The start of a new year always

presents fresh challenges and

tasks. Our winter issue reflects
this speedy pace with news on the
latest acquisition by PTC as well
as continuing efforts on software
quality. You can read about the
2006 edition of PTC Awards,
which has just kicked off and is
an awesome opportunity for
talented designers to gain
recognition.

On the technical side, we have

four great articles in Tips and
Tricks, including one based on
Mike Mongilio's award-winning
presentation at the PTC/USER Rendering with Realism
World Event in 2005. by Jason Clark, Jase Design

Feel free to share your praise or

criticisms about the magazine
with us. You can write me at
rick@ptcuser.org. Setting the Standard
by Evan Caille, PTC/USER President
Best Regards,

CADTRAIN Goes to PTC University

Rick Snider with Dennis Stajic and Matt Cohen, PTC

Prove Your Mettle in the 2006 PTC Awards

Competition
with Alex Lorman, British School of Washington

PTC Executive Meeting Summary: Progress Continues

Regional User Group Calendar
Download a PDF of this issue
Copyright 2006 PTC/USER, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Generating a 3D PCB in Pro/ENGINEER
by Keith Richman, Simplified Solutions Inc.
Creating Flexible Components in Pro/ENGINEER
Wildfire
by Mike Mongilio, Swales Aerospace
Planning Your Upgrade from Pro/INTRALINK 3.x to
8.0
by Scott Carmichael, NxRev, Inc.
Logging System for Developing in Windchill 8.0
by Dmitry Tkach, isLaNd Inc.
Rendering with Realism
Rendering with
By Jason Clark, Jase Design Realism

[Editor's Note: Jason is making tutorial files available for this article through his web Setting the Standard
site, www.jase.ca. You can go there to download the files and see additional
information.] CADTRAIN Goes to
PTC University
With all the effort that goes into creating your CAD models, it is a shame not to render
them to visualize the finished product in your proposals and presentations. This article Prove Your Mettle
is meant to help you do just this, first explaining how to export your data and then in the 2006 PTC
providing a short tutorial on how to render your models realistically. Hopefully, this Awards
information will either encourage you to learn more about rendering yourself or provide Competition
basic understanding about what happens behind the scenes if you contract out this
service. PTC Executive
Meeting Summary:
There are many rendering packages available, ranging in cost from $300 to $10,000. Progress Continues
For purposes here, I have chosen to use LightWave 8.5 from NewTek. LightWave is
quite reasonably priced at $795 and is currently undergoing a major upgrade. Other Generating a 3D
products I suggest looking into are Maxon's Cinema4D, Autodesk's 3D Studio Max, and PCB in Pro/
Caligari's trueSpace. All of these products offer reasonable import/export options and ENGINEER
have capable rendering platforms.
Creating Flexible
Components in Pro/
I have purposely left PTC's Pro/PHOTORENDER off this list. In my opinion, the
ENGINEER
product is not mature enough and does not provide the typical tools to deal with alpha
Wildfire
masks, multiple textures, global illumination, and the like. In addition, the material
functionality is a bit weak and the software cannot maintain your model display in
Planning Your
OpenGL.
Upgrade from Pro/
INTRALINK 3.x to
Preparing Your Models 8.0

One of the biggest tasks in the rendering process is exporting your models from Pro/ Logging System for
ENGINEER to your rendering application. For small parts or even small assemblies (say Developing in
a 10-part assembly), you can just use the .slp, .stl, .obj (wavefront) export. But these Windchill 8.0
formats do not support hierarchies. Since most rendering applications support the .obj
and .stl formats and recognize distinct parts, however, you can recreate the hierarchy in
the renderer.

For the options that deal best with Pro/ENGINEER files, I recommend either PolyTrans
from Okino (www.okino.com) or Deep Exploration from Right Hemisphere (www.
righthemisphere.com). Both products allow you buy modules to support Granite so that
you can natively open and convert Pro/E files.

Assembly Organization (Reps and Datums)

Assemblies are generally what you'll want to render. But assemblies contain a
tremendous amount of information, not all of which is necessary. The following list
presents the minimum set of simplified reps that your assemblies should contain. From
here you can build on your requirements.

· All parts. You can, however, skip seals, fasteners, labels, and unimportant
hardware (like crimps, and other small items).

· Piping only. If your assembly has piping, create a rep that contains all the piping,
including fittings within the piping run.

· Fasteners only. In most shots, the fasteners are barely visible so you can treat
them separately and possibly even omit them. If you need detail to represent fasteners,
you can export this rep and reduce the polygon count by increasing the chord height or
within your translation software.

You want to group assemblies of components by either function or material, or some

mix of the two.

1. Function. This grouping is typically shared assemblies that work together. For
example, the front suspension of a car would likely include both front wheels and the
rack system so you can easily link them together.

2. Material. This grouping is for ease of applying a specific material to more generic
types of parts such as piping, fittings and fasteners. I use this grouping to deal with low-
detail items.

Grouping is a grey area, but here are some useful guidelines to bear in mind.

· Keep your subassemblies manageable so you can work on a specific subset and keep
the render application responsive. You should be able to turn everything off from display
but still work on a specific subset of models.

· Make groupings easy to replace so that they are quick to update when CAD models
change.

· Simplified reps are a good way to group assembly items across different levels of a
BOM structure.

Part Organization (More Reps)

Following the example of assemblies, we can use simplified reps for parts as well. The
ideal candidates for simplified reps are fastener parts and parts utilizing hole, rounds
(fillet), or chamfer features. The idea is to limit the number of features shown at the
assembly level. For example, our bolt fastener models need a rep to exclude the shaft
because all we see in many instances is the head. For parts using many rounds, holes or
chamfers, you can exclude these features as well if they won’t be visible.

It is far easier to implement this methodology using start parts or company standard
practices.

Formats for Exporting from Pro/ENGINEER

· Native Format (Using a third-party translator). Using native geometry is

preferable, BUT! Yes, there is a but. The downside is that you will be dealing with
unprocessed data. If you have a large assembly, importing and exporting the data is very
time-consuming. I therefore recommend using the native format only for smaller
assemblies.

· STEP Format (Using a third-party translator). If the translator supports the

Granite kernel, you will have access to STEP. I prefer STEP because it handles geometry
the best and maintains the hierarchy within one file. STEP retains models as solid
geometry. Ideally, you can break your assembly into logical groups using simplified reps
and then export the groups with a consistent coordinate system.

· IGES Format (Using a third-party translator). While most translators support

IGES, you need to ensure that the one you choose supports the latest version and can
handle trimmed as well as untrimmed surfaces. Like STEP, IGES is useful because you
can export and retain hierarchy and utilize simplified reps.

· Native Triangulated Formats (Pro/ENGINEER direct). Exporting triangulated

formats is the last resort reserved for small parts or assemblies of very limited size. But
if you need to do part replacement, this can be a quick fix. If you want to do an
individual part export with the .stl or obj format, there are a couple of things to consider.

- Use a consistent coordinate system. This will allow easy reassembly in the
rendering application.

- Experiment using the chord height and chord angle options. These options control
your mesh (triangle) density.

· VRML. You can experiment with VRML, but be prepared for some oddities and
frustration. In my experience, I have not seen any applications that properly support
Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire's VRML 2.0 export. In addition, the VRML export creates
extra objects.

The Export Process

Prior to exporting, you should give some thought to what your requirements are.
Although you will inevitably need to do some organization and cleanup in the rendering
application, organizing your data beforehand can eliminate a lot of problems.

First off, if you don't have a third-party translator, you are very much restricted to the
native import types of your render engine—typically IGES, .stl, .obj, 3ds, and a few
others. The native IGES implementation in most rendering software cannot deal with
large assemblies and is often problematic, so do not count on it. Since the 3ds format is
not available from Pro/ENGINEER, that leaves .stl and .obj. Almost every rendering
application supports these formats and will have a free script to allow those types if they
aren't natively supported.

In general, I export my Pro/ENGINEER data to a neutral format such as IGES, STEP, or

Pro/E Neutral. This lets you quickly modify an assembly without fear of conflicting with
parent/child relationships. To do this, you can reuse Pro/ENGINEER (or your native
CAD tool) to import the file back into session. Then you may edit the assembly. I then
export the file to the rendering application.

Now on to Some Rendering!

