Tips & Tricks Archive

Profiles Magazine Tips & Tricks are written by experts from the user community. We invite you to submit your favorite tip for publication. If we accept it, you'll receive recognition as well as some cold hard cash!

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The following Tips & Tricks are all available online:



Issue Date Tip Title Author Description
Summer 2007 Integrating Full-Text Search and Windchill 8.0
by Dmitry Tkach, EjinZ, Inc.

 		 Learn how to integrate Apache Lucene, a full-featured text search engine library written entirely in Java, with ProjectLink and PDMLink.
Summer 2007 Developing Custom J-Link Applications
by J.D. Felkins, FELCO Solutions

 		 Take advantage of J-Link, a Java language toolkit of Pro/ENGINEER built on top of the Pro/TOOLKIT API (Application Programming Interface).
Summer 2007

Go Interactive with Pro/INTRALINK Scripts

 by Dwaraka Nadha Reddy, Manchuri, GE-India Innovation Center

 		 Automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks with Pro/INTRALINK UI scripting.
Summer 2007 Creative Capturing—Converting Ideas to Parts
by Mike Brattoli and Steve Norgrove, Moen Incorporated

 		 The Reverse Engineering Extension (REX) within Pro/ENGINEER, also known as the “Restyle module” is one of a variety of solutions available to the designer/engineer to move from concept to reality.
Summer 2007 A Quick End to Duplicate Naming Problems
by Neal Hanratty, Terex Finlay

 		 A simple tip to resolve duplicate naming of flat patterns for sheet metal parts, but can also apply to any models with family tables.
Summer 2007 Using Trail Files to Save the Day
by Mirza Saqib Saeed, Wahid Industries
 
 Use trail files to recover lost data.
Winter 2007 Taking Advantage of the Variable Section Sweep–It's Easier Than You Think

 by Keith Carew, BMW Oracle Racing Tips on the variable section sweep function.
Winter 2007 Understanding Windchill Performance Tuning

 by Matt Meadows, Sequoia Etcetera, LLC Get a broader perspective on Windchill performance tuning.
Winter 2007 Ordinate Dimensions and Lost References in Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2.0

 by Andreas Wenzel, PTC/USER CER Learn how to correct lost dimensioning references in Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2.0.
Fall 2006 Pro/ENGINEER Wizards-DOS Batch Scripting on Steroids

 by Rich Becher, Carrier Corporation Use wizards to simplify and automate standard tasks.
Fall 2006 Exceptional Pro/INTRALINK Scripting-And How to Avoid It

 by Marc Mettes Avoid pitfalls when developing Pro/INTRALINK scripts.
Fall 2006 Wildfire 2.0 Makes BOM Balloons in a Jiffy

 by Florin Neamtu, Belcan Improve productivity when making BOM balloons for repeat regions.
Fall 2006 Animate Flexible Components with Regemination

 by Toua Vang, Guidant Corporation Use successive regenerations to create animations of elastic models.
Summer 2006 Cabling 101–What You Can Do with Routed Systems Designer Lite & Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2.0

 by Pete Pickett, Mercury MerCruiser A tutorial with downloadable exercise files on using Routed Systems Designer Lite.
Summer 2006 Windchill 8.0 Cluster Configuration–Battle for Performance

 by Dmitry Tkach, isLaNd Inc. Learn setup and testing techniques for implementing a cluster configuration in Windchill 8.0.
Summer 2006 Distributed Pro/BATCH–Power for Free

 by Matt Meadows, Sequoia Etc. Learning about Distributed Pro/BATCH Stand Alone, a new and improved version of the original Pro/BATCH.
Spring 2006 Reel 3D from the 50's – Presentations that Pop

 by John Driscoll, Driscoll Consulting

 Learn how to create stereographic images in Pro/ENGINEER using two different 3D methods.
Spring 2006 Pro/TOOLKIT: Getting Along With UDFs

 by Vin Jovanovic, Smith International

 Use the power of Pro/TOOLKIT to automate user-defined features (UDFs).
Spring 2006 Extending All Four Axis Lines at Once in Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2.0

 by Dan Aurit, Caterpillar, Inc. Watch a video illustrating how to extend all four axis lines at once in Pro/ENGINEER.
Spring 2006 Creating a Rectangular Fill Pattern for Regular Hexagonal Cutouts

 by Ceferino Sanchez, ASTEC Power Learn how to create fill patterns in Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 3.0 and earlier releases.
Winter 2006 Generating a 3D PCB in Pro/ENGINEER

 by Keith Richman, Simplified Solutions Inc. Learn how to use the Pro/ECAD interface to easily transfer printed circuit board data from your electrical design system into Pro/ENGINEER.
Winter 2006 Creating Flexible Components in Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire

