Windchill Cache Recovery Tool

[rthellen]

Many Windchill users out there are painfully aware of local workspace cache corruptions. Those who have experienced this problem know that you can contact PTC and they will provide a list containing the names of the local cache files and their equivalent Pro/E file names. You then have to manually rename all of the files using the provided list. Having dealt with this in the past and based on information obtained from logged calls to PTC (and as others have mentioned here) I learned that the Pro/E file name can be found in the cache file, usually (but not always) in the file header. After dealing with workspace cache corruptions many times I decided to see if I could automate this process.

Earlier this year, while between jobs, I began to develop what I am calling WC_FileRecovery. It is a Windows application that will open cache files, attempt to determine the original Pro/ENGINEER file name and, if found, rename the cache file to that name. This effort has been done completely on my own time and is not associated with either my previous or my current employer. At this point in time I feel it is working quite well and would like to make it available to others.

In the Public Files area you will find two zipped files, one for 32 bit and one for 64 bit installations. Each zipped file contains three files: a setup.exe and related .msi file as well as a PDF user guide. Please read the user guide carefully to understand three very important things:

1. Use this program at your own risk! If you aren't willing to take that risk, do not use the program. See the user guide for more information.

2. Do not try to recover files in the original cache. Copy the cache contents to another folder and recover the files in that folder. This will leave your original cache intact if problems should arise.

3. The development of this program is being done on my own time. I am not in the business of developing applications and my current employer expects me to do the work they are paying me to do. As such, I welcome discussion of the program on the exploder. However, I make no promise of correcting any issues that may surface as others begin to use the program. This program comes with no warranty, expressed or implied (see item 1, above).

The installation of this program requires Microsoft .NET 2.0 Framework and the installer will query your system to determine if it is already installed. If not, you will be given an option to download and install the required version of .NET from Microsoft.

Finally, this program was developed using a Windchill 8.0 cache with Wildfire 3 and has not been tested with any other versions. Using this program with other versions of Windchill or Pro/ENGINEER is not supported and results are unknown at this time.

I hope this program is useful to others.

Ron Thellen

[avillanueva]

You dah man!

[ptc-5248450]

I have used this Windchill Cache Recovery Tool on Windchill 9 Cache that was corrupted, it renamed all my files back to the Pro/E file names and worked perfect.
I was able to open the files back into Pro/E and no work was lost.

Thanks Ron!

Laura

[achukwuka]

We have also used this tool on Windchill 8.0 to recover corrupted Cache and it worked perfectly. No data loss.


Alexius C. Chukwuka
IT Analyst, PDP Systems
John Deere Power Systems
Product Engineering Center

[sean.sullivan]

Ron,

Do you still have the recovery tool available?

Thanks!

Sean Sullivan

Velcon Filters

[rthellen]

Windchill Cache Recovery Tool - Version 2.0

I have made some updates to the Windchill Cache Recovery Tool.

New features include:

· A new look. The current text box is replaced with a list view where all information is in
columns, making it easier to read. Columns are automatically sized in width and you can
manually adjust as required.
· The file's modified date has been added to the display.
· You can sort on any column.
· Simple search. Enter a string and all files containing that string will be highlighted.
Wildcards are not supported at this time.
· Manual selection of single or multiple rows using common methods (click, CTRL click and SHIFT click).
Selected rows are highlighted.
· Recover selected files or recover all files.

As always, do not recover files in the original cache. Copy the files to a new folder and recover
the files in that folder.

This installation will overwrite your current installation. The User Guide is now included as
part of the installation and will include a shortcut in Start Programs. This shortcut and the
program shortcut are now contained in a folder (WC_FileRecovery) in Start Programs. The shortcut
for your current installation (located at the Start Progrmas level) will be left behind by the
installer and can be deleted.

Special thanks to the following individuals for helping test the new version:

- Laura Cook
- Marc DeBower
- Sean Sullivan
- Antonio Villanueva

Ron Thellen

[ptc-1921184]

Hi,

How can I download the recovery tool. Can you be able to send me the link please.

