1. A method for massive-model visualization, comprising: storing a hierarchical product data structure by a product data management (PDM) system, the hierarchical product data structure including a plurality of occurrence nodes and component nodes, the component nodes including a cell index value for a corresponding product component that identifies the product component's spatial location according to defined cells of a three-dimensional model of the product assembly; receiving a query that references an occurrence node and at least one cell index value; determining a query result corresponding to the query, by the PDM system, the query result identifying at least one occurrence node that corresponds to the cell index value; forming a query result chain corresponding to the query result, the query result chain filtered by a structural criterion; applying a configuration rule to the filtered query result chain, by the PDM system, to identify child nodes of the filtered query result chain that conform to the configuration rule, and thereby producing a configured spatial retrieval result; and storing the configured spatial retrieval result.