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
