Drvining relations or parameters from external source

: "CADProSys." wrote : Hi everyone, : : I'm curently looking for a method to drive ProE relations or parameters from : some external source..for example Microsoft Excel. : : Well, I made mathematical model of my machine in Excel file. The output : contain some design parameters wich sould be included in CAD model. My : question is how to make a link between ProE (Wildfire 2.0) and Excel to use : the certain value from Excel worksheet as a ProE design parametar value? : I know this is posible with Pro/Desktop. : The only place, still, that Pro/e can use Excel as a table editor is in Family Tables. So, if you've used Excel to set up some columns with dimension variations of model parameters, this database can be used from within 'Tools>Family table' as the table data. You first need at least one row instance inserted in the table before the File options (Import, Export, Edit with Excel) become active.

Otherwise, its OLE server makes data available to Windows programs so that they can link, somehow, to Pro/e data and use it in their programs, something I've heard very little about, but not the other way. Pro/e doesn't accept/use data, in its native format, from Windows programs.

You can, however, export your Excel spreadsheet to a CSV (Comma Separated Values) format file and import this into the Family Table editor. Pro/e's built in table editor will export this way also, so it may be a way of communicating with Excel. Awkward, I know, but it beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

David Janes

"CADProSys." wrote in news:cn2is3$4qr$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eunet.yu:

A VBA API called Gateway (sold by Rand Worldwide for a reasonable fee) is available to link Excel to Pro/E. It requires little Visual Basic skills.

In 2001 there is 'analysis\excell analysis' that can be used to drive parameters. I've never used it but would be interested in examples of what it can do.

: "kenny" wrote : > on Sat, 13 Nov 2004 06:36:53 -0800, David Janes said... : > : CADProSys. wrote : > : I'm curently looking for a method to drive ProE relations or parameters from : > : some external source..for example Microsoft Excel. : > : : > : Well, I made mathematical model of my machine in Excel file. The output : > : contain some design parameters wich sould be included in CAD model. My : > : question is how to make a link between ProE (Wildfire 2.0) and Excel to use : > : the certain value from Excel worksheet as a ProE design parametar value? : > : I know this is posible with Pro/Desktop. : > : : > The only place, still, that Pro/e can use Excel as a table editor is in Family : > Tables. : >

: In 2001 there is 'analysis\excell analysis' that can be used to : drive parameters. I've never used it but would be interested in : examples of what it can do.

Yeah, never heard of this but sounds interesting. My general comments came from two sources: 1. PTC/Pro-e comment at the time of installation on what the OLE server can do/not do; 2. the only exception I'd heard of was Family Table data, but if the one you mention, Kenny, is available, it's quite welcome news. Mostly, PTC/Pro-e have avoided anything system dependent like the plague because it would spoil their neat, pristine one-size-fits-all compile/distribution system. It's written on UNIX and to avoid proprietary claims and incompatibilities between 7 or

8 different flavors, all information beyond the proprietary part information, is passed in ASCII. Genius, hunh!?! So, basically, nothing follows/compiles to the Windows API, nothing is licensed from MicroSoft. The little stuff we are talking about is, far and away, the exception. Of course, SolidWorks is nipping pretty hard at their rear, and it's gaining market share by being fully MS API compatible. So, some grudging (necessarily, because, for a decade, they've resisted going this way, toward two, separate compiles of Pro/e) accomodations are in order. Don't see what the big deal is about two separate compiles, except that it would show the UNIX side to be complacent, inbred slackers who never liked or reconciled themselves to a GUI interface and most definitely nothing to help average, corporate users. Programmers, in UNIX, are gods; users are scum of the earth. UNIX dictum to users: don't touch anything!!

Pro/e, if it wishes to appeal to both worlds, should quit denying there's any differnce and should recognize the differnces of each. TWO COMPILES ~ ONE FOR UNIX, ONE FOR NT! Some day they may find common ground, but for now, we witness the beginnings of speciation.

David Janes

David,

An excel analysis is part of Behavioural Modelling Extension, and has been available since it came out (2001 I believe). You are able to pass parameters from ProE to excel cells and retrieve cell values from excel and assign them to parameters. This sounds exactly what CADProSys is after. You can also carry out an 'external' analysis, which enables you to hook into any external program. I know that this can be done with ANSYS and would like to hear from anyone who's used it.

I have used BMX to do quite a few things, including a excel linked design for a heat exchanger, where I used excel to do the heat transfer calculations by passing through surface areas and thickness and returning performance values as parameters. I then used BMX to optimise the exchanger.

Regards,

Rod Giles Pro/Mechanica Users Group UK

p-AdvancedBOM does this right off the shelf - no programming required! Check it out at:

Also - Not sure if the Rand product is even supported anymore.

You should look at p-Shell API -

as a more capable alternative if you are looking for API level access.

Good Luck!

Dave

There is an article in the PTC knowlege Base that describes how to do this. The Basics of this method is that you generate a textfile (ASCII) where you have all your parameters and values listed (Write a small Excel VBA macro that exports the file) You can then make pro/e read this file when regenerating.

Hugo