In our example, we're going to use LightWave rendering software (discovery edition
available by contacting NewTek sales www.NewTek.com). Although undergoing major
updating for release 9, this is still one of nicest renderers
around. It is extremely cost-effective and yields good A Primer of
results quickly. At the end of this article are a few of the Rendering Terms
many resources available on the web to get you going with and Techniques
LightWave.
For those who are
Open the file torch.asm in Pro/ENGINEER. You will see new to rendering,
that each major portion of the model has a part. When we this section describes
convert our assembly for use in LightWave, we want to some basic terms
maintain this hierarchy. You may want to export from Pro/ and techniques.
ENGINEER in the wavefront format and open these files (Click here to view...)
within LightWave directly to fully understand the export
process and mesh details. In this case, however, I chose to
import the native assembly file into Nugraf (PolyTrans is
the same without the renderer) to convert to the
LightWave scene file. I have included the .bdf file for you to open within PolyTrans
(demo available at www.okino.com).

Mesh versus speed. At this point, we need to assess what end result is required of our
render. The part files have chamfers and small details. To maintain those details in the
rendering, we need to ensure we are bringing a highly defined polygon model, which
means more polygons. Basically, we can output the models for one of two purposes:

1. Up-close product shots. This output has a high polygon count. For these types
of renderings, we want to maintain edge detail.

2. General rendering or ”set” pieces. This output has a low to medium polygon
count and is suitable for use in a large assembly rendering that won't be close to the
camera. In this case, if you add auxiliary models to the scene to help break up the dead
space, keep poly counts minimal.

Scene lighting and setup. For the most part, you can use area lights to mimic studio
lighting. Spotlights are another choice because they allow you to create soft shadows.
Area lights do this as well, but I find the glow property of area lights more pleasing.
Experiment to discover what your own preferences are

The most famous (or infamous) scenario is called three-point lighting, which illuminates
the object with:

1. Key light. Provides the main illumination and typically the shadow caster.

2. Fill light. Adds a gentle amount of light to break up dark areas or shadows.

3. Rim light. Used behind the object to illuminate its silhouette, helping to separate
the object from the background.

Three-point lighting can be a starting point and you can add your own variation. In this
sample scene, I want to use soft lighting and shadows.
As for setting up the scene, I encourage you to do some research on composition. One
basic principle is to avoid placing your object dead center, but instead follow the “rule of
thirds.” This means dividing your picture into three columns and rows, and then placing
the object a little above, below, or to the side to keep the focus where the three rows and
columns intersect. In this scene, I placed the object slightly above the horizon to bring
attention to the light shining through the flashlight. This also leaves a little space to add
specifications or logos for a branding shot.
Scene setup requires careful thought. In reality, you will have set gear, people and such
around a photography shoot, so you need to compensate for this. In our example, we are
dealing with reflective materials so they need something to reflect. We could, for
instance, add abstract shapes with color to simulate drapes, or set gear like posts, chairs,
and the like.

In this case, I added two “bounce” cards, which are commonly used in product shots.
Bounce cards not only act like fill lights, but also give the object something to reflect.
To get our scene set up in LightWave,

1. Select File->Load Scene to load the torch_orig.lws.

2. Click Shift +c to select the camera. Then, using the coordinate manager on the
bottom left, set its position.

- Hit t for translate and enter the coordinates as x=-71.68m, y=43.82m, z=-82.25m.

- Hit y for rotate and enter heading=-0.6, pitch=76.9, bank=0.

This sets up the scene for our camera. If you want to experiment, I recommend you save
here first. Lighting is extremely view-dependent, so revert to your saved scene before
continuing.

3. To set up the lighting, we'll convert the existing light to an area light. Remember:
the larger area lights are, the softer their shadows but their output level must also
increase.

Select the light either by using Shift+l or by selecting the light button at the bottom of
the screen and then using the drop box. Once the light is selected,

- Hit t to translate and enter the coordinates in the bottom left input boxes as
x=15.5, y=134.25, and z=-21.55.

- Hit y and enter h=15.5, p=134.25, b=-21.55.

- To size the light, hit h and enter x=52, y=48.67, z=1.

- Hit p for properties and enter the values shown.

4. To adjust the flashlight, select the objects button at the bottom and, with the
selection tab above, select torch.asm.6. Hit t to translate and enter 6.9m in the
coordinate box.

5. To add the floor, use File->Load Object and select floor.lwo.

6. We can set up the fill light, rim light, and bounce cards. First clone the area light by
selecting it and the hitting Ctrl+c.

- In the clone item dialog box, enter 2.

- Select one of the clones and enter the coordinates for its position as x=-7.9, y=-3.4,
z=-90.7 and then its rotation as h=10.4, p=6.6 and b=0.

- With the light still selected, hit p for properties and enter the values you see below.

- Change to the shadow tab and make sure shadows are off.
- Now select one of the other clones and enter the coordinates as x=-41.7, y=90,
z=123.6, and a rotation of h=-203, p=23.6, b=0.

- Modify the properties (hotkey p) and then enter the properties below. Be sure to
note this light becomes a spotlight.

- Change to the shadow tab and ensure shadows are off.

7. The last lights we’ll set up are for the flashlight. Activate the Items tab and from the
lights tab, select a point light.

- Set the point light position as x=-5.75, y=7.05 and z=0.

- Enter the light properties page and input the settings below.

- Open the objects tab and tick the same items shown below.
8. The next light is for the beam itself. Create a spotlight now and

- Enter its position as x=-5.75, y=7.05 and z=0.

- Enter the rotation as h=-90, p=0, b=0.

- Enter the properties page and enter the properties below.

- After enabling the volumetric lighting option, click the volumetric light options and
enter the values below.
The idea of the point light is to illuminate inner components locally and to allow the
glow to penetrate through the holes because the stud part is translucent.

9. Save your work now before creating the materials for the components. (Although
I've created the materials for this example, we will tour through the settings to create the
final render.)

10. Open the surface editor, using the F5 key, and set up the view to use scene
materials. LightWave allows you to adjust all like-named materials in one interface.

- Aluminum_powder material: For this material, I wanted to do a glossed speckled

material with a high reflected specular. Some key areas of note are the blurry reflection
and reflection falloff due to the fresnel effect. The gradient texture is very powerful, and
I like the way NewTek has put this feature in LightWave. The bump adds to the texture
and assists in breaking the reflection.
 Aluminum basic properties

- Color is a basic setting, which you then modify based on the values in diffuse,
reflection and such. What you will notice is that the diffuse, specularity, reflection, and
bump values are driven by a texture (highlighted T box). Click these boxes to modify
them. When the textures are activated, the values in the named boxes usually have no
effect.
 Aluminum advanced properties

- Under the advanced tab are two properties of note. First is “Alpha Channel,” which
is set to “Surface Opacity.” This is important since LightWave will render an alpha
channel that shows this material as white, so we can use it to block out the object in an
image editor. Second is “Color Highlights,” which allows the material’s highlights to take
on the color of the material.
 Aluminum environment properties

- Here is where we set the reflection blurring. The “Reflection Options” is

noteworthy because we could instead use an image map to produce reflections rather
than the time-consuming ray tracing.
 Aluminum shader properties

- The shader tab allows you to add rendering enhanced features like fresnel, brdf,
and celshading effects. Here I've added a quick fresnel effect to the material.

11. Using the above panels you can explore other materials. In particular, pay attention
to the stud, which has a translucent value. Turn this off and render the scene. The fact
that it allows light to pass through it explains why the little holes glow.

Advanced Features

To whet your appetite for further experimentation with rendering, let’s add some
radiosity to our scene.
1. Hit Ctrl+F5 to open the backdrop options.

2. Select Add Environment and then the image world option.

3. Double-click this option and browse for uffizi_probe.hdr.

4. Select lights from the bottom buttons and then open the properties page.

5. Select global illumination and then enable radiosity. Set the options as shown.

6. Hit F9 and take a break because rendering takes a while. What you will notice is
the backdrop actually lights the scene. If you had used the monte carlo option, the light
would instead bounce from other objects.

The two images below show the alpha channel produced by the rendering and then the
modified alpha so we can adjust the flashlight.
Unmodified rendered alpha

Modified rendered alpha

Rendered image
 Modified rendered image

Notice the color shift in the rendered images. The image was edited in Adobe Photoshop
without having to render the image over again.

