New SolidWorks user. No Pro-E experience.
My fabricator uses Pro-E. Is there a way to interoperate with Pro-E users such that the parametric data is retained? I'd like to be able to move parts back and forth and have each camp be able to modify the design without loosing parametric information. I know that I can make and open .prt files, but they come in as a dumb solid that you have to slice and dice in order to get back to useful and editable entitites.
Thanks!
Martin,
There "may" be direct translators available now that will work one way or the other. However, there is nothing available for the kind of back and forth scenario your describing. It's probably not even possible.
Pro-E and Solidworks produce very similar types of data, but they get there in different ways. As such, there will allways be translation involved. This will (and does) cause rounding errors in just one translation. In a one time, one way translation, the error may not be large enough to cause a problem. Do this several times in two directions, and you'll have a real mess. This would happen even if features were being generated on both ends, as opposed to dumb solids.
Regards
Mark
I'll keep it unidirectional then. Thanks!
-Martin
Martin,
Have you tried the Pro/E feature base import capabilities that SolidWorks includes? The latest version works with Pro/E V17 thru Wildfire 2 parts and assemblies.
While not perfect, they are the only CAD vendor (I'm aware of) that provides this type of advanced technology. There are 3rd party feature based translators, but they seem pretty expensive.
FeatureWorks (part of Sw Office & Office Pro) is another option to consider. I don't believe that Pro/E has any equivalent "feature recognition" tools.
My 2 cents.
CG
Wouldn't it be nice if we just all got along. But we don't. I predict that some day SolidWorks will be the MicroSoft of CAD and somewhere out there will be the Linus Torvalds that strikes back.
No, I haven't. I'll look for it and try it. I have SW Office.
What you are asking for may be one of the reasons eDrawings was developed by Solidworks with user Sectioning, Markup, & Measuring.
That means you can send a small file to the vendor to be reviewed and the person can check specific design elements and bring up any questions or markup needed changes before the design is finalized. eDrawings is a relatively small download and free for your vendor.
I just did this again in September with a moldmaker I use in Auckland, N.Z. who checks out my part first as an eDrawing prior to me sending the "dumb solid" for EDMing the part cavities.
To get advanced Measure/Markup features in eDrawings (assemblies or single parts) in Swks 2004, you need to go to File/Publish eDrawing
2004. eDrawings works slick.I like to use suppliers using SolidWorks, but there are good toolmakers out there who use ProE I can not ignore.
Some observations:
What I see in moldmaking, is that once I use a part to create a cavity in a mold plate, then the mold plate is, guess what..., a dumb solid, though it can be updated by changing the part. So we have to deal with these issues in one way or another even within Solidworks.
I would much rather take all responsibility for being the person controlling my design documents rather than giving a vendor a chance to do something I don't understand, or that may adversely affect my design in some way I don't realize. eDrawings works very well to keep me in charge of my designs.
Bo
In my tests I could open 2000i, Wildfire 1 & 2 parts but no assemblies. I haven't tried feature recognition because it seems to depends more on who and how built ProE model than anything else. HTH Eric
>PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.