GenerativeComponents contains powerful copying facilities that are combined with geometric translation and transformation operations. Translation is different from transformation. Translation displays the original geometry in a new location, with all other aspects held constant. Transformation combines change of scale, rotation, translation and shear into a single operation. In most CAD applications (including MicroStation) there is a Copy command. Using this command, you select the object to be copied, define some reference point relative to the geometry to be copied, and then define one or more "target" points where the copied geometry will be re-displayed. The relationship of the copied geometry to the target points is the same as the original geometry (to be copied) to the defining ‘reference’ point, however, once the geometry is copied, the association between the original and copied objects is lost.

Associative copy creates another instance of the node which is linked through a translation or transformation operation only. This tool is the same as using the CopyTransformGeometricContents technique; as a result none of the parameters of a copied node are redefined.

This is a very efficient operation for multiplying nodes that only need to be scaled, rotated, or translated in space. Any combination of operations is also possible to achieve composite transformations. This type of copy is a more lightweight operation than instantiating a new instance of a node.