Title: ModelCHECK

Date: 8/22/01

ModelCHECK – Helping to
Ensure Quality Deliverables:

Table of Contents:
1) Objective
2) Overview
3) Using ModelCHECK
4) Checks Available

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Objective:

At the end of this tutorial, you will know how ModelCHECK:

• can help you adhere to your company’s standards (Parameters, Layers, etc)
• facilitates Reuse of Models
• can assist with Problem Resolution, Education, and Online Advice
• can monitor improvement

Overview:

ModelCHECK evaluates Pro/ENGINEER parts, assemblies, and drawings to ensure that

they adhere to a company's modeling standards and best practices. If an exception to
these conventions is detected, users are notified of the inconsistency, given tools to
identify the problem within the solid model, and can often make a correction

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automatically from the familiar web-based ModelCHECK interface. ModelCHECK

facilitates the work of design team engineers by letting users create superior models that
are well suited for reuse in downstream applications.

Facilitating Reuse of Models

As companies continue to embed Pro/ENGINEER into their design process, reusing the
model becomes increasingly important. To facilitate reuse, models have to be created in
accordance with common and accepted design philosophies and must contain all
necessary information. However, users are often unaware of the design standards, or the
company has difficulty enforcing them. ModelCHECK helps designers use correct
modeling practices by letting them constantly monitor the Pro/ENGINEER model as
design features are added, much as they would use a spell checker for a word processing
application. In this manner, variations from accepted practices can be detected and
corrected early in the design process, before they affect downstream users of the model
and incur additional costs.

Detecting Existing Designs

As the volume of models being created and stored in databases continues to grow, the
opportunity to reuse existing designs increases. The problem is that with an increased
number of models stored, it becomes progressively more difficult to identify similar
designs. Often previously designed and released models are re-created from scratch
simply because the user had no ability to determine if the model already existed
somewhere in the database. ModelCHECK introduces powerful new patent pending
Shape Indexing™ technology that enables rapid detection of existing designs. While a
user is building a model, ModelCHECK is constantly scanning the model's geometry to
determine if a model with similar shape has been previously created. As soon as a similar
model is detected, ModelCHECK informs the user of this opportunity and displays to
them the degree of similarity between the two models and from where the existing model
can be retrieved.

Problem Resolution, Education, and Online Advice

The first step in guaranteeing the quality of any finished solid model is making sure users
are aware of information missing in their model. ModelCHECK offers tools beyond
simple notification. It will not only identify the feature in question but also actually make
corrections to the model. In addition, users can easily access online help pages specific to
the problem identified. This type of immediate feedback will advance user knowledge of
Pro/ENGINEER modeling practices and help avoid the same types of mistakes in the
future.

Automated Tracking of Model Quality

As ModelCHECK is run on Pro/ENGINEER models, a database is created to track the
types of problems found and their frequency. Tools provided with ModelCHECK sort
and graph this data for trend analysis. The result is an engineering management
organization that better understands the training needs and challenges of their
Pro/ENGINEER users.

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Date: 8/22/01

Using ModelCHECK:
Much of the effort in implementing ModelCHECK is done by the system administrator.
He or she is responsible for configuring the checks to adhere to your company’s
standards.

Once the configuration is established, the use of ModelCHECK becomes part of the
Pro/ENGINEER users everyday workflow. The reports are easy to read and many of the
problems found in models can be fixed with a single button pick from the report window.

ModelCHECK runs in four ways:

• Interactively (as shown below)
• When the model is regenerated
• When the model is saved
• In batch mode

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The ModelCHECK report displays the items in the model that have failed during the
check. A sample check is shown below.

This section gives information

about the model, how
ModelCHECK was run and which
configuration files were used

Errors and Warnings are reported

Selecting Report will reformat the

window as shown below to allow
corrective action

Compiles total list of errors for the

assembly, Tells how many parts fail
Shows indented Bill of Material with the each check. A sample window is
number of errors and warnings for each
pictured below. Page 7
part listed. A sample window is pictured
below. Page 8

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Window shown when “report” is

chosen in the initial summary
window

This section gives information

about the model, how
ModelCHECK was run and which
configuration files were used

Each tab will list all relevant

checks run, with a status of ok,
error or warning

The summary tab shows all

warnings and errors from all of the
checks. It does not list checks that
have passed

For many checks (like the

parameter check shown) selecting
on the red buttons will correct the
problem detected. Others may need
to be corrected manually

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Window shown when “Assembly

BOM failed checks” is chosen in
the initial summary window

Results are listed for all checks

that have failed in the assembly or
any of its’ models. The number of
models which have the particular
failure are listed.

