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Can file extensions be changed?

dmiller327

New member
We are moving from ProE to NX5. Its is a little disconcerting that UG, part, assembly and drawing files all use .prt as their extension. I don't like the addition of "model", "assembly" or " dwg" to the end of our part numbers. It eats up alot of space, not only in our drawing but also in our job software.


Ideally we would like to configure UG to use asm extension for assemblies, prt extension for parts and drw extensions for drawings. Is this possible?


What other solutions are people using to make UG file names more friendly?


Thanks,


D.Miller
 
Interesting most likely we will be making the same move in a few years. Teamcenter 1st. Is there a character limit to the file name like there is with pro-e?
 
I don't know if UG has a character limit. I wouldn't be surprised if the limit were something like 32, 64, 128 ect characters. For us UG's limit is not the issue. We have drawing formats we need to develop which will provide adequate room for our part numbers. (We have always used thepart number as our drawing number).


Currently we use a 8 digit number (46000120) with the last place used to indicate the rev level. (eg rev 0,A, B, C ect). We also use the part number as a base forjob numbers in our manufacturing software(JobBoss). We are often close to our JobBoss character limit when assigning job numbers to lower level component jobs.


We may need to make some adjustments in proceduresnow that we are usingUG but it's preferable to make small adjustments toUG and avoid significant disruption to our current job processing procedures.


I welcome comments both specific to changing extensions and more general related to part and drawing numbers and job traveling processes.


It is important to mention that we use no pdm. No I-man, team center, interlink ect.
 
You cannot change the file extensions and still have NX recognize the files. And even if you could you would NOT want to use the same extensions as Pro/E.


Filename character limit in UG/NX used to be 36 characters, but I just created a 39 character filename plus the extension. I think the limit is now 256.


The revsison character needs to be in a format that NX can use for automatic updating, whcih I believe requires a defined separater between the filename and the revision.


Look into some of the automation tools available for NX that allow you to verify the data entered before the file is created. I have several GRIP programs that create parts, save them, save as to new names and creates and fills out the drawing format. I haven't done any updating to these programs since V18, as I now work with Pro/E, and I know that NX has made drastic changes to the way drawings are created and attributes have been enhanced.


If you can search the UG Users Group archives, it may be out there, I gave a talk on the drawing format program in 1997, I think.
 
Ther really is no need to identify the type of file using naming conventions when using Teamcenter. In Tc, the model is a UGMASTER dataset type and if it is an assembly it will contain a BOM view. As for the drawing, it is a UGPART dataset type which uses the model as it's component (master model concept). You cam easily tell what each dataset is.


Let Tc do what it does and you shouldn't have any problem.
 
Thankyou for your response, howeverwe are not using Teamcenter or any other pdm system. We have about five users and we are carefull to stay out of each others hair.
 

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