 Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire

To make the designing process simple and quick, Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire has divided
the steps of designing into different modules. This means that each step of designing
is completed in a different module. For example, generally a design process consists
of the following steps:

1. Sketching using the basic sketch entities.

2. Converting the sketch into features and parts.

3. Assembling different parts and analyzing them.

4. Documentation of the parts and the assembly in terms of drawings views.

5. Manufacturing the final part and assembly.

 Feature-based Nature Of Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire
A feature is defined as the smallest building block and
any solid model created in Pro/ENGINEER is an
integration of a number of these building blocks. Each
feature can be edited individually to bring in any change
in the solid model. For example, Figure A shows a part
consisting of a counterbore hole at the center and six
counterbore holes around it at some Bolt Circle
Diameter (BCD).

Now, consider a case where you have to change all

the outer counterbore holes to drill holes keeping the
central counterbore hole and the BCD for the outer
holes same. You also, have to change the number of Figure A Model displaying the
holes from six to eight. counterbore holes
Pro/ENGINEER allows you to make this modification by just modifying some values
in the same part, see Figure B. This shows that the solid parts created in
Pro/ENGINEER are a combination of various features that can be modified
individually at any time.

Figure B Model after making the modifications

 Bi-directional Associative Nature Of Pro/ENGINEER
Wildfire
There is a bi-directional associativity between all modes of Pro/ENGINEER. The
bi-directional associative nature of a software package is defined as its ability to
ensure that if any modification is made in a particular model in one mode, the
modification is reflected in the same model in other modes also.

Figure C shows the drawing views of the part shown in Figure A. The views show
that the part consists of a counterbore hole at the center and six counterbore holes
around it.

Now, when the part is modified in the Part mode, the modifications are automatically
reflected in the Drawing mode, as shown in Figure D.
Figure C Drawing views of the model Figure D Drawing views of the model
before modifications after modifications

Figure E shows the Crosshead assembly. It is clear from the assembly that the diameter
of the hole is more than what is required (shown using dotted lines). In an ideal case, the
diameter of the hole should be equal to the diameter of the bolt.
 Figure E Diameter of the hole
and the bolt
The diameter of the hole can be easily changed by opening the file in the Part mode
and making the necessary modifications in the part. This modification is reflected in
the assembly shown in Figure F. This is due to the bi-directional associative nature of
Pro/ENGINEER.
 Figure F Figure after modifying
the diameter of the hole

Similarly, if you change the dimensions of the model in the Drawing mode, the
modifications will be automatically reflected in the Part mode. This shows that all the
modes are related to each other.
 Parametric Nature Of Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire
The parametric nature of Pro/ENGINEER means that the features of a part become
interrelated if they are drawn by referencing each other. You can redefine the
dimensions or the attributes of a feature at any time. The changes will propagate
automatically throughout the model. Thus, they develop a relationship among
themselves. This relationship is known as the parent-child relationship.

 System Requirements For Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire

1. Operating System: Windows NT 4 (with Service Pack 5), 2000/XP, UNIX.
2. Processor 233MHz or higher.
3. Memory: 128MB RAM minimum, 512MB RAM or higher (recommended).
4. Swap Memory: 256MB minimum (1024 MB or higher recommended).
5. Hard disk space: 1.12GB.
6. An Ethernet adapter interface card or network card.
7. Microsoft approved three button mouse, MS Internet Explorer 6.0.
 Getting Started With Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire
Once you have Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire installed on your system, you have two options
to start it. The first option is to choose the Start button at the lower left corner of the
screen and select Programs > PTC > Pro ENGINEER > proewildfire as shown in
Figure A.

Figure A Windows
screen with task bar and
application icons
The second option to start Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire is by double-clicking on the
Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire shortcut icon on the desktop of the computer. Figure B
shows the screen that appear when you start Pro/ENGINEER.

Figure B Initial screen appearance after starting

Pro/ENGINEER
 Important Terms and Definitions
Some important terms that will be used while working with Pro/ENGINEER are
discussed next.

• Entity
An element of a section geometry is called an entity. The entity can be an arc,
line, circle, point, conic, coordinate system, and so on.

• Dimension
It is the measurement of one or more entities.

• Constraint
Constraints are the logical operations that are performed on the selected
geometry to make it more accurate in defining its position and size with respect
to the other geometry.
• Parameter
It is defined as a numeric value or any definition that defines a feature. For
example, all the dimensions in a sketch are parameters. The parameters can be
modified at any time.

• Relation
A relation is an equation that relates two entities.

• Weak Dimensions and Weak Constraints

Weak dimensions and weak constraints are temporary dimensions or constraints
that appear in gray color. These are automatically applied to the sketch when it is
drawn using the Intent Manager.

