automatic part generation/modification?

Hi,

I am quite new to Pro/E Wildfire (about 3 months use) and have the following
question:

Quite often I need to create a set of maybe 8 or 9 parts that follow a
standard layout. I have a set of dimensions and each part is made from some
or a combination of these dimensions. Instead of having to go through and
create/modify each part by hand, is there any way I can give ProE all these
dimensions and it will update all my parts in one go?

All the dimensions arrive in an Excel sheet and I'd be quite happy to write
some VB to put it in a format that Pro/E can understand.

Thanks for any ideas,

Scott

 

I'm not really in a position to buy more software, and if I'm not mistaken
pro/program and pro/layout need to be purchased additionally? Are family
tables really what I want? I thought I knew what they were about but
perhaps not.

Let me give you an example of what I need to do that might help someone
suggest a solution.

I'll use a roll of sellotape as an example.

I get in the dimensions in Excel (say overall diameter, thickness, width,
length of tape etc). Then I create several parts (eg the cetnre spool, the
winding of tape, protective cover etc). At the moment I need to go through
each part and recalculate the dimensions based on the new ones I've just got
in. It takes a long time, I have at least 10 parts with some quite complex
relationships between the dimensions I get and the ones I need to use in
Pro/E.

I guess the question I'm really asking is how do I use parameters in one
part that are stored in/taken from another part/assembly? (and have them
update automatically)

Thanks for the help,

Scott

 

So, is there any way to access parameters in one part from another part? I
don't have Pro/Layout, only the basic wildfire.

After much googling, Insert -> Shared Data -> Inheritance From Other Model
seems like a good plan, but it's greyed out all the time...

Any ideas?

Cheers

Scott

 

I see where you're coming from, although that sounds a bit messy.

So, if I buy Advanced Assembly, I will be able to have one file called
'PARAMS.PRT' and have all my parameters in there. Then each real part I
want to make I can inherit the parameters from PARAMS.PRT without having to
enter them again. Then, when I need a new design, I can simply change the
values in PARAMS.PRT, regen and the whole assembly will update automatically
with the new dimensions? Is this correct?

Thanks

Scott

 

Sorted it without needing to buy anything else.

In each part I have a list of parameters. Then in the assembly my relations
set the values within the parts, eg:

var1:2 = var1
var2:2 = var2
var3:2 = var3

etc for each part.

Then, I can just change the values in the assembly and regen, and all my
parts get updated automatically.

Scott

 

I have had some trouble with this in the past, wit ha family table, proe
would sowmtimes pick up the wrong variables in a table.I would have to
restart it then
cheers
Craig

 

As Craig mentioned this migth give problems in family tables because
ProE change the :2 (instance ID or something similar) depending on
which instance you choose - then some of the variables fails

NielsC

 

p-AdvancedBOM does most of what you want to do with it's
bi-Directional Pro/E <--> Ms-Excel interface. I would suggest you
look at this.

http://www.buydesignautomation.com

Dave