Wildfire 2.0

: >

: The thing to check out about WF II is whether the promise to finish the transition to the Dashboard object/action functionality has been realized. I would certainly like to know that.

Showing suppressed features is available in WF, same as before. Above the Model Tree, you should see two buttons, one marked 'Show', the other marked 'Settings'. If you press the Settings button, you will find two items that are very useful in customizing the Model Tree. The first is Tree Filters. In this you will find an item called 'Suppressed Objects'. When you check this to select it, it will display suppressed features on the Model Tree. The other very useful item under Settings is Tree Columns. Here you can add info colums, as well parameters, simplified reps and layers. When you are finished setting up the Model Tree and colums as you wish, click 'Save Settings File' under the Settings menu. Typically this file is called tree.cfg and will be used to govern tree display when pointed to in config.pro 'mdl_tree_cfg_file'. If you stop short of this step, your new tree configuration will not display automatically when opening a part. However, you can still open it manually with 'Settings>Open Settings File', then Browse to the tree.cfg file.

David Janes

What 2001 does that Wildfire doesn't seem to do is give a hard number in the caution dialogue box. Something like "2 rengenerated and 1 suppressed features will be DELETED. 20 Regenerated and 0 suppressed components will be DELETED. Please confirm>"

This gave you a count and made it easier to determine if a component buried in a subassy would be deleted. I found it very helpful. If you are deleting 1 item in Wildfire, you can't know whether other items are being deleted along with it without expanding the model tree and scrolling through the entire model.

parameters,

I guess I haven't run across this as I haven't tried deleting many components. I think I have seen that it lights up the model tree pretty well and shows graphically which are to be deleted. That's pretty dramatic. And, if the suppressed features are showing in the tree, you get a pretty good idea that there are things it's going to delete that would cause disaster so caution may be warranted. But really, I like all the graphical stuff. I hated, from day one, spending half my time in a graphics program reading, reading, constantly reading. The thing I don't like now is that everything is red, so something in red can't highlight in red as a warning, but apparently they are trying it anyway. They are going for the masses now, so this must be PTC's Red Phase.

David Janes

: > : >

: > : : > The thing to check out about WF II is whether the promise to finish the : transition : > to the Dashboard object/action functionality has been realized. I would : certainly : > like to know that. : >

: > Showing suppressed features is available in WF, same as before. Above the : Model : > Tree, you should see two buttons, one marked 'Show', the other marked : 'Settings'. : > If you press the Settings button, you will find two items that are very : useful in : > customizing the Model Tree. The first is Tree Filters. In this you will : find an : > item called 'Suppressed Objects'. When you check this to select it, it : will : > display suppressed features on the Model Tree. The other very useful item : under : > Settings is Tree Columns. Here you can add info colums, as well : parameters, : > simplified reps and layers. When you are finished setting up the Model : Tree and : > colums as you wish, click 'Save Settings File' under the Settings menu. : Typically : > this file is called tree.cfg and will be used to govern tree display when : pointed : > to in config.pro 'mdl_tree_cfg_file'. If you stop short of this step, your : new : > tree configuration will not display automatically when opening a part. : However, : > you can still open it manually with 'Settings>Open Settings File', then : Browse to : > the tree.cfg file. : >

: > David Janes : >

: >

: :

Here's the deal on new things in 2.0

1) Menu manager is still around, though not as much as it used to be. 2) Undo-Redo...for delete, create, suppress, etc. Delete the wrong feature? Do an 'undo', and it comes back. Not just the last feature, but steps like sketcher has. 3) Patterns....preview arrows, preview dots where instances will go, deselect specific dots for un-even patterns. No more make datum radial patterns, instead select the feature, pick an axis, preview arrows appear. Define number, angle, which ones you want, even have a 'fan' type pattern of radial growing out in rings. 4) Move/copy/mirror now a dashboard application 5) Sketch button gone in dashboard (or at least buried), instead right click in model window and insert sketch. 6) Troubleshooter for failed features 7)Nested groups (groups within groups in the model tree)

and on and on

Cool. Any negative comments?

========================

They do anything with sheetmetal? It wasn't touched at all in W1.

: 2) Undo-Redo...for delete, create, suppress, etc. Delete the wrong : feature? Do an 'undo', and it comes back. Not just the last feature, : but steps like sketcher has.

Great, now I can stop listening to a friend of mine bitch about it not having an UNDO.

: 3) Patterns....preview arrows, preview dots where instances will go, : deselect specific dots for un-even patterns. No more make datum : radial patterns, instead select the feature, pick an axis, preview : arrows appear. Define number, angle, which ones you want, even have a : 'fan' type pattern of radial growing out in rings. : 4) Move/copy/mirror now a dashboard application : 5) Sketch button gone in dashboard (or at least buried), instead right : click in model window and insert sketch. : 6) Troubleshooter for failed features

Oh, soooo welcome. Anything they can do to get rid of windows that splash and splay and flop and slop across the graphics window are appreciated.

