Can see MPC's / RBE's 1

[jean15paul]

Has anyone ever had a problem with not being able to see MPC's in Patran?

I'm working with a model that I'm been using for some time. I just upgraded to 2012 and now I can't see the RBE2's that are there. I can highlight and select them with the mouse, so I know they are there, but they won't display. I tried going to Display > Finite Elements > and checked "Display MPC Markers", but it didn't seem to do anything.

My coworker had this same problem a couple of months ago and he ended up importing the run deck to create a brand new model file. It resolved the issue, but in the process he lost the geometry and some of the group data. I'm hoping there a better solution.

Has anyone encountered this?

 

[ZeroExperience]

I just tried it myself and I got the same error as you. There is a new PLC command in Pat 2012.1 called mpc_marker, and I think this has resulted in a defect where you cannot properly view the MPCs in Patran 2012.1.

 

[ZeroExperience]

SOLUTION

I found a solution at this link,

http://simcompanion.mscsoftware.com/infocenter/index?page=content&id=KI8008294

You would have to do this

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Known Issue​

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If you open an old database in Patran 2012 you do not see existing MPCs or Point Elements​

Description​

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Issue will be fixed in next Release 2012.2.​

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In the meanwhile this workaround can be used to repair already converted databases:​

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Execute this PCL commands​

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$ mpc display bug 2012 fix​

db_add_pref(453, 2, 0, true, 0, "")​

db_set_pref_logical(453, TRUE)​

$ point element display bug 2012 fix​

db_add_pref(454, 2, 0, true, 0, "")​

db_set_pref_logical(454, TRUE)​

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To execute this commands each time an old database is converted, you can add the following lines to a file "p3epilog.pcl" and copy it to your Patran installation or user home directory.​

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If you already use a customized p3epilog.pcl just add this lines to your existing file:​

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$ This function is called by MSC.Patran itself just after an existing database is opened.​

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FUNCTION user_db_open(x)​

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STRING x[]​

$ mpc display bug 2012 fix​

db_add_pref(453, 2, 0, true, 0, "")​

db_set_pref_logical(453, TRUE)​

$ point element display bug 2012 fix​

db_add_pref(454, 2, 0, true, 0, "")​

db_set_pref_logical(454, TRUE)​

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END FUNCTION​

​

 

[jean15paul]

Thanks ZeroExperience. Can you tell me how to run PCL commands? I understand how to create the p3epilog.pcl file to make this happens at the time I convert a database, but I don't know how to excute the commands on an existing database that has already been converted.

Thanks again.

 

[ZeroExperience]

In Patran there is a "terminal" where you can type PCL commands. You will notice PCL commands when you perform almost any Patran action (reorient your model, create material, create loads, etc). According to the fix, all you need to do is enter these two commands,

db_add_pref(453, 2, 0, true, 0, "")
db_set_pref_logical(453, TRUE)

Please backup any Patran files you modify, and the following is something I have not tried myself. If you don't want to type these two commands every time you start a Patran database, you can modify the following file
C:\MSC.Software\Patran_x64\20121\shareware\msc\unsupported\utilities\p3epilog.pcl
by adding this

FUNCTION user_db_open(x)

STRING x[]
$ mpc display bug 2012 fix
db_add_pref(453, 2, 0, true, 0, "")
db_set_pref_logical(453, TRUE)
END FUNCTION

More information about PCL can be found in these two documents,

http://simcompanion.mscsoftware.com/infocenter/index?page=content&id=DOC10146

http://simcompanion.mscsoftware.com/infocenter/index?page=content&id=DOC10147