 by Mike Mongilio, Swales Aerospace Learn to take advantage of new flexible component functionality available in Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire. Tip is based on Mike's award-winning presentation from the PTC/USER World Event 2005.
Winter 2006 Planning Your Upgrade from Pro/INTRALINK 3.x to 8.0

 by Scott Carmichael, NxRev, Inc. Important considerations when planning your migration from Pro/INTRALINK to Windchill 8.0
Winter 2006 Logging System for Developing in Windchill 8.0

 by Dmitry Tkach, isLaNd Inc. Use log4j, a Java-based logging package, to tailor the output of log messages in Windchill.
Fall 2005 I Want My MOM Back!
 Pete Pickett, Mercury Marine

 How to use mapkeys to recreate some of your pre-Wildfire functionality for improved productivity.
Fall 2005 Creating Gears and Splines
 Dan Marsalek, Marine Mechanical Corporation

 Accurately create involute curves for gear and spline teeth.
Fall 2005 Visualizing the Air Space of a Complex PSU
 Ceferino Sanchez,
ASTEC Power		 Learn how to create a Free Area Ratio (FAR) plot along the length of a power supply unit model.
Fall 2005 Digital Watermarks for Today's Engineer
 John Tucker, Raytheon Vision Systems Automatically add digital watermarks to your documents.
Summer 2005 Creating a Cylindrical Cam Using Mechanism Design Extension Dana Coombs, SYNTHES CMF Although Mechanical Design Extension (MDX) does not include built-in functionality for cylindrical cams, you can use this technique to do so with MDX.
Summer 2005 Pro/ENGINEER Professionals: Test Your Expertise John Driscoll Can you determine the relative costs of design build options? This simple test will help you evaluate your expertise.
Summer 2005 Quickly Replacing Components that Assemble Many Times Elkin Jhirad, HP Indigo Division When working with large assemblies, this technique will help simplify the task of replacing standard parts in multiple locations.
Summer 2005 Reflections on Pro/INTRALINK Scripting

 Marc Mettes Helpful tips for Pro/INTRALINK script developers.
Summer 2005 Dimension Justification Made Easy Weligton Nascimento, Caterpillar Brazil Ltda.

 Use the tools in Pro/ENGINEER 2001 to improve the appearance of complex drawings.
Summer 2005 Using Axis Pattern in Wildfire 2.0 Florin Neamtu, Belcan Corporation

 Explore the enhanced patterning capabilities of Wildfire 2.0.
Spring 2005 Using a Family Table Instance to Create a Single Part Drawing in Pro/INTRALINK

 Wesley Ingram, Robert Bosch Corporation How to duplicate a family table object into a single part while maintaining a relationship to the drawing, while using Pro/INTRALINK.
Spring 2005 Pro/ENGINEER Image Output versus Copy/Paste

 John Randazzo, Blue Ridge Numerics Expand your graphics output options by using an external image editor.
Spring 2005 Using the Thermal Module of Pro/MECHANICA to Optimize a 3D Electrostatic Problem

 Johannes Tredoux, ABB Trasmissione & Distribuzione Using the similarities between the governing equations for heat conduction and electrostatics, you can use the Pro/MECHANICA thermal module to solve 3D electrostatic problems.
Spring 2005 Inserting 2D Geometry into Pro/ENGINEER

 Angus Milne, Weatherford UK How to insert geometry from another CAD systems (SDRC®, AutoCAD®, others) into Pro/ENGINEER.
Winter 2005 Changing the Order of "Save a Copy" File Types
 Greg Kemner A config.pro option makes it easier to select your most commonly used file types.
Winter 2005 Another Take on Decals
 Jason Baggett An alternative approach to utilizing the hidden capability to create labels within Pro/ENGINEER.
Winter 2005 How to Update the Drawing System Parameter &todays_date Before Printing

