Newby questions

Greetings list,
I'm trying to self-learn WF2. I know that I should do formal training but
it's not convenient at this time. So the follow question are the questions
that I would ask in a class. You're indulgence and help is appreciated. Note
that I have purchased and done the exercises in
Toogood's Tutorials (WF1).

The following list is not questions but conclusions which I believe to be
true, please advise if I'm in error:
1. one cannot apply a taper or draft angle directly during an extrude,
either protrusion or cut
2. one cannot suppress an individual occurrence or otherwise modify a single
occurrence of a pattern
3. the template file for mmns_part_solid is the same as solid_part_mmns
(etc)
4. WF2 is not multi-threaded


The following are in fact questions:
1. How does one make changes to system colors stick, specifically the
background for sketching. If it's in config.pro, it's pretty obscure or is
there a way to automatically open a SCL file?
2. In a drw, when creating a section view I don't get the cutline arrows. I
can show view direction arrows but they have the projection plane
nomenclature not the section name
3. Is there a zoom "previous"
4. When doing a mmb orbit or spin, there is a red line centered at the spin
center, what is it trying to tell me? It's movement seems much too random to
be of any benefit
5. File>erase items not displayed What are these items, what should I know
about them, how can I use them, if at all?

Thanks for any and all responses,
BF

 

Thanks Ben,
I appreciate the answers / confirmation.
My background is limited UG, but a wee bit. Mostly the midrange modelers,
Solidworks, Inventor, Mechanical Desktop, Ironcad, Rhino and a bit of
Vellum.
Since you were kind enough to answer, I'll ask if you can give a bit further
info on how to direct config.pro to open the .scl file?
Also, does config.pro set the session's working directory and the model tree
"tree filter settings" in the navigation tab?
And while I'm here, is there anyway to change a copied part edge to
construction or reference? Doesn't appear to be but maybe I'm missing
something.
And one last for now, is there any place to set or "play with" the graphics
setting to try to improve the displayed render mesh?
Again thanks for any and all advise,
BH

 

: Greetings list,
: I'm trying to self-learn WF2. I know that I should do formal training but
: it's not convenient at this time. So the follow question are the questions
: that I would ask in a class. You're indulgence and help is appreciated. Note
: that I have purchased and done the exercises in
: Toogood's Tutorials (WF1).
:
: The following list is not questions but conclusions which I believe to be
: true, please advise if I'm in error:
: 1. one cannot apply a taper or draft angle directly during an extrude,
: either protrusion or cut

True

: 2. one cannot suppress an individual occurrence or otherwise modify a single
: occurrence of a pattern

Not true

: 3. the template file for mmns_part_solid is the same as solid_part_mmns
: (etc)

No idea what you're talking about: check <loadpoint>/templates for all the
'default' templates Pro/e comes with and which can be referred to in config.pro
options TEMPLATE_something. As to what distinguishes these templates, you will
either have to get hold of a file utility which does a byte-by-byte comparison
(Beyond Compare comes to mind) or open them as files and check out such stuff as
parameters, units, material assignments, anything in the 'Edit>Setup' menu for
differences. Also check preset views and layers for similarity/difference. Parts
used as templates may be named anything and be stored anywhere; they are not
marked as special in any way. So your solid_part_mmns could simply be a copy of
mmns_part_solid and for no more reason than that somone thought this made more
sense or just plain liked it better.

: 4. WF2 is not multi-threaded

First of all, four executables open to load Pro/e: xtop.exe, pro_com_message.exe,
nmsd.exe and pglclock.exe. Pro_comm_msg reports 2 threads in the XP Task Manager
Process Report; xtop reports 15 threads, nmsd is reported to be using 2. Seems to
be multi-threaded though don't know what criteria you're using to judge this.
Possibly rumors on the SW newsgroup?
:
:
: The following are in fact questions:
: 1. How does one make changes to system colors stick, specifically the
: background for sketching. If it's in config.pro, it's pretty obscure or is
: there a way to automatically open a SCL file?

