I recently discovered that Creo automatically creates a Parameter titled "PTC_MATERIAL_NAME" whenever a material is assigned to a model. What I found interesting was that if multiple materials exist in the model, this Parameter allows the user to select from these materials in a drop-down list in the Parameters dialog box. This can be quite helpful for my organization because I can quickly map this "PTC_MATERIAL_NAME" parameter into Windchill, aiding in BOM creation.
My question is this: does anyone know how Creo automatically creates this "PTC_MATERIAL_NAME" parameter based on materials in the model? My work often requires the use of optional materials. What I am trying to do is create a Parameter titled something like "OPT_MATERIAL_NAME" that would function just like "PTC_MATERIAL_NAME" in that a user could select from a drop-down list of materials in the model. I could then map this optional material parameter into Windchill as well.
I've encountered a number of previous posts regarding creation of drop-down lists in parameters, all of which require an extensive amount of work creating a *.lst file. I'm hoping to avoid all of this. I'm hoping that there is a quick way to create a clone of the "PTC_MATERIAL_NAME" parameter.
If anyone has any insight on this matter, please respond! If other users have encountered similar problems, or have other methods of creating parameters based on material files, I'd like to hear from you as well.