Start Part & Assembly 1

[saspinall]

Had Start Part and Start Assy in version 2001 and had a mapkey built into an icon on the toolbar to open the part and rename it to new part, then run through and modify in-built parameters such as material, finish, description etc. Ive tried this mapkey in Wildfire 1 and it doesn't work as they have moved the parameters from SETUP > MODIFY > PARAMETERS to TOOLS > PARAMETERS and they are all in table format. Anyone know if a mapkey can be used to scroll through the parameters, modifying them on the way, and is it the same in Wildfire 2 or will I have to change it again !

Thanks

Stuart

 

[saspinall]

Anyone got any ideas of automating modifying parameters in Wildfire. Now changed to table format instead of list in 2001.

 

[tontonS]

hey saspinal,

i see this post is pretty old, i'm a new user in a company, and had a basic pro|E introduction, now they asked me to make exactly what you are asking,

a mapkey that opens a dropdown with configpro's for a specific project with specific config.

i have no idea how to start, did you get any further with this and can you point in a searching direction as where to start

thanks in advance

tonton sam

 

[saspinall]

tonton
If you know how to record and save mapkeys then this should be no problem. Go to Tools > Mapkeys then record your actions to open up a new config.pro. Obviously these will need to be created first. Once you have all your config.pro files and mapkeys created putting them into a menu is quite easy. Use the following guide from mcadcentral

http://www.mcadcentral.com/articles/templates/proe.asp?articleid=22&zoneid=2

Good luck

Stu

 

[Moroso]

I would go back to the original mapkey and edit the path of the mapkey to read what the new path is, see if you could get away with it.

 

[cadcamguy]

One suggestion would be to use your browser_favorite and create a folder with the favorites pointing to it that holds all your different configs, using a naming convention that will relate to what it does ;

assy.pro, draw.pro, iges.pro, jpegout.pro, ...etc
longs as it make some sense.

then create a mapkey that gets you right up to the point of selecting the config.. but don't select it.. stop and record once you get to that point.

save that mapkey to your main config and then you will have one mapkey that would allow you to pick the config you are needing at a given time

 

[RocketRonnie]

Stuart,

To answer your original question, you can set the following config.pro option:
new_parameter_ui no
This gives the old menu interface to create/modify parameters. If you don't want this setting to be permanent, then your mapkey could load a config with "new_parameter_ui no", modify the parameters, load a config with " new_parameter_ui no" - end of mapkey

 

[tontonS]

hi guys,

thx this info helps me a hole lot!

a small question,
does anybody know if there is an option in pro|E to do some dynamic menu's?

for instance: the content should be able to change according to the content of a specific folder.
active projects are located in a specific folder, older projects that are finished a put in a archive. s o i only need the actual config's. or is it better to make a mapkey that brings me up to the point of chosing the right one?

hope it's a bit clear

tia

tonton sam

 

[cadcamguy]

Tontons,
What is the task you have in mind? Sort of sounds like you want different things to happen based on location of files.

 

[tontonS]

indeed,

i learned how to make a pull down menu (belive it or not that was my first customization for pro|E)

but i was wandering, is it possible to appoint a fixed folder to it, and when i start(/launch?) a mapkey it should be able to give me a list of all the config.pro 's in all the subfolders.

is this possible ? i was thinking of linking a batch file of some sort, so it could make a list of all the config.pro's in the subfolders... or am i way off?

tia

 

[cadcamguy]

I wouldn't say you are way off... I think anyone who thinks outside the box is someone who can take ProE to the next level.

Do you have a need to have config.pro file at different locations.. yeah well maybe..certainly if other users will require them.

I tend to centralize things tho... I like to have them all in a specific folder... so I can copy and paste from one to another... but I think I see what you are driving at.. I need these options for a certain assy.. and these for another...so sure copy those to locations where the flavor is different... and if there is a config file in a folder .. it needs to be run.. you will have to get all your users on that page.. I don't think you can get any info from a prt or assy. file as to what the config options were...short of writing a doc file manually

 

[tontonS]

a little question, i made a mapkey, placed it in my menubar, to run the config mentor, and made an os script with just the path to the .chm file.

the problem is it runs a cmd (command window) to start the file, and then the cmd window stays open, i tried to add the "exit" command to it but that didn't work. any idea?

 

[cadcamguy]

I bet it doesn't like the space in "Program Files"

mapkey $F11 @MAPKEY_LABELconfig help;\
mapkey(continued) @SYSTEM"C:\\Program Files\\3DLogix\\3DLogix_configpro_mentor.chm"\nexit;

I just made a shortcut and dragged it to the quick launch bar

 

[tontonS]

hey, me again
i have some more questions

1) is there a way to make an option verbose in a startup script? (is this correct english? i mean that the script stops to ask some parameters) i know you can stop a mapkey for some parameters, but can this be done at start-up of pro|E ?

2) is there a config 'tag' (or option how do you call it?) to set a working directory?

to enlighten my idea, cos maybe i'm thinking in the wrong direction...
my design intent is that i make a line that asks for a directory (browseing- not automated) once given, this becomes the working directory, in that directory a small .pro file is created in advance (this would be done at the begining of every new project or every new custom configuration) because i found on a site that appearently every file ending with .pro can be read to contain a specific configuration. ie: specific search paths, maybe even changing the template part (is this possible?)

i don't know if there are more options that can be interesting to be able to change, but this is what my boss asks, and i'm fasinated that this level of customizing is possible, this is why i'm trying to find out as much as i can

if something isn't clear, ask, because i presume my english isn't really clear sometimes

greetz

tonton sam

 

[Guest0527211403]

One alternative is to have Pro/E start in a different folder by changing the "Start Path".

Make a copy of the desktop icon that starts up Pro/E. Right click on the icon and select "Properties". Enter the full path to the working directory you want Pro/E to load into in the "Start In" field.

If you have a config.pro file in this directory, it will load it, and set whatever options you need which are specific to your project. Make sure to rename the icon appropriately.

For a different project, create a new icon. You might want to put these into a start menu, because if you have too many different folders to start in, your desktop could be cluttered up really quickly (having too many desktop icons actually slows down a computer- it needs to refresh them constantly)

 

[tontonS]

hey that's not so bad

good tip thx

 

[cadcamguy]

1) is there a way to make an option verbose in a startup script? (is this correct english? i mean that the script stops to ask some parameters) i know you can stop a mapkey for some parameters, but can this be done at start-up of pro|E ?

Are you looking for a routine that runs before ProE asks for some input then launches ProE and carrys those values in to the aprt/assy program?

on the second... different shortcuts going to a different start dir is a good solution... but what if you have ProE already open and don't want to launch another instance.?

 

[cadcamguy]

also,... tontons.. you may want to start this as a new thread

 

[cadcamguy]

After playing around with this a little ... I think there would be advantages to not only having different shortcuts that would launch a new session..... as it would maintain the work dir..in that session.

Also having some mapkeys that point to folders and read in the config that rides in it. Then you could set them up on toolbars and hop in and out of folders/configs.. without opening a new session... maybe a little script to record your original start point.

Get the best of both worlds. I am curious about the overhead on opening the a file in a new session vs just opening the file in the current session