Point to your custom system colors file with the config.pro option
SYSTEM_COLORS_FILE and browse to its location. Then press 'Add/Change' and
'Apply'. If you don't do this, the changes don't take effect. Then make sure you
go to the config.pro file menu (double disks at top) and save your changes to the
config.pro file. It should be the config.pro saved in the initial Windows 'Start
in' directory. This is where config.pro, config.win, tree.cfg, syscol.scl,
color.map, color.dmt, layer.pro, and .dtl files should be stored so that they are
found and load automatically. Some config.pro options let you specify different
places to store many of these files. If there is no general pointer to a default
file, any such file found in a set working directory will be used. You can have
sets of these, say different ones for each project you work on, in each working
directory you use. Pro/e is freighteningly infinitely configurable.

: 2. In a drw, when creating a section view I don't get the cutline arrows. I
: can show view direction arrows but they have the projection plane
: nomenclature not the section name

Possibly because you didn't give the section a name. To be safe and precise, make
your sections in the model, give them explicit names and these will be selectable
when you create section views in a drawing. Pro/e leaves such things up to you and
makes very few assumptions for you.

: 3. Is there a zoom "previous"

'View>Orientation>Previous' is as close as you can get with Pro/e; no short cut
that I know of, make Mapkey to simplify.

: 4. When doing a mmb orbit or spin, there is a red line centered at the spin
: center, what is it trying to tell me? It's movement seems much too random to
: be of any benefit

More control is available, as of Wildfire, by turning off Spin Center. It can be
set to off by default in config.pro with SPIN_CENTER_DISPLAY set to NO. The new
method in Pro/e, with spin center turned off, is to use the entity, feature or
point in space by your mouse pointer as the center of rotation of the model. This
point is moveable just by moving the pointer over another area of the model.
Prehighlighting shows you what will be used for rotation or zoom focus.

: 5. File>erase items not displayed What are these items, what should I know
: about them, how can I use them, if at all?

Unlike Windows programs where closing a document means erasing it from memory,
Pro/e's close window just gets is more like the typical Windows Minimize window.
It's in memory, but in the background. Opening an assembly effectively opens the
models but they are 'opened' minimized ~ in memory but not the active part. In an
assembly, they are accessible and available but not active. When you hover the
cursor over the assembly, components prehighlight. With one prehighlighted, you
can RMB 'Open'. Then the model moves to active memory. After making your changes,
you can save and close the part file but it is still in memory, but not the
forward, active memory. To see that it is still in memory, check the assembly and
see that the changes you made are now reflected in the assembly component. If you
close the assembly but don't erase it, it and all its parts/components are still
in memory. If you select 'Open' and get a file list, supposedly of a disk
directory, and pick a file that is already in memory, you may think you are
opening the file from the disk but, in reality, you are 'opening' the one in
memory. To purge memory completely of any and all opened files, select
'File>Erase>Not displayed'. Only then may you open the file on disk and only on
disk.

David Janes

 

I agree with David Janes' response to your questions. But there is a way in
Pro/ENGINEER to add a taper or draft to an extruded Protrusion or Cut
feature. The functionality is called Draft Offset. You could even do this in
several releases prior to Wildfire 1 and 2. Instead of using the Extrude
icon in Wildfire, or the Insert-Protrusion/Cut functionality in Releases
2001 and prior, use the Draft Offset command. I'm at home now and can't
remember the exact command sequence(e.g. Insert-Advanced-Draft Offset--or
something like that). At any rate, you will still select a sketching plane,
create a sketch, and enter an extrusion depth. A positive value with result
in a Protrusion-like feature, and a negative value will remove solid
material similar to a Cut feature. You'll have the opportunity to enter a
draft/taper angle, and you can also have the software to add tangent radii
to the top and bottom of the tapered sides if that's what you desire. It's
not exactly as smooth as UG's functionality for this type of feature
creation, but it will work in many cases. If you find that accessing the
Draft Offset functionality requires too many menu picks, you could create a
Mapkey and corresponding toolbar button for easy access to it.

