Tim,
https://www.ptc.com/appserver/cs/view/solution.jsp?n=113146 tells us:
Both Pro/ENGINEER 2001 (Datecode 2001320 or higher) and Pro/DESKTOP 2001 are built on PTC's Granite kernel. Because they share this common geometry kernel, both applications can now read native CAD files generated by the other system. For example, a Pro/ENGINEER 2001 user can use the FILE/OPEN menu to import a Pro/DESKTOP 2001 .des file. Furthermore, a Pro/DESKTOP 2001 user can use the FILE/OPEN menu to import a Pro/ENGINEER 2001 .prt file.
In addition to being able to read the other system's files, PTC's Associative Topology Bus (ATB) can be used to support associative update of the imported geometry. For example, a Pro/ENGINEER user imports a Pro/DESKTOP model and then builds additional geometry that references the imported geometry. If the reference Pro/DESKTOP model is changed by the Pro/DESKTOP user, the Pro/ENGINEER user can associatively update the imported geometry in his Pro/ENGINEER model to incorporate these changes.
Although both CAD systems use the same geometry kernel, Pro/ENGINEER and Pro/DESKTOP files are not interchangeable. While each system can read the information stored in the other's files, the format of the other system's files is not native to that system. Pro/ENGINEER cannot directly open a Pro/DESKTOP file, or vice versa. Similar to standard data exchange formats such as STEP or IGES, the importing system must create a copy of the data in its own native file format to make use of the data. For example, when a Pro/ENGINEER user imports the Pro/DESKTOP file "bolt.des", Pro/ENGINEER creates a native Pro/ENGINEER file named "bolt.prt" containing an import feature representing the geometry of "bolt.des". If the Pro/E user decides to add feature content to this new "bolt.prt" file, such as a hole or round, they are not affecting the original, native "bolt.des" file; the new geometry is only stored in the new, copied "bolt.prt" file. Each CAD system can only make modifications to its native files. Therefore, Pro/ENGINEER cannot be used to change a native Pro/DESKTOP .des file, and conversely Pro/DESKTOP cannot be used to change a native Pro/ENGINEER .prt file.
For more information, please review the following help topics in both the Pro/ENGINEER and Pro/DESKTOP help documentation respectively:
Pro/ENGINEER:
About Working within the Accociative Topology Bus Environment
To Automatically Update a Pro/DESKTOP, ICEM, or CDRS Model in Pro/ENGINEER
Pro/DESKTOP:
Using Files Concurrently
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Martin
Martin Hanák
