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Ketan_Lalcheta1-Visitor
1-Visitor
October 7, 2019
Solved

Where is custom format file?

  • October 7, 2019
  • 1 reply
  • 6247 views

Hi

 

I have created a new format file (newfrm.frm) and saved it on local disk.

 

Created  a new part and drawing of the new part. Drawing was created using reference of format file. Saved drawing and part into same folder that of format file.

 

So, now I have three files in  a folder that is .prt,.drw and .frm. Opening drawing from these would have .frm in session also. this behavior is known to me as well.

 

Now I copied .drw and .prt (not .frm) onto some other location on system. Opening of .drw from this location is not loading .frm file into session. Creating backup of this .drw is not saving .frm file also. But when I lookinto .drw file , content of .frm is present. My concern is how this reference is available in .drw file?

Best answer by TomU

The .frm file is not a dependency of the drawing. The information is copied into the drawing with no links. Windchill check-in does not do the format files, only the part and drawing.

@BenLoosli, this is not entirely correct.

 

1.)  The drawing *does* have a dependency to the format and Windchill is very much aware of this dependency.

clipboard_image_0.png

 

2.)  When a drawing is added to the workspace, the required format *will* be brought along with it if you're collecting required dependents for the drawing.  Where this breaks down a bit is collecting parts (or assemblies) and selecting the "all drawings" option.  Dependency checking is not performed for the drawings in this case and the format won't be retrieved until you actually try to open the drawing.

 

3.)  Only *drawing tables* are copied from the format into the drawing.  Everything else in the format is only displayed in the drawing while the format is loaded and available.  Notes, pictures, etc. do not get copied from the format to the drawing.

 

1 reply

B
23-Emerald III
BenLoosli23-Emerald III
23-Emerald III
October 7, 2019

A couple of things.

The format is copied into the drawing file, so you do not need to reference it when you move the files. The drawing contains all of the information of the format. Like a start part file, the data is copied into your new file. Template files are also copied into your files. I have a format which is put into a drawing template. The designers use the drawing template as there starting point for new drawings.

You need to define in your config,pro file the location of your formats (Templates, start parts, formats, etc.) so the system always knows where to find these default files. These are all on a network shared drive so all designers have the same files.

pro_format_dir X:\Systems\PTC_Settings\Formats

pro_symbol_dir X:\Systems\PTC_Settings\symbol

start_model_dir X:\Systems\PTC_Settings\Templates
template_solidpart X:\Systems\PTC_Settings\Templates\start_part.prt
template_designasm X:\Systems\PTC_Settings\Templates\start_asm.asm
template_sheetmetalpart X:\Systems\PTC_Settings\Templates\start_smetal.prt

(not my rear path names) 🙂
template_drawing X:\OR\Engineering\Systems\PTC_Settings\Templates\cts-d.drw

 

    K
    Ketan_Lalcheta1-VisitorAuthor
    1-Visitor
    October 7, 2019

    Hi

     

    Thanks a lot for this information. I got to know that .frm details is embedded into drawing. Additional questions on this are as below:

     

    Case 1 : If I have a drawing prepared using .frm and not having physical file of format file with me. I opened .drw which has content of .frm embedded into it. Is there a chance I get .frm name as dependency of drawing? Without .frm file, if I check in .prt and .drw ; does it take into account that it has needed to have .frm file as well? Uploading .frm later stage would like automatically with .drw or not?

     

    Case 2 : If I have a drawing prepared using .frm and not having physical file of format file with me, can i get it somehow from drawing? I guess no, I could not get it. In this case, how to prepare new drawing from same .frm files?

     

    Case 3: I created drawing from frm file. Kept drawing at other location and not keeping .frm file there. With this also, .frm content is available into drawing. Now, If I open .frm (not with drw) from earlier location, modify it and keep new frm into the location of drawing where there is no .frm present at all. In this situation, do we get updated .frm content into drawing?

     

    Feel free to ask for any confusion.

     

    B
    23-Emerald III
    BenLoosli23-Emerald III
    23-Emerald III
    October 7, 2019

    The .frm file is not a dependency of the drawing. The information is copied into the drawing with no links. Windchill check-in does not do the format files, only the part and drawing. The formats are stored in Windchill so when you crate a drawing and the system pulls the format file into your workspace, it is not marked as a new file. This allows you to check-in the without the format linkage since the format is already in Windchill.

     

    If you have the drawing on another machine and no format, you cannot get the format from the drawing, easily. You could delete all information and save as to a format file, maybe.

    To use the same format on a new drawing without having the format, save-as to your original drawing and then remove the model and views. Add new model and views as needed.

     

    No, a modified format does not update in an existing drawing. The format is copied into the drawing. Drawing setup will allow you to change the format to an updated one. If the format file has the same name it takes a few loops to get it done.

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