Pro/ENGINEER Interview Questions with Answers # 3

9 Is there a limitation on the number of characters that can be included in a config.pro entry?

Ans: Each line in config.pro is limited to 80 characters. Environment variables can be used to specify config.pro "search_path" values containing more than 80 characters. Refer to Configuration Options in Pro/HELP for details.

10 Where are Pro/ENGINEER objects stored when File, Save is selected?

By default, Pro/ENGINEER objects will be stored to the current working directory. If the working directory is changed using File, Working Directory, Pro/ENGINEER objects will be saved to the new directory. If a Pro/ENGINEER object is retrieved from a directory other than the current working directory, Pro/ENGINEER will save the object back to the directory from which it was retrieved. If the user does not have write permission in that directory, the object will not be saved unless the config.pro option "save_object_in_current" is set to "yes".

11 What does File Save As do?

File - Save As will make a copy of a specified Pro/ENGINEER object using a new name. List the object that is to be copied in the Model Name space in the Save As dialog box, the current object being the default. In the New Name space, a new file name should be specified. Pro/ENGINEER will create this object in the current working directory.

12. what does File, Backup do?

File, Backup can be used to save Pro/ENGINEER objects to a specified directory. The object will be saved in the specified directory using the original filename(s).

File, Backup in Assembly, Drawing, or Manufacturing modes will save all related objects to the specified directory.

13 what does File, Rename do?

File, Rename is used to change the name of Pro/ENGINEER objects in memory and on disk. Pro/ENGINEER will rename all versions of the object being renamed.

When renaming an object that was retrieved from directory other than the current working directory, the renamed object will be saved in the directory from which the object was retrieved.

14 what does File, Erase, Current do?

File, Erase is used to clear the specified object from workstation memory. This functionality will not remove objects from disk. Objects referenced by an active assembly or drawing can not be erased. A list of objects in the current model will then be displayed. Only the current top level model (i.e. assembly or drawing) can be erased, and selected objects as well.

15 what does File, Erase, Not Displayed do?

Ans: File, Erase, Not Displayed is used to erase all objects from the current session, except for those that are currently displayed and any objects referenced by the displayed objects. For example, if an assembly instance is being displayed at the time Erase, Not Displayed is selected, the instance, the instance's generic, and it's components will not be erased. There is a config.pro option related to File, Erase, Not Displayed called "prompt_on_erasenotdisp".

yes (default) - a message window for each eligible object in question appears, asking if you want to first save the object before it is erased.

no - the system will immediately erase all eligible objects.

16 What does File, Instance Operations do?

File, Instance Operations will save a particular instance of a part or assembly in a separate file called an " instance accelerator file" (suffix ".xpr" for a part, ".xas" for an assembly). This file is used to retrieve particular instances quickly from disk rather than having to first retrieve the generic into memory, selecting the particular instance according to the family table, and then regenerating. Therefore, with this functionality the amount of time that it takes to retrieve an instance of a part or assembly from disk can be considerably reduced. The trade off is that more disk space will be used to store the accelerator files. When File, Instance Operations is selected, the INST DBMS menu appears with the following options

InstIndex - create or update the Instance Index file for a specified directory

pdate Accel - create or update accelerator files for all instances currently in session

Purge Accel - examine each instance accelerator file and delete it if it is not current with

SaveAccelEnv - brings up the SV INST ACC menu When SaveAccelEnv is selected the SV INST ACC menu appears with the following options:

none (default) - the system does not save the instance in a file separate from the model.

always - the system always saves the instance in a separate file

explicit - the system saves the instance in a separate file only. When the instance is explicitly saved.

The config.pro option "save_instance_accelerator" can also be used to control instance accelerator files. The values for this config.pro option are also none (default), always, explicit. When you bring up the SV INST ACC menu, one of the options will be highlighted to reflect the last setting. That setting could have been either loaded from a configuration file or selected previously from this menu. 

Pro/ENGINEER Interview Questions with Answers #2

1 What is the maximum number of characters allowed in a Pro/ENGINEER object name?

Thirty one (31) characters can be used in Pro/ENGINEER object names. This number does not include the extension, i.e., .prt, .asm, .drw, or the object version number, i.e., .1, .2, .3. 

2 .Can upper case characters be used in Pro/ENGINEER object names?

Upper case characters cannot be specified in Pro/ENGINEER object file names. Upper case characters can be specified during object creation, however, the file will be written to disk using lower case characters only.

3 what is the reason for using a config.pro file?

The config.pro file is used to control the environment in which Pro/ENGINEER runs. There are over 150 available options which allow control of a variety of different aspects, ranging from model display to default units to search paths used to retrieve assembly components.

4 is a default config.pro file created when Pro/ENGINEER is installed?

When Pro/ENGINEER is initially installed, there is no default config.pro file that is created automatically. However, a large number of the options do have default values which are used unless the option setting is changed in a config.pro file. The Configuration Options section of Pro/HELP lists the default config.pro option values in italics. There are two methods that can be used to create a config.pro file. The first method is to utilize any text editor, vi for example, and manually create the file. Each option should have its own line in the file, with the format being {Option Value}. The second method is to use the Preferences dialog box within Pro/ENGINEER, which can be accessed by selecting Utilities, Preferences... When you exit the dialog box, the config.pro file will be written to your local directory. See the Suggested Technique for Using the Preferences Dialog Box for a detailed description of the functionality for this new dialog.

5 Where does Pro/ENGINEER look for config.pro files?

Pro/ENGINEER looks for config.pro files in 3 different directories in the following order:

1) load point/text

Config.pro files residing in load point/text will be read first.

2) The user's home directory

With UNIX systems, Pro/ENGINEER will read the config.pro file in the user's home directory. This is most commonly used for specifying user customized config.pro options such as colors and mapkeys.

3) Working directory

The directory in which Pro/ENGINEER starts is searched for a config.pro file.

If the same option appears in more than one config.pro file, the one that was read last will be utilized by the system.

6 After config.pro is edited, why aren't the changes reflected?

After config.pro is edited, the Add/Change and Apply buttons must be selected in the Preferences dialog box in order for the modifications to be reflected in the Pro/ENGINEER session, or Pro/ENGINEER can be restarted. Be aware that some config.pro options require Pro/ENGINEER to be restarted in order for config.pro modifications to be reflected.

7 After config.pro is edited, is it necessary to restart Pro/ENGINEER?

After config.pro is edited, the Apply button must be selected in the Preferences dialog in order for the modifications to be reflected in the Pro/ENGINEER session, or Pro/ENGINEER can be restarted. Modifications to the following config.pro options require Pro/ENGINEER to be restarted.

8 what is the difference between config.pro and config.sup?

There are two main differences between config.pro and config.sup.

Unlike config.pro, config.sup can only be located in the load point/text directory.

Config.sup options cannot be overridden by options found in any other config.pro. Also, items contained in the config.sup can only have one entry per option. Keeping this in mind, it is important that items which can have multiple entries, such as "mapkey", "search path", and "def_layer" are not specified in config.sup.