SW2003, does it really open ProE2001 files?

[Timelord]

Has anybody out there tested the ability of SW2003 to open ProE files from ProE2001? My company hasn't deployed SW2003 yet, so I cannot test it, but I have a job coming up that will require moving parts from ProE2001 to SW and I was wondering if the new advertized ability of SW2003 really works or will I have to go thru .stp files. I have done this in the past with files created under a much earlier version of ProE and SW2001+ was able to open them as parametric solids, saving a lot of work. My VAR has told me that SW2003 will regain this ability for later encrypted versions of ProE, but I have heard this may not really work.

 

[APPENG]

This is a two part answer actually....

Yes 2003 is supposed to have the capability for this functionality.

However it does not work as planned at the moment... I would imagine that they will have this flaw taken care of in SP1

Regards,
Jon
jgbena@yahoo.com

 

[oharag]

I just called our reseller. Apparently PTC has threatened to sue anyone who tried to write a translator to open their encrypted files (since 2000i). PTC must be scared to death of losing their position in the CAD market. Didn't Autocad try to encrypt their files awhile back? Doesn't Microsoft try to protect their Office product line using proprietary/encrypted files. Funny how companies that can not maintain their competitive position within a market resort to scare tatics.

SW should transfer the ownership of the translation utility to the public domain, and relinquish ownership of it. What could PTC do then?

 

[jdsmi]

Don't plan on any cooperation from the big PTC so in answer to your question, plan on using STEP files.

Good Luck.

 

[Rocko]

We just receive Solidworks 2003 and to our irritation and dismay the PRO-E import capbility for newer versions is not there as promised. I am glad that i double checked this capability before we sent out a letter to clients that we could now accept Pro-E files. I think Solidworks has really created a marketing/customer nightmare by having dealers state they can import ProE2001 and up and really they cannot.

 

[SBaugh]

SW could import the newest pro/e files back in the pre-release, but because of problems with the import of those files they took it out of the release of SW03.

Regards, Scott Baugh, CSWP
3DVision Technologies
credence69@REMOVEhotmail.com

http://www.3dvisiontech.com

http://www.3dmca.com

*When in doubt always check the help*

 

[oharag]

SBaugh, was there problems? I never tried it in the Prelease version. In fact I had no clue that was going to be a feature until the product shipped. Again, my reseller stated it was the threat of legal action from PTC that made SW pull the functionality from release.

Most of the 3D files that I pull of the web are in ProE Rev 20 format. They come in beautifully and fully parametric inside SW. Amazing. It would be kind of cool to see newer Pro-E files come into SW. This would be a good selling point to existing Pro-E users. Thus, the legal threat from PTC!

 

[SBaugh]

As for it being a legal issue, I haven't heard of that till I read your reply.

I hope to find out for sure soon.

Best Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP
3DVision Technologies
credence69@REMOVEhotmail.com

http://www.3dvisiontech.com

http://www.3dmca.com

*When in doubt always check the help*

 

[jdsmi]

I think SolidWorks did make a mistake and misled alot of people in advertising Pro/E functionality. That was a critical selling point when we purchased SolidWorks a while back. This was at the same time we migrated to Pro/2000i2.
Needless to say, we didn't get any use out of the Pro/E import add-in.
I don't regret the purchase but still felt misled.