Contemplating Migrating From Pro/E -> SW

Hello all:

I've been using Pro/E for 7+ years. I am currently using the latest
build of Wildfire, which has one bug that annoys me and probably a few
that I have not found or will not run across. Not my idea to install,
but PTC insists since it fixes a coding problem.

One question I'd like answered, what does SolidWork do when you try to
create a feature that will not work. Pro/E will prompt you that you
hosed the feature and give you options to fix, delete or suppress the
feature. If you choose to fix, you have to *know* what went wrong,
Pro/E doesn't give you much info to work with. There is no "OK, fine,
never mind then" Undo command. Pro/E makes you do something even if it
causes the model to fail even more.

For example, I was adding holes to an assembly and when I tried to
pattern the holes, Pro/E freaked and dropped me back to one of the
first parts in the chain of assembly. After *having* to rudely close
Pro/E *multiple* times after attempting pattern the holes (I didn't
want to deal with 10 "delete/delete all" prompts), I decided to look
at Solidworks. I asked an friend who was made to switch from Pro/E to
SolidWorks (licensing issues at his company). He said it was a move
that he does not regret.

Next week, I'm going to a seminar at a local reseller. Upon leaving,
I'll have a 60 day demo of SolidWorks. I'm going to futz with it and
see how easy/hard it is to create, at least, one assembly.

I'd like to get some of your experiences with SolidWorks, good, bad,
just plain horrible.

TIA,
--
Windoze 2000 SP4
768 MB RAM
nVidia Quadro2 MXR/EX Driver Build 4.5.2.3
Wildfahr 2003451
-
Doug E. Eicher
Global Inc./SFC Valve Corp
mailto:
What I say here are my own thoughts and opinions and do not reflect views of my employer.

 

Mark is correct, that is one thing i like about SW versus my previous
experiences with other modelers. Solidworks will give you quite a bit of
info versus other programs as to whats wrong. Does it mean it shows you how
to fix every problem that arises, no. Also i have had quite a few of my
customers who were die hard ProE people making the switch to other programs.
One thing that was always bad in ProE is the lack of a good undo feature, it
that still true?

of my employer.

 

You had better switch over quick!!! It looks like Pro/E will stop working
on the 10th of this month. Unless they got a patch to you. Check the post
on 12/22/03 subject: "Bug like this?"

Good luck,

Corey Scheich

of my employer.

 

I don't expect any program to hold your hand and walk you thru
problems. Just say, you can't do that because of this. Just letting me
know why if failed is good enough.

They added Undo to the sketcher a couple(?) of releases ago. AFA
non-sketcher Undo, there's always close the model, flush from memory
and reopen. Of course, sometimes Pro/E does that for you!

Thanks,

--
Windoze 2000 SP4
768 MB RAM
nVidia Quadro2 MXR/EX Driver Build 4.5.2.3
Wildfahr 2003451
-
Doug E. Eicher
Global Inc./SFC Valve Corp
mailto:
What I say here are my own thoughts and opinions and do not reflect views of my employer.

 

I used ProE for many years from version 7 or 8 up to version 19 or 20 I
think. I actually liked ProE's failed feature recovery tools but I suppose
I really took the time to learn them and deal with them rather than panic.
A lot of people I worked with just caved whenever their ProE models or
assemblies started falling apart.

That said, SW handles failed features very well. As other people have
stated it doesn't really require you to do anything if you don't want. You
can suppress them or leave them in a failed state and continue working
elsewhere.

However, I think ProE was much (MUCH) better at pinpointing the reasons for
failed surface features. Solidworks usually just reports failure due to
"Geometry Conditions" (or something) without actually showing you where
those geometry conditions are. I remember ProE being a little more
specific (maybe highlighting the trouble spots in the sketch, right?).

I've been using SW for a couple of years now and while I like it a lot and
would not buy ProE given the chance, I do find myself missing a lot of
things from ProE.

Joel Moore

 

Ah...hold on there Chicken Little! ;^) Pro/E will work OK after 10
Jan. It will not play well with itself, tho. There is a new build plus
a couple of stop gap patches for those who don't want that particular
build. Installed the build...might back down and install patches
instead.


--
Windoze 2000 SP4
768 MB RAM
nVidia Quadro2 MXR/EX Driver Build 4.5.2.3
Wildfahr 2003451
-
Doug E. Eicher
Global Inc./SFC Valve Corp
mailto:
What I say here are my own thoughts and opinions and do not reflect views of my employer.

 

The one I read was this one it isn't as recent
http://news.com.com/2100-7355_3-5129875.html?tag=nefd_top
same basic content though I don't recall it mentioning that they had gotten
the fix out.

Sincerely
Chicken Little =)

 

I'm learning to try to work with the failed feature. Sometimes Pro/E
gets confused as to the reference plane for the sketch. Flip-flopping
the reference plane seems to get the sketch into the original
orientation. In this case, I tried to pattern holes. The anchor hole
was extruded in two directions and the second direction referenced a
surface that really didn't exist in one of the directions. Pro/E blew
the assembly all the way back to the original forging part!!!! I had
no way of saying..."Ah..just forget it!"

Hmm.....vague prompts are what I'm trying to avoid!! It will tell you
what feature failed and offer you some options. I don't think Pro/E
highlights anything in the sketch. It'll tell you what references are
missing or needs updated...well, updated anyway. Missing refs are just
that, missing.

When I get the demo, I have a couple of parts I want to throw at it.
One is a valve body that I can't seem to get Pro/E to throw rounds in
certain situtations. The other is a valve body i've modeled in Pro/E
and want to see how easy it is to model in SW.

Thanks,

--
Windoze 2000 SP4
768 MB RAM
nVidia Quadro2 MXR/EX Driver Build 4.5.2.3
Wildfahr 2003451
-
Doug E. Eicher
Global Inc./SFC Valve Corp
mailto:
What I say here are my own thoughts and opinions and do not reflect views of my employer.

 

SW won't blow away multiple features the way Pro-E does, but it my
crash and dump you into the Desktop (without warning) at least a
couple times a day....but your model will be good up to the last save.

We mainly do large assemblies of prismatic parts. I think everything
works great except the following: My main complaints are stability and
large assembly (both modelling and drawing) performance. Also, the
more in-context relations you make the longer you're going to be
waiting (but they do work). I can't think of any "must-have" features
that aren't already in SW. I have no real hands-on experience with
any other 3D programs, so I can't compare my observations with other
programs either.

Just my $0.02,
Ken

 

If you have trouble making the parts in SW, see if your VAR can do it. If
they've got some good application engineers, they'll show you cool features
or work-arounds that you, as a newbie, are likely to miss.

Jerry Steiger
Tripod Data Systems