Skip to main content

Characteristics

Characteristics play a crucial role in organizing and configuring products. They are used to group related products into categories and provide options for configuring product settings.

Here, the Characteristics/Characteristic Values can be viewed, created, and maintained according to the VC data model, which are relevant for 3D visualization. Additionally, additional 3D-relevant data/information can be maintained for these "records," as well as the type of interaction with the 3D model.

→ Additional functionalities will be added to the Characteristics later:

  • Adoption (of all/individual) features from the SAP data model (MasterData)

Characteristics Basics​

Characteristics correspond to the features of the SAP data model.

A new Characteristic can be created here with the "Create" button within the CRUD component. An existing Characteristic can be edited or viewed using the "Inline-Icons".

  • Code (mandatory)
    Technical name of the Characteristic. This must be identical to the technical feature from the SAP data model if they are to interact with each other. Auxiliary characteristics that exist solely on the 3D customization side can be freely chosen but should still adhere to the general nomenclature and must be unique within the Characteristics.
  • Type (mandatory)
    • Default = Characteristics with a selection option
    • String = Alphanumeric Characteristics
    • Float = Characteristic with floating-point number
    • Integer = Integer Characteristic
    • Bool = Boolean Characteristic (true/false)
  • Unit (optional)
    Used unit (e.g., ".", "mm", "pcs", "lfm", ...)
  • Decimal Separator (optional)
    Used decimal separator (e.g., "." or ",")
  • Thousands Separator (optional)
    Used thousand separator (e.g., "." or "'")
  • Descriptions (optional)
    Description of the Characteristic, in "n" languages
    • de_de = Base Color
    • en_en = Base Color
    • ...

Characteristics-Information Tab (Create)​

This opens the input for a new Characteristic.

  1. "Code" is a mandatory feature.
  2. "Type" is a mandatory feature.
  3. "Unit", "Comma", and "Separator" are optional and will be shown/hidden depending on the Type.
  4. The "Description" can be entered in multiple languages if necessary.
  5. Save the new Characteristic.
  6. Save the Description.

Once a Characteristic is saved, the further tabs of the Characteristic can be selected.

Characteristics-Information Tab (Edit-/View-Mode)​

This opens the view/edit mode in the Info tab.

  1. Here, the basic information of the Characteristic can be viewed/modified.
  2. Save

CharacteristicInteractions​

Here, one or more "functions" can be assigned to a Characteristic, defining its interaction with visualization. This allows backend functions (in Unity) to be called/executed.

→ For example, changing the material color of a 3D object

  • Code (mandatory)
    Technical name of the CharacteristicInteractions. This can be freely chosen but should adhere to the general nomenclature and must be unique within the CharacteristicInteractions.
  • Interaction (mandatory)
    Selection of a predefined Interaction. Interactions are functions in the backend that are executed when evaluating this Characteristic. These can be defined under the "Interactions" menu.
    → For example, "ChangeColor"
  • Descriptions (optional)
    Description of the Characteristic, in "n" languages
    • de_de = Farbe wechseln
    • en_en = Change Color
    • ...

Existing Interactions can be assigned to the Characteristic here.

  1. Clicking "Create" opens the input dialog for a new CharacteristicInteraction.
    Alternatively, an existing CharacteristicInteraction can be viewed or edited.
  2. Define "Code"
  3. Assign Interaction
  4. The "Description" can be entered in multiple languages if necessary.
  5. Save the new CharacteristicInteraction.
  6. Save the Description.

Multiple CharacteristicInteractions can be assigned to a Characteristic.

CharacteristicInteraction-Parameters​

With the CharacteristicInteractionParameters, additional parameters can be passed to backend functions (Unity).

→ For example, the name of a pre-defined texture that should always be assigned during execution.

Important:
Context-specific InteractionParameters (e.g., CharacteristicInteractionParameter) are context-dependent and are set only when the Interaction is executed in relation to the corresponding Characteristic. In contrast, InteractionParameters maintained directly within an Interaction are globally valid and are set each time the Interaction is called.

  • Code (mandatory)
    Technical name of the CharacteristicInteractionsParameters. This can be freely chosen but should adhere to the general nomenclature and must be unique within the CharacteristicInteractionsParameters.
  • Type (mandatory)
    • Choice
      → Currently, only the Choice type exists, which sets a value in a backend function.
  • Parameter (mandatory)
    The value to be passed to the respective backend function (e.g., "Logo").
  • Description (optional)
    Description of the CharacteristicInteraction, in "n" languages
    • de_de = Referenz 01
    • en_en = Reference 01
    • ...

CharacteristicInteractionParameters can be assigned to the CharacteristicInteraction here.

  1. Clicking "Create" opens the input dialog for a new CharacteristicInteractionParameter.
    Alternatively, an existing CharacteristicInteractionParameter can be viewed or edited.
  2. Define "Type"
  3. Assign Parameter
  4. The "Description" can be entered in multiple languages if necessary.
  5. Save the new CharacteristicInteractionParameter.
  6. Save the Description.

Multiple CharacteristicInteractionParameters can be assigned to a CharacteristicInteraction.

Characteristic-Values Tab​

CharacteristicValues correspond to the feature values of the SAP data model.

In this tab, the Values of a Characteristic can be created, viewed, or modified. In addition to the technical feature values from the SAP data model, additional information can be provided for the Characteristic here.

  • Code (mandatory)
    Technical name of the CharacteristicValue. This must be identical to the technical feature value from the SAP data model if they are to interact with each other. Auxiliary CharacteristicValues that exist solely on the 3D customization side can be freely chosen but should still adhere to the general nomenclature and must be unique within the CharacteristicValues.
  • Value (mandatory)
    A value that can be interpreted differently depending on the CharacteristicInteraction.
    → For example, with "ChangeColor", a HEX value is expected here and will be assigned to the respective 3D object via the backend function. (e.g., "#00FF00")
  • IsDefault (optional)
    Indicates whether this CharacteristicValue is pre-evaluated for visualization if it has not yet been evaluated in the ConfigResult.
  • Descriptions (optional)
    Description of the CharacteristicInteractionParameters, in "n" languages
    • de_de = Grün
    • en_en = Green
    • ...

→ Additional functionalities will be added to the CharacteristicValues later:

  • Adoption (of all/individual) feature values from the SAP data model (MasterData)
  • ExtendedProperties
    The ability to add "n" columns to a Characteristic, allowing even more additional information to be provided for a CharacteristicValue.
  1. Clicking "Create" opens the input dialog for a new CharacteristicValue. Alternatively, an existing CharacteristicValue can be viewed or edited.
  2. Define "Code"
  3. Define corresponding "Value".
  4. The "Description" can be entered in multiple languages if necessary.
  5. Save the new CharacteristicValues.
  6. Save the Description.