Part VII: Working with Specialized Functionality
FIGURE 30.11Converting Pro/ENGINEER files to SolidWorks gives you some options.
If you use the Import geometry directly option, you just get the dumb solid. Pro/ENGINEER uses
its own “kernel,” or underlying geometry engine, called Granite. SolidWorks shares its kernel with
NX and Solid Edge (a Parasolid). To read the geometry directly, SolidWorks has to read the
Granite data stored inside the Pro/ENGINEER file and translate it to Parasolid geometry.If you choose the Analyze Model Completely option, you get a dialog box similar to the one shown
in Figure 30.12. In this case, the Pro/ENGINEER part had 42 features, and the SolidWorks con-
verter can read them all. Here too, you are given the option to take the features or the body. It is
not clear that the Body option is the same as the Import geometry directly option, but they both
result in the import of the dumb solid.You would want to click the Body option if the percentage of recognized features was low, or if
you didn’t really need the parametric features that much. Sometimes, even if it doesn’t recognize all
the features, you might still get all the sketches you need to re-create the part.Note
When parts are re-created in this way, sketches are not made dependent on faces of the model; instead every
sketch will lie on a reference plane. This is very similar to the Wide Tree approach discussed in Chapter 11. n
If you choose the Features option, SolidWorks rebuilds each sketch and feature to build a history-
based model. This is not usually what people mean when they talk about imported geometry.
Many CAD neophytes assume that features just automatically transfer from one CAD system to
another, but this is by far the exception rather than the norm.Figure 30.12 shows the Pro/ENGINEER to SolidWorks Converter dialog box and the finished
imported model.This translation depends on the version of the Pro/ENGINEER file. Check the SolidWorks docu-
mentation to see what versions of Pro/ENGINEER are supported.