| Summer 2002 |
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First Impressions of Wildfire
If you are going to the 2002 PTC/USER Conference in Atlanta, you may want to avoid reading this so it doesn't spoil the presentation. To those of you not going to Atlanta, it may persuade you to go. I went out to Berlin on Saturday 11 May to attend the second European PTC/USER Conference. Once there, we were able to see a demonstration of Pro/ENGINEER® Wildfire, the next version of Pro/ENGINEER, and have a free two-hour training session with the new software. After seeing Wildfire, I can sum it up in a word: AWESOME. Wildfire is more than a radical overhaul of Pro/ENGINEER; it’s almost a reinvention. For the first time you have the full power of Pro/ENGINEER and it's easy to use. The changes will have a significant impact on your business by improving productivity. It will enable you to collaborate with your suppliers and customers. Wildfire is the first time PTC has made a consistent overhaul and the changes apply to all feature types, modules and extensions.
Consolidated Feature Set The biggest change is that the 76 feature types have been consolidated to 23. An example of this consolidation is removal of the differentiation of protrusion, cut and surface. Instead you create an extrusion and you can choose if it is solid, surface, thin, a cut, a thin cut or a thin solid. The feature can be redefined and changed from a solid to a cut or from a solid to a surface. WOW. Flexible Parts At last, PTC has introduced flexible parts. You can have one model with one part number but shown in different states when installed in the assembly. The obvious applications include springs and gaskets but this is only the beginning of the possibilities. Patterns Patterns have been improved. In the demonstration I saw a coaxial hole patterned without patterning the axis or adding additional dimensions. The hole was patterned to fill a border defined by a datum curve. You may choose different hole patterns - square, diamond. Individual holes can be excluded from the pattern without having to manually create or convert to a pattern table. WOW.
In Wildfire you can automatically send models by e-mail with the option to Zip compress files. For assemblies, all required models are added to the Zip. You can now open files from within a Zip archive. Rendering Pro/PHOTORENDER™ is now interactive- the model is rendered in 'realtime' with shadows, transparency and reflection. Double WOW! Saving to Earlier Versions of Pro/E You can save from Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire to versions 2001, 2000i2 and 2000i via the ATB. Model Tree The model tree has evolved into the Navigator where you can view the feature tree, the file system (you can open files from here), web favorites and layers. Web Browsers PTC has built a web browser into the software, which sounds odd at first, but it is stunning when parts are streamed over the network straight into your assembly. With the web browser you work with Pro/COLLABORATE™, Windchill®, PTC ProjectLink™, and PTC PartsLink™ without leaving Pro/ENGINEER. In each case the model is opened directly; you don't have to save a local copy. Software Quality and the Rollout The software demonstrated at the conference was really only a sneak preview. It will be followed by a pre-production release, with final production slated for the end of the year. PTC has committed that it will not release Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire until quality reaches an acceptable level. Wildfire will change the way we work and has an enormous scope and vision. Some will say this should have been here 5 or 10 years ago, but regardless, I feel it will allow engineers to really leverage current technology to build better products. Ian Turner works for CSC Computer Sciences and is Chairman of the Pro/UK Users Group. He can be reached by e-mail at ian-m.turner@bae.co.uk . |
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