LightWave Layout Shortcuts

p Item properties

F5 Surface editor

m Motion properties

Shift+o Objects

Shift+c Camera

Shift+l Lights

Ctrl+F8 Image processing

Ctrl+F5 Backdrop options

LightWave Resources

Here are just a few of the many online resources geared toward LightWavers.

http://www.NewTek.com/LightWave/—main page for LightWave

http://www.NewTek.com/forums/—NewTek-sponsored forums

http://www.NewTek.com/LightWave/tutorials/—extensive list of NewTek-hosted

tutorials

http://members.shaw.ca/LightWavetutorials/Main_Menu.htm—mega list of learning

material for LightWavers, managed by a LightWave user

http://www.spinquad.com—online forum

http://www.simplyLightWave.com/—online forum and training resource

Other Resources

Jeremy Birn's Lighting: http://www.3drender.com/light/index.html

HDRI making tutorial: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/hdr.shtml

Paul Debevec (a defacto in HDRI): http://www.debevec.org/

Jason Clark is an engineering visualization consultant with his company

Jase Design. In addition Jason is a senior designer and PTC applications
administrator at OceanWorks International, Inc. Jason can be reached by
email at jason@jase.ca or jclark@oceanworks.cc.
CADTRAIN Goes to PTC University
Rendering with
Q&A with Matt Cohen, Vice President of Customer Education, and Realism
Dennis Stajic, Vice President of Education Services, PTC
Setting the Standard

CADTRAIN Goes to
In early 2005, the PTC/USER Board met with PTC executives to discuss the future of PTC University
education services and offerings. One of the issues raised was the role of CADTRAIN in
serving the user community. For over a decade, CADTRAIN has been a great supporter Prove Your Mettle
of PTC/USER and its training products are in wide use among our members. We in the 2006 PTC
encouraged PTC to work cooperatively with CADTRAIN to ensure that it could continue Awards
to create top-quality learning materials for PTC customers. Competition

PTC really took this message to heart. The seeds planted in this discussion sprouted into PTC Executive
a relationship that culminated in the December acquisition of CADTRAIN. By Meeting Summary:
integrating the CADTRAIN offering within PTC University, PTC will be able to capitalize Progress Continues
on the best of both solutions and expand its training offering early in 2006.
Generating a 3D
PCB in Pro/
Importantly, PTC acquired not only CADTRAIN technology but also the entire
ENGINEER
development and customer service staff, ensuring continuity for current CADTRAIN
customers. In addition, CADTRAIN and PTC will continue to work with the PTC/USER
Creating Flexible
Usability and Training Technical Committee to validate future training strategy and help
Components in Pro/
determine product priorities.
ENGINEER
Wildfire
Given the importance of CADTRAIN services to PTC/USER members, Rick Snider
recently posed a number of questions to the company’s principals who were involved in
Planning Your
the acquisition, Dennis Stajic and Matt Cohen. Dennis is the founder of CADTRAIN Upgrade from Pro/
while Matt, Vice President of Customer Education at PTC, was instrumental in initiating INTRALINK 3.x to
and completing the transaction. 8.0

RS: Dennis and Matt, thank you for taking the time to talk with us. First of Logging System for
all, can you tell us if PTC is retaining the CADTRAIN development and Developing in
technical support staff after the acquisition? Windchill 8.0

DS: Rick, we appreciate the opportunity to talk with you. We want to assure our
customers that every member of CADTRAIN’s development staff has been retained to
continue the development of COACH/LMS and the COACH curriculum. CADTRAIN will
also provide direct technical support.

RS: Do current CADTRAIN customers face any change in pricing?

MC: No. CADTRAIN customers will continue to pay the same maintenance fee for their
current COACH and COACH/LMS installations.
RS: With this acquisition, will PTC University's offerings be available in
COACH/LMS so that we can get down to one LMS environment?

DS: PTC University will provide the “hosted” solution, and COACH/LMS the client site
solution. The same content will be available in either delivery mode.

RS: Will the CADTRAIN content be available both as a PTC University

subscription and installable on a company’s intranet?

MC: CADTRAIN’s COACH content will be supported for intranet installations for
current CADTRAIN customers. The COACH curriculum will also be embedded into PTC
University as an optional training library.

RS: CADTRAIN focused solely on PTC's MCAD-related products. Will the

curriculum expand to Windchill and other PTC products?

MC: Yes. Incentives will be available to help upgrade CADTRAIN customers to PTC’s
Windchill and PLM offerings.

RS: Will the structure of the CADTRAIN content become more like the
Windchill training available on PTC University?

DS: The CADTRAIN COACH content will keep to its current format. There are no plans
to alter the instructional design but rather to use the multiple formats now available to
complement each other for different learning styles.

RS: When new versions of PTC software are released, will the training
material be available simultaneously?

DS: CADTRAIN will maintain its current release schedule for new versions of Pro/
ENGINEER.

RS: Are there any plans to provide tighter integration with ModelCHECK?

DS: Now that CADTRAIN is part of PTC, integration discussions are scheduled as part
of the COACH and COACH/LMS product roadmap.

RS: What about offering CADTRAIN courses in other languages?

MC: Seven CADTRAIN courses are currently available in French and German for WF1
and WF2. We are developing a localization roadmap for additional languages for WF3
and beyond.

RS: Will PTC University customers with a CREATE subscription

automatically receive all CADTRAIN content?

MC: Special incentives will be available to help CREATE subscribers access the
CADTRAIN COACH library within PTC University.

RS: Thanks again, guys. It sounds like PTC/USER members are sure to
benefit from the innovative learning products that will come out of the
new relationship between PTC and CADTRAIN.

If you have questions about the acquisition or education, feel free to

contact Dennis at dstajic@ptc.com or Matt at macohen@ptc.com.
Prove Your Mettle in the 2006 PTC Awards
Rendering with
Competition Realism
with Alex Lorman, British School of Washington
Setting the Standard

The PTC/USER community boasts an incredible depth of design talent in every

CADTRAIN Goes to
industry and region around the globe. The annual PTC Awards competition is a
PTC University
showcase for these exceptional designers and their creations. This contest, now open
for submissions, represents an awesome opportunity to prove your mettle against the
Prove Your Mettle
best in the world. Past winners hail from organizations such as Motorola, John Deere,
in the 2006 PTC
Lotus, Bombardier and others known for innovative products.
Awards
Competition
All designs will be judged by a panel of industry experts, who will select the finalists
within each of the categories of Heavy Equipment, Transportation, Life Sciences,
PTC Executive
Consumer Products, High-Tech Electronics and Education (with two subcategories, K- Meeting Summary:
12 and College & University). Judges will evaluate each entry against the contest Progress Continues
criteria of product innovation, benefits, complexity and aesthetics. Category winners
will be selected through an online vote, and an overall champion will be selected via
Generating a 3D
online voting and voting at the PTC/USER World Event in June. Winners will be PCB in Pro/
announced at the World Event and have their entries prominently published on the ENGINEER
PTC website.
Creating Flexible
You can get more details on contest rules at www.ptc.com/go/awards. The deadline is Components in Pro/
March 13, 2006, so be sure to enter right away. Images of winning designs from past ENGINEER
competitions—including the Open60 Class Trimaran shown here—can also be found at Wildfire
ptc.com.
Planning Your
Alex Lorman, a student at the British School of Washington and winner in the K-12 Upgrade from Pro/
Education category in 2005, provided the following account about developing his INTRALINK 3.x to
award-winning concept in Pro/DESKTOP. A team from the University of Oklahoma 8.0
also won in the College & University division in 2005, marking the first time ever that
American students have taken top honors at the PTC Awards. Logging System for
Developing in
Windchill 8.0

Sailing to Victory

The original idea for the Open60 Trimaran came when I read about the disastrous Route
de Rhum transatlantic sailing race in 2002 where 8 of 18 trimarans were forced to retire.
I looked at the photos of the boats and was fascinated with the incredibly complex
curves and multiple hulls of the craft.

Although I was still learning the basics of Pro/DESKTOP at that point, I decided to
challenge myself and attempt the design of one of the craft. The first iteration of the
design was not at all successful because of the techniques I was employing in Pro/
DESKTOP, namely the wrong ones. On the whole, the failure of the first “draft” of the
design was due to lack of experience in Pro/DESKTOP and lack of knowledge about
what tools to use where.

At that point, the project was put on a back burner and forgotten for many months. After
I had designed several other boats, including an offshore rescue lifeboat [nominated in
the Education K-12 category of the PTC design awards in 2004], I thought about
continuing the Open60 Trimaran project. Continuing was something of a misnomer
since it involved starting the whole project afresh. With my much-improved knowledge
of the program, I was able to better envision the final design while still drawing initial
ideas for the design on paper. As soon as I started to put my pen and ink sketches into
Pro/DESKTOP as vector lines and curves, my newfound knowledge of the program was
immediately useful. I was able to properly utilize the full potential of the program.

