Simulate crashes on startup

[ptc-998778]

I have a model that opens fine in Creo Simulate 2.0 but not in 3.0. I open the file in Creo 3.0 and as soon as I go to Simulate, the program crashes without any message. The attached three files are output. Any ideas how to resolve the issue?

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[danderson]

Jeff,

Before going into Simulate do you have a green status dot when you regenerate the model in parameteric mode?

There was an issue where if there were any missing models or failures creo would not let you into Simulate (early Creo) and would crash the system. Do you have any feature failures, assumed references, missing components, component placement failures?

Hope this helps,
Don

[ptc-998778]

Don,

Yes, the status dot is green.

Thanks

Jeff

[danderson]

Jeff,

In creo parameteric outside of simulate go to the model tab > hit drop down arrow under regenerate > regeneration manager > hit Ok if asked > in the regeneration manager select Preferences > select Failure Handling > Select Resolve Mode > select Save Perference

When your done do the same procedure but select Resolve mode to set it back

Now Regenerate the model > do you get any error?

Also take a look at the Geomchecks

When your done do the same procedure but select Resolve mode to set it back

Don

[danderson]

Jeff,

Do you have any copy geom features or merges that are set to independent? (casting maching merge ex)

Don

[ptc-998778]

Don,

I did the Regerate Manager thing and got no errors. From the geom check, I get "M3b: Tangential Discontinuity - surface boundaries" on all three parts and "SU8: Small Edge Segment" on the two thin parts. The tangent thing seems to just be pointing out that my rectangular blocks have sharp edges, which is intended. The small edge thing seems to just be pointing out that the thin parts are thin, as intended. I get no geom check messages at the assembly level.

I opened each of the three parts in turn and tried to go to simulate and it is only the ESCO_ZQ975275200_7P5X2P75X2P0.PRT file that causes the crash. This is a simple rectangular block consisting of the default datum planes and coord sys and a single extrude. If it didn't open ok in Creo 2.0, I would say the file was corrupted and start over. I guess I could just recreate it in Creo 3.0.

[mfischer]

Hi Jeff,

You are correct, it appears to be the ESCO_ZQ975275200_7P5X2P75X2P0.PRT part that is causing the issue.

Have you raised this with technical support? Can you please email me the call number at -?

I am investigating the issue to discover the cause.

Will be back shortly.

Thanks,

Mark

[ptc-998778]

I went back and opened the one bad part in Simulate 2.0 and noticed that it had a material assigned in the part file and the material definition had no data in it. I removed the material assignment, saved, and opened it in 3.0 and Simulate did not crash. I don't know how the empty material got there or why 3.0 is sensitive to it where 2.0 was not but my immediate problem seems to be solved. Thanks all.

[mfischer]

Thanks Jeff for the update. I verified this as well.

However, I am continuing to investigate why Creo 3.0 crashed. What was the cause? Why 3.0 is sensitive to it where 2.0 was not.

Will provide an answer shortly.

Thanks,

mark

[mfischer · Accepted solution]

Hi all,

We have discovered the problem and it will be addressed in Creo 3.0 M100.

In the event of such a crash, a workaround will be to check if the description field is blank for the assigned material of the model. This can be done through Creo Parametric by selecting: File > Prepare > Model Properties > Material - Change, to open the material dialog. On the right side of the screen will be the applied material. Double clicking on the material will open the material definition dialog where you will see the material details. If the description field is blank, please add some text and click OK. Now you can close the material properties dialog and access Simulate via Application > Simulate.

In the future build, this step will not be necessary, as Simulate will handle the situation when the description field is blank.

Regards,

Mark

[TomD.inPDX]

Mark... please confirm: Creo 3.0 M100! or did you mean very quickly as in M010? M100 seems a long way off for such a critical function to fail for such a simple oversight.

[mfischer]

Hi Antonius,

You are correct...that was a typo in my reply. The issue will be addressed in Creo 3.0 M010.

Thanks,

Mark

[TomD.inPDX]

That makes me much happier

[mfischer]

Hi all,

I have been speaking with development and it appears this issue is not a direct result of the material having a missing description. The issue stemmed from a corrupt material assigned to the model. We introduced a new enhancement in Creo Simulate 3.0 for Unicode support which would allow multi-language characters in a single file.

When opening a model in Simulate, the program checks all text strings throughout the model. In this case, when it came upon the material description it failed due to the material definition corruption. The check returned a value of NULL for the description of the particular material assigned.

NOTE: You do not need to add a description to each material. In fact we have many materials in our library with blank descriptions.

To resolve the issue for this particular material, you can open the given model in Creo Parametric and access the material definition dialog for the assigned material. Then you can add anything in the description field to overwrite the NULL value. Once saved, this model can be used in Creo Simulate without issue.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

When editing your material file, the proper technique would be to do so through the Creo Material Definition dialog. We ask users not to edit the *.mtl file in a text editor as this could cause corruption.

This issue is unique to this model and the particular material assigned. I do not anticipate this to be an issue for most users. With that said, PTC development will be submitting a fix to avoid similar crashes when a NULL string is encountered.

At this time, the fix will be submitted into Creo 3.0 M020.

If you have any questions, you can email me directly at -.

Regards,

Mark

[TomD.inPDX]

Thank you Mark. The detailed reply is really appreciated.