Understanding how "Select Working Directory" works

[Gavin_Lewis]

I am trying to implement a search path file for the first time in an assembly. I have it mostly working, but there is one component I don't fully understand.

In the directory where the assembly is located I have a config.pro that points to the search_path_file (search.pro) located in the same directory. The search.pro then points to 3 other directories where appropriate parts for the assembly are located. In the search.pro, I have the directories contained in quotes because they contain spaces.

How I would expect this to work:

1. Launch Creo
2. My start-in directory is in My Documents
3. I "Select Working Directory" and choose the directory that contains the assembly
4. The parts are found and the assembly loads

However, this doesn't work. Parts are not found and the assembly fails. In the Creo configuration editor, I cannot see the working directory config.pro nor the search_path_file option that in that configuration file. As seen in the image below, using this method, only the master config.pro shows up.

The only way I can get this to show up in the configuration editor and to get the parts to load automatically is to instead change the "Start in" location of my Creo launch shortcut to the assembly directory. As seen below, I can now see the additional config.pro file.

Is this normal behavior? Should I not be able to use "Select Working Directory" and have the config.pro load and find my parts?

[BenLoosli · Accepted solution]

That is the normal behavior of Creo. The various config.pro files are ONLY read at startup.

[Gavin_Lewis]

Ok, so if I understand correctly, my options are:

1. Change the start-in directory before each launch
2. Add the search_path_file directory to my master config.pro

[KenFarley]

The way we use this type of thing is:

(1) Start Creo in the way you normally would, in your default start directory. This way it loads your config.pro and all the settings you've come to rely on.

(2) Change your working directory to the project directory you want to work on.

(3) Use File->Options->Configuration Editor->Import/Export to read the local config file that pulls in the search file specific to that project.

Contents of project specific config file (I call them "locconfg.pro"):

search_path_file \\<Full Path to Project>\locsrch.pro 

Search path file is "locsrch.pro" and contains list of directories for the project.

Once you've loaded the directories into your session of Creo you should have no trouble bouncing around into different directories to work on specific portions of the project. It's a bit of a pain to have to load up at the start of every session, but the convenience is worth it many times over. I hate file not found errors.

Here's a past discussion of the problem:

Past Search Path Discussion