Pro/CABLING - Spool Name in Model Tree

[sully7]

Right now, when creating a cabling spool, they are all identified in the model tree using its modelitem feature ID. This is a pain because it requires users to go into the spool manager just to find out information about the spool itself (aka, the name). Shouldn't the model tree show the Spool's name as the primary content?

Right now there IS a method of visualizing that information, but it requires adding another column for "Cabling Info->Designation". I think that it shouldn't require an extra column, it should be automatically set as the name of the feature in the model tree. (especially considering you already cannot have two spools with the same name).

At the bare minimum, there should be a config option to allow users the option to show "spool_name_in_model_tree".

[dmartin]

Showing Spool id instead of the spool's name in the Model Tree is one of those interface things that makes Creo look like 20th century software to people coming from other CAD packages. Spool ID provides no useful information to the user.

[jschau]

You are able to set up your config file so that it reads a custom tree column instead of the default one.

Use the tree column menu and set up you columns as desired. In the settings menu(Hammer and Wrench) click save setting file. Save the file to a directory. Add the mdl_tree_cfg_file to your config file and point it to the setting file.

[sully7]

Yes that's true... but it's more that the "spool id#" format is completely useless to a normal user.

Most Creo users rarely use feature IDs, and its much more useful to have the spool name as the primary thing in the tree. Plus, adding a new tree column JUST for the spool name means that the column is completely unused for almost every other feature in the tree.... it just seems like a waste of valuable space

Regardless, I'm glad to see they're implementing this change.

[jschau]

That's fair but does the feature ID column provide any actual benefit to general users across the board? For all components not just spools? The only time I use the feature columns is when I get an error and I don't have any idea of the root cause. So I do not even have those columns in my default settings.

The spool names show up in the designator column with all the connector reference designators. If you are designing a harness, almost every feature is going to be designated in some way so I would not say that is a waste of space. I would say it is a necessary column for a harness designer. I use it for finding a specific connector more than I do for the spools. It is nice having all of my cabling names in one column.

I am just curious, what action are you doing that requires you to know the names of the spools in the tree anyway? The only thing you can to do the spools in the tree is delete them or restructure their order. All the other modification are done through the cabling sub menus.

[dmartin]

Seeing which spools are in a given assembly quickly lets me know what gauge of wires I've routed, which helps me plan other assemblies, and know what connectors or ring terminals I would need for that or other assemblies. It can also give me a quick indication of the state of completeness for a given assembly. For example, if I see that I have no 22 or 28 AWG wires, I know I might not have routed certain kinds of wires yet.

Bottom line, spool ID provides absolutely no useful information and is not user-friendly. Why wouldn't you put more useful information in the model tree?

[sully7]

FYI - this has been added in Creo 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMCdVrBkpYY