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CAD Viewer
Viewing File Relationships
Understanding how files relate to each other is essential when working with complex engineering projects.
The CAD ROOMS web-based CAD Viewer allows you to explore relationships between Assemblies and Parts directly in the browser—without opening native CAD software.
File Relationships provide bidirectional visibility, helping you navigate product structure more efficiently:
- Top-down: See which components make up an assembly
- Bottom-up: See which assemblies reference a specific part
This makes it easier to understand dependencies, reuse parts correctly, and move between different levels of a design.
Current Support and File Requirements
File Relationships are being progressively enabled across CAD formats.
At the moment, relationship data is reliably available for Creo assemblies and parts, allowing you to navigate between parent assemblies and referenced components directly in the viewer.
Support for additional CAD formats is actively expanding and will become available over time.
If relationship data is not shown for a specific file, it may be due to format support that has not yet been enabled.
For File Relationships to work correctly, assemblies and their referenced parts need to be located within the same workspace folder.
Parts can be stored in different projects, as long as they belong to the same workspace folder and are accessible to the assembly.
Parts can be stored in different projects, as long as they belong to the same workspace folder and are accessible to the assembly.
What Works
- Assemblies can reference parts across different projects
- All related files must be within the same workspace folder
- Once accessible, relationships are detected automatically in the viewer
How to Access
- Open any 3D file (Part or Assembly) to enter the CAD Viewer.
- On the left sidebar, click the File Relationships icon (represented by branching nodes).
- The relationship panel opens, showing two sections:
- Components
- Referenced By
Understanding the Relationship Views
1. Components (For Assemblies)
When viewing an Assembly file, the Components section expands to list all the individual parts and sub-assemblies contained within it.
- What you see: A list of children files (e.g., ec05_-_motor_wheel...) that make up the current model.
- Action: Click on any component name in the list to navigate directly to that specific part's view.
This allows fast navigation from high-level structure to detailed geometry without searching through folders.
2. Referenced By (For Parts)
When viewing a Part, the Referenced By section shows which assemblies reference that file.
From here, you can:
- Identify all parent assemblies that depend on the part
- Open the full assembly context with a single click
This is especially useful when reviewing reused components or understanding downstream impact.
Quick Reference
File Type | Section to Check | What It Shows |
Assembly | Components | Files contained within the assembly |
Part | Referenced By | Assemblies that reference the part |
Why File Relationships Matter
File Relationships help teams:
- Understand product structure at a glance
- Navigate between assemblies and parts without manual searching
- Verify where parts are used before making changes
- Maintain better traceability across complex projects
All relationship navigation is view-only and does not modify or affect the original CAD data.
Summary
File Relationships turn the CAD Viewer into more than a geometry viewer — they provide structural context that helps teams understand how designs are connected.
As support for additional CAD formats continues to expand, File Relationships will become an increasingly powerful tool for navigating and reviewing complex projects directly in the browser.