Although Pro/DESKTOP is marketed as the little sister to Pro/ENGINEER, it is by no

means the black sheep of the family. While lacking the physics suite and some of the
extremely advanced features of Pro/ENGINEER, it is still a very capable program. The
interface is slightly different and there are far fewer tools to use, but Pro/DESKTOP is
easy to use and has the functions most needed by the typical user.

The design began to take shape in Pro/DESKTOP thanks to the “loft profiles” tool, which
interprets multiple closed chains of lines, on different planes, and creates a three-
dimensional, often curved, shape. Another tool I discovered in making this particular
model was the “mirror solids” tool. The problem I faced was that the two outer hulls are
not identical, but rather mirror images of each other. This design aids the boat in cutting
rather than pushing its way through the water. I solved this problem by creating one hull
as per the specification and then mirrored it in the final assembly to create the complete
model. This tool saved significant amounts of time and effort and made the hulls
identical rather than factoring human error into the design.
3D model half completed.

When all the individual pieces were created as separate files, I began to combine them in
a new file, which consisted solely of all the separate components and their positional
restraints. This method of combining all the other parts into one design is the most
reliable way I found for keeping restraint errors between components to a minimum.
Some of the components were subassemblies, in the sense that the one file being added
as a part to the main assembly file consisted of a couple of smaller files that were
constrained in a particular manner.
Completed 3D model awaiting decals and rendering.

By far the most difficult and time-consuming part of this design project was the
rendering in three dimensions and addition of decals, giving the boat its lifelike
appearance. When the final assembly file was complete and exactly as desired, I
imported the whole file into an album view. This is Pro/DESKTOP’s visual rendering
suite. The one file added to the display model that is not true to life was a large oval
symbolizing the water that the catamaran was slicing through. This was for realism
purposes in the final three-dimensional rendering.

During three-dimensional rendering, a whole different skill set is used, namely

proficiency with Adobe Photoshop and other graphics suites. These programs then
output BMP files to be applied as a decal to the three-dimensional model in Pro/
DESKTOP. Getting the decals and the various textures to correspond to each other
correctly and look realistic is very much a trial-and-error process that requires many
redrawings of the images to ensure accuracy and consistency throughout the design. The
decal system in Pro/DESKTOP is analogous to attaching two-dimensional sticky decals
onto a plastic model, so that the two-dimensional image becomes “wrapped” around the
three-dimensional surface.
Applying the surface decals to the hulls.

When I had completed defining the material properties of the entire model and all the
decals were applied and positioned properly (not a quick task, and not helped by the fact
that I lacked a powerful workstation), I started to “pose” the model. The point of posing
the model when all the surface finishes were in place was to get the best view of the
model rendered and also to create several different JPG images that could easily be sent
by email to a potential client. This process is rather like “working the angles” in a
photography shoot.
Final image of the completed design.

Like Pro/ENGINEER, Pro/DESKTOP is only as powerful as its operator. Pro/DESKTOP

simply provides an easy and accessible way to visualize ideas without trying to do too
many tasks in one operation, instead taking smaller steps that are more easily
accomplished. Although I think I pushed Pro/DESKTOP to its limits in terms of the
number of functions used and different processes completed, I still think that more
creative things can be achieved with it, given enough time. As with any system, it is not
perfect and improvements could be made, but thanks to PTC it is continually updated
and a work in progress.

Alex Lorman currently attends St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland.

He freelances as a photographer and continues to develop designs in his
(limited) spare time. Alex can be reached by email at lormanalex@msn.
com or through his website www.alexlorman.com.
Progress Continues in 2006
Rendering with
Quality Remains Prime Focus at PTC Realism

November’s annual PTC/USER Board of Directors meeting with PTC executives brought Setting the Standard
few surprises and seemed more of a continuation of the previous year’s discussions. In
reviewing the highlights of 2005, it is clear that PTC has been making steady progress in CADTRAIN Goes to
many key areas of greatest concern to the PTC/USER community—most notably PTC University
software quality and training. In addition, PTC’s run of acquisitions last year addressed
unfilled needs and also added important complementary technology to the company’s Prove Your Mettle
portfolio of solutions. in the 2006 PTC
Awards
Assuring Quality Competition

As always, software quality remains a top concern. In the years since beginning its PTC Executive
Meeting Summary:
quality assurance initiative, PTC has methodically improved its process for building
Progress Continues
quality into its software, ensuring end-to-end coverage within the organization. Through
the deployment of the Quality Management System, the company has implemented
comprehensive automated and manual testing procedures. In the last year alone, PTC Generating a 3D
PCB in Pro/
nearly doubled the number of quality assurance engineers, bringing the ratio of
ENGINEER
developers to test staff to approximately 1.6 to 1. This change ensures a far more
thorough examination of software than previously possible.
Creating Flexible
Components in Pro/
PTC has also reached a significant milestone in achieving CMMI level 2.0. As progress is ENGINEER
made, PTC is systematically tightening its release criteria. Wildfire 3.0 is on track for its Wildfire
scheduled release in early Spring 2006 and is expected to meet increased quality
requirements. The company is also raising its investment in research and development
Planning Your
for the coming year. Aggressive action on multiple fronts should eliminate more defects Upgrade from Pro/
before product is shipped to customers. INTRALINK 3.x to
8.0
Taking on Training
Logging System for
Reversing a recent trend, PTC is now taking a more active role in the production of Developing in
training materials and services. Global Services is refocusing and redoubling efforts to Windchill 8.0
improve quality and customer satisfaction with education. This includes training
provided through PTC University Learning Management System and all direct and
certified training centers. As part of this strategy, PTC has recently acquired
CADTRAIN, the leading third-party provider of training solutions for Pro/ENGINEER.
[See accompanying article in this issue for details.]

The overall education experience is the first priority for enhancements. Among its
commitments, Global Services is charged with:

● Strengthening standards for instructor certification to guarantee that the content

is valuable and delivered in a professional manner. Student evaluations will play a
 major role in driving improvements.
● Developing new course content that addresses issues of best practices and
business processes, particularly in growth areas such as Windchill and Arbortext.
● Adapting the scheduling and availability of courses to better meet customer needs
and avoid overbooking or canceling sessions.
● Streamlining order and payment procedures to make it easier for customers to do
business.

Business and Acquisitions

PTC was in an acquisitive mood in 2005, snapping up technology outfits Aptavis and
Polyplan along with Arbortext, a leader in the dynamic enterprise publishing industry.
PTC expects to make further acquisitions as business conditions and technology needs
warrant.

PTC’s revenues and profits are up significantly with growth attributable to existing
business as well as Arbortext. The company has rebuilt its cash reserves to around $200
million. PTC is forecasting 12% growth in the coming year, with further upside potential
in that number. Clearly, PTC has made great strides in solidifying the gains it has made
through financial discipline, and is now well positioned to better serve its customers and
take advantage of future opportunities.
Generating a 3D PCB in Pro/ENGINEER
Rendering with
By Keith Richman, Simplified Solutions Inc. Realism

Setting the Standard

Integrating a printed circuit board into product design is vital when developing CADTRAIN Goes to
electronic devices. Although bundled with each license of Pro/ENGINEER, the Pro/ PTC University
ECAD interface remains vastly underutilized within the PTC product user community.
Instead, many companies continue to struggle with the interface between their 2D Prove Your Mettle
electrical ECAD tools and Pro/ENGINEER. Others continue to pass “paper sketches” in the 2006 PTC
back and forth. Awards
Competition
In reality, the basic IDF (Intermediate Data Format) interface is extremely simple to
use. Circuit board data typically originates in the 2D electrical world. A simple IDF PTC Executive
export of EMN and EMP files from your company’s 2D ECAD tool provides the basic Meeting Summary:
information required to generate a simplified version of your PCB. Specifically, the EMN Progress Continues
file contains information about the physical PCB shape, keep-out areas, keep-in areas,
and drilled holes, along with the location and orientation of each component. The EMP Generating a 3D
file, in contrast, contains information describing each component’s 2D size, height and PCB in Pro/
shape. ENGINEER

In Pro/ENGINEER, all you have to do to import your PCB is Creating Flexible

Components in Pro/
ENGINEER
1. Use the FILE–OPEN command and select the correct EMN file.
Wildfire

2. Choose Assembly as the type. The PCB outline and component locations are then
Planning Your
imported. Upgrade from Pro/
INTRALINK 3.x to
3. When prompted, choose the EMP file that contains the component profiles. 8.0

4. A PCB similar to the one below will appear (Fig. 1) Logging System for
Developing in
Windchill 8.0
Figure 1.

Adding 3D Information

But mechanical engineers need a lot more information to do their job right the first
time. To create a 100% geometrically accurate PCB, the “block” components must be
replaced with 3D models. The mechanism Pro/E provides to accomplish this task is a
text file called the ecad_hint.map.

