If you require to quickly review a 3D CATIA model it may be advantageous to use the 'preview in CATIA' command.
This will open documents much faster compared to the standard method of opening native files in CATIA, or even opening the converted STEP files into SpinFire Ult desktop viewer.
Whilst documents can be opened as equally quickly in the integrated PLM web viewer, this program has limited analysis capabilities. So depending on the requirements 'preview in CATIA' may be preferable. This option also allows you to quickly merge several models in a single scene in CATIA.
Note, opening a document as a preview should only be done if you require read access. If any changes are necessary, the document should be opened fully through the 'normal' methods.
Opening method:
Any 3D CATIA file can be previewed in CATIA by pressing the usual CATIA icon from the dashboard or profile card header 
and selecting the 'open as Preview in CATIA' button in the open options menu. If a CGR file is unavailable and waiting to be generated, it will be greyed out and a message will state that the CGR is not available yet. If a change has been made to the document and a new CGR file is being generated, a warning message will be displayed to warn you that the old CGR may be obsolete. Equally, this button is unavailable for drawings.
The file will be opened in a new window in CATIA. This will be displayed as 'Not in PDM' and you will be prompted to save them as new document numbers if you try to save. Please do not do this.
Please note, this method of opening differs from the 'for visualization only' option. The 'visualization only' simply renames the filename so it is not recognised by the connector, however it is still opening the native CATIA file type. This means it will be no quicker to load but you will be able to see all the modelling steps used to create the final model. Opening for preview uses a different filetype, CGR, which is much lighter and quicker to load, however you will only see the final model and you will not be able to interrogate the modelling steps.
Both methods can be used to open different versions of the same document number.
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