Working in the Associations App
The Associations app is divided into the Relations area and Filters sidebar. The Filters sidebar is hidden by default.
Starting with version 2020.4, you do not need to open the Associations app first before you open an asset. Use the “Open in” feature to open the Associations app and load the asset into the app.
Note the following:
• The interaction between the Associations app and another core app for opening assets and creating associations requires that one of the apps is docked; when using the Open in > Associations feature it does not matter, which of the apps is docked.
• If you open the Associations app for the first time during a session, the app shows a “No asset loaded” message.
• Opening an asset by using drag and drop from the Browse or Search app only works if no asset was opened in the Associations app before. After you opened an asset in the Associations app, each drag and drop operation from the Browse or Search app initiates the “create association” feature.
• If loading the asset takes some time, a loading spinner is shown until the asset is opened.
• If you open an asset which has no relations, the Associations app shows the “This asset has no associations” message.
• If you open an asset for which associations are not supported, an “Associations are not supported for <asset name>” message pops-up on the toolbar. You can close the pop-up by clicking the x button or wait until it is hidden (after 5 seconds).
• If you have applied a filter in the previous session, the Associations app might not show all available relations but only those that match the applied filter criteria. See
Filtering the Displayed Relation Types.
To open the Associations app from the Fast Bar:
Click the Associations app button on the Fast Bar.
Place your cursor over the Associations app button in the Fast Bar and drag and drop it to the
main area of the user interface.
Place your cursor over the Associations app button in the Fast Bar and drag and drop it to the
left side of the user interface.
The app opens. If dropped to the left side of the user interface, the Associations app is docked.
To open the Associations app and load an asset at the same time:
1. Open the Browse or Search app.
2. Do one of the following:
Right-click an asset and in the context menu that opens select Open in > Associations.
(If the Associations app is defined as the default app) Double-click an asset in the Browse or Search app.
The Browse or Search app is docked. The Associations app opens in the main area and the asset is loaded into the app.
To load an asset in the already open Associations app:
1. If the Associations app is not docked, do one of the following:
Dock the Associations app and then open the Browse or Search app.
Open the Browse or Search app in docked mode.
2. Do one of the following:
Right-click an asset and in the context menu that opens select Open in > Associations.
(If the Associations app is defined as the default app) Double-click an asset in the Browse or Search app.
(Only if “No asset loaded” is shown) Select an asset in the Browse and Search app, drag it to the Associations app, and drop it on the “Open in Associations App” overlay.
You see the following:
- If an asset is already open in the Associations app and the asset is not pinned, the new asset opens in the app.
- If an asset is already open in the Associations app and the asset is pinned, the new asset does not open in the app.
To toggle the Relations area layout:
Click the Card view button to show the Relations area in Card view layout.
Click the List view button to show the Relations area in List view layout.
To show and hide relations:
Click the Expand All button to expand all relation types and show all relations in the Relations area.
Click the Collapse All button to collapse all types and hide all relations from the Relations area.
To open recently viewed assets:
In the Associations app header, click the down arrow beneath the asset title and select one of the recently loaded assets.
To navigate to the parent asset in the app (Asset Management hierarchical associations only):
Click the Parent button.
To prevent the current asset from being replaced from outside the app:
Click the Pin button.
To refresh the app display:
Click the Refresh button.
To select several relations:
Press Ctrl+click the relations you want to select, regardless of order or arrangement.
Click a relation and then press Shift+click the relation that ends the series of you want to select. All other relations are deselected.
Press Ctrl+Shift+click a relation above or below the highlighted selection. Depending on the last operation performed before with Ctrl+click, the selection range is extended or reduced.
To deselect relations:
Click outside an asset card (Card view) or row (List view) in the Relations area.
Click the Refresh button.
Collapse the relation type that includes selected relations.
Click the Collapse All button.