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Window shown when “Assembly

Bill of Material” is chosen in the
initial summary window

An indented BOM is shown with

the tally of errors and warnings
for each component

Users are able to navigate to the

reports for a given component
through this window and where
appropriate, fix the errors

Some of the general check capabilities are shown below. These are taken from the list of
all checks which follows on page 10.

Conformance to Standards
• Use of start part
• Parameters
• Layers
• Views
• Model naming convention
• Proper use of family tables
• Version of Pro/ENGINEER the model was created in or last stored in

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Use of Proper Modeling Techniques

• Buried features
• Geometry problems (Geom. Checks)
• Poor feature creation order
• Improper dimensioning of features
• References to external models

Manufacturability and Translatability

• Short edges
• Sharp edges
• Small holes and fillets
• Non standard hole sizes
• Non standard sheet metal wall thickness
• Irregularities in curves, edges and surfaces

Drawing Checks
• Spell checker
• Faked dimensions
• Views out of bounds
• Unused models
• Drawing formats
• Use of standard fonts and drawing tags (.dtl info)

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Types of Checks:
This is a complete list of checks available in 2001. For some of these checks the problem
can be highlighted on the Pro/ENGINEER model and some of the problems can be
automatically fixed from the ModelCHECK report window.

ModelCHECK 2001

List of Checks
INDEX
Highlight Problem can be highlighted from ModelCHECK
Fix ModelCHECK can fix the problem

CHECK CONFIG TAG HIGHLIGHT FIX COMMENT

Datum Checks
1 Datum axes (list of and come from a standard list) STARTCHECK
DTM_AXES_INFO
2 Datum coordinate systems (list of and come from a STARTCHECK
standard list) DTM_CSYS_INFO
3 Datum curves (list of and come from a standard list) STARTCHECK
DTM_CURVE_INFO
4 Datum features are the correct feature number STARTCHECK
5 Datum planes (list of and come from a standard list) STARTCHECK
DTM_PLANE_INFO
8 Datum planes built through other datum planes DATUM_PARENT ✔
9 Datum planes without children (not including start DATUM_CHILD ✔
features)
6 Datum points (list of and come from a standard list) STARTCHECK
DTM_POINT_INFO
7 Datum rename (for legacy models) DATUM_RENAME ✔
Parameter Checks
8 Check drawing parameters DRAWING_PARAMS ✔
9 Create a parameter that stores the results of a check ADD_CHK_PARAM
(material name, model units etc)
10 Extra parameters (those that are not listed in the start part) EXTRA_PARAMS ✔
11 Parameter notes used are from approved lists PARAM_NOTE_REQ
12 Parameter rename (for legacy models) PARAM_RENAME ✔
14 Parameter values match required syntax and values PARAMCHECK ✔
15 Parameters are not empty PARAMCHECK ✔
16 Parameters are of correct type PARAMCHECK ✔
17 Parameters are PDM designated PARAMCHECK ✔
18 Parameters used (list of) PARAM_INFO
19 Parameters with spelling mistakes PARAM_SPELL ✔
20 Required parameters exist PARAMCHECK ✔
21 Unacceptable text in parameter notes PARAM_NOTE_UNACC
22 Parameters not used in family tables or relations PARAM_UNUSED ✔

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 Title: ModelCHECK
Date: 8/22/01