When you import an IDF (EMN) file, Pro/ENGINEER searches the ecad_hint.map file
for a matching component called out in the EMN file. Pro/ENGINEER then replaces
block geometry with a real 3D Pro/ENGINEER part.

Here’s a sample component entry in an EMN file:

SOT-23 A-32788545 Q12

15.0 21.0 0.0 90.0 TOP PLACED

· SOT-23 represents the ecad_name (typically a geometry package name)

· A-32788545 represents the ecad_alt_name (often a company part number)

· Q12 is the reference designator

· 15.0, 21.0, and 0.0 represent the component location with respect to the circuit
board’s (0,0) point in the X, Y and Z directions.

· The 90.0 represents the orientation of the component

· TOP is the side of the PCB on which the component resides.

· PLACED (as opposed to unplaced) means this component will be populated upon
import.

The entry in the ecad_hint.map file has the following format:

map_objects_by_name ->

ecad_name "SOT-23"

ecad_alt_name "A-32788545"

ecad_type ""

mcad_name "sot-3p290x130ll237h100"

mcad_type part

end

In this example, Pro/ENGINEER searches the ecad_hint.map for unique combinations

of the ecad_name (SOT-23) and ecad_alt_name (A-32788545). Since a match was
found, Pro/ENGINEER replaces the block geometry with a 3D part called sot-
3p290x130ll237h100. Pro/ENGINEER assemblies can also be imported to a PCB by
changing the mcad_type from part to assembly.

Orienting the Component

The next step in the process is to insure that the orientation of the ECAD geometry and
Pro/ENGINEER geometry matches. If the coordinate systems do not match, the 3D
component will be rotated with respect to the ECAD geometry when imported into Pro/
ENGINEER. The center image in Figure 2 shows an overlay of the Pro/E 3D model and
the ECAD geometry.
The coordinate systems for the ECAD and Pro/ENGINEER data must also be in the
same location with respect to the component outline. The physical center of the part is
often the best location for surface-mount components, while the center of Pin 1 often
works best for through-hole components.

Importing a 3D Component

After connecting the EMN file entries to your 3D part using the ecad_hint.map file and
verifying that the ECAD and MCAD components have the same orientation, you can
import a component. To import a fully populated 3D PCB, all items in the EMN file
should have:

· A matching entry in the ecad_hint.map file containing the proper mcad_name.

· A matching 3D model for the mcad_name that Pro/ENGINEER can locate during
your PCB import. This model must have the proper coordinate system orientation and
location.

The following configuration settings need to be added to your config.pro prior when
importing your PCB:

ecad_mapping_file “Location of your ecad_hint.map”

ecad_comp_csys_def_name “ECAD component coordinate system name”

Once you have updated your configuration settings, use the same step for importing
your improved PCB as for importing the PCB with the block components.

1. Use the FILE–OPEN command and select the correct EMN File.

2. Choose Assembly as the type.

3. The PCB outline and component locations are imported. This time, the 3D models
called out by the ecad_hint.map appear, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3.

Generating Component Outlines

One of the most common issues mechanical engineers run into when importing a PCB is
lack of quality information from the ECAD side. For this reason, IDF allows the transfer
of data to, as well as from, the electrical world.

From the top view of a 3D PCB, the geometric data should be identical to the 2D
information in the ECAD tool. With this in mind, it often makes sense for mechanical
engineers to define the PCB and component outlines in Pro/ENGINEER. ECAD drafting
tools are not as sophisticated as Pro/E, and PCB designers often take much longer to
produce less detailed outlines. This outline data can be exported through IDF and
imported into ECAD by following these steps.

1. Create a protrusion using the surface that contacts the PCB as the sketching plane
(Fig. 4a).

2. Choose all external edges of the component as seen from a top view.

3. Extrude the protrusion to the top surface of the component (Fig. 4b).
4. Choose File, Save A Copy, select ECAD IDF (*.emn), and save the file (Fig. 4c).

5. Import the EMN file into your ECAD software.

Note: The EMN file will not export if there is not a consistent cross section at every Z
height.

Design Process for PCB Development

With mechanical engineers and PCB designers transferring data back and forth, it’s
important to have a standard procedure for information exchange. Here is a good
starting point for establishing your company’s own process for developing circuit board
designs.

1. The mechanical engineer creates the PCB board outline in Pro/ENGINEER and
exports the file as an IDF EMN file.

2. The PCB designer imports the PCB outline EMN file into the electrical design tool,
places critical mechanical parts outside the PCB profile, and exports an EMN file.

3. The mechanical engineer imports the EMN file back into Pro/ENGINEER, moves
incorrectly placed components to the proper locations, and exports an EMN file.

4. The PCB designer imports the EMN file, completes circuit layouts, etc., and exports
an EMN file.

5. The mechanical team imports the EMN file and performs analyses, including
interference checks.

6. The mechanical team and PCB designer go through an iterative process, checking
and moving components until the PCB is ready for release.

Building a Library of 3D Components

Building 3D circuit boards in Pro/ENGINEER requires an organized library of

components. Since most companies do not have dedicated resources for accomplishing
this task, here are some resources for streamlining the creation of a 3D component
library.

· Many connector vendors provide IGES files and/or Pro/ENGINEER .prt files on
their websites, which can be integrated into your library to save time and money. For
example, Molex Inc. (www.molex.com) has thousands of connectors modeled in Pro/E.
Other manufacturers such as Amp (www.amp.com) and Samtec (www.samtec.com)
have IGES files available for a large percentage of their connector products.

· Mechanical PCB components created in Pro/ENGINEER through the normal

design process can also be added to your library. Components such as shields and
contacts typically are designed and tooled based upon 3D models created by mechanical
engineers. These same models can be integrated into a corporate library of components.

· Electrical packages are typically used over and over. A one-time investment in
modeling or acquiring these 3D models will pay dividends over the long haul. A library
of 3D electrical packages modeled in Pro/ENGINEER can be found at www.
simplifiedsolutionsinc.com.

Benefits of Using Pro/ECAD

With handheld products shrinking in size and product development cycles getting
shorter, mechanical engineers need more detailed PCB information to get their designs
right the first time. Pro/ECAD provides an easy-to-use interface for importing 3D Pro/
ENGINEER components to improve the accuracy and speed of PCB design. Using more
realistic 3D components makes the process more efficient in several ways:

· Mechanical engineers work with the exact PCB geometry before the first circuit
board is manufactured, minimizing costly tooling errors.

· Interference checks reflect reality. Using more realistic geometric information often
enhances shock and thermal analysis.

· Product housings can be designed more accurately with the improved PCB
information.

· The detailed and accurate PCB information allows design of smaller, sleeker
products.

· ECAD design errors can often be caught before circuit boards are ordered.

· Communication among PCB designers, mechanical engineers, industrial designers,

engineering management, and marketing is vastly improved.
In sum, the upfront resources needed to generate 3D PCB geometric information more
than pay for themselves over time.

Keith Richman is a mechanical engineer and chair of PTC/USER’s ECAD

Technical Committee. He is also founder of Simplified Solutions Inc.,
which offers an extensive 3D electrical component library modeled in Pro/
ENGINEER, along with time-saving tools for integrating components into
PCB designs. This article is based on his presentation at the 2005 PTC/
USER World Event. Keith can be reached at keith@simplifiedsolutionsinc.
com.
Creating Flexible Components in
Rendering with
Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire Realism
By Michael Mongilio, Swales Aerospace
Setting the Standard

The ability to create flexible components was a popular enhancement request for many
CADTRAIN Goes to
years. PTC has now implemented this functionality beginning with Pro/ENGINEER
PTC University
Wildfire.
Prove Your Mettle
A flexible component is defined as a part that is represented differently in the assembly
in the 2006 PTC
than in its stand-alone configuration. The alternate representation is controlled entirely Awards
at the assembly in which the flexibility is established. As a result, creating or changing Competition
the flexibility state in assembly does not modify the component or change its name.
PTC Executive
A spring is the most obvious example of a flexible component since it can exist at any Meeting Summary:
extension or compression length. But flexible components can vary by more than just Progress Continues
their dimensions. Say a part has a tab that’s used to hold it during assembly and is then
cut off. Rather than use an assembly cut to achieve this, Wildfire lets you make the Generating a 3D
component flexible and then simply suppress the feature that represents the tab. PCB in Pro/
ENGINEER
In addition, a sub-assembly can be made flexible. Several types of sub-assemblies
contain components that are removed when the sub-assembly is added to the next- Creating Flexible
higher assembly. For example, a sub-assembly that has a flex circuit includes a bracket Components in Pro/
to secure the flex-circuit connector until it is installed at the next assembly. That bracket ENGINEER
can be removed by making the installed assembly flexible. The same is true for dust Wildfire
covers, safe pins, or temporary fasteners that are removed or replaced at a higher-level
assembly. Planning Your
Upgrade from Pro/
INTRALINK 3.x to
8.0

Significance of Flexible Components

Logging System for
Developing in
Pro/ENGINEER has always been able to accomplish these same tasks without the need Windchill 8.0
for flexible components, but with one major drawback. Until Wildfire, It was impossible
to create a part variation within the assembly without creating a new model name. In
many organizations, a new model name represents a new part number.

