items that it can match between the imported file and the original model and checks for modifications - Changed items.

The fact that an item is in the imported file and not in the original model is indicative of one of two cases: that the item has indeed been added by AVEVA Bocad Steel; or that the item was never exported in the first place for some reason. This latter case might also occur if the original model has had items added to it since the export happened. Further, items may appear to have been deleted and their "clones" imported when the import store location is not the same as it was for the export process.

Below is a diagram illustrating the route through which the data is imported, compared and merged. New items are green, changed items are orange and deleted items are red.

It is clear from the above diagram that the interface supports partial model transfer as it just identifies those new or changed items. Anything indicated as deleted is more an indication that the item is not present in the Imported file. It is not deleted from the Original Model during the Merge process: "Deleted" items are simply moved to another SITE to enable you to recover them if necessary. So parts of models can be merged into the original model with no loss of data.

Note:
The Reference Model which is created is named according to your session, so that several user Reference Models could coexist at the same time. As they are named according to session, you are advised to take care to manage them and not to leave too many versions around to fill up your disk space.

The Comparison process allows any potential changes, additions and deletions to the original model to be detected and shown in a 3D Volume View window, if there is one present and if the items are in the current Drawlist.

As for both Linear Members and Plates you can select which attributes are significant for Comparison. This is performed using the Comparison Checklist window which is a child of the Import Run Information window. By default, all the attributes transferred through the file are compared.