CHECK CONFIG TAG HIGHLIGHT FIX COMMENT

Feature Checks
23 Ability for users to ignore problems IGNORE_FEAT ✔
24 Buried features BURIED_FEAT ✔ ✔
25 Calculate suggested minimum short edge length Set in constant file
26 Chamfers which are created too early in the model EARLY_CHAMFER ✔
27 Children of chamfers CHAMFER_CHILD ✔
28 Children of drafts DRAFT_CHILD ✔
29 Children of rounds ROUND_CHILD ✔
30 Children of the default datums (number of features) DEFAULT_CHILD
33 Cosmetic features (list) COSMETIC_FEAT ✔
34 Cosmetic features which are too early in the model EARLY_COSMETIC ✔
35 Cuts and slots which should be modeled as holes CYL_CUT_SLOTS ✔
36 Cuts with non-standard diameters CYL_DIAMS ✔
37 Draft features which are too early in the model EARLY_DRAFT ✔
38 Draft features with non-standard angles DRAFT_ANGLES ✔
39 Features that are dimensioned to edges EDGE_REFERENCES ✔
41 Features with names (number of) NAMED_FEAT
42 Freeform surfaces (number of) FREEFORM
43 Geom Checks GEOM_CHECKS ✔
44 Holes with non-standard diameters HOLE_DIAMS ✔
45 Imported (IGES) features (list) IMPORT_FEAT
46 Incomplete features INCOMPLETE_FEAT
47 List and quantity of feature types used FEATURE_INFO
48 Maximum number of entities per sketched feature SKETCH_ITEMS ✔
49 Merged or cutout features are in the model MERGE_FEAT ✔
50 Resumed features (number of) REG_FEATURES
51 Round features which are too early in the model EARLY_ROUND ✔
52 Sharp edges SHARP_EDGES ✔
53 Short edges SHORT_EDGES ✔
54 Small cylindrical surfaces SMALL_CYLSRF ✔
55 Suppressed features (number of) SUP_FEATURES
56 Surfaces with gaps or overlaps SRF_EDGES ✔
Model information
57 Absolute accuracy is within acceptable range ACCURACY_INFO
58 Create new custom checks from the outcome of existing CHK_*
checks
59 Cross sections (list of) XSEC_INFO
60 Disk space used to store the model FILE_SIZE
61 External references EXT_REF_INFO
62 Fully regenerate the model and report any errors Auto on MC_REGEN if MC REGEN, Batch
REGEN_ERRS and mode with
REGEN_WRNS enabled REGEN_ERRS
63 Insert mode is still active INSERT_MODE ✔
64 Layouts associated with the model (list of) LAYOUT_INFO
65 Material used is from an approved list MATERIAL_INFO ✔
66 Memory space used to retrieve the model MEMORY_SPACE Batch mode only
67 Model density is 1.00 (default) DENSITY_INFO ✔
68 Model name meets required syntax and values MODEL_NAME
69 Named dimensions RENAMED_SYMBOLS ✔
70 Overall size of model (LxWxH) OVERAL_SIZE
71 Regenerate all cross sections of a model Auto on MC_REGEN MC REGEN only

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CHECK CONFIG TAG HIGHLIGHT FIX COMMENT

