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Tutorial 1: Learning the Pro/E Interface

1. Introduction

In this tutorial you be will introduced to the work environment in Pro/E and most effective keys, shortcuts and
options. In addition you will learn how to access files, manage them and save them.

2. Accessing Part Files

To help illustrate the Pro/E interface we will open an existing part file and conduct some operations on the
file. The part that will be used for this tutorial is named as Demo.prt. Make sure that you have that file
stored in an empty folder.

1. Start Pro/E Wildfire 2.0. On startup the Pro/E main window will look as that shown in Figure 1.1. Note that
Pro/E has a built in Browser that can be used to open web pages within the Pro/E environment by typing
the address in the Address Bar.
2. Press the Arrow (shown in Figure 1.1) to hide the browse window.
[Figure 1. 1]

As in many engineering software it is necessary to set a Working Directory where the files can be stored and
retrieved. This is essential whenever you start Pro/E such that you can track where your files are stored.

3. From the Menu Bar choose [File] -> [Set Working Directory…], and select the folder where you
have stored the part file to set that folder as your working directory.
4. Click [OK] Button.
5. Choose [File] -> [Open], and select the file named as demo.prt .
6. Click [OK] Button. The part will open and it should look similar to that shown in Figure 1.2.
[Figure 1. 2]

3. Pro/E Toolbars and Quick Mouse Control

Now that you have the demo.prt file opened it is time to introduce the most common features and tools that
can be used. First we will list the different toolbars in the Pro/E main window (indicated in Figure 1.2) and
will define each icon in those toolbars.

File Management Toolbar

 New: the new icon is used to create a new Pro/E object.


 Open: the open icon is used to open an existing Pro/E object.

 Save: the save icon is used to save the currently opened Pro/E object.

 Print: the print icon is used to print or plot the currently opened Pro/E object.
 E-mail: the email icon is used to mail a model.

View Display Toolbar

 Repaint: the repaint icon is used to re-draw the work screen.

 Spin center on/off: is used to turn the spin center on or off.

 Orient mode on/off: is used turn the orient mode on or off.

 Zoom in and zoom out: is used for zoom operations.

 Refit: is used to fit the extent of a Pro/E object to fully display it on the screen.

 Reorient: is used to modify the orientation of the part.

 Layer: the layer icon will allow for creation and manipulation of layers.

 View manager: provides access to the view manager dialog box.

 Saved view list: is used to change the object's view.

Model Display Toolbar

 Wireframe: displays a Pro/E object as wire frame.

 Hidden line: displays a Pro/E object with hidden line.

 No hidden: displays a Pro/E object without hidden line.

 Shade: shades a Pro/E object.

Datum Display Toolbar

 Datum planes on/off: it is used to turn on or off the display of Pro/E datum plane.
 Datum axis on/off: it is used to turn on or off the display of Pro/E datum axis.

 Datum points on/off: it is used to turn on or off the display of Pro/E datum point.

 Coordinate system on/off: it is used to turn on or off the display of Pro/E Coordinate system.

Datum Creation Toolbar

Feature Creation Toolbars

Model and Datum display manipulation


Now that we have introduced the different toolbars, we will try to use some of the icons and see how they
affect the model.

1. From the Model Display Toolbar click the Wireframe icon, then the Hidden Line icon, then

the No Hidden icon, and finally the Shading icon. Watch how the display mode of the
model changes when clicking each of these icons.

2. From the Datum Display Toolbar click the Datum plane on/off icon and see how the datum
planes disappear, then click the same icon once more to show the datum planes again. Repeat the

same thing with the Datum axis on/off and Coordinate system on/off icons to turn
them off and back on again.
Model manipulation (zoom, pan, spin)

For manipulating the part displayed on the screen (zoom, pan, spin) you can use the Reorient icon
which will open a new pop-up window where you have individual controls for performing the different
operations. However it is much easier to use the mouse shortcuts for manipulating the part. Figure 1.3
shows the different operations that can be performed using the mouse shortcuts.