• Strong Dimensions and Strong Constraints

Strong dimensions and strong constraints appear in yellow color. These dimensions
and constraints are neither removed automatically nor applied automatically.
 File Menu Options
When you choose File from the menu bar, various options are displayed in the
File menu. The options that are displayed in the File menu are discussed next.

• Working Directory
A working directory is a directory on your system where you can save the work
done in the current session of Pro/ENGINEER. You can set any directory
existing on your system as the working directory. Before starting work in
Pro/ENGINEER, it is important to specify the working directory. There are two
methods of selecting the working directory and they are discussed next.

Use the Navigator to select the working directory. Right-click on the folder in the
Navigator to invoke the shortcut menu shown in Figure A. Choose the Make
Working Directory option. The folder that you select is created as the current
working directory.
In order to specify a working directory, choose File > Working Directory from
the menu bar. The Select Working Directory dialog box is displayed as shown
in Figure B.
Figure A Shortcut menu Figure B Select Working Directory dialog box
• Look In drop-down list
The Look In drop-down list displays all drives present on your computer along with
a Favorites folder. When the Select Working Directory dialog box is invoked, by
default, it displays the contents of a default directory. However, the default directory
that appears every time you open this dialog box can be changed.

• Name edit box

The Name edit box displays the name of the directory selected in the Select
Working Directory dialog box. You can either select a directory from the Look In
drop-down list or enter the path of any existing directory in this edit box.

• Type drop-down list

The Type drop-down list has two options: Directories and All Files. If you
select the Directories option then all the directories present will be listed and if
you select All Files then all the files and the directories will be listed.
• Up One Level
The Up One Level button is chosen to move one level up in the directory.
When you choose this button, a directory is displayed that is one level above
the current directory.

• Working Directory
This is used when you have already set the working directory. You may
browse through the directories in the Select Working Directory dialog box,
but when you choose this button, the directory selected previously as
working directory is displayed in the Look In drop-down list.

• New Directory
The New Directory button is used to create a new directory which can
be selected as a working directory. When you choose the New Directory
button, the New Directory dialog box is displayed.
• Favorites
The Favorites button is used to save the location of the directories which are
to be used very frequently. You just have to specify the working directories to
be used frequently and save the location of that directory named Favorites.
When you choose the Favorites button, a menu is displayed. The options in
this menu are:

• Save location
• Remove location
• Browse favorites
• Display Configuration
When you choose the Display Configuration button, a menu is displayed. The
options in this menu are discussed next.

• List
• Details

• Command and Settings

The Command and Settings button can be used to customize the Select
Working Directory dialog box. This button when chosen displays a shortcut
menu. The options in this menu are listed next.

• ‘Look In’ Default

• All Versions
• New
In order to create a new object, select New from
the File menu or choose the Create a new
object button from the Top Toolchest. The New
dialog box is displayed as shown in Figure A.
The dialog box displays the different modes
available in Pro/ENGINEER.

• Use default template check box

The Use default template check box is selected to
open an existing default template file which includes
three default datum planes and a coordinate system.
This check box is selected by default. If you clear this Figure A New dialog box
check box and choose the OK button from the New
dialog box, the New File Options dialog box is
displayed as shown in Figure B.
Figure B New File Options dialog box
• Open
The Open option is used to open an
existing object file. When you
choose the Open option from the
File menu or choose Open an
existing object button from the File
toolbar, the File Open dialog box is
displayed as shown in Figure A.

• Look In
In the Look In drop-down list various
browsing options for selecting the Figure A File Open dialog box
directories are available. You can browse
through these folders to search for the
object file you want to open.
• In Session
The In Session option displays all the object files that are in the current
session. The object files that you open in Pro/ENGINEER in the current
session are stored in the temporary memory of Pro/ENGINEER. This
temporary memory is a folder named In Session. Once you exit
Pro/ENGINEER, the contents of this folder are deleted automatically.
However the original files are not removed from their actual location.

• Commands and Settings

The Commands and Settings option can be used to customize the
Select Working Directory dialog box. When you choose this button a
shortcut menu is displayed. The options under this menu are the same
as those available in the Select Working Directory dialog box.
• Name
In the Name edit box you can enter the name of the existing object file you want
to open.
• Type drop-down list
The Type drop-down list contains the file formats of the various modes available
in Pro/ENGINEER. This drop-down list also has other file formats that can be
imported in Pro/ENGINEER.

• Preview
The Preview button is chosen to see the preview of the model. When you
choose this button, the File Open dialog box expands and a preview is displayed
on the right side.