Best regards,

J. Perry

 

Thanks David and J.Perry,
A much better and more detailed response than I had even hoped for much less
expected.
With regard multi threading, I was referring to multiple processors or hyper
threaded processor, not really important either way. I don't recall
Solidworks multi threading to different processors either, have to check
sometime.
I will have to check out the Advanced-Draft option, since most of my design
is in plastics.
The one thing that was not explained was how it is possible to make a single
instance of a pattern independent? IE, suppress, delete or change without
effecting the pattern as a whole.
Thanks again, I think I'm actually starting to get some of it.
BF

 

: Thanks David and J.Perry,
: A much better and more detailed response than I had even hoped for much less
: expected.
: With regard multi threading, I was referring to multiple processors

Pro/e is capable of utilizing the power of multiple processors with a config.pro
option called PROCESSORS_TO_USE set to the number available and supported by your
operating system. Obviously, if your OS doesn't support multiple processors,
neither can Pro/e.

: I will have to check out the Advanced-Draft option, since most of my design
: is in plastics.
: The one thing that was not explained was how it is possible to make a single
: instance of a pattern independent? IE, suppress, delete or change without
: effecting the pattern as a whole.

Sorry for the abreviated answer, but when questions are vague, general, broad, the
answers will be short and non-specific. Better answers require better questions.
So, have you actually tried WF2 patterning? Seems that, with both a fill pattern
and dimension driven pattern, it shows you instance positions. If you click on the
black dot, it skips regenerating these. If you want them back, you edit definition
and click them so they turn black again. Pretty simple, about as simple as SW!

: Thanks again, I think I'm actually starting to get some of it.

Shouldn't take you that long since you're a newbie to Pro/e, but not to the
general concept, outlook and methodology of solids modelling.

David Janes

 

PROCESSORS_TO_USE

Hi, David.
Is there any documentation on this? I couldn't find anything on it. Unix
only? Distrubuted computing has to be set up (it it's an optional setup
during intall I probably skipped it)?

To go off on a tangent: Re Distributed Computing in the Installation Guide
there is a statement; "Distributed Computing is suitable only for
multiobject design studies.". What does that mean in English?

 

Hi BF,

You're welcome for the assistance. By the way, the Wildfire equivalent to
the old Draft Offset functionality is called Edit - Offset. In Wildfire 1
and 2, you just set the selection filter to Geometry, pick the surface you
want to extrude from, and then select Edit - Offset. From there, you select
from the pulldown at the extreme left and choose the icon that looks like a
tapered object. If you don't have an existing sketch to choose for your
profile to extrude, choose References - Define and then you can re-select
your sketching plane and horiz/vert ref plane for sketching. Then create
your sketch profile. There's a cell in the dashboard area where you will be
able to enter your draft/taper angle.

Best regards,

J. Perry

 

Thanks again David,
Tried the processor_to_use. Comes up as a red circle in options.
Pattern instance suppression works great, would never have thought to use
the graphics area for that.
Regarding learning the program, I've hesitated because, in part, the
impression on the street is that a) Pro/E is the most capable modeler with
the most features and b) partly because of it's multitude of features and
partly because of a somewhat unwieldy UI, that it takes years to become even
proficient much less a master of the program.
After a week of study, I'm to the point where I think I can muddle through a
design, at least one not too complex. I've even seen the logic to the pre WF
UI.
BF

 

:> PROCESSORS_TO_USE
:
: Hi, David.
: Is there any documentation on this? I couldn't find anything on it. Unix
: only? Distrubuted computing has to be set up (it it's an optional setup
: during intall I probably skipped it)?
:
Well, I just checked WF2 and this is not even a config option anymore! Where I was
it though was on a dual Zeon processor system with Wildfire on Win2k. Use of the
second processor, according to the Task Manager performance graphs seemed to
improve. Though, of course, this is anecdotal and could be completely coincidental
that performance seemed sluggish to begin with. It could just as easily have been
a network or licensing issue. But I wasn't the one who installed the software for
a multiprocessor machine so I don't know if there was any special
detection/support option offered or if got installed automatically. I would think
it would be automatic. I mean who would buy a dual processor system then tell
Pro/e NOT to dig into its bag of tricks to get whatever benefit it could out of
it.

