Different CAD versions

[Ketan_Lalcheta]

Hi

I am not sure how one can have different CAD file versions.

case 1 :

• Parts of Creo 4.0
• Assembly of Creo 2.0
• Drawing of Creo 2.0

In above scenario, I assume that All data were in Creo 2.0. One can update one part and save it onto Creo 4.0 and delete part version saved in Creo 2.0. With all these, Can one open drawing in Creo 2.0? I guess no as one of the part is saved in Creo 4.0 ... But drawing can be opened into Creo 4.0. Is this correct understanding?

case 2 : Below scenario is something confusing for me:

• Parts of Creo 2.0
• Assembly of Creo 2.0
• Drawing of Creo 4.0

Here earlier all data must be of Creo 2.0 and then one is trying to save drawing into Creo 4.0. With these saving , alll data i.e. parts and assemblies will also not be saved as Creo 4.0 data?

Feel free to ask in case of any confusion.

Thanks and Regards

Ketan

[Chris3]

Case 1:

• If you have previous versions of the Creo 4 part you can roll back to the last iteration it was saved in Creo 2 and then continue from there. You can open the .prt files with a text editor (like notepad) and in the header part that is readable it will say what version the part was saved in.
• Alternatively you can bring everything up to Creo 4 (assembly and drawing)
• You may also be able to open the Creo 4 part in Creo 2 with the granite plugin. Be aware that the plugin doesn't always work, its a clunky technology and I haven't tested this specific use case so I am not positive it will work. Information about the plugin is here:
  http://support.ptc.com/products/granite/gcri/index.htm

Case 2:

As soon as something is modified in a newer version of the software it "upgrades" the file to that newer version. If in this case the drawing was simply opened and saved then yes it is possible that just the drawing would be upgraded to Creo 4 and not the parts and assemblies. That being said it is usually the case that the referenced part or assembly gets modified when working on a drawing so in this case any modified parts or assemblies  would get upgraded along with the drawing.

[MartinHanak]

Hi,

case 1 :

• Parts of Creo 4.0
• Assembly of Creo 2.0
• Drawing of Creo 2.0

Creo 2.0 will not open parts, assembly, drawing

Creo 4.0 will open parts, assembly, drawing

case 2 : Below scenario is something confusing for me:

• Parts of Creo 2.0
• Assembly of Creo 2.0
• Drawing of Creo 4.0

Creo 2.0 will open parts, assembly

Creo 2.0 will not open drawing

Creo 4.0 will open parts, assembly, drawing

[Ketan_Lalcheta]

Thanks to both of you for responding on this. It is a bit clearer to me. 

Below is my conclusion for our own scenarios:

1. All parts, Assembly and drawing were prepared in Creo 2.0. Post that we migrated to Creo 4.0 and modified one part only into Creo 4.0 and there is absolutely nothing (Not even opening of CAD into Creo) done on assembly and drawing. With this : 
   • Case 1.1 : We would be able to directly open drawing into Creo 4.0. Is this correct?
   • Case 1.2 : Before check in to windchill, we need to save drawing opened into Creo 4.0. These would update Creo drawing version as 4.0 along with all associated parts , assemblies and sub assemblies. Is this correct?
   • Case 1.3 : Before check in to windchill, we need to save drawing opened into Creo 4.0. These would update only Creo drawing version to 4.0 . Rest all parts (except one which was saved in Creo 4.0) and assemblies would be of version Creo 2.0 only. Is this correct?
2. All parts, Assembly and drawing were prepared in Creo 2.0. Post that we migrated to Creo 4.0 and need to modify one parameter only for an assembly into Creo 4.0 and there is absolutely nothing (Not even opening of CAD into Creo) done on assembly and drawing. With this : 
   
   • Case 2.1 : When we will open assembly into Creo 4.0 and save it, all other sub assemblies and parts would remain of the version 2.0 only. Is this correct?

Thank you so much again for your valuable thoughts on this.

Regards

Ketan

[MartinHanak]

---

@Ketan_Lalcheta wrote:

Thanks to both of you for responding on this. It is a bit clearer to me. 

