Customized Save
Purpose:
The purpose of this CATIA macro is to make sure that a model is saved in a standardized way.
During the design, a model is usually saved “on the fly” and in its current design state.
This means the object tree is expanded to a certain level, there are wire-frame and surfaces in shown,
the model might contain useless or obsolete or inactive geometry, etc…
Once a design is finished and it needs to pass the checking an release procedure, it is important to guarantee a set of common save conditions.
A few examples:
- Current solid active,
- No wire-frame geometry in show,
- Only the main part in show
- No useless unused elements,
- No inactive objects,
- All links are valid and not broken!
- Material properties attached, etc…
And there is even more:
assuming that the model contains external links it is also essential to make sure, that all links are valid.
If a link is broken, it can’t be ensured that the geometry is up to date and valid.
If the current solid is not active, exporting the model into a different format (like STEP) might give an intermediate result and the there is a high risk that the machining goes wrong.
Some of the requirements are obvious and easy to check, others more time consuming and easily forgotten. Using the macro on a regular basis can be a time saver and a great add-on to ensure data quality.
Usage
The macro is delivered with a standard set of checking routines which are implemented by default. Beside this, it is also possible to implement some more checking routines, if required.
After running all the checks a user dialog gives an overview of the actual status.
The user dialog typically might look like:
The following checks are currently implemented:
model update
re-frame geometry, using isometric view,
set shading mode to shaded,
set MainBody activate
this eliminates the risk, if a sub-PartBody somewhere else is set to active and thus, the geometry is shown differently (when exporting such a model e.g. to STEP format, geometry information might be lost!)
make sure, material is associated for each partbody
make sure, Inertia Measure is available
and finally: save the current document (if required)
Additional information:
Beside the model check, the dialog offers some more information about:
summary of 1st-level part bodies with their associated material,
information about external links, useful to ensure there are no broken links
External links basically can have 3 different status modes:
- not loaded
- loaded (or o.k.)
- broken, means that the linked model cannot be found in the current file system
Where is the macro available?
This Catia macro is not published as open source. So, if you are interested, please ask for a quote.