: To go off on a tangent: Re Distributed Computing in the Installation Guide
: there is a statement; "Distributed Computing is suitable only for
: multiobject design studies.". What does that mean in English?
:
MODS refers to an advanced function within Behavioral Modelling which varies and
tracks the results of changing various model parameters on 2 or more different
design goals and converges on solutions which satisfy all of them. But, when
confronted with explaining similarities/differences between multiprocessor,
parallel computing and distributed computing, it's not failure of the language to
express but my lack of a degree in computer science that's holding me back. I am
pretty sure that distributed computing is a somewhat different animal from dual
processors, first requiring a program to be written with it in mind and second a
computer architectures and high speed network that can handle keeping hundreds of
processors working together. But this is stuff out of Scientific American and
Fermi News, from Fermi Lab, where they have that kind of setup for data
acquisition and analysis.

David Janes

 

Thanks again,
Got it, though it seems to need a "starter" surface or solid. Easy enough to
start with a feature smaller than the one I need.
BF

 

.... impression on the street is that ........

Autodesk propoganda, for the large part. At one time, when Acad was an up
and coming thing, there was probably truth to it. Somewhere along the
line, before my time (2000i or 2001? I started with WF.), things changed
but the urban myth was already well established. With the introduction
of WF & WF2 there's little truth left in it, though I can see where the
most casual of 3D CAD users might still shy away from it.

I'm sure it does take quite some time to "master", even with formal
training. There's a lot there.

- after about a year .... still a Fellow Newbie. Pro/E cuffs my ears
regularly, but for the most part it's been a joy to use compared to what I
was using.

 

Thanks, David.

I think you are correct. If I'd ever paid attention I've forgotten it. I
just pulled up a large-ish assembly, and it appears that Pro/E will use two
processors for, at least, generating graphics / render mesh during the
loading, changing shade quality, etc. Created an Envelope part with
shrinkwrap feature of a complicated part and it only used one processor to
create the feature, though. If I were to venture a guess it might use two
for structural or dynamic analysis, etc.

Ok. Thanks, again.

 

You're doin good, BF, and probably better, with a weeks' experience, than any of
us in a similar situation would have done 5 years ago. It's getting easier and
more user friendly. Many things still require some explantion but that's what this
learning/teaching/helping community is about. Keep participating and you'll learn
loads of good stuff.

David Janes

: Thanks again David,
: Tried the processor_to_use. Comes up as a red circle in options.
: Pattern instance suppression works great, would never have thought to use
: the graphics area for that.
: Regarding learning the program, I've hesitated because, in part, the
: impression on the street is that a) Pro/E is the most capable modeler with
: the most features and b) partly because of it's multitude of features and
: partly because of a somewhat unwieldy UI, that it takes years to become even
: proficient much less a master of the program.
: After a week of study, I'm to the point where I think I can muddle through a
: design, at least one not too complex. I've even seen the logic to the pre WF
: UI.
: BF
:
:
: : > : Thanks David and J.Perry,
: > : A much better and more detailed response than I had even hoped for much
: less
: > : expected.
: > : With regard multi threading, I was referring to multiple processors
: >
: > Pro/e is capable of utilizing the power of multiple processors with a
: config.pro
: > option called PROCESSORS_TO_USE set to the number available and supported
: by your
: > operating system. Obviously, if your OS doesn't support multiple
: processors,
: > neither can Pro/e.
: >
: > : I will have to check out the Advanced-Draft option, since most of my
: design
: > : is in plastics.
: > : The one thing that was not explained was how it is possible to make a
: single
: > : instance of a pattern independent? IE, suppress, delete or change
: without
: > : effecting the pattern as a whole.
: >
: > Sorry for the abreviated answer, but when questions are vague, general,
: broad, the
: > answers will be short and non-specific. Better answers require better
: questions.
: > So, have you actually tried WF2 patterning? Seems that, with both a fill
: pattern
: > and dimension driven pattern, it shows you instance positions. If you
: click on the
: > black dot, it skips regenerating these. If you want them back, you edit
: definition
: > and click them so they turn black again. Pretty simple, about as simple as
: SW!
: >
: > : Thanks again, I think I'm actually starting to get some of it.
: >
: > Shouldn't take you that long since you're a newbie to Pro/e, but not to
: the
: > general concept, outlook and methodology of solids modelling.
: >
: > David Janes
: >
: >
:
:
:

 

Thanks for the encouraging words, and don't fear I'll be around as problems
crop up.
BF

 

Just out of curiosity ... what's all this above? Footnotes?

Regards,

 

picky picky You probably don't like top-posting, either.