Below is my conclusion for our own scenarios:

1. All parts, Assembly and drawing were prepared in Creo 2.0. Post that we migrated to Creo 4.0 and modified one part only into Creo 4.0 and there is absolutely nothing (Not even opening of CAD into Creo) done on assembly and drawing. With this : 
   • Case 1.1 : We would be able to directly open drawing into Creo 4.0. Is this correct?
   • Case 1.2 : Before check in to windchill, we need to save drawing opened into Creo 4.0. These would update Creo drawing version as 4.0 along with all associated parts , assemblies and sub assemblies. Is this correct?
   • Case 1.3 : Before check in to windchill, we need to save drawing opened into Creo 4.0. These would update only Creo drawing version to 4.0 . Rest all parts (except one which was saved in Creo 4.0) and assemblies would be of version Creo 2.0 only. Is this correct?
2. All parts, Assembly and drawing were prepared in Creo 2.0. Post that we migrated to Creo 4.0 and need to modify one parameter only for an assembly into Creo 4.0 and there is absolutely nothing (Not even opening of CAD into Creo) done on assembly and drawing. With this : 
   
   • Case 2.1 : When we will open assembly into Creo 4.0 and save it, all other sub assemblies and parts would remain of the version 2.0 only. Is this correct?

Thank you so much again for your valuable thoughts on this.

Regards

Ketan

---

Hi,

• answer to Case 1.1 ... Yes
• all other Cases ... for me it is difficult to guess what is going on on your site ... suggestion: create test data and verify all situations by yourself

[Chris3 · Accepted solution]

1.1: Yes

1.2 and 1.3: The drawing will be saved as Creo 4. Whether or not the parts or assemblies get saved is dependent on the regeneration status of those parts. If nothing is different, they will stay Creo 2. If any of them change as a result of regeneration then they will be saved as Creo 4. Just opening a part or assembly can modify it depending on if it has external references, and or it regeneration state when it was last saved.

2.1: Again it depends on the regeneration status of the parts. See above. It could be true that only the assembly gets modified but it could also be true based on the regeneration status that other parts get modified.

If this is really a deal killer for your organization should should simply open the assembly in Creo 2 and make the change in Creo 2.

Keep in mind that once something has been saved in Creo 4 all parent assemblies, drawings, external references will need to be updated to Creo 4.

[Ketan_Lalcheta]

Thank you so much for detailed explanation.

We thought to open drawing into Creo 4.0 in any case (any of the file is Saved into Creo 4.0 Or All of the file is saved into Creo 4.0 or none of the file ) , save it and do check in into Windchill. This is automation task we are aiming for.

But you have mentioned that "Keep in mind that once something has been saved in Creo 4 all parent assemblies, drawings, external references will need to be updated to Creo 4." ---> Any reason to do so? Can't we keep version as it is and just open drawing into Creo 4.0, save it and do check in.

Another doubt is about config option. I presume that option is save_all_objects as true / yes. Setting this option would solve the purpose of saving all data to Creo 4.0. Does opening drawing into Creo 4.0 and saving the same forces all dependent parts / sub assemblies and assembly to save new version into Creo 4.0 with option save_all_object as true / yes?

[Chris3]

I wouldn't force a save to Creo 4 just for the sake of upgrading the file format to Creo 4. There is no benefit to doing so. Said another way I would not enable save_all_objects to yes just to force parts to Creo 4. If a part doesn't need to be modified it can stay in whatever version it was created in. I suspect like most companies you have library parts. Your users probably don't have access to these library parts and so setting save_all_objects to yes would create headaches for users that can't actually check out parts they don't have access to.

Likewise there is no reason to go into any parent components and save them. My point previously was that if you need to open a parent component and any of the children are Creo 4 then the parent components will also need to then be opened in Creo 4.

[Ketan_Lalcheta]

Thank you chris3 and MartinHanak for your explanation.

I am much more clear on this now...Thank you so much..

[StephenW]

I'm curious about the automation task. Are you bringing models/drawings from an external source in to windchill for the first time? I'm guessing so based on what I have read.

There are multiple ways to get files in to Windchill but if you are opening the files within Creo (from a hard drive for example) and then saving the file in a workspace, that will update all files to Creo 4.

[Ketan_Lalcheta]

Yes , you read it right...

We are to automate windchill upload..... For that, we need to open drawing into Creo 4.0 from local / shared drive, save it and then do check in... CAD files are getting uploaded for the first time...

But how does windchill workspace play an important role...? You mean to say that windchill workspace forces all files to be updated as creo version 4 files ?

[BenLoosli]

There are methods to bulk load Windchill.

Files brought into Windchill from disk through Creo will be saved in that version of Creo when saved in Windchill. There is no way around this fact with this method.

If you bulk load files, then they would be imported into Windchill in their current version format.

[StephenW]

Definitely, if you use creo to import the files, they will save in to the workspace to the software version used. Technically, it will be a different file at that point than the one on the hard drive.

If you are uploading a lot of files, definitely look in to what Ben is saying about bulk uploading.