As more and more companies use the bill of material generated by the Pro/ENGINEER
model in their data management applications, it is important for components in the
assembly to correspond one-to-one to the final bill of material. Creating a second model
to represent a part in an alternate state not only added an extra part number, but also
caused the correct part number to show an incorrect quantity. With the new flexible
component functionality, you can create a variation of a model to accommodate its
assembly state without modifying it. Part number and quantity in the bill of material
remain correct. This also means that no new version of the model needs be checked into
the data management system.

Creating Part Flexibility

Making a component flexible in Wildfire takes just a few steps. In this case, we use the
example of a spring.

1. Highlight the component in the graphics window or model tree. Click the right
mouse button and choose Make Flexible from the pop-up menu. A tabbed dialog box
will open (Fig. 1).

Figure 1.

2. Select the Dimension to vary (pick on features to display dimensions) and select
OK. The dimension will be added to the dialog box.

3. Enter a New Value for the dimension and select OK. The model will regenerate
and the icon for the component in the model tree will change to reflect its flexible status
(Fig. 2). A bill of material will still show only one component with no change to its
quantity.
Figure 2.

Computing measurements. There are many times when the exact value of the
desired variation is unknown. Going back to the spring example, the extension or
compression length is determined by the components to which it is attached. In such a
situation, a fixed value for the variation will not do. In this case, go the Method column
of the flexible components dialog box, change the field from By value to Distance. The
Measure dialog box will open so that a distance measurement can be computed. This
computed value will become the new value for the flexible dimension. The measurement
will be re-computed each time the assembly is regenerated, keeping the component
dimension up to date.

Feature variations. The flexible components dialog box also lets you create feature
variations. Feature variations provide the means to model variations that can’t be
expressed by simple dimensional changes. As an example, say a capacitor is used in two
different locations in an assembly. The leads are not only bent but also trimmed
differently in each installation. Since dimensions alone cannot capture this variability,
the answer is to create two sets of lead configurations in the part model. After
assembling the component, it is made flexible. The particular set of leads is resumed for
the appropriate installation while the other set is suppressed. In the other installation,
the feature states are reversed (Fig. 3).
Figure 3.

Creating Assembly Variation

When working with sub-assemblies, it is important to note that flexibility can be

established at different levels with different results. Fig. 4 shows a simplified spacecraft
assembly with two representative solar array assemblies. The solar arrays have hinge
sub-assemblies that allow the solar arrays to be stowed, deployed, or something in
between. If the hinge assemblies are made flexible in the context of the solar-array
assembly, both solar arrays will modify together (Fig. 5).

Figure 4.
Figure 5.

But what if you want to deploy only one solar array assembly? The dimension that
controls deployment exists within the lower-level hinge assembly rather than in the
solar array assembly itself. With flexible components, you can select a dimension from
the lower-level assembly to vary at the higher assembly level. As Fig. 6 shows, the
dimension that is made flexible comes from the lower-level array_hinge assembly, even
though it was the solar-array assembly that was made flexible. As a result, one solar
array is deployed while the other remains stowed. In the model tree, a smaller flexible
component icon denotes which sub-components of the flexible assembly have been
varied.

Figure 6.
Figure 7.

Setting Up Flexibility

In a similar fashion to component interfaces, flexibility can be predefined in any model

to better communicate how it should be varied when used in an assembly. All you have
to do is choose Edit, Setup, Flexibility. A dialog box similar to the one for assembly
flexible components opens. You can add variable items to this dialog box. When the
model is made flexible in an assembly, these predefined variable items will already be
populated in the dialog box. All you have to do is specify the new values.

Michael Mongilio is a senior CAE applications engineer at Swales

Aerospace in Beltsville, Maryland, USA. This article is based on his
presentation at the 2005 PTC/USER World Event. Mike can be reached by
email at mmongilio@swales.com.
Planning Your Upgrade from Pro/
Rendering with
INTRALINK 3.x to 8.0 Realism
By Scott Carmichael, NxRev, Inc.
Setting the Standard

Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 is built on PTC’s Windchill architecture. Windchill provides many

CADTRAIN Goes to
administrative and user benefits, including a complete web-based design and
PTC University
collaboration environment, integrated visualization, dramatically better WAN
performance, improved user interface, and extensive review and red-lining capabilities.
Prove Your Mettle
In addition, the internal structure and access control functionality provides a much
in the 2006 PTC
more robust method of managing access to your design environment.
Awards
Competition
To successfully migrate your current environment to Pro/INTRALINK 8.0, it is
important to review, test, and configure this new functionality to maximize its utility
PTC Executive
within your own company. Once you fully understand the new usage of Pro/ Meeting Summary:
INTRALINK 8.0 for your environment, you can plan and complete your migration. Progress Continues

Note: The migration to PDMLink is identical to that for Pro/INTRALINK 8.0, with one Generating a 3D
additional step (explained below). PCB in Pro/
ENGINEER

Creating Flexible
Data Migrator Components in Pro/
ENGINEER
Wildfire
The Pro/INTRALINK Data Migrator is a command line-based utility that allows you to
integrate one or more Pro/INTRALINK 3.x databases into one Pro/INTRALINK 8.0
Planning Your
database. The process requires several “mock” or test migrations of your database to
Upgrade from Pro/
uncover and resolve potential conflicts before a final migration to the Pro/INTRALINK
INTRALINK 3.x to
8.0 schema. During this process, your users, folders, release levels, attributes and
8.0
revision scheme can be mapped to the same and/or new values. The major tasks/
milestones in the migration process are:
Logging System for
Developing in
1. Migration analysis and planning. Includes review of your existing Pro/ Windchill 8.0
INTRALINK 3.x source system and product development process, a review of the
requirements of Pro/INTRALINK 8.0, and a plan for mapping metadata between the
two different schemas.

2. Metadata-only migration. Uncovers any and all conflicts within your

metadata. Conflicts can then be resolved in your existing production Pro/INTRALINK 3.
x system, your mapping files or Pro/INTRALINK 8.0.

3. Test migration. Allows detailed planning of your final migration. After this
phase, you will have a fully functioning copy of your Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 database for
testing of the ACL and document control processes.
4. Final migration. Entails a final run of the Data Migrator software. Once
completed, you can apply the ACL and process control rules created and validated in the
test migration.

5. Post-migration steps. Includes using several scripts and queues to complete the
migration.

Each milestone must be completed in turn to ensure success throughout the

implementation. Details of each step are outlined in the below.

1. Migration Analysis and Planning

Preliminary analysis and planning is the most critical phase in your data migration. In
addition to reviewing your existing product development process for adherence in Pro/
INTRALINK 3.x and its future adoption in Pro/INTRALINK 8.0, you need to test
differences between 3.x and 8.0 to ensure a clean adaptation to your specific enterprise
needs. Validation plans and data sets should be developed and recorded, and a
migration timeline should be created.

As a first step, you need to determine what data to migrate to the new system. Here are
some basic guidelines.

Versioned data (PTC and non-PTC data types), revision and

What is version history, named baselines, “as-stored” configuration,
migrated folder structure, users, attributes and their values and RTP/
check-in forms

What is not Roles, folder authorizations, release procedures, preferences,

migrated table displays, locate searches, and replication settings

What can be
Folder structure, usernames, release levels and revisions
mapped

Data that is migrated will be copied from the source Pro/INTRALINK 3.x system into
the new 8.0 system. That data will be migrated according to its structure in Pro/
INTRALINK 3.x, with the exception of information that is mapped. Folder structure,
usernames, release levels and revisions can be mapped between the two systems (see
options below).

