: "BF" wrote : 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 /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