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AJ_TROGLIO14-Alexandrite
14-Alexandrite
August 10, 2023
Solved

Trail files - are they still useful?

  • August 10, 2023
  • 4 replies
  • 1921 views

We recently solved an on-going performance issue w/ some remote workers that was traced to a config.sup setting (trail_dir) which was dumping trail files onto a network drive.  This was a nogo suggestion from PTC dating back years.  

 

We got to wondering if trail files are even utilized to the extent they were when hardware/software was not as mature as it is today.  I've not needed to re-run a trail file in many years so I'm wondering how it would act w/ the interactions Creo has w/ Windchill these days.  

 

Thanks.  

 

 

Best answer by StephenW

It becomes way more difficult to make it work with Windchill. I successfully ran one maybe a year or 2 ago, but overall it might have taken more time to get it to work than it would have to just redo the work. I remember 20+ years, (yikes), running trail files 1-2 times a year, but I honestly can't say that I've run more than 1 or 2 times in the past 10 years.

4 replies

S
23-Emerald III
StephenW23-Emerald IIIAnswer
23-Emerald III
August 10, 2023

It becomes way more difficult to make it work with Windchill. I successfully ran one maybe a year or 2 ago, but overall it might have taken more time to get it to work than it would have to just redo the work. I remember 20+ years, (yikes), running trail files 1-2 times a year, but I honestly can't say that I've run more than 1 or 2 times in the past 10 years.

    Chris3
    Chris321-Topaz I
    21-Topaz I
    August 10, 2023

    They can still be useful. I have copied snippets out to rerun for things that mapkeys can't do. This mostly involves mouse movements and clicks.

     

    I recently had a user write a python script that finds the last 6 commands in the trail file and adds them to a mapkey so that the most recently used commands in Creo can be re-used. Some other CAD packages have this feature.

    KenFarley
    KenFarley21-Topaz II
    21-Topaz II
    August 10, 2023

    Something you can do with the trail file capability, if you're perhaps a bit more computer savvy than most seem to be these days, is to use them to automate tedious tasks. Here's a previous discussion with some ideas:

     

    community.ptc.com/t5/System-Administration/PTC-Creo-Distributed-Batch/td-p/596053

     

    J
    JeroenJanssen13-Aquamarine
    13-Aquamarine
    August 17, 2023
    • We use trail files to help analyze problems / crashes.
      • We have created a small tool, which our users can start. It collects the trail files (and some other files) and add them zipped to an email.
    • I use the active trail file to create and change (parts of) mapkeys.
      • it's fairly easy to change a piece of trail file to a mapkey (once you know what to change and skip).
      • With a "reload file" function in e.g. Notepad++ it becomes a lot faster than having to store mapkeys continuously.
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