72 Regenerate all simplified reps of a model Auto on MC_REGEN MC REGEN only
73 Relative accuracy is within acceptable range ACCURACY_INFO
74 Report the name of the model MODEL_NAME_STR
75 RuleCHECK rules (list of) RULECHECK_INFO
76 RuleCHECK rules that are still pending RC_INCOMPLETED ✔
77 Shape Indexing for duplicate models DUPLICATE_MODELS
78 Simplified rep names (follow standard) SIMPREP_NAME
79 Simplified reps (list of) SIMPREP_INFO
80 STL can be made successfully (yes / no) STL_INFO
81 UDF’s (list of) UDF_INFO
82 Units used (report) UNIT_INFO
83 Units used for length are from a standard list UNIT_LENGTH
84 Units used for mass are from a standard list UNIT_MASS ✔
85 Version of Pro/ENGINNER the model was last saved in PRO_VERSION
86 Views (list of) VIEW_INFO
87 Views (standard view names exist) STARTCHECK
Relations
88 Check if any relations have multiple assignments RELATION_MULT
89 Check that all relations have comments RELATION_COMM
90 Check that there are no relation errors RELATION_ERRS
91 List all relations RELATION_INFO
92 Update relations RELATION_UPDATE ✔
93 Standard relations exist RELATION_MISS ✔
Family Tables
94 Check if a standard list of parameters is in the table FT_STD_PARMS ✔
95 Identify if the model is a generic or instance FAMILY_INFO
96 Instance names meet required syntax and values INSTANCE_NAME
97 Table cells with default values (* in the table) FT_DEF_VALS ✔
98 Verify all instances in the table Auto on MC_REGEN MC_REGEN only
Layer Checks
99 Check drawing layers DRAWING_LAYERS ✔
100 Check that standard items are on standard layers LAYER_PLACE ✔
101 Extra layers (those that are not listed in the start part) EXTRA_LAYERS ✔
102 Layers stored in “isolate” (display) mode LAYER_DISPSTAT
103 Layers with improper display status LAYER_STATUS ✔
104 List all layers in the model LAYER_INFO
105 Move items on ‘old’ layers to ‘new’ layer names LAYER_MOVE ✔
106 Only report missing layers if there are features that belong REPT_LAYR_ALWAYS
on them in the model (default layers)
107 Report any features on multiple layers LAYER_ITEMS ✔
108 Required layers exist STARTCHECK ✔
Tolerancing
109 Check that tolerances are properly defined as either ANSI STARTCHECK
or DIN/ISO
110 Minimum and maximum tolerance used in the model MINMAXTOL_INFO ✔
111 Tolerances below allowable minimum LOW_TOLERANCE ✔
Sheetmetal Checks
112 Check that the bend table is from an approved list SHTMTL_BENDTAB No Batch mode
113 Check that the flat pattern feature exists SHTMTL_FLAT
114 Check that the Y-factor is from a standard list SHTMTL_YFACTOR No Batch mode
115 Report if the wall thickness is a non-standard dimension SHTMTL_THICK

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CHECK CONFIG TAG HIGHLIGHT FIX COMMENT

116 Report if there are any consecutive unbend/bend back SHTMTL_UNBENDS
features
Assembly Checks
117 Assembly features other than datums exist ASM_FEATURES ✔
118 Bill of materials (list) ASM_BOM
119 Bulk items BULK_ITEMS
120 Family table generic components exist GEN_COMPONENTS ✔
121 Frozen components FRZ_COMPONENTS
122 Global Interference - has it been run recently GLOBAL_INTF
123 Missing components MIS_COMPONENTS MC REGEN and Batch
mode only
124 Number of parts and sub-assemblies NUM_COMPONENTS
125 Number of unique parts and sub-assemblies UNQ_COMPONENTS
126 Packaged components PACK_COMPONENTS ✔
127 Suppressed components SUP_COMPONENTS
Drawing Checks
128 Differences between .dtl file in use and the standard one STD_DTL_SETUP No batch mode
129 Dimensions which cannot be regenerated REGEN_DIMS MC_REGEN only
130 Dimensions which have been overridden using @O DIM_OVERWRITE
131 Draft geometry not attached to a view DRAFT_GEOM ✔
132 Drawing name conforms to standard syntax DRAWING_NAME
133 Drawing parameters - list any that exist PARAMS_EXIST
134 Drawing text that is not a standard font NOTE_FONT
135 Drawing text that is not standard height NOTE_HEIGHT
136 Erased views ERASED_VIEWS ✔
137 Format used is from a standard list FORMAT_NAME ✔
138 Ignore a given sheet IGNORE_SHEETS
139 List of symbols SYMBOL_INFO
140 Model names used on each sheet (list of) MODELS_USED
141 Notes on the drawing (list of) NOTE_INFO
142 Number of drawing sheets is below defined maximum NUM_DRAW_SHEETS ✔
143 Number of sheets and their sizes SHEET_SIZE_INFO
144 Required parameters exist on the drawing PARAMS_USED
145 Spelling errors in notes NOTE_SPELL ✔ ✔
146 Spelling errors in symbols SYMBOL_SPELL ✔ ✔
147 Spelling errors in tables TITLE_SPELL
148 Symbols used in the drawing are from an approved list STD_SYMBOLS
149 Text in drawing that is not allowed NOTE_UNACCEPT
150 Text in the Title Block that is not parameter-driven TITLE_INFO
151 Unused drawing sheets UNUSED_SHEETS
152 Unused models on the drawing UNUSED_MODELS ✔
153 Verify that certain table cells contain approved TABLE_CELLS
information
154 Views with display status set to default DEFAULT_VIEWS ✔
155 Views that are out of bounds BOUND_INFO ✔
156 Views that overlap OVERLAP_INFO ✔
GeomIntegrityCHECK
157 Small elements (curves, faces and surfaces) M1_TINY_ELMNT ✔
158 Identical elements (curves, faces and surfaces) M2_IDENTICAL_ELEMNT ✔
159 Positional continuity (curves, faces and surfaces) M3A_POSITION_CONT ✔
160 Tangential continuity (curves, faces and surfaces) M3B_TANG_CONT ✔

