Any way to set Working Directory at startup?

Perhaps there is simpler method but I know of two ways to accomplish this; by having creo run a set of commands upon startup or before Creo startup via a batch file. If it's the former, by the time Creo has loaded and sets the working directory, it may have already created some clutter files based on errors it finds in the config file, etc. Hence the reason I say below to create a "backup" location for your config files. Here are the two methods:

Method 1:

1. Keep your config files in a separate backup location
2. Create a batch file that deletes the contents of your "config" folder and copies the contents of this backup folder to that location before it runs the creo parametric command.

Pros:

• Copying files is handled before creo starts and error/temp files are created
• Your "config" folder is always clean upon starting a new session of Creo
• You always have a backup of your config files

Cons:

• If you are troublshooting a session of Creo be sure to look at the error files before they are deleted at the next session. I also suggest to keep you trail files in a separate, local directory.
• It could be problematic if you attempt to run multiple sessions of Creo with the same batch file.

Method 2:

1. Keep your config files in a separate backup location, your "config" folder becomes the trash bin.
2. Run the creo parametric command with some startup commands that automatically loads your config file and points to the backup location for all of your color files, tree configs, etc. Alternatively you could keep your config files within your "config" directory and have it just change the working direction upon startup (junk files may still be created).

Pros:

• Automates a bunch of stuff on startup so you can have it do more than just set the working directory, load config files, etc. You could even have multiple configs: one for company standards, one for personal customizations, and yet another for mapkeys.
• Your "config" folder becomes the defacto dumping grounds...perhaps rename it, and your backups location with your config files is safe.

Cons:

• A little tricky to set up but not difficult.

Personally, I use Method 2 and it works great.

Method 1 is straight forward - have your startup icon point to a batch file that runs what commands you want and then starts Creo. A method 1 batch file might look something like this (or you could just modify your parametric.bat to the following):

@echo off

delete "your dumping ground folder path here"

copy "your backup path here" "your dumping ground path here"

start "" "YourPathOrEnvironmentVariableHereTo\Parametric\bin\parametric.exe" "YourPathOrEnvironmentVariableHereTo\Parametric\bin\parametric.psf" %*

exit

Finally, change the target of your Creo icon to this batch file. Double check your parametric.bat doesn't already have any other commands that you might need to add.

For method 2, first you need to start a normal session of Creo by doing things you typically do at startup i.e. loading a config file, changing working directory, closing the browser, minimizing the UI toolbar, etc etc...anything you want automated. Then copy your trail file of the session you just started to a safe location and rename it Creo-startup.txt or something you prefer.

Now create a batch file called Creo-Startup.bat and enter the following lines:

@echo off

start "" "YourPathOrEnvironmentVariableHereTo\Parametric\bin\parametric.bat" YourPathTo\Creo-Startup.txt %*

exit

Finally, change the target of your Creo icon to this batch file. This assumes you have a parametric.bat that runs your parametric.exe file. If not, you can create one similar to method 1 above but without the delete and copy lines.

Upon startup it will run everything in the trail file you created, almost like a giant mapkey. We use it to load multiple configs and to close a few standard dialog boxes, etc. Hopefully that makes sense; post again if you get stuck.

It looks like you have a solution that you like, but I thought I'd add some more info for your consideration.

Creo looks for config files in 3 places at start up:

1. The text folder in the Creo installation (typically C:\Program Files\PTC\Creo 2.0\Common Files\[build]\text)
2. The user's home directory
3. The 'start in' folder.

The last one, where your configs reside, is also set as the initial working directory. You could set that as your preferred initial working directory and put your configs in one of the other two places. The text folder gets overwritten when Creo is upgraded, so be careful storing them there. It's better to use a batch file to copy them there from another location.