Need help importing coordinates

[ptc-2242719]

I am on a team competing in the RWDC and I'm having trouble importing coordinates from a .txt file into pro/e, and I have no idea how to go about doing this. The coordinates below are what I'm trying to import, which is an airfoil profile.

anonymous wrote:

1.00000000 0.00000000 0.99799331 0.00036522 0.99198809 0.00145219 0.98202615 0.00323861 0.96816880 0.00569834 0.95048690 0.00881433 0.92920588 0.01237637 0.90451466 0.01645622 0.87648374 0.02123403 0.84556226 0.02680163 0.81180321 0.03308275 0.77537373 0.03996767 0.73699103 0.04733843 0.69648100 0.05519045 0.65449658 0.06339765 0.61134464 0.07179496 0.56702868 0.08033999 0.52256617 0.08829137 0.47741597 0.09585161 0.43302357 0.10200580 0.38857262 0.10745148 0.34555731 0.11138214 0.30356427 0.11408964 0.26313877 0.11529117 0.22456275 0.11508254 0.18814776 0.11339912 0.15455522 0.10978344 0.12344136 0.10437932 0.09543672 0.09649843 0.07075211 0.08608142 0.04950788 0.07367000 0.03190809 0.05965034 0.01796495 0.04519710 0.00803419 0.03097149 0.00201450 0.01575134 0.00000000 0.00000000 0.00201122 -0.00872928 0.00804129 -0.01810995 0.01807760 -0.02690123 0.03186015 -0.03493114 0.04952337 -0.04272818 0.07080405 -0.04909225 0.09555106 -0.05435719 0.12348744 -0.05898124 0.15438928 -0.06246153 0.18837516 -0.06540494 0.22456620 -0.06779466 0.26300815 -0.06952412 0.30341815 -0.07071256 0.34549305 -0.07121973 0.38890269 -0.07084584 0.43279120 -0.06970918 0.47772669 -0.06728644 0.52232870 -0.06423813 0.56722231 -0.06025593 0.61118977 -0.05600225 0.65454600 -0.05134065 0.69654128 -0.04650305 0.73690182 -0.04149645 0.77552429 -0.03623413 0.81169896 -0.03109746 0.84552700 -0.02595276 0.87659483 -0.02104637 0.90450110 -0.01657841 0.92923350 -0.01250117 0.95048354 -0.00891788 0.96811806 -0.00583042 0.98199079 -0.00332218 0.99197665 -0.00148319 0.99799150 -0.00037147 1.00000000 0.00000000

[Kevin2010]

Change the file to a .pts file. Delete the last row since it is a duplicate of the first row and add a third column to the text file and enter zero on each row to get the data in x, y, and z coordinates. Create the points using the Offset Coordinate System Datum Point tool. Select the coordinate system and import the points from the .pts file. You can then create a datum curve feature through the whole array of points.

[ptc-2242719]

Ok, I added the extra "0" column and saved it as a .pts file. I opened the model I needed to add the points to, inserted the offset coordinate points system, and clicked on import at the bottom, but when I went to the folder where I saved it, it did not show up. Why is it doing this?

[Kevin2010]

What program did you use to create the .pts file? I used Notepad. When you save the file set the Save as type to all files and the Ecoding is set to ANSI. If the Save as type was set to Text Documents it probably saved the file as *.pts.txt. To check open the folder with the file and select Tools>Folder Options, select the View tab and uncheck Hide extension for know file types.

[ptc-2242719]

I used notepad and used the .pts extension and saved it as type "all files", and it does have .pts in the file when I looked. However, instead of using import, I used update values and pasted all of my points into the notepad file it brought up, and then saved it. It did bring all of the points into the model in the right form, but all of the points were VERY small on the model. I used the scale model and entered a scale value, but that had very undesirable results.

