concept
Model Templates
Organization blueprints that put parameters, notes, views, and relations onto Creo parts, assemblies, and drawings — at File → New or onto models that already exist.
A model template is an organization-scoped CadActive blueprint for a Creo part, assembly, or drawing. It stores a named start-model reference plus the building blocks that should exist on every model of that type: parameter profiles, a note profile, model relations, and named views (layers, orientations, sections, simplified reps, and states).
It is not a file sitting in start_model_dir. Creo still needs a start model to copy from; CadActive remembers which start model, and what extra conventions to put on the result so seats do not reconstruct them by hand.
Model templates put conventions in the model. How Creo launches is Synchronize. Generating an assembly or skeleton from a data file is Automate.
Who does what
Role | Where | What they do |
|---|---|---|
Admin / CAD manager | Creo | Open a compliant start model and Add Current To Database to seed a template (or one catalog: Parameters, Notes, Orientations, Simp Reps, or Layers). |
Admin / CAD manager | Web app | Create, copy, and archive templates; attach parameter and note profiles; pick named views; set relations and apply instructions. |
Engineer | Creo — Model Builder | Create a new part, assembly, or drawing from a template so it is on-standard from birth. |
Engineer | Creo — Apply Model Template | Detect gaps on an existing model and apply the whole template or selected items. |
What a template contains
Availability depends on CAD type. Drawings keep identity, parameter and note profiles, and relations; most model-view associations are for parts and assemblies.
Building block | What it is | Part | Assembly | Drawing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | CadActive template name (the name you pick in Creo). | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Model Template Model Name | Creo start-model name, 31 characters or fewer. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
CAD type and subtype | Part, Assembly, or Drawing, plus subtype (solid, skeleton, harness, ECAD board, pipeline, and so on). | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Model Parameter Profile | Parameters applied as model parameters. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Component Parameter Profile | Parameters for component usage (assemblies, and optionally parts). | Optional | Yes | No |
Note Profile | Standard notes to apply with the template. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Model Relations | Creo relations text stored on the template. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Layers, orientations, sections | Named views from the organization catalogs. | Yes | Yes | No |
Simplified reps, explode states, style states | Assembly-oriented views. | No | Yes | No |
Combined states, layer states, appearance states | Named states from the catalogs. | Yes | Yes | No |
Parameter profiles, notes, and the view catalogs (Layers, Orientations, and the rest) live under Standardize in the web app. You attach them to a template here. How to author those catalogs is documented in later Standardize topics.
Parameter profiles, notes, and the view catalogs (Layers, Orientations, and the rest) live under Standardize in the web app. You attach them to a template here. How to author those catalogs is documented in later Standardize topics.
How you work with templates
Typical flow: define the blueprint, use it for new models, then apply it to models that already exist.
Collect the start models you already trust (parts, assemblies, drawings — including subtypes such as skeleton or harness).
Seed CadActive from Creo with Add Current To Database, then refine the template in the web app (Define Model Templates).
Engineers create new models with Model Builder instead of a bare File → New.
For existing models, Apply Model Templates shows what is missing and applies all of it, or a subset.
Settings that affect templates
Organization admins change these under Organization → Settings. Full list: Settings for Standardize.
Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
Save Model Template into Models | When a template is selected or applied, whether CadActive writes the template identity into the CAD model (don’t save, as a model parameter, or as external data). Default is As Model Parameter. |
Set Model Template Model Parameter As Designated | When true, that template-name parameter is designated so Windchill can see it. |
Force Regen After Apply Model Template | When true (default), Apply Model Template regenerates the current part or assembly after apply. |
What apply actually does today
Most building blocks apply as named items. A few are stored on the template but do not fully create in Creo yet — treat these as known limits, not as failures of your start model.
Delete non-standard is enforced for layers. The other “Delete Non-Standard …” checkboxes are stored on the template; apply does not remove extra orientations, sections, reps, or states.
Appearance and style states: missing items are detected. Creating them in Creo is a no-op with the Toolkit APIs CadActive uses today.
Explode states are created as named empty shells (no explode offsets copied).
Features on apply are limited (today, ECAD board thickness). Do not expect a general feature tree to copy from the template.
Drawings drop most model-view associations; use drawings for identity, parameters, notes, and relations.
What is not Model Templates
Designator (naming components) is a separate Standardize tool, including the command line.
Geometry Publisher and Note Builder are Standardize tools with their own how-tos still to come.
Geometry Copier is Automate — it consumes interfaces Publisher declares; it is not a template apply.
Optional Auto-Run Model Check on a template can launch ModelCHECK after apply. That is completeness against the template, not a separate checking product.
In this section
Define Model Templates — create and edit templates in the web app.
Model Builder — create a new Creo model from a template.
Apply Model Templates — detect gaps and apply a template to an existing model.