Pseudo-attributes for Data Access

Design Datasets (DDSE) are used to store the properties of Design Template items, which can be used to define the Design Template’s parameters. Each property is stored in a Design Data (DDAT) element under a DDSE, with each DDAT being identified by a keyword held in its DKEY attribute. The property definition can be specified by an expression held in the DDPR (Design Data Property) attribute, while a default value for the property (to be used if the expression cannot be evaluated for any reason) can be stored in the DDDF (Design Data Default) attribute.

Unlike a design reference to a catalog component, which can access only a single catalog Dataset via its DTREF setting, a reference to a Design Template can access more than one Design Dataset. A local Design Dataset is owned directly by the current element. A template Design Dataset is owned by the first template below the current element, while a current Design Dataset is at the same level as the current element and has the same owner.

For example, the following diagram illustrates the relative positions of Dataset types for a simple design hierarchy, namely a Panel Fitting derived by instancing a Design Template which includes a Box primitive:

The full range of pseudo-attributes available for accessing the properties data in the various types of dataset in the Design Database (DB) are:

The User can also derive data values from the parameters of items in the Catalog DB by using the RPRO (Reference Property) pseudo-attribute.