• Erase
The Erase option is used to delete the files from the temporary memory or the In
Session folder. As discussed earlier all the files opened in a session of
Pro/ENGINEER are saved in the temporary memory. The options used to
remove the files from the In Session folder are discussed next.
• Current
The Current option is used to erase the file that is
opened and is displayed on the graphics screen from
the current session. When the Current option of the
cascading menu is chosen, the Erase Confirm dialog
box is displayed as shown in Figure A.
Figure A Erase Confirm
dialog box

• Not Displayed
This option is used to erase the files present in the In Session
folder but not available presently on the screen. The Erase Not
Displayed dialog box is displayed as shown in Figure B.

Figure B Erase Not

Displayed dialog box
• Delete
The Delete option is used to delete the current file or its old versions or both
the current file and its older versions.

• Old Versions
This option is used to delete all the old versions of the current file. When you
choose the Old Versions option, you are prompted to enter the name of the
object file of which the old versions have to be deleted.

• All Versions
This option is used to delete all the versions including the current file from the
hard disk.
• Save
The Save option is used to save the objects present in the In Session
folder or an object on the graphics screen.

• Save a Copy
The Save a Copy option is used to save a copy of the current object in the same
working directory or in some other directory.

• Backup
The Backup option of the File menu creates a backup copy of an object file that is
in memory. When you choose this option the Backup dialog box is displayed.
• Rename
The Rename option in the File menu renames the active object that is on the
screen. When you choose this option, the Rename dialog box is displayed as
shown in Figure A.

Figure A Rename dialog box

 Managing Files In Pro/ENGINEER
As discussed earlier, a new file is generated whenever you save an object. The
number of files generated is directly proportional to the number of times you
save that object. Hence, these files occupy a lot of disk space. The latest
version of the object is of use and should be stored.

 Menu Manager
From this release of Pro/ENGINEER the Menu Manager is not available when you
enter the Part mode, Assembly mode, or the Drawing mode. The Menu Manager
is displayed with some selected options of feature creation.
There are menus and submenus cascaded in the Menu Manager. Some options
are available to complete the desired task using Pro/ENGINEER in the Menu
Manager.
 Model Tree
The Model Tree stores and displays all the features in a chronicle. You can
select any desired feature of a model or an assembly from the model tree and
apply different operations on the feature selected. You can select the feature by
right-clicking on it. The shortcut menu will be displayed as shown in Figure A.

When you create a new object file, the Model Tree is displayed
and is attached to the graphics window by default. But in this
case with the Model Tree attached to the graphics window, the
graphics window becomes small in size. You can hide the
Model Tree by clicking the sash on the right edge of the
Navigator as shown in Figure A. The Model Tree can slide out
or slide in, thus increasing the area on the graphics window. It
can also be stretched horizontally to cover the graphics
window.

Figure A Model Tree with the

shortcut menu
 Understanding the Function of the Mouse Buttons
The various combinations of the keys and three buttons of the mouse are listed
below.
1. Figure A shows the function of the left mouse button. The left mouse button is
used to make a selection. Using CTRL+left mouse button you can add or remove
items from the selection set. Using SHIFT+left mouse button you can select chain
of entities or set of surfaces.
2. Figure B shows the function of the right mouse button. The right mouse button is
used to invoke shortcut menus and to query select the items.

Figure A Figure B
Functions Functions
of the left of the right
mouse mouse
button button
 3. Figure C shows the function of the middle mouse button. The middle mouse
button is used to spin the model, dynamically zoom the model. Using
CTRL+middle mouse button and moving the mouse horizontally you can turn the
model. Use SHIFT+middle mouse button to pan the model on the screen.

4. Figure D shows the function of the middle mouse button in the 2D mode (sketcher
environment and Drawing mode). The middle mouse button is used to place
dimensions on the graphics screen. It is also used to confirm an option or to abort
the creation of an entity. The middle mouse button is used to pan in the Sketch
mode and the Drawing mode.

Figure C Figure D
Functions Functions
of the of the
middle middle
mouse mouse
button button
 Toolbars
Before starting work on Pro/ENGINEER, it is very important for you to understand the
default toolbars and buttons on the screen. Figure A shows various default screen
components in Pro/ENGINEER. The toolbars are at two locations: the Top Toolchest
and the Right Toolchest.

Figure A Default components on the

Pro/ENGINEER screen
Datum Display toolbar

File toolbar

Model Display toolbar Help button

View toolbar
 Navigator
The Navigator is present on the left of the graphics window and can slide in or out on
the graphics window. To make the Navigator slide in or out, you need to select the
sash present on its right edge. The Navigator is shown in Figure A.

Figure A Navigator
 Browser
The Browser is present on the right of the
navigator. It can slide in and out of the
navigator and can also be stretched
horizontally. When the Pro/ENGINEER
Wildfire session is started, the browser is
displayed on the screen. Figure A shows
the browser that displays some part files.

Figure A Browser