Thanks,

Sathya

[bkurth]

Click Files >> Public Files on the blue barat the top of your screen, then ClickScripts. The first two files are the latest versions.

In Reply to Thirugnanam Sathiyavel:

Hi,

How can I download the recovery tool. Can you be able to send me the link please.

Thanks,

Sathya

[bkurth]

Just for clarity: The Path to get to the files is at the top of your webpage, not from within Windchill. Here is a direct link: http://portal.ptcuser.org/p/do/si/topic=67&type=0

Hope this helps.

Brian

In Reply to Brian Kurth:

Click Files >> Public Files on the blue barat the top of your screen, then ClickScripts. The first two files are the latest versions.

In Reply to Thirugnanam Sathiyavel:

Hi,

How can I download the recovery tool. Can you be able to send me the link please.

Thanks,

Sathya

[fklink]

Thank you Ron for this tool.

I was always opening the files one by one to read the header.

Great job.

François

[sean.sullivan]

Just wanted to again submit my thanks to Ron for this great tool as it came in handy again the other day. Cheers!

In Reply to Ron Thellen:

Windchill Cache Recovery Tool - Version 2.0

I have made some updates to the Windchill Cache Recovery Tool.

New features include:

· A new look. The current text box is replaced with a list view where all information is in
columns, making it easier to read. Columns are automatically sized in width and you can
manually adjust as required.
· The file's modified date has been added to the display.
· You can sort on any column.
· Simple search. Enter a string and all files containing that string will be highlighted.
Wildcards are not supported at this time.
· Manual selection of single or multiple rows using common methods (click, CTRL click and SHIFT click).
Selected rows are highlighted.
· Recover selected files or recover all files.

As always, do not recover files in the original cache. Copy the files to a new folder and recover
the files in that folder.

This installation will overwrite your current installation. The User Guide is now included as
part of the installation and will include a shortcut in Start Programs. This shortcut and the
program shortcut are now contained in a folder (WC_FileRecovery) in Start Programs. The shortcut
for your current installation (located at the Start Progrmas level) will be left behind by the
installer and can be deleted.

Special thanks to the following individuals for helping test the new version:

- Laura Cook
- Marc DeBower
- Sean Sullivan
- Antonio Villanueva

Ron Thellen

Sean Sullivan

Velcon Filters LLC

CAD Administrator / Product Development Engineer

[rthellen]

Windchill Cache Recovery Tool - Version 2.01

A user informed me that the 2.00 version of the tool returns an error when trying to recover files on Windows Vista or Windows 7. After locating the files, selecting one of the Recover options returns an error indicating that the files could not be found.

I have corrected the problem and new installers have been uploaded to the Public Files download area. The tool now works on Windows XP, Vista and 7.

Ron Thellen

[rthellen]

Windchill Cache Recovery Tool - Version 2.03

I have implemented some enhancements to the Windchill Cache Recovery Tool.

New features include:

· Corrected issue with the sort icon in the column header.
Previously, when a user selected a column header in order
to sort that column, the icon would be displayed in the
column header of the selected column as expected.
However, when a different column was selected, the icon
would not be removed from the original column.
The sort icon now works correctly.

· The Date Modified format has been modified to include leading
zeros for all fields (month, day, hour, minutes and seconds).
This ensures that the column is sorted correctly if a user
sorts on that column.

· The application is now threaded. Previously, if you selected
a large number of lid files in the File > Open dialog, the UI
began adding the files to the window and displayed the file
currently being processed above the table.
However, if the application lost focus (i.e., you clicked on
another window), the application stopped updating the display
and returning focus to the application had no effect.
The “wait” cursor would display, but that is all.
The application now updates regardless of which window has focus.

· While processing lid files, the table is no longer updated until
all the files have been processed. This eliminates the annoying
flashing as the table was being populated. The file currently being
processed (displayed above the table) is the visual indication that
the application is “working” along with the “wait” cursor.

