DownwardCompatability Utility multi-body Part problem

[josephv]

Hello,

When we use the DownwardCompatability Utility with a multi-body Part, going from CATIA V5 R14 to R12, the conversion does not work. We get an empty part in R12 (no bodies come through).

Has anyone tried this before? Is this a known bug or could we be doing something wrong?


Thank you,

Joseph

 

[itsmyjob]

Hi,

Do you use Hybrid Bodies ? Do you have any solid feature in your bodies ?

Eric N.
indocti discant et ament meminisse periti ​

 

[josephv]

Hello Eric,

Thanks for your reply.

No these are not hybrid bodies, they contain only solid data.

What we did was grab a Product(Assembly) saved it as a Part in R14 (hence we got multi bodies in part).

Then we convert this R14 Part to R12 and then lose all the bodies in the process.

Regards,

Joseph

 

[DBezaire]

Joseph - downward compatibility only works on the PartBody of a CATPart. All other bodies are ignored as well as geometric sets.

Regards,
Derek

 

[solid7]

You can use the "Generate CATPart from CATProduct function", and then run downward compatibility. Likewise, you can also save as .model, and then bring it back into V5 through the V4 to V5 batch utility. (nicer results, most of the time than manual V4 conversion)

---
CAD design engineering services - Catia V4, Catia V5, and CAD Translation. Catia V5 resources - CATBlog.

 

[josephv]

Using the Add operation to make a couple secondary partbodies belong to the primary partbody solved the problem.

Thank you,

Joseph

 

[josephv]

Ok... I spoke to soon.

Using the Add operation to make a couple secondary partbodies belong to the primary partbody helped, but we now have a second problem.

We run the utility and open the Part in R12 and now we get only 1 body. It appears that the utility "joins" the bodies into 1. And we need separate bodies for this project.

This all started because we have CATIA Product (assemblies) that we need to convert as Parts with separate bodies in R12. Unfortunately R12 does not have a Save As CATPart command. So we need to open R14 and save the asssembly as a part. Then we need to convert downward back to R12, and we lose the bodies. This is a Catch 22.

Any ideas or suggestions are welcome.

Thank you,

Joseph

 

[jackk]

Joseph -

you're original post(s) say "multi-bodies parts", not product. (the utility doesn't "join" the bodies - you did that when you did the boolean Add!)

If you have a CATProduct consisting of several CATParts; you can run the utility against each CATPart and you'll maintain a single file per part.

If you have CATParts consisting of several parts in different bodies; you can copy & paste each body into a new CATPart, and then convert the new CATPart to the R12 level.

Based on what you have, and what your project requirements are, you may have to do both.

 

[solid7]

I have had the best luck retaining multiple parts by using the save as .model method, as I outline above.

Again - save your Product as .model, and then reimport it into the proper version of Catia using the V4 to V5 batch migrate utility.

It's not perfect, but it's a heckuva lot better than some of the other methods. Pay attention to your settings in the utility. You may have to play with them a bit.

---
CAD design engineering services - Catia V4, Catia V5, and CAD Translation. Catia V5 resources - CATBlog.

 

[jackk]

Joseph... (I just re-read your last post)

why are you converting the assembly (CATProduct) into a single CATPart?

Also, once you have all the parts converted to the R12 level, you'll have to create a new R12 assembly (CATProduct).

I'm assuming you do want to work with assemblies?

...Jack

 

[josephv]

Hello Jack,

Thank you for your help and your question.

This is what we are trying to do:

In a perfect world we would like to import CATIA V5 R16 assemblies into Pro/E WildFire II.

WildFire II cannot open CATIA assemblies and can only open R12 Catia parts.

So the only solution we have right now is to save each part in the CATIA V5 R16 assembly in position. For each part, move the bodies to the primary body. Downgrade the parts with the utility to R12.
Open each CATIA part in Pro/E, and technically rebuild the assembly.

As you can see this is quite a bit of work, but so far the only feasible solution.

Cheers,

Joseph

 

[solid7]

Joseph - for what you are trying to do - I suggest once again that you try the save as .model option.

I have no question about what you are trying to do, and this appears to be the best way that I've found to go about doing it...

---
CAD design engineering services - Catia V4, Catia V5, and CAD Translation. Catia V5 resources - CATBlog.

 

[jackk]

ahhhh - the fun of working with two different CAD systems!

Thanks for the explanation, Joseph. It is quite a bit of work for you! I hope this is a one-time translation, and not something you do all the time.

Other than Solid7's suggestion, the only other option I can think of is to try STEP. (or just use CATIA )

Good Luck, ...Jack

PS: sorry if I was a little 'gruf' in my first post today

 

[catiajim]

One possibility: Build a script that records the product structure and position matrix of your CATProduct. Export the detail parts, then rebuild the product structure in your target system. I'm not sure how difficult this is in Pro/E, but it's pretty simple in CATIA - in fact you could build an export script that would generate your import script, then kick off the Downward Compatibility application for the detail parts.

 

[josephv]

Looks like we agreed on a fix.

After all this, we shall use IGES to go from CATIA to Pro/E.

A big thanks to everyone for your ideas.

This is an excellent forum.


Joseph

 

[solid7]

Josephv - I have to warn you upfront - in all likelihood, you are going to have some real problems using IGES to go to Pro/E from Catia. STEP is better, if you have the license, and the VERY BEST way to handle it in Catia, is with the MultiCAx plugin for Pro/E.

Be forewarned that IGES is a marginal translation format, at best, and Pro/E is a nightmarish system, anyway, when working with translated data.

---
CAD design engineering services - Catia V4, Catia V5, and CAD Translation. Catia V5 resources - CATBlog.