LeanCOST integration with Creo Parametric
This article describes how to enable the integration between LeanCOST and Creo Parametric.
1. VB API Toolkit
The first thing to do to enable the integration between LeanCOST and Creo Parametric to install the module VBI API Toolkit in the CAD system. To check if that module has been already installed in the CAD system, select “Toolkit API” from the CAD installer and check that the box “Visual Basic API” is flagged.
If it is flagged, the module is installed and you can skip to the chapter 2.
If it is not flagged, you must install it.
Install the VB API Toolkit
To install the module VB API, part of the PTC API Toolkit, you need to tun the file “setup.exe” inside the Creo installer folder. The “PTC installation Assistant” will open. Choose the option “Install new software”, even if the CAD is already installed.
Accept the license agreement.
Confirm the license path.
Click the button “Customize…” highlighted in the next image.
From the window “Application Custom Settings”, tick the box “VB API for Creo Parametric” under the group “Toolkit API” then click “Ok” button.
You will go back to the window “PTC Installation Assistant”. Here, press “Install” button.
The installation of the select module begins. At the end, press “End”.
The installation will add files and folders that depends on the version of Creo you have installed.
Creo 2.0 and Creo 3.0
- C:\Program files\PTC\<Creo version>\<build>\Parametric\bin
Added files:- “prodialog_view.bat”
- “vb_api_register.bat”
- “vb_api_unregister.bat”
- C:\Program files\PTC\<Creo version>\<build>\Common Files
Added folder:- “vbapi”
- C:\Program files\PTC\<Creo version>\<build>\Common Files\<Machine type>\obj
Where <Machine type> is: “x86e_win64” for Win 64-bit, “i486_nt” for Win 32-bit.
Added file:- “pfclscom.exe”
Creo Creo 4.0, 5.0, 6.0 and 7.0
- C:\Program files\PTC\<Creo version>\Parametric\bin
Added files:- “vb_api_register.bat”
- “vb_api_unregister.bat”
- C:\Program files\PTC\<Creo version>\Common Files
Added folder:- “vbapi”
- C:\ Program files\PTC\< Creo version >\Common Files\<Machine type>\obj
Where <Machine type> is: “x86e_win64” for Win 64-bit, “i486_nt” for Win 32-bit.
Added file:- “pfclscom.exe”
2. Register to server COM
The installation of the VB API Toolkit module allows to register to server COM.
To do so, run as administrator the “vb_api_register.bat” file, stored in “<Creo installation Path>/Parametric/bin”.
To unregister: run as administrator the “vb_api_unregister.bat” file.
3. Setting environment variables
It is also necessary to add to the environment variables “PRO_COMM_MSG_EXE” and “PRO_DIRECTORY”.
Their values changes according to the version of Creo that is in use.
Creo 2.0 or previous versions:
PRO_COMM_MSG_EXE = <Creo installation Path>/Common Files/<Build Name>/<Machine type>/obj/pro_comm_msg.exe
PRO_DIRECTORY = <Creo installation Path >/Parametric
Creo 3.0 or superior versions:
PRO_COMM_MSG_EXE = <Creo installation Path>/<Build Name>/Common Files/<Machine type>/obj/pro_comm_msg.exe
PRO_DIRECTORY = <Creo installation Path>/<Build Name>/Parametric
In both cases <Machine type> is equal to:
- “i486_nt” for Windows 32-bit
- “x86e_win64” for Windows 64-bit
4. Add the interop files to the database
To enable the connection between LeanCOST and Creo you need a group of files with “.dll” extension. These files are stored in a “.zip” file that you can download from a link sent by Hyperlean.
Before extracting the “zip” file, you should check that it does not have a security block and eventually disable it, by applying the following procedure:
- Right-click with the mouse on the downloaded “.zip” file
- Select “Properties” option in the context menu which will open and then go to the tab named “General”.
If the “.zip” file is blocked, you will see the button or the box “Unblock”. In this case:
- Press “Unblock” button or tick “Unblock”.
- Press “Ok” to save the changes.
The procedure to enable the integration with Creo varies depending on the type of database used for LeanCOST. Follow the paragraph that matches your database type:
- Access database
- MsSQL database
Access database
To enable the import from Creo, you need to add a few “dll” files in your access database that is stored inside the “ServerData<CustomerName>”.
To recover the path to the “ServerData<CustomerName>” folder, log in LeanCOST with a user with administrator rights.
From LeanCOST main screen, select the “Administrator” tab, then press “Server data tools” and select “Browse folder ServerData” from the context menu.
Click “Open”.
The “ServerData<CustomerName>” will be opend in a new File Explorer window.
Unzip the “.dll” files here:
ServerData<CustomerName>\Installer\CADLink\Creo
Note: the “dll” files you are adding can be different from the ones shown in the picture because they change based on the version of the CAD software.
MsSQL database
To enable the import from Creo, you need to add a few “dll” files in your MsSQL database that is stored in your SQL server.
To browse the database and add files to it, log in LeanCOST with a user with administrator rights.
From LeanCOST main screen, select the “Administrator” tab, then press “Server data tools” and select “Browse storage” from the context menu.
The window that opens, shown on next picture, represents the structure of the “LeanCOSTDB” database.
Open the following nodes in this order: “Installer”/ “CADLink” / “Creo”
Right-click with the mouse on “Creo” then select “Add new file” from the context menu.
Select one of the “dll” files you extracted form the “zip” file sent by Hyperlean, then press “Open” to upload the file in the database.
You must repeat the process for each “dll” file, and upload them one by one.
Note: the “dll” files you are adding can be different from the ones shown in the picture because they change based on the version of the CAD software.
Once every “dll” file have been uploaded, they will be shown under the node “Creo”:
Close LeanCOST and restart it to load the updated database and test the import from Creo.
If you run into any problems, contact support@hyperlean.eu.