· A check is made during file recovery to ensure that the file being
recovered has not previously been recovered. If a file in the recovery
folder has the same name as the current file being recovered, a dialog
is presented with details on both files (size and date modified) and
you are provided the option to overwrite the existing file.

As always, do not recover files in the original cache.
Copy the files to a new folder and recover the files in that folder.

This installation will overwrite your current installation.

Special thanks to Laura Cook for helping test the new version:

Ron Thellen

[ocorten-2]

Hi Ron,

Great work. Your tool has helped me several times recovering lost data.
These improvements are very helpfull.

For others: Here is the direct link to the Public Files download section:

[MikeIbosh]

Ron,
Thank You soooo much for sharing this utility with the PTCUser community. We are running Windchill 10.1 M010 with Creo Elements/pro 5.0 M150, and have had many workspace cache issues, and your utility has let us recover almost all of the work that might have been lost due to the crashes. Sometimes when the cache blows up, it won't even let Creo start again until you delete the WC folder completely. Thanks again ...

Mike Ibosh

[pwilliams-3]

Yes thanks very much Ron. This tool has helped us greatly in the past to recover workspaces.

Patrick Williams | Engineering Systems | c: 616.947.2110
[cid:image001.jpg@01CE0F4C.9B4C19B0]

[M_Haßlöcher]

Ron,

many thanks for providing us with this great tool. We appreciate a lot your work on this!

Is it possible to ask, if you canimplement some possible improvements in a new version?

Description:

If we recover the lids from a users workspace, we have very often the situation, that the user "produced" a lot of lids with the same object name (Save iterations).

When we recover now with your great tool the data, then we need to sort first all the files by date (newest first) and then all the pop up messages we need to say "No" to get always the latest stored data, that's very anoying and needs a lot of clicks.

So, can you implement a function to recover only the latest data automatically. I think that would help many many companys in the world really a lot?

again, many many thanks.

Martin

In Reply to Ron Thellen:

Windchill Cache Recovery Tool - Version 2.03

I have implemented some enhancements to the Windchill Cache Recovery Tool.

New features include:

· Corrected issue with the sort icon in the column header.
Previously, when a user selected a column header in order
to sort that column, the icon would be displayed in the
column header of the selected column as expected.
However, when a different column was selected, the icon
would not be removed from the original column.
The sort icon now works correctly.

· The Date Modified format has been modified to include leading
zeros for all fields (month, day, hour, minutes and seconds).
This ensures that the column is sorted correctly if a user
sorts on that column.

· The application is now threaded. Previously, if you selected
a large number of lid files in the File > Open dialog, the UI
began adding the files to the window and displayed the file
currently being processed above the table.
However, if the application lost focus (i.e., you clicked on
another window), the application stopped updating the display
and returning focus to the application had no effect.
The “wait” cursor would display, but that is all.
The application now updates regardless of which window has focus.

· While processing lid files, the table is no longer updated until
all the files have been processed. This eliminates the annoying
flashing as the table was being populated. The file currently being
processed (displayed above the table) is the visual indication that
the application is “working” along with the “wait” cursor.

· A check is made during file recovery to ensure that the file being
recovered has not previously been recovered. If a file in the recovery
folder has the same name as the current file being recovered, a dialog
is presented with details on both files (size and date modified) and
you are provided the option to overwrite the existing file.

As always, do not recover files in the original cache.
Copy the files to a new folder and recover the files in that folder.

This installation will overwrite your current installation.

Special thanks to Laura Cook for helping test the new version:

Ron Thellen

[davehaigh]

Actually, I like having all the versions available. I've had cases where my cache was not corrupt, but I had done something In ProE/Creo that I later decided was a bad design idea and I wanted to go back to the earlier version. Workspace frames just wasn't getting me where I wanted to be.