[Figure 1. 3]

3. First we will zoom the part in and out using the mouse wheel, turn the mouse wheel in both
directions and see how that changes the zoom level. It is important to note that while turning the
mouse wheel, the location of the mouse cursor defines the zoom center. You can verify that by
moving the cursor to different locations and repeating the zoom in and out.
4. While zooming in and out you could probably lose the part such that you can not see it on the screen
anymore (if you zoom in too much while the cursor is located away from the part). To resize the part

quickly such that it is fully displayed on the screen you just have to click the Refit icon from the
View Display Toolbar.
5. Hold down the middle mouse button and move the mouse in different directions and see how the
part spins around its spin center.
6. To translate the part around the screen (Pan), hold down both the Shift key on the keyboard and
the middle mouse button and move the mouse in different directions. To bring the part back to the

center of the screen you can use the Refit icon.

Saved orientations and adding a new view


Now we will look at the different orientations saved with the part and will define a new orientation.

7. From the View Display Toolbar click on the View manager icon. The View Manager pop-up
window will appear as shown in Figure 1.4. Make sure the Orient tab is selected as seen in the figure.
8. Now you are looking at the list of the views that are already saved with the part. To see the different
orientations you need to double click on the view you want to activate. Try to look at each of the
different views available in the list to see the difference between them.

[Figure 1. 4]

9. Spin the part and orient it in any orientation that you like (by holding down the mouse middle button
and moving the mouse). Also, you may use the zoom and pan operations to have the part at the size
and position that you like.
10. Now you can save the new view that you got and add it the saved view list such that you can go
back to it whenever you want. To do that click on the button in the View Manager window.
11. A new view will be added to the list as seen in Figure 1.5. Change the name of the new view to
Tutorial 1 View and hit Enter.
12. Now the new view is added to the list and you can switch between the different views by double
clicking any of them.
13. Click the button to close the View Manager.
[Figure 1. 5]

3. Model Tree, Message Display and Selection Filter

In this section you will be introduced to three areas of the Pro/E main window which are very important to
be acquainted with in order to understand the Pro/E interface. These are the Model Tree, the Message
Display, and the Selection Filter as indicated in Figure 1.6.
[Figure 1. 6]

The Model Tree


The Model Tree is a list of every feature in a part file that you create, including datums and coordinate
systems. When you have a part file open, the Model Tree shows the part file name and each feature in the
part below it. For instance this demo part is made of two extrusions and a hole as can be seen from the
model tree. To recognize each of the features making up the part you can go to the model tree and click on
any item in the tree that you want to see and this item will be highlighted in the model tree and in the part
itself. To test that click on the hole in the model tree and see how it gets highlighted in red in the part.

The Message Display


The Message Display area is a very helpful tool because it is the way Pro/E communicates to the user to
guide him while using a feature. Status messages indicating that an operation was successful or if there is a
problem are given in the Message Display. In addition, while using a feature, instructions guiding the user to
the next step that needs to be done are also given in the Message Display. Therefore it is important to
always keep an eye on the messages given in the Message display area while you are working with Pro/E.

The Selection Filter


The Selection Filter is also very important when selecting a desired feature of a part, such as an edge or a
surface. To understand what the filter is used for try to move the mouse cursor over different features of
the part and note how different features are highlighted in Blue when you move the cursor over them. For
instance move the cursor over the hole and after it gets highlighted in Blue click on it to select it and it will
be highlighted in Red. To cancel your selection you just need to click outside the part. The default selection
filter used in Pro/E is called Smart filter which is a two stage filter. When using this filter you can not select
geometry such as an edge or a face directly by moving the cursor over it. If for instance you want to select
an edge you first have to select the feature this edge belongs to then you can select the edge in the next
step. If you find that to be not convenient you can change the type of the filter by clicking on the arrow next
to the filter to open the drop down list and choose a different filter from the list. For instance if you want to
choose an edge or a face directly (in one step) you need to change the filter type to Geometry then you can
move the cursor over any edge or face and choose it directly.

