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      <title>Characteristics overview</title>
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      <div class="title_topic2" id="xps10_pagetitle">Characteristics overview</div>
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               <p class="para_td">Overview</p>
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               <p class="para_td"><a class="links" href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="top.openFile('routingadmin/route_aware.html');return(false);">Options</a></p>
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      </table><br><p class="para_topic">Routing <b class="uiTerm">Characteristics</b> are NX attributes used in Routing to maintain information that describes routing objects and records the intended use of the objects. Routing uses attributes for many purposes, and categorizes them appropriately. Attributes that are Routing&ndash;specific are called <b class="uiTerm">Characteristics</b>, to distinguish them from general attributes.
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      <p class="para_topic">Previous to the release of NX 2.0, all Routing <b class="uiTerm">Characteristics</b> attribute names were prepended with the characters &quot;R$&quot;.&nbsp;For example, the characteristic MATERIAL would be an attribute with the title R$MATERIAL.In NX 2.0 and beyond, these special characters are not used in most cases. The only exception is for a <b class="uiTerm">Reference Characteristic</b>, which is a Routing specific method to define a characteristic to have the value of another characteristic. In this case, the title of the attribute has the prefix &quot;R$$&quot;, to indicate to the system that the value is the title of another attribute that must be de-referenced.
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      <p class="para_topic">Different designations of characteristics are <b class="uiTerm">Descriptor</b>, <b class="uiTerm">Specification</b>, <b class="uiTerm">Stationary</b>, and <b class="uiTerm">Destination</b>.
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      <div class="title_division">Descriptor characteristics</div>
      <p class="para_division">A <b class="uiTerm">Descriptor Characteristic</b> is any characteristic defined for a particular type of part. &nbsp;These characteristics exist for all occurrences of that type of part. Any characteristics attached to the part after placement into an assembly is not a <b class="uiTerm">Descriptor Characteristic</b>, since this allows different values for different occurrences.
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      <p class="para_division"><b class="uiTerm">Destination Characteristics</b> may be defined through a part table, within the part file itself (using <b class="uiTerm">Qualify Part</b>), or by a PDM system.
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      <p class="para_division">You should not edit descriptor characteristics. In order to change a descriptor characteristic, you must replace the part with another part. For example, you should not modify the value of the material characteristic, because doing so would change the part number.</p>
      <p class="para_division">The Routing <b class="uiTerm">Edit Characteristics</b> tool allows the modification of <b class="uiTerm">Required</b> and <b class="uiTerm">Optional</b> characteristics only, not <b class="uiTerm">Descriptor Characteristics</b>. However, you can edit any characteristics (which are NX attributes) outside of Routing. You must understand which characteristics you can safely modify.
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      <div class="title_division">Destination characteristics</div>
      <p class="para_division"><b class="uiTerm">Destination Characteristics</b> are those characteristics on existing objects in the work part that should be matched when placing a part or assigning stock.
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      <p class="para_division">When an object is selected as the <b class="uiTerm">Destination Object</b> during the <b class="uiTerm">Place Part</b> operation, those characteristics designated to be <b class="uiTerm">Destination Characteristics</b> (defined in the APV file) are read from the <b class="uiTerm">Destination Object</b> and part selection is filtered such that only parts that have matching values for those characteristics are available for selection.
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      <p class="para_division">When assigning stock, either directly or through automatic stock assignment during path creation, <b class="uiTerm">Destination Characteristic</b> values are matched to determine the exact stock to be assigned.
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      <p class="para_division">A typical example is NPS for a <b class="uiTerm">Piping Discipline</b>. &nbsp;When placing a flange onto a valve having NPS=10, for example, the flange should also have NPS=10.If NPS is defined as a <b class="uiTerm">Destination Characteristic</b>, then only those flanges with NPS=10 are offered for selection once a port on the valve is selected as the destination object.
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                  <p class="para_note_body">The system considers a part or stock that does not carry a particular <b class="uiTerm">Destination Characteristic</b> a valid choice. If the selected <b class="uiTerm">Destination Object</b> has the <b class="uiTerm">Destination Characteristic</b> NPS=10, but you are selecting from a family of parts that does not carry the NPS characteristic (perhaps a hanger), then all the family members are selectable (provided no other <b class="uiTerm">Destination Characteristics</b> are limited the selection).
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      <div class="title_division">Specification characteristics</div>
      <p class="para_division"><b class="uiTerm">Specification Characteristics</b> are those characteristics defined by the APV file that must be adhered to while you are working under a particular specification.
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      <p class="para_division">A <b class="uiTerm">Specification</b> provides a method to assure that all parts within a design carry the same characteristic values, or a limited set of values. You can set up your system with as many <b class="uiTerm">Specifications</b> as needed.
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      <p class="para_division">One example is a high pressure specification. Under such a <b class="uiTerm">Specification</b>, you want all fittings and stock to be capable of carrying some pressure value. Rather than have the user continually checking to be sure he selects parts of the correct pressure rating, a <b class="uiTerm">Specification</b> may be defined which dictates that pressure rating.&nbsp;For example, you can define a <b class="uiTerm">Specification</b> that has PRESSURE_RATING=300. Only those parts and stock that have the value of 300 for the characteristic PRESSURE RATING (or do not have that <b class="uiTerm">Characteristic</b>) may be selected.
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