Customization of proe

[amol.kinkar]

Hi,


This is Amol.


I got opportunity to work as Cad Admin in my organisation.


As i am CAD user i have less awareness about standerdisation and customization of proe. so can someone help me.

 

[Hatim]

There are so many aspects to that.


First you need to think about your object templates (templates for parts, assemblies, drawings...) Discuss within the team what layers, parameters, units, etc. need to be included in part and assembly templates. So much learning here required.


You need to customize config.pro. It's a confiuration file that controls the working environment for the software. Many variables there will be of great interest to your company. Config.pro will aaplied globally to the organization and then copied to individual client machines to further pesonlization by each user.


anyfilename.dtl that controls detail options for your drawings.


config.win on each client machine to personalize interface.


Set up directories for libraries of different items (tables, notes, symbols, materials, graphic library, object templates, and many more) Each path is defined within config.pro with an option.


I don't mean to overwhel you here but you're talking about at least a week of work for customization - impossible to describe in a forum.

 

[msummers]

Only a week?

 

[dgs]

There is a lot to know. I'd take it slow, start first with templates and understanding Pro|E config files. Your organization may already have template files, if not (and I'm surprised how many don't) you need to work with the users to define them.

You'll also need to understand how Pro|E config files work. There are 3 basic types:

<ul>[*]config.pro - basic settings file for how Pro|E functions[*]config.win - settings for the toolbars and menus, where things are located etc.[*]config.sup - a special version of the config.pro. This file must be read first and any setting in it cannot be overridden by other files or even later lines in the config.sup file. Therefore, you shouldn't put in options like 'mapkey' or 'search_path' which can legitimately have more than one instance.[/list]
Config files are read at start up from these locations, in this order:

1. The 'text' folder of your Pro|E installation. This is where your config.sup must be if you use one.
2. The user's home directory. This is defined by Windows environment variable.
3. The startup directory. This is defined by the 'Start In' field in the properties dialog for the shortcut used to launch Pro|E.

The last thing I'd touch on is philosophy. Keep in mind that if you try to force users into your mold and your way of doing things, they will rebel and find ways around your standardizations to get their work done.

My philosophy (I've been the admin here for about 6 years) is to set up Pro|E to provide consistent data across the organization and to make things easier for my users and provide them as much freedom as possible to do their work as is best for them. I have very few lines in our config.sup and many of them are to set things up to help users (plotter_command or pro_library_dir) or provide them more options (allow_anatomic_features yes for example). Others are to provide for consistent data across the user base (save_display yes).


As others have suggested, there is a lot more, but knowing how the config files work and providing a common set of templates are the biggies. Once you know how the files work, tweaking things becomes easier.

Good luck!

 

[amol.kinkar]

Thanks all of you.
Really i come to understand the pain area of admin.so i will first of all try to descrete the task in small groups like template setting,starup models, parameters and many others.But still i ve small confusion related config file. is there some help related to this if please do for needful.
How can i start with task. is there some flow chart for this process. now all of you are most experience guy's in this so u r experience will also help me.
Thanks

 

[amol.kinkar]

There are so many aspects to that.


First you need to think about your object templates (templates for parts, assemblies, drawings...) Discuss within the team what layers, parameters, units, etc. need to be included in part and assembly templates. So much learning here required.


You need to customize config.pro. It's a confiuration file that controls the working environment for the software. Many variables there will be of great interest to your company. Config.pro will aaplied globally to the organization and then copied to individual client machines to further pesonlization by each user.


anyfilename.dtl that controls detail options for your drawings.


config.win on each client machine to personalize interface.


Set up directories for libraries of different items (tables, notes, symbols, materials, graphic library, object templates, and many more) Each path is defined within config.pro with an option.


I don't mean to overwhel you here but you're talking about at least a week of work for customization - impossible to describe in a forum.

 

[amol.kinkar]

Thank you hatim.


you have shared your best experience in this field. can you do small favour for needful. i am trying to collect as much as i can but if you can guide or try to just make a path easy to reach this goal i will be really very appricaited. so can i get some help or some guidelines/tips/tricks if posiible without any burdon to you.

 

[amol.kinkar]

There is a lot to know. I'd take it slow, start first with templates and understanding Pro|E config files. Your organization may already have template files, if not (and I'm surprised how many don't) you need to work with the users to define them.

You'll also need to understand how Pro|E config files work. There are 3 basic types:


<UL>
<LI>config.pro - basic settings file for how Pro|E functions
<LI>config.win - settings for the toolbars and menus, where things are located etc.
<LI>config.sup - a special version of the config.pro. This file must be read first and any setting in it cannot be overridden by other files or even later lines in the config.sup file. Therefore, you shouldn't put in options like 'mapkey' or 'search_path' which can legitimately have more than one instance.</LI>[/list]
Config files are read at start up from these locations, in this order:

1. The 'text' folder of your Pro|E installation. This is where your config.sup must be if you use one.
2. The user's home directory. This is defined by Windows environment variable.
3. The startup directory. This is defined by the 'Start In' field in the properties dialog for the shortcut used to launch Pro|E.

The last thing I'd touch on is philosophy. Keep in mind that if you try to force users into your mold and your way of doing things, they will rebel and find ways around your standardizations to get their work done.

My philosophy (I've been the admin here for about 6 years) is to set up Pro|E to provide consistent data across the organization and to make things easier for my users and provide them as much freedom as possible to do their work as is best for them. I have very few lines in our config.sup and many of them are to set things up to help users (plotter_command or pro_library_dir) or provide them more options (allow_anatomic_features yes for example). Others are to provide for consistent data across the user base (save_display yes).


As others have suggested, there is a lot more, but knowing how the config files work and providing a common set of templates are the biggies. Once you know how the files work, tweaking things becomes easier.

Good luck!

 

[amol.kinkar]

Thank you sir.


really i got very good stuff to begin. can i expect small favour related config.sup and config.pro. if you have some extra stuff or some pdf/doc files on this i will be thankfull to you.

 

[dgs]

I don't know of any docs, I learned all of this by trial and error and asking questions. The config.pro & config.sup files are simple text files that can be edited in Pro|E (Tools - Options) or in a text editor like Notepad.

Olaf Corten on the Netherlands has a site (www.proesite.com) that lists all the config options for several builds. Click on the OCAS utilities section. Don't get overwhelmed, there are dozens and dozens of options, most of which you won't care about.

There may be something in the knowledge base at ptc.com as well.

 

[dr_gallup]

This has been mentioned above but it bears repeating.

The important thing about config.sup is that there is only one and any config option set there can NOT be over written by loading another config file. This lets you lock options that you don't want users to ever change. Be careful with this as it can be very confining if overused. In particular, never put mapkey definitions here as it means you can only have one mapkey active. It is also a bad place for search_path statements.