Many thanks for the update. I'd say they're still in the game, especially with all the complaints we're hearing about Solid Works 2004. Just the ones that spill over to this NG are pretty serious.

David Janes

Okay, dislikes:

1) Still the GROUP_AUTO_GROUP when you create an on the fly datum in a feature. I hate this thing. PTC should take a cue from the boys in Concord (SW) on this. They have Boss/Cut (whatever) with an 'offset from surface' option as well as 'up to surf'. 95% of my 'make datums' are offsets; if Pro had this funtionality, 'make datums' would be a minor issue.

2) Still has a crazy initial scale. I'm in Needham right now, and was told this is becuase the default datum planes are 500"x500"x500". There is a new ability to specify the size of a datum plane. I thought, great, I'll take the start part and set the datums to

20x20x20" (a 20" monitor, right? 1:1). This was beautiful until I modeled a .500" x 1" long cylinder. Zoom>refit made it a little speck on the screen, because it was still calculating part size at 20x20x20. I've filed this internally at PTC as a problem .

3) I don't understand the datum sketch feature in 1.0. Now, there is a new 'sketch' button on the toolbar near the datums. You create a sketch, and it appears as a new 'sketch' feature in the model tree. This is not a sketched datum curve, but a new feature type in ProE. As before, you can select it and then go into Extrude tool and it copies it into the feature, but you can now toggle the dependency (default is dependent). I don't get it. Why not just subsume it into the feature? PTC says you may want to use it in multiple features; I said, if I could copy/paste it where I wanted, (even from within the feature to a new feature), I wouldn't need it as a separate entity in the tree and it would be more windows-centric. Messy. I couldn't really grasp the logic behind it. Again, I hate to blow SWs horn, but I prefer their way, but boy do they need an intent manager.

Stability has been very good, even in the Pre-production release.

More things I didn't mention

1) A new 'annotation' feature in part/assy mode. Promoting the use of paperless models and conforming with the new ansi y.14.whatever (hell, I don't follow those things). The model now can show geo tols, notes, etc, etc.

2) A new dialog in Detail for View configuration that consolidate all view functions in one box (view type, scale, state, x-section, etc)

3) Undo/redo in Detail.

4) Relations editor revamped; many new functions; don't have to show the dims before entering it; you can restric values to predetermined values, like a string (yes, no, red, blue, green)

5) Sketch text as a family table instance (you can change the sketch text string per instance).

6) Tons of new functionality in surfacing and rounds.

And I'm certain I've only listed 10% of the changes I've seen. It gets overwhelming.

6) Tons of new functionality in surfacing and rounds.

Can you be more specific in regards to this ?

jon

What!? How can this be,.... JB the copy/paste demo-god, w/o a demo!?

What is the world coming too???

The shame of it all.... cat's and dog's, women and children....the chaos!?

..

j>

Thanks a bunch, Pete. Being new to Pro/E the annoyance things don't bother me so much; I simply don't know any better. I'm especially glad to hear about the stability and some of the new features will be welcome (I'm just now getting used to not having an Undo, though).

===================

Jon,

I'll look into it some more today.

I don't do industrial design, and my experience with ISDX (own it, don't really use it) is limited. From what I remember, spline manipulation is much improved, you can add points to a spline by selecting where you want it, remove them the same way, drag 'em around, etc. Rounds creation is different to address complaints about edge selection problems.

Regards

The guy sitting next to me is doing sheetmetal almost exclusively, and is very please with the new functionality (whatever it is!)..

What I'm enjoying best about this test-drive in QA is that whenever I do encounter a problem, or something I question the logic of, almost immediately the developer in charge of that portion of the code is sitting next to me discussing what the problems are and if it is readily addressable or something that will take a while to fix. For example, when creating a feature in Wildfire, the default is a protrude. If you change it to a cut (click the remove material button), the direction of the feature remains outward and if you finish it, you get the error that the feature doesn't intersect the model. I suggested automatically changing the direction when changing between add/remove material, and I think they're going to do it pretty soon. Nice to have that kind of input and response.

Regards

David Janes

Almost forgot the biggest change.................

Undo-Redo in Part, Assy, and Detail mode, unlimited steps--so don't worry if you accidentally delete a feature, even if you only realize you did it an hour later..

Back when I did Pro/E support for 350 users the biggest complaint that I heard about the software on a consistent basis was..."You mean there's no UNDO!!!". This is probably the enhancement that will be the most appreciated by users at all levels of experience. Kudos to PTC for this one!!!

S.T.