Conceptual and Detailed Component

Let's talk about the whole deal with handling detailed and conceptual components. Basically, the detailed components are created with the pricier production licenses, while the conceptual ones are made with the cheaper engineering licenses.

If we put the commercial aspect aside, this division can get pretty annoying when you need to move from a model made with conceptual components to the detailed phase.

The numbering gets locked on all elements with the same numbering series of the elements linked to a conceptual component, which means you have to identify and then explode or convert them.

You can find the components visually since detailed ones have a cone or circle symbol, while conceptual ones have a pyramid or square. Or you can generate a report to find them.

Exploding the components used to be the quickest way to handle this. You could do a massive selection and explode them all at once. So, you explode them, fix the marking series (since the conceptual components don't have one), and move on. But keep in mind, any changes to the component have to be managed manually, not automatically.

Conversely, conversion is more efficient because everything gets managed within Tekla's graphical interface. However, by default, you can only convert one component at a time... Imagine doing that for 3,000 components!

So, which method is better? Luckily, over the years, some converters have popped up on Tekla Warehouse that let you do a bulk conversion of components from conceptual to detailed. This way, you can get the job done in no time and give operators the freedom they were missing.