4. Managing Files

In this last section we will learn how files are managed in Pro/E since it is somehow different than typical
windows software.

Saving your work


When using Pro/E it is important to know that when close the file you are working on, you will not be asked
if you want to save your work, the file will be closed and you will lose your work. Thus it is very important
that you remember to save your work before closing the file. Remember that we added a new view to the
saved views list; therefore we need to save the file before closing it in order to keep that view.

1. From the Menu Bar choose [File] -> [Save] (or you can use the Save icon from the File
Management Toolbar). The Save Object pop-up window will appear.
2. Click the button to save the part. Note that the part will be saved in the directory you set as
your working directory and you can not change the location where the part is being saved.

Now using windows explorer go and open your working directory. Inside the working directory you will see
that there are two copies of the file (the one you just saved and the older file) as seen in Figure 1.7. In
Pro/E, each time you save the file you are working on, a new file will be created and it will not overwrite the
older file (if you save ten times you will have ten new files inside your working directory). This is done such
that you will be able to rollback a file to an older version of that file.
[Figure 1. 7]

Deleting older versions of a file


When working on a part it is suggested that you save your work each time you add something to that part
such that you will not lose your work in the case anything wrong happened. However, each time you save
your work a new file is written and that takes unnecessary disk space. When you are done with a part you
can delete the older versions of that part leaving only the latest version.

3. From the Menu Bar choose [File] -> [Delete] -> [Old Versions] (be extremely careful not to
choose All versions by mistake).
4. A verification message will appear in the dashboard at the bottom of the Pro/E main window as

shown in Figure 1.8, click on the check button to proceed.

[Figure 1. 8]

Renaming a file
If you want to change the name of the file you are working on you can do that using the Rename command.

5. From the Menu Bar choose [File] -> [Rename]. The Rename pop-up window will appear as seen in
Figure 1.9.
6. In the New Name field type in Tutorial_1 then click the button to finish. Note that the file
name can not have a space, you can use underscore instead.

[Figure 1. 9]

Saving another copy of a file


If you want to save another copy of a file under a different name or in a different directory or in a different
file type; you can do any or all of those using the Save a Copy command. We will now use this command to
create a JPEG image of our part.

7. From the Menu Bar choose [File] -> [Save a Copy…]. The Save a Copy pop-up window will appear
as seen in Figure 1.10.
[Figure 1. 10]

8. Click on the arrow next to Type to open the dropdown list of available file types. Scroll down in the
list until you find JPEG and choose it.
9. In the New Name field type in T1_pic then click the button. A new pop-up window will
appear as seen in Figure 1.11.
10. Choose the image Size to be A4 and make sure that the resolution is set to 100 dpi (such that the
size of the image file will not be huge) then click the button to finish. Now a new JPEG image
file is created inside your working directory.
[Figure 1. 11]

Important Note: If you use the [Save a Copy…] command to save another part file under a different
name, Pro/E saves the work under that new name and leaves the original file open and the subsequent save
operations will save on the original file and not on the new file (note that this is different from the Save
As… command of common Windows programs).

Closing a file
When you are done working on the file it is recommended that you close that file (of course after you save
it) and clear the file from the session memory before you open another file. Opening multiple Pro/E files at
the same time takes a lot of memory and that will slow down the PC and might cause the software to
freeze.

11. From the Menu Bar choose [File] -> [Close Window].
12. After closing the file it is better to clear it out of the session memory, to do that choose [File] ->
[Erase] -> [Not Displayed]. A pop-up window showing the names of the files in the session
memory will appear, click the button to erase the files from the session memory. Note that
this will not delete your file; it will just remove it from the temporary session memory.

This completes Tutorial 1.

Homework
 Open the file named Homework1.prt and change the orientation of the part to look similar to that
shown in the figure below
 Add this new orientation to the saved views list and name this view as: Your_Name_View
 Save the file and delete its old versions
 Change the name of the file to: Your_Student_Number.prt
 Save an image (JPEG file) of the part showing the new view and name it as
Your_Student_Number

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