[DELETEME]

"Kevin DeMarco" wrote:

Change the file to a .pts file. Delete the last row since it is a duplicate of the first row and add a third column to the text file and enter zero on each row to get the data in x, y, and z coordinates. Create the points using the Offset Coordinate System Datum Point tool. Select the coordinate system and import the points from the .pts file. You can then create a datum curve feature through the whole array of points.

[DELETEME]

"Kevin DeMarco" wrote:

Delete the last row since it is a duplicate of the first row and add a third column to the text file and enter zero on each row to get the data in x, y, and z coordinates. Create the points using the Offset Coordinate System Datum Point tool. Select the coordinate system and import the points from the .pts file. You can then create a datum curve feature through the whole array of points.

[Kevin2010]

The reason I said to delete the last point was that the first time I tried to import the file with the duplicate line ProE wouldn't open it. I tried it again and it worked.

[BalachanderVenu]

you can fool pro/e by selecting the point 0,0,0 and then saving the point file save as abc.pts and then edit in pro/e the points.Which will allow you to work with the workpad or notepad just paste the points with one more coloum of 0 for the z -plane. the points do appear in the screen and you can create the curve from point very easliy.... -Chander

[Kevin2010]

[/quote] I guess the assumption then is that these points are all planar to each other since you're advocating a Z value of 0? [/quote] Yes, I assumed so since he only listed two columns of data, he said it was an airfoil profile, and you need three to import point data (as far as I know).

[ptc-2242719]

I do have all of the points imported correctly and the curve drawn through all of the points, but the profile is not big enough on the model. How do I scale the profile points to be the right size on the model? Sorry for all of the confusion, but I have only been using Pro/E for a week.

[Kevin2010]

Using Edit>Scale Model will scale all the point values with the value you specify but you'll need to pick an appropriate point to determine your scale.

[ptc-2242719]

Ok, I have it scaled, but how can I delete the points, but still keep the datum curve?

[ptc-2242719]

Can someone point me to a good tutorial where it will show me how to make the points into a solid part and give it depth?

[Kevin2010]

You can hide them but you can't delete them because the curve is dependent on the points for its definition. To hide them you can select the point feature from the model tree then right mouse click and select Hide. You can't extrude from the datum curve directly. Select the extrude feature from the tool bar. Once in the tool select the placement tab and Define. You'll need to select references for the sketch. Once you are in sketch mode select Sketch>Edge>Create Edge from Entity and select the datum curve. Select the check mark to complete the sketch. You can specify a depth value for the extrude and change between a solid and surface. There are other options to explore also.

[ptc-2242719]

Ok, I followed your instructions, but I'm using the Education Edition of pro/e and instead of having sketch>edge>create edge from entity, I have sketch>edge>use. But, it did let me select the datum curve and a window came up on the right that says "Select 1 item" even though the curve is selected. Also there is a window above that that says "select use edge" and it has the check boxes for single, loop and chain. What went wrong?

[Kevin2010]

You're using the correct command. I think I gave you the description for the icon that is on the sketch tool bar. What you are seeing is the behavior of the command so nothing is wrong. Since you created a datum curve through the points and the dialog box is set to single ProE is asking you to select one item as a reference. Since the curve created was a single segment you just need the single option. Once you select the curve a yellow line should with a squigle mark on the curve. The Select 1 item stays one so you can continue to select other items to use if you had geometry that could be selected. You just need to select OK and close, or just close, on the dialog box and then select the check mark to exit out of the sketch and continue with the definition of the extrusion. Just so you can see how the other options of the Edge>Use command work create a skecth that has more than one sketch entity such as a square. Start another sketch and use the Edge>Use command to create a copy of the sketch you created. Use loop to select all the segments. If you were to use single you would have to select each entity individually. If you don't want to select all of the entities but you want more than one use chain. Select an entity then select another one and based on what you pick ProE will show the chains it can create. A dialog box will pop up with Accept, Next, Previous, and Quit. Select the chain you want and then Accept to create the sketch entities. You can then complete your sketch if you are finished.