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CHECK CONFIG TAG HIGHLIGHT FIX COMMENT

161 Curvature continuity (curves, faces and surfaces) M3C_CURV_CONT ✔
162 Curves and surfaces defined by equations with high M4_POLYN_DEG ✔
polynomial degrees
164 Wavy elements (curves and surfaces) M5_WAVINESS ✔
165 Small distance between knot vectors (curves and surfaces) M6_KNOT_DIST ✔
166 Self intersecting curves C7_SELF_DIST ✔
167 Non IGES-compliant text D28_IGES_TEXT ✔
168 Small edge segments SU8_TINY_SEG_EDGE ✔
169 Small radius of curvature SU9_TINY_CURV_RAD ✔
170 Small angle between edges SU10_BOUND_ANGLE ✔
171 Reversal of normals SU11_NORM_REVERSAL ✔
172 Poor patch distribution SU12_PATCH_DIST ✔
173 Unoccupied patch rows SU13_UNOC_PATCH_ROW ✔
174 Small distance between edges F14_BOUND_DIST ✔
175 High edge-surface deviation F15_SURF_DIST ✔
176 Non parallel path / dissimilar orientation F16_SIM_ORIENT ✔
177 High edge-segment concentration F17_NUM_SEG ✔
178 More than two surfaces per edge T18_NUM_FACE ✔
179 Dissimilar normal distribution T19_NORMAL_ORIENT ✔
180 Knife edge T20_KNIFE_EDGES ✔
181 High vertex-edge deviation SO21_DIST_VERT_EDGE ✔
182 High vertex-surface deviation SO22_DIST_VERT_FACE ✔
183 Features without history SO23_HIST_DELETE ✔
184 Auxiliary geometry SO24_EXTRA_GEOM ✔
185 Cavities SO25_CAVITIES ✔
186 Multi-body solids SO26_MULT_BODY ✔
187 Multi-solid parts SO27_MULT_SOLID ✔
Batch Mode Auto Correcting Capability
Add items to layers
Add relations and comments
Change layer display status
Create layers
Create parameters (if the values are known)
Fully regenerate the model from the first feature on and
report any problems
Move items between layers
Designate parameters for PDM use
Rename datums
Rename layers
Rename parameters
Save the model

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Tutorial Evaluation:
Title:
… Engineer … Designer … Draftsmen … Mfg. Engr. … Tech. Pubs. … Analyst

PTC Products … Foundation … Advanced Assembly Extension … Advanced Surface Extension

Used: … Behavioral Modeling … Intralink … Modelcheck … All

Time using Pro/E: … 0-6 months … 6-12 months … 1-2 years … 2-5 years … 5+ years
1 – Strongly Disagree
3 – Agree
5 – Strongly Agree
1. This tutorial content met my
………………………… 1 2 3 4 5
expectations:

2. The exercise was easy to understand: ………………………… 1 2 3 4 5

3. This tutorial will help me on current

………………………… 1 2 3 4 5
projects:

4. These techniques make Pro/E a more

………………………… 1 2 3 4 5
effective tool:

5. These techniques will increase my speed

………………………… 1 2 3 4 5
using Pro/E:

What concepts/techniques learned from this tutorial will you apply on the job?

1)

2)

3)

What would you like to see as a future tutorial at your company?

1)

2)

3)

What can be done to improve these tutorials for your company?

1)

2)

3)

Additional Comments:

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