 Ceferino Sanchez A method to automate partially the update of the current date on a drawing prior to printing.
Winter 2005 Easy Axis Justification Steve Register Easily adjust all four leaders for a centerline simultaneously.
Fall 2004 Automating Pro/INTRALINK with UI Scripts Matt Meadows Improve your productivity and quality through UI scripting.
Fall 2004 Opening Multiple Models Simultaneously John Scranton This simple tip lets you open more than one model at a time from a workspace.
Fall 2004 Working with Decals John Randazzo Add realism to your photorendered models by applying decals in Pro/ENGINEER.
Fall 2004 Creating a Straight Instance of a Bent Tube Dan Moran This sophisticated tip shows you how to create a straightened instance of a bent tube model.
Summer 2004 Updating a Simplified Drawing in Wildfire Edwin Muirhead How to convert an "old-style" simplified drawing (with suppressed features) into a Wildfire-compatible drawing utilizing family tables.
Summer 2004 Driving a Table-Driven Pattern Through Relations Dwaraka Nadha Reddy Using table-driven patterns gives you enormous flexibility to create, duplicate and place features.
Summer 2004 View a Drawing Without Having a Model in Session R. Swamynathan This tip saves you time when you need to open, view and/or print a drawing.
Summer 2004 Using Pro/ENGINEER's Analysis Feature Effectively Asim Rashid Learn how to use Pro/ENGINEER's analysis feature to help you automate your design process.
Spring 2004 Creating a Parametric Note Block Kenneth S. Johnson Use parameters residing in your part file to generate drawing notes.
Spring 2004 Using Relations to Assign Different Materials and Mass Properties for Family Table Instances Dwaraka Nadha Reddy Pro/ENGINEER allows you to attach any number of materials to the part database, but you can only assign one material to the part at any given time. This technique lets you access parameters from one of the many material files defined in the generic model to drive family table instances.
Winter 2003 Linking Model Notes and Parameters to Display Family Table Instance Information Jim Wehner How to combine model parameters and dimensions into a single note that can be displayed in parts as well as drawing tables.
Winter 2003 Managing Workspaces in Pro/INTRALINK 3.0/3.1 Natarajan K. Murali Transfering a Pro/INTRALINK® workspace created in one system to another.
Winter 2003 Solving 2D Electrostatic Problems Using the Thermal Module of Pro/MECHANICA Johannes Tredoux As the governing equations for heat conduction and electrostatics are the same, see how you can use the Thermal module of Pro/MECHANICA® to solve basic electrostatic di-electric problems.
Winter 2003 Relation-Driven Family Tables Kenneth S. Johnson Drive an unlimited number of dimensions with a set of relations and a few parameters fields.
Fall 2003 Need to Get a Head in a Hurry? John Driscoll How to construct a model of a human head with surfacing.
Fall 2003 Spinning and Fixing a Component's Placement During Assembly Keith Ebling Take advantage of Pro/E 2001's spin/pan and Fix Component Position functionality to make assembly easier.
Fall 2003 Reducing the Workload of Pro/E Administration Edwin Muirhead Tips and techniques to ease administration of multiple Pro/E and Pro/INTRALINK sites.
Fall 2003 Shedding a Little Light on the Matter Jason Taylor Master the use of light for proper visualization of your shaded models.
Summer 2003 Using Wildcards in Pro/INTRALINK Object Operations Keith Ebling Search for Pro/E objects in Pro/INTRALINK that have specific numbers of characters in their names using wildcards.
Summer 2003 Four Tips on Shrinkwrap John Randazzo Shrinkwrap can used to create solids, models for external flow analysis and many other applications.
Summer 2003 Using Netstat to Monitor Your Windows Network Performance Duane Roach Get quick and easy statistics on your Windows network performance without the overhead of a GUI.
Spring 2003 Getting Rid of Those Pesky Ghost Objects Karen Dougherty How to resolve conflicts created by missing objects from your workspace.
Spring 2003 How to Import Multiple Versions of Pro/E Data into Intralink While Maintaining Version History Keith Ebling Import Pro/E data managed outside of your PDM system and retain the version information.
Spring 2003 Creating a Constant Cross-Section Twist John McDougall A helpful tip for creating a 90&Mac251; twist between rectangular cross-sections. This is important for creating waveguides for electrical and RF signals.
Spring 2003 Using Netstat to Monitor Your Unix Network Performance Duane Roach Troubleshoot network problems that may be affecting performance of your Pro/INTRALINK installation.
Spring 2003 How to Cut a Part at a Plane Erik Sherwood Cut a part at a datum plane without creating a sketch.
Winter 2002 Color That's Only Skin Deep Marc DeBower Use color-coding to highlight specific features of your Pro/E model.
Winter 2002 Drive Your Pro/ENGINEER Model with a Spreadsheet Edwin Muirhead Excel spreadsheets can be used to create a more user-friendly interface to drive parametric values.
