NX Problem in NX and Simcenter 3D when migrating CAD geometries from CATIA

2021-10-07T00:08:32Z
NX Open NX for Manufacturing Licensing Teamcenter Share NX System Administration NX Design Translators NX for Design

Summary


Details

In NX and in Simcenter 3D it is possible to import CAD geometries in CATIA V5 format by directly opening any files with extensions *.CATPart and *.CATProduct. The original geometries are then automatically translated and saved in Part file format with extension *.prt for both CATIA parts and products.


An issue has been reported in Simcenter 3D 2019.1 related to the automatic translation of CATIA files: if the current directory is a non-writable folder, none of the original geometries are available in the final Part files, basically leaving any created components without content.


Possible scenarios affected by this issue are all migrations of models from LMS Virtual.Lab Motion, where any models exported in XML format as LMSMotionDefinition files do contain the references to the original CATIA files: due to the issue with the translation of CATIA geometries, none of them will be displayed in the translated models in the Motion application.


Some more specific examples are, but not limited to:


  • Motion Body mass properties based on geometry
  • Associative elements, e.g. joints, forces, referencing any missing geometries 
As a temporary workaround, prior to starting NX or Simcenter 3D the following environment variable must be added to the system:


SCA_TMP_DIR=<some writable directory such as C:\Temp>, e.g. SCA_TMP_DIR=C:\Temp


The following caveat is going into NX/Simcenter 3D version 1851 (scheduled for release in February 2019): "NX File->Open and File->Import of Catia V5 files (*.CATProduct and *.CATPart) will contain no geometry if the Current directory (as seen in the system log file) is an non-writable directory. The recommended temporary work around is to set the environment variable SCA_TMP_DIR to a writable directory prior to starting NX".


A permanent fix is targeted for NX/Simcenter 3D version 1855 (scheduled for release in March 2019). This will make setting the above environment variable unnecessary.



SFB-Simcenter-8007977
PR 8404722
Product Information:
  • Product: Simcenter
  • Product: NX

KB Article ID# PL8007977

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