I copied all the *_lid files and used the tool to get back the actual filenames. Then I could use the open menu, set it to show all versions and pick an earlier version from the folder where these files were. Saving then made my current workspace version that older version I was looking for. Problem solved.

David Haigh
Phone: 925-424-3931
Fax: 925-423-7496
Lawrence Livermore National Lab
7000 East Ave, L-362
Livermore, CA 94550

From: Martin Haßlöcher [

[rthellen]

Windchill Cache Recovery Tool - Version 2.04

I have implemented some enhancements to the Windchill Cache Recovery Tool.

New features include:

· Corrected issue when sorting by Date Modified.

· Added the option to recover all iterations of files.

While recovering files, the current version detects file
name conflicts and displays a dialog with the option to
replace the previously saved file. This could result in
a rather tedious effort if multiple iterations of the
file exist in the local cache.

In this version there is a new Options drop down on the
Menu Bar with a selection titled Recover All Iterations.
If this option is checked, file name conflicts will
result in an additional .1, .2, etc appended to the name.

Selecting this option will automatically sort on the
Date Modified and Preferred Name fields.

See the User Guide for more details.

As always, do not recover files in the original cache.
Copy the files to a new folder and recover the files in that folder.

This installation will overwrite your current installation.

Special thanks to Martin for the suggestion. We exchanged some emails
offline and instead of just recovering the latest, decided that recovering
all iterations was a better solution.

Ron Thellen

[rstewart-2]

Hi Ron,



Thanks for creating a great tool. I was wondering if you
could add an option to add the Revision and Iteration to the recovered file
name. Sometimes the same file is used across different local caches. The
recovered name for bold.prt would become bolt_A_1.prt. Also would you
consider releasing the source code.





Thanks,

Ray

[RonThellen]

Interesting suggestion. Any others think this would be useful? Would it be sufficient to simply display the version information in therecovered dataand the user select and recover the specific file?

Regarding the source code, I consider this to be personal Intellectual Property, so I'm afraid I'll have to say no to that request.

Ron

[M_Haßlöcher]

Sure that coud help to decide which exact version i want. Perhaps related to another workspace,

but other reason could be to use it as "restoring previous Version" Tool.

So, my standpoint, yes but only as an possible option in the Recovery tool. Eventually a switch in "View" ?

[RonThellen]

Windchill Cache Recovery Tool - Version 2.05

The latest version of the application with the recently requested feature (include each file's version information) has been uploaded into the PTC Windchill Documents page (Windchill Cache Recovery Tool - Version 2.05 (WC_FileRecovery) - 64 bit version). If the 32 bit version is still needed, I can upload that as well.

Unzip the download, run the setup and complete the installation. See the User Guide (included in the installation) as well as this thread for details on using the application.

Ron

[RonThellen]

I have uploaded the 32 bit version to the PTC Windchill Documents page (Windchill Cache Recovery Tool - Version 2.05 (WC_FileRecovery) - 32 bit version) as requested by a member.

Ron

[dkopecky]

Hi Ron,

thank you for this fantastic tool. It helped us many times.

I noticed one think when i used it last time, there is not possibility to recover dxf files from cache, would it be possible to implement it in new version.

Thank you

David

[RonThellen]

David,

Currently the tool only recovers PTC Pro/E and Creo files.  I only have access to a Pro/INTRALINK system (Wintralink, as it has been called by others), so no other files types are available to me.  Sorry.

Ron

[vincecatlin]

I did not get the guide with the cache recovery tool. This would be a handy reference.

[RonThellen]

Here you are.

[amar_karthi]

Hi Ron,

Can you please share the user guide as the downloaded folder just contains the installer now.

Thanks in advance!

Amarkarthi.

[Marco_Tosin]

If you had tried searching the community website, you would have found the guide.

Same thing googling

https://community.ptc.com/sejnu66972/attachments/sejnu66972/Windchill/21639/1/WC_FileRecovery%202%20User%20Guide.pdf