Winter 2002 Increasing Sketcher Productivity Using Construction Lines Jason Mastry Use construction lines to streamline your sketches and eliminate unnecessary dimensions and patterns.
Winter 2002 Creating 3D Notes in Pro/ENGINEER Jason Taylor Use the power of 3D notes to easily manage large assemblies with moving parts.
Winter 2002 Two Tips That Will Make Your Day Henry Sommer Two tips on computer mice, and previewing edited text.
Fall 2002 Draft Command Workarounds David Low How to solve draft command failures using alternative methods.
Fall 2002 Is It A Doughnut or Is It a Gear? Jill Marshall Use the power of family tables to easily create multiple instances of gear geometry required for product catalogs, manufacturing and other applications.
Fall 2002 Custom Text Height in a 3D Environment Rakesh Thukral A simple tip on modifying text height for notes and dimensions.
Fall 2002 Creating Mirrored Parts in Pro/DESKTOP Mike Nelson How to create an associative mirrored part in Pro/DESKTOP.
Summer 2002 Creating Hole Patterns Around the Edge of a Plate-The Smart Way Davor Baros Use relation-driven patterns to simplify hole placement. Then, learn to apply BMX technology to generate smart patterns.
Summer 2002 Placing Drawing Views of a Part Simplified Rep Florin Neamtu Learn a technique to place drawing views of a part simplified rep to save regeneration time.
Summer 2002 Check Out The New Parameter/Relation Editor of Pro/E 2001 Erik Sherwood Two config.pro settings in Pro/ENGINEER 2001 that give you access to new user interfaces for the Relations and Parameters menus.
Summer 2002 Using Saved Views Ron Grabau Learn a fast method to save views and assign mapkeys to speed the process.
Spring 2002 Updating Relations When the Units Are Changed Michael Gallagher How to ensure that relations reflect changes in unit systems.
Spring 2002 Generating Non-Circular Helixes Bruce W. Bodnyk Use Pro/SHEETMETAL™ to generate linear non-circular helixes.
Spring 2002 Creating Exploded Views in Pro/DESKTOP® Bobbe Singer Use configurations to easily create exploded views for assembly drawings.
Spring 2002 Jazz Up Your Presentations the Easy Way John Randazzo Use pre-supplied templates from Microsoft PowerPoint® to create snazzy backgrounds for Pro/ENGINEER presentations.
Spring 2002 Design Using Inheritance Features Thomas Braxton This enhancement to the merge geometry is a new feature of Release 2001
Winter 2001 Customized Cascading Drop-Down Menus in 2000i2 Scott Blackman Save screen real-estate by implementing customized cascading drop-down menus
Winter 2001 What to Do When the First Feature is the First Component Claes Albertson Use skeleton models to allow creation, reordering and replacement of components in assemblies without initial features such as default datum planes.
Winter 2001 Modifying Many Dimensions at Once in Pro/ENGINEER 2001 Aron J. Oler This Release 2001 workaround lets you use a bounding box to select and modify many dimensions at the same time.
Winter 2001 Adding to Your Color Palette Steven Frey How to "borrow" existing color definitions from other parts or assemblies.
Winter 2001 What is Pro/INTRALINK® Branching Karen Dougherty Branching is a useful design tool that allows several team members to work on the same object at once.
Winter 2001 Using Datum Targets in a View When Datum is Inaccessible Normand Roy What to do with views that don't show any datums.
Winter 2001 Viewing Assemblies in Multiple Positions Marty Holman Save time modifying dimensions and regenerating assemblies that have movable parts.
Winter 2001 How to Create Triangular Patterns Sanjay Kinger Create triangular patterns that can be dynamically modified using a parameter.
Fall 2001 Make PTC .BAT Files Usable in Windows Blaine Prout Tweak PTC's .bat files to improve their usability to diagnose problems or provide runtime information.
Fall 2001 Open Objects by Drag and Drop in Pro/ENGINEER Rakesh Thukral In Pro/ENGINEER 2000i and 2000i2, open objects by drag-and-drop
Fall 2001 Quickly Modify Drawing Entities Dennis Sledge A shortcut to modify most dimensional entities quickly.
Fall 2001 Speeding Up Large Patterns Bruce Bodnyk Massively reduce regeneration times for large patterns (thousands of instances).
Summer 2001 Reverse Engineering Action Man into Pro/ENGINEER Grant Cameron "How to develop a Pro/ENGINEER model using scanned/digitzed data."
Summer 2001 Creating Reusable Pipelines with UDFs Anthony Stewart "User-defined Features (UDFs) provide an efficient means for creation of pipeline assemblies in Pro/PIPING"
Summer 2001 Recovering from Copy Geometry Failures Thomas Braxton "Recovery techniques to resolve regeneration failures when using Copy Geometry features."
Summer 2001 Add Bounding Surfaces to Your Bounding Boxes Mark Zaveson "Use bounding boxes to flex, shrink or grow your model to make quick modifications to size."
Spring 2001 Make Parameters More Accessible Lorraine Dennis A simple technique to gain access to parameter values when working in 2000i2.
Spring 2001 Using Spinal Bends for Living Hinge Design John F. Gill How to use Pro/ENGINEER's spinal bend feature to create living hinges