There are also several areas in Pro/INTRALINK 3.x that do not have a realistic method
of mapping to the 8.0 system. These areas need to be reviewed and corresponding
functionality in Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 will need to be configured and tested to ensure a
successful migration and adaptation to your specific process.

You should also review several areas within Pro/INTRALINK 8.0’s functionality to
understand how they will affect current processes. Here are just a few areas where there
are notable differences with Pro/INTRALINK 3.x.
· Revision sequence. In Pro/INTRALINK 8.0, Revision becomes Version, and
Version becomes iteration. In addition,

- Multiple versions can be worked on simultaneously.

- Revising increments your version by one increment.

· Lifecycle states. Lifecycle states (formerly known as release level) can be

integrated into your revision sequence and change workflow.

- Revising can also be controlled by the design’s lifecycle state. This allows multiple
versioning schemes within your product lifecycle (e.g., numeric for engineering design
and alpha once it’s in production).

- Upon revising or updating a Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 document, you can set an

automatic change of lifecycle state (e.g., on the revision of production items, the lifecycle
can be automatically set to “In Work”).

- Promoting/approving your design is far simpler and more applicable to the design
process. During the promote workflow, the end user is allowed to set “approvers and/or
reviewers” on the fly.

· Access control. The primary mechanism for controlling access is through usage of
product containers and not folders. The use of folders in Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 is less
critical thanks to a far more powerful and integrated search tool, decreasing your
dependency on browsing through the folder structure. Moving files is also easier, so you
should review your usage of folders before data migration begins.

Several migration decisions thus require a basic understanding of Pro/INTRALINK 8.0

usage and a more detailed understanding of your customized usage of the solution. For
example, how you want to use versioning, lifecycle, product/library containers and
folders helps determine how the mappings are configured to control your migration.

Once your Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 process is fully understood, you need to develop a test
and validation plan. This should include bill of material and relationship reports run in
Pro/INTRALINK 3.x that show attribute values and are set with “as-stored”
configurations. It is recommended that you choose several (or all if it’s feasible) of your
top-level products to verify and validate your migration. You also need to consider
functional usage as it pertains to your document control process. All user roles and
activities from initial concept design or new product introduction through release
should be tested to ensure your process is configured adequately.

2. Metadata-only Migration

This is the first phase that involves using the Data Migrator tool. In the metadata-only
migration phase, you want to uncover all conflicts between the 3.x source systems
metadata and the planned usage of Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 and any of its metadata. Your
first step should be to “clone” your existing production Pro/INTRALINK 3.x server. By
duplicating this environment, you can more easily replicate a migration while ensuring
minimal production downtime.

After cloning your 3.x system, it’s time to install Pro/INTRALINK 8.0. The Data
Migrator can then be installed on your Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 machine. A folder of scripts
from this install will be used by the 3.x system and needs to be copied to the 3.x install
loadpoint. These scripts allow you to “lock” the system so that the Data Migrator can
extract the information it needs.

The metadata-only migration involves several steps:

· Load admin data. Pro/INTRALINK 3.x data is exported to text-editable property

files (release levels, users, folders and attribute mappings).

· Configure mappings. Mappings files may be edited to establish a method of

converting or mapping your Pro/INTRALINK 3.x metadata to the 8.0 schema.

· Load mappings. Mappings files are uploaded into the target system and
compared to ensure compatibility.

· Review and resolve conflicts. Conflicts are available in detailed HTML reports
and can usually be resolved by either editing the source or the target system. Conflicts
typically involve user, folder, release level, and revision sequence mapping.

· Initiate the migration in discrete phases. The Data Migrator tool was created
to allow you to migrate your data in stages, e.g., documents, family tables, and links.
This allows for a better understanding of failures and an easier way to troubleshoot any
potential conflicts/errors.

· Test system to ensure the metadata-only migration is valid. Apply

complete validation requirements, but omit any task that requires a check-out or
retrieval of file content.

At this point, you can log into Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 and all of your metadata will be
loaded. You can perform any action that does not require access to the file content, such
as reports, searches, browsing and form review. You should focus on testing your results
to ensure Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 performs as expected.

3–4. Test and Production Migrations

After completing the metadata-only migration, all log files and results from your
validation testing should be recorded. The purpose of the next phase is to build a more
complete test environment for validation and to confirm the time and resource
requirements for the final production migration. The test migration is performed the
same as the metadata-only migration, except that you will also complete the file transfer
phase.

Once this is done, you will have a full copy of your Pro/INTRALINK 3.x environment to
test in Pro/INTRALINK 8.0. This environment will be what you use in production and
should be used to test, document, and validate your planned process and usage of Pro/
INTRALINK 8.0. Any configuration can be exported and stored for usage once the final
migration is completed.

The production migration should run identical to the test migration. The main
difference here is that your production Pro/INTRALINK 3.x environment must be shut
down to end-users. Many companies complete this migration during off-hours to
minimize the impact on operations. Completing a successful test migration helps
immensely when planning for your final migration and rollout to production.
Furthermore, it minimizes any unforeseen issues that may affect the migration and
ultimately user productivity.
Once the final migration is completed, any exported configurations from testing can be
implemented and the new production Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 system is fully migrated.

5. Post-Migration Tasks

After completing your production migration, there are still a few tasks to complete. The
first is to ensure the proper vaulting of any new data or documentation. All existing data
must be migrated into an external vault, but new data (by default) will be configured for
storage within Oracle as BLOBS (Binary Large OBjectS). This is generally not preferred
because it can affect performance. Resetting your vaulting rules will quickly address this
issue.

Second, if you are upgrading to Windchill PDMLink, there is a final step in the Data
Migrator that is used to create WTParts for each CAD document.

And third, you will want to schedule the queue manager to publish viewables and
thumbnails for your recently migrated data and Index the database where appropriate.
At this point, the system should be ready for full-production usage.

Final Considerations

Now that you have successfully migrated to Pro/INTRALINK 8.0, what do you do next?
Well, there are many places to go to enhance your environment. One might be to
upgrade it to PDMLink and incorporate your ECO/ECN control processes with
Windchill. Another might be to integrate your PDM release into an ERP/MRP system.
Yet another might be to just get more people in your enterprise to review and/or red-
line the design data.

With Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 installed, these are many more options and possibilities out
there. Good luck and best wishes with all your migration challenges!

Scott Carmichael is CTO of NxRev, Inc. in Santa Clara, CA. He can be

reached by email at scott@nxrev.com.
Logging System for Developing in Windchill
Rendering with
8.0 Realism
By Dmitry Tkach, isLaNd Inc.
Setting the Standard

In software development, logging is the process of inserting statements into the program
CADTRAIN Goes to
that provide some kind of output information that is useful to the developer. Examples
PTC University
of logging are trace statements, dumping of structures and the familiar System.out.
println or printf debug statements.
Prove Your Mettle
in the 2006 PTC
Log4j is a popular logging package written in Java. One of its distinctive features is the Awards
notion of inheritance. Using a logger hierarchy, it is possible to control which log Competition
statements are output at what granularity. This helps reduce the volume of logged
output and minimize the cost of logging.
PTC Executive
Meeting Summary:
One of the advantages of the log4j API is its manageability. Once the log statements are Progress Continues
inserted into the code, you can control them with configuration files. They can be
selectively enabled or disabled, and sent to multiple output targets in different formats. Generating a 3D
The log4j package is designed so that log statements can remain in shipped code without PCB in Pro/
reducing performance. ENGINEER

In the following example, we use log4j in Windchill to eliminate the headache of Creating Flexible
maintaining thousands of System.out.println statements. But first we need to do some Components in Pro/
customization. ENGINEER
Wildfire
Setup
Planning Your
Upgrade from Pro/
To use the tools we are about to install, you must set up the operating environment so
INTRALINK 3.x to
that the tools know where to find what they need and the operating system knows where
8.0
to find the tools.
Logging System for
1. Download the log4j distribution from http://jakarta.apache.org/log4j/docs/download. Developing in
html. (During installation, Windchill 8.0 loj4j.jar is already there.) Windchill 8.0

2. Extract the archived files to some suitable directory.

The Logger

The Logger is the core component of the logging process. In log4j, there are five normal
levels of logger available (not including custom levels). The following descriptions are
borrowed from the log4j API (http://jakarta.apache.org/log4j/docs/api/index.html).

