Going to creo 2

[Patriot_1776]

Ok, so, I tried loading creo 2 on my system....and it promptly WIPED OUT the Workspace I was in, making it unreadable to me trying the creo elements/pro 5.0 M180 I was previously using. Nice. Way to go PTC! So much for compatability.....

Ok, so, any tips on what takes getting used to and what you like/hate about it?

Thx!

[TomD.inPDX]

Give it a few years and you'll be back in the swing of things, Frank

Having several projects solid in Creo 2.0 M040 really makes updates a worry. I want to see Creo 3.0 but I need continuity on Creo 2.0. I will be calling support on the update to make sure I can keep working.

[LukaszMazur]

Could you elaborate what exactly worries you about update? Right now I have installed WF 4.0, WF 5.0, Creo 2.0 and Creo 3.0, and since all install to different folders, can use different startup directories and can be set up to use different cache folders, the only problem I could see is when I accidentally open WF4 file in Creo and save it, so I can't open in directly back in WF4. There is also the question of windows extensions integration, which will switch .1... files to latest installed software, but I think I've met only one person that opens Creo files double-clicking them in Windows Explorer

[TomD.inPDX]

I have no experience with installing multiple versions. What worries me most is the Creo 3.0 UI folders overwriting Creo 2.0 menu settings. I also run an old version of the license manager.

As for version updates for Creo 2.0, I am paid to remain efficient in my CAD s/w. There have been too many issues in later releases from M040 that really made me happy to have held back. The M090 graphics core updates really worries me. I have a "compatible" laptop, but I don't know if M090and above will still work properly. Debugging new software bugs are a huge overhead in my business and could be a serious impediment to productivity at critical times.

[LukaszMazur]

When it comes to having multiple releases on one PC it's possible to do and not that hard to achieve. Both Pro/E and Creo keep almost no crucial information in Windows registry, so the only common points for all releases are profile folders and, if configured, the same startup folders.

Startup folders are configured in "Start in" field of appropriate shortcut, so it's very easy to set different folders and keep separate configs/templates/formats for every release.

The thing you're worried about - UI settings - is by default buried quite deep in Windows user's profile folder (AppData\Roaming\PTC\ProENGINEER\Wildfire\.Settings, IIRC). That directory stores default UI customization file, workspace cache, server information, common folders and so on. But it can be changed with environmental variable PTC_WF_ROOT (see my other post: http://communities.ptc.com/message/249181#249181). That way, if you add this variable to *.psf file of every release and define different folders for it, you can get multiple versions of ProE/Creo, that won't interfere with each other.

If you don't mind sharing some info, like Common Folders or Windchill servers among releases you can also use config.pro option load_customization_ui_dir set to yes and then you can export UI customizations to your startup folders. I think that for testing purposes first solution with PTC_WF_ROOT is safer.

License manager also isn't a big deal - I use Flexnet from WF5 release and have no problems with any Creo release - I think any license manager version from WF3 and up will work with Creo.

As for updates within Creo 2.0 release there isn't much I can say - you won't know if there are problems with Creo and your laptop unless you'll try it for yourself (or find someone with exact same setup and test it there ) but you probably already knew that.

[TomD.inPDX]

That long paragraph in the middle is the bulk of my concern. No Windchill here, but I do have my UI set up as I like it. Cannot afford to loose that. I will have to learn more about the .PSF file. Thanks for the info!

[dgschaefer]

It doesn't have to be dine in the *.psf files, we set it in our launch scripts (batch files).

We run several version at the same time to satisfy client requirements. I've got WF4, WF5 and Creo 2 no my machine now, although only Wf4 & Creo 2 are in active use.

[Patriot_1776]

'Morning Doug. Well, we HAD a batch file that USED to work just fine.....but then the Windows version we went to (7 I believe), makes it so batch files no longer work. I had to change the "ptcsetup" to a ".cmd" file to make it work.

[dgschaefer]

Odd, our batch files still work fine with Win7.

[Patriot_1776]

Tell me about it. Ours don't. Made quite the pain for me. Maybe it's in the way priviledges are set up on our systems??? For instance, I had to have an IT admin set up the user on every machine with security settings so they have "Full control" in the "Security" tab if you right-clicked on "Properties" for C:\Program Files\PTC. Without that the user can't write to the "trail_files" directory, and it forces you to write somewhere you don't want to.

I think I've pretty much washed my hands of trying to be "admin dude", and am going to let someone from corporate do it who might even have been hired to do that. I'm not given the power or authority to do what I need to do to make it work, am not told beforehand about issues and warnings, and just seem to be the scapegoat lately when someone want's to complain. Not interested. It shouldn't be this much of a pain to install.

[LukaszMazur]

Doug Schaefer wrote:

It doesn't have to be dine in the *.psf files, we set it in our launch scripts (batch files).

Yeah, I know. I thought it would be just easier and faster for Antonius to change .psf file for Creo/ProE instead of writing batch scripts for setting variables and running specific Creo version.

[James62]

As I work offline I can't really tell anything on the WC side.

For Creo Parametric I recommend reading these blogs, and their comments as well before you start with the setup.

http://communities.ptc.com/community/creo/blog/2011/07/22/creo-ribbon-user-interface

http://communities.ptc.com/blogs/ptcexpress/2012/07/30/understanding-the-creo-20-ribbon-interface

http://communities.ptc.com/docs/DOC-2561

http://communities.ptc.com/blogs/ptcexpress/2011/08/03/10-new-capabilities-in-creo-parametric-10-that-you-have-to-try

http://communities.ptc.com/blogs/ptcexpress/2012/11/24/10-capabilities-in-ptc-creo-parametric-20-you-absolutely-have-to-try

There are plenty of new config.pro settings, which are crucial to have set right.

Good luck.

[Patriot_1776]

Thanks guys, I'll check 'em out!

[BrianMartin]

Frank,

if there's anything you needed in that old workspace, stop and make a copy of it. I can walk you through recovering your work.

Once you roll forward, you won't be able to easily roll back the workspace. But if you need to recover work I can help you with this. I'm on vacation so I am not monitoring emails much but I will look for yours though.

Thanks,

Brian

[LukaszMazur]

I'd also add that if you want to keep things like servers and workspaces separate on your local disk for testing Creo 2, you might consider adding lines ENV=PTC_WF_ROOT=<path_to_some_directory> and ENV=CREO_AGENT_HOME=<path_to_directory> to your Creo 2 parametric.psf file (located in \Parametric\bin). That way you'll get separate cache folder for Creo 2.0, that will not interfere with your current WF5 setup. You'll just have to register Windchill server again in Creo 2.0, but all the server settings, as well as local workspace cache files will be kept in separate folders.

[Patriot_1776]

Yeah, thanks guys! I really hate being put in this position, being just handed a creo 2 DVD and told to try it out......with absolutely zero warnings that stuff like this can happen. We're getting some help from PTC, and he mentioned what Lukasz just said....after the fact of course.

@ Brian: What I tried to do at first was go back a frame or 2, but that didn't even work. Something in the header must get hosed (again, way to go PTC). So, what I ended up doing, was clearing the cache for the only Workspace that got hosed, and then restarting Pro/E. Thankfully, this Workspace had already had everything uploaded and/or checked in.....I think.

I'm still extremely annoyed.

Thanks again guys!

F