· Static Level DEBUG. Designates fine-grained informational events that are most
useful to debug an application.
· Static Level INFO. Designates informational messages that highlight the progress of
the application at coarse-grained level.

· Static Level WARN. Designates potentially harmful situations.

· Static Level ERROR. Designates error events that might still allow the application to
continue running.

· Static Level FATAL. Designates very severe error events that will presumably lead
the application to abort.

In addition, there are two special levels of logging available. (Descriptions borrowed
from the log4j API http://jakarta.apache.org/log4j/docs/api/index.html.)

· Static Level ALL. Has the lowest possible rank and is intended to turn on all logging.

· Static Level OFF. Has the highest possible rank and is intended to turn off logging.

You can use any of seven levels: Level.DEBUG, Level.INFO, Level.WARN, Level.
ERROR, Level.FATAL, Level.ALL and Level.OFF.

For our example here, we created the package in src/ext folder and called – logging.

src/ext/logging/LoggingService.java

src/ext/logging/LoggingServiceFwd.java

src/ext/logging/LogginServiceHelper.java

src/ext/loggin/StandardLoggingService.java

src/ext/logging/LoggingUtils.java

To check the loading process using log files, we need to configure Log4j for Windchill
Server. Log4j is initialized via a property file. Two configuration files exists. The primary
one is <i>PDM.lsf</i> in the codebase directory of the Windchill server. For
development purposes, a developer may create a <i>PDMdev.lcf</i> exists. <i>PDM.
lsf</i> will not be used.

The Appender

The Appender controls how the logging is output. The available appenders are as
follows. (Descriptions borrowed from the log4j API http://jakarta.apache.org/log4j/
docs/api/index.html.)

· ConsoleAppender: Appends log events to System.out or System.err using a layout

specified by the user. The default target is System.out.

· FileAppender. Appends log events to a file.

· DailyRollingFileAppender. Extends FileAppender so that the underlying file is

rolled over at a user chosen frequency.
· RollingFileAppender. Extends FileAppender to back up the log files when they
reach a certain size.

· WriterAppender. Appends log events to a Writer or an OutputStream depending on

the user's choice.

· SMTPAppender. Sends an email when a specific logging event occurs, typically on

errors or fatal errors.

· SocketAppender. Sends LoggingEvent objects to a remote a log server, usually a

SocketNode.

· SocketHubAppender. Sends LoggingEvent objects to a set of remote log servers,

usually SocketNodes.

· SyslogAppender Sends messages to a remote syslog daemon.

· TelnetAppender. Specializes in writing to a read-only socket.

You can also implement the Appender interface to create your own ways of outputting
log statements.

PDM-Wide Log4j Configuration

Here is a sample PDM.lsf configuration file that would go in the Windchill logs folder.

Appenders

Stdout is set to be a ConsoleAppender that outputs to System.out.

log4j.appender.stdout=org.apache.log4j.ConsoleAppender

log4j.appender.stdout.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout

log4j.appender.stdout.threshold=WARN

The method server adds a timestamp to every line, so don't do it via log4j too.

log4j.appender.stdout.layout.ConversionPattern=%-5p %c{1} - %m%n

Send Deere messages to $WT_HOME/logs/test.log

log4j.appender.test=org.apache.log4j.RollingFileAppender

log4j.appender.test.File=${deere.logs.dir}/test.log

log4j.appender.test.MaxFileSize=6MB
log4j.appender.test.MaxBackupIndex=0

log4j.appender.test.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout

log4j.appender.test.layout.ConversionPattern=%d{DATE} %-5p %c{1}

- %m%n

Loggers

By default, everything goes to the stdout appender.

log4j.rooLogger=WARN, stdout

For third-party packages, we only want priority WARN or above. Some of these
packages use Jakarta Commons Logging wrapper which, when log4j is found on the
classpath, routes the logs through log4.

log4j.logger.org.apache=WARN

log4j.logger.org.apache.commons.httpclient=WARN

log4j.logger.httpclient.wire=WARN

log4j.logger.ext.cf.loaders.Test=DEBUG, deere

log4j.additivity.ext.cf.loaders.Test=false

Setup for Windchill

So now, to configure several log files at once for each module, you need to set up log4j
for Windchill Server.

1. Copy the log4j.jar archive to the Windchill codebase directory.

2. Create the PDM.lcf (production servers) or PDMDev.lcf (development servers)

3. Initialize the log4j in the new sources code files if you need.

4. Restart the Tomcat and Method Server.

Dmitry Tkach is software architect at isLaNd Inc.(www.ittechstar.com).

He can be reached by email at dmitrytkach1@hotmail.com.
Setting the Standard
Rendering with
Realism

Setting the Standard

CADTRAIN Goes to
PTC University

Prove Your Mettle

by Evan Caille, President of PTC/USER in the 2006 PTC
Awards
Competition
“The beauty of standards is there are so many to choose from, you can just pick the one
you like.” How many times have you heard someone say this—only partly in jest?
PTC Executive
Meeting Summary:
As engineers, we benefit from standards that ensure part commonality and help us meet Progress Continues
safety, environmental, and ergonomic regulations. For example, fastener standards
make it easier to specify parts and have confidence that any manufacturer meeting those
Generating a 3D
standards will produce something that conforms to our needs. PCB in Pro/
ENGINEER
As a case of standards being used to improve the health and safety of people, take the
development of boiler standards by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in Creating Flexible
1914–15. During the prior 35 years, over 10,000 boiler explosions were recorded—many Components in Pro/
resulting in loss of life. The boiler standard was a voluntary guideline that many state ENGINEER
and foreign governments adopted and incorporated it into law. (See http://anniversary. Wildfire
asme.org/history.shtml for more details.)
Planning Your
On the other hand, standards can be a detriment if they are issued before a specific Upgrade from Pro/
technology matures. The effect can be unrealistic constraints that inhibit innovation or INTRALINK 3.x to
widespread adoption by the marketplace. We see instances throughout history where 8.0
innovative approaches supplanted the so-called standard at the time. This is often
because the new approach is a simpler and less costly solution that leads to widespread Logging System for
adoption—eventually becoming the de-facto standard. The success of TCP/IP as a Developing in
network protocol is a clear example of this. Windchill 8.0

Another interesting example involves railway track gauges. One would think that a
single-track gauge would be used to enable the free flow of goods across the rail
network. In actuality, early railroad companies adopted one of several rail gauges for
various economic and practical reasons. This meant that goods often had to be offloaded
from one railcar onto another in order to traverse the US. It wasn’t until after the 1860s
that there was a common gauge across the Northern and Southern states. This brings to
mind the efforts we sometimes go through to exchange data between two different CAD
systems.

It can also take years for everyone to adopt a particular standard. Time zones are a case
in point. Before they existed, each community adjusted its clock to solar time. This is a
classic case of everyone setting their own “standard.” This meant the people living in the
same community could agree on the exact time. But if you visited a neighboring
community, your watch could be off by several minutes or more. Because of the
distances involved, train travel exacerbated the problem. As trains moved between
terminuses, they would either be running ahead of or behind time depending on
whether they were going east or west. This made it very difficult to schedule arrivals and
departures. To remedy the situation, the railroads adopted standard time by dividing the
US into four zones so that clocks could be synchronized across the country and
timetables would be accurate. It should be noted that the railroad companies adopted
standard time several years before the general population did so. (For more info, see
http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/d.html.)

What does all this have to do with PTC/USER? As users, we are often looking for the
best, or standard, practice when it comes to using PTC tools. I firmly believe a healthy
dialog within the PTC/USER community can help us assess these practices. And I
believe evolution and variety are key watchwords. As technology evolves, these practices
must also adapt to the changing environment. In addition, each company must consider
the pros and cons of each best practice, adopting those that apply and avoiding those
that hinder.

It is safe to say that across industries, there is a wide range of suitable best practices. So
I encourage everyone to share their experience with fellow users, whether on the PTC/
USER mail exploder or at our conferences. One forum that we found to be particularly
effective at the 2005 World Event in Orlando was a panel session devoted to companies’
experiences of adopting Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire. Audience members were able to ask
numerous questions about how they might achieve the same success at their own
companies. Out of this followup Q&A session came numerous tips on how to conduct
user training and how to configure the system environment. As attendees have attested,
the value of this information exchange was immense.

As the new year begins, we at PTC/USER reaffirm our commitment to setting the
standard for providing valuable information, sharing opportunities with our
membership, and serving as the voice of the customer to PTC.

Evan Caille works at HP in Houston, TX. He can be reached via e-mail at

evan@ptcuser.org.