02/22/2006
CATIA MSG & MTB Products versus DELMIA VT2 & MB2

Starting with V5R16, the CATIA product portfolio includes 2 add-on products, MSG - NC Machine Tool Simulation and MTB - NC Machine Tool Builder. These products can and must be added (in the sense of a license add-on) to any CATIA NC license configuration in order to be both licensed and used. It is necessary to only install CATIA to use these products, but note that their use will always consume an NC configuration license.

The DELMIA product portfolio provides the same products in the VT2 - NC Machine simulation and MB2 - NC Machine Tool Builder configurations. These configurations are stand-alone and no CATIA license or code is required for them to function. Therefore, in this situation, only DELMIA code needs to be installed and licensed.

But, if you have MSG and/or MTB licensed along with other DELMIA products or configurations, then it is necessary to install (in the same installation directory) and license both CATIA and DELMIA code in order for all licensed products and/or configurations to be available. In this scenario, you are then able to switch back and forth between the CATIA and DELMIA work-benches.

01/17/2006
IMPORTANT: PLM LUM License Key Issuing Policy Changes
IBM has announced changes to its LUM licensing policy that affects all Dassault Systèmes PLM products. Software purchased under both PLC (Primary License Charge) and OTC (One Time Charge) purchasing agreements are affected. As of January 15, 2006, license keys will only be issued for a maximum duration of two (2) years. Infinite keys (i.e. expiry in 2037) will no longer be issued.

For additional information please read the IBM issued "FAQ: Implementation of Two-year LUM Keys for PLM Products document (MS Word format).

This policy change means that newly acquired keys will expire and could cause interruptions in the availability of your PLM software unless the expiration is tracked and replacement keys are acquired in a timely fashion. Existing licenses, whose quantities are changed, can also be affected in specific situations.

Aventec intends on addressing this issue by providing a LUM key tracking service to its supported clients. The availability of this service has yet to been determined, but it will be implemented before late 2007 in time to handle licenses expiring after Jan 15, 2008.

IBM has made an expiration warning sample script available that can run on both Windows (with appropriate supporting S/W loaded) and UNIX platforms. An Installation and Usage document is also available. Aventec can assist you in implementing this script.

08/11/2005
CATDrawing Size Increase Issue
IBM PLM Technical Support has issued the following notice:

APAR HD40747 reports a problem for customers using CATIA V5 in association with VPM (V4) or ENOVIA V5 products. Due to the nature of this problem, we are pro-actively notifying all customers so you can determine if this problem impacts your configuration, and if so obtain the fix package.

Problem Description:

• Each time a CATDrawing is saved in PLM (VPM V4 or ENOVIA V5) its size will grow even if no modification has been made.
  • The increase only affects drawings stored in PLM (never in file-based)
  • The amount of the increase is linked to the number of views in the drawing, but NOT to the size of the views.
• It does not prevent the use of the CATDrawing or have any impact on its function, but could introduce a capacity/performance problem due to the increase in size. In very extreme cases the CATDrawing could reach 300MB, and then it cannot be loaded in V5.
• The problem is present in these levels of CATIA:
  • V5R12 Service Pack 7 and above
  • V5R13 Service Pack 5 and above
  • V5R14 GA and Service Packs 1 through 7 (fixed in V5R14 Service Pack 8)
  • V5R15 GA and Service Packs 1 and 2 (fixed in V5R15 Service Pack 3)

Resolution:

1. If you use CATDrawings in this manner, and are running one of the levels where the problem is not fixed, contact Level 1 Support or open a PMR via the IBM PLM Technical Support web site to obtain a fix package specific to your Release and Service Pack level. This fix package will contain the fix for APAR HD40747 and could also contain fixes for other APARs. The fix will prevent any further increase in the file sizes.

   Note: You must provide your Release and Service Pack level, along with any additional fix packages you have installed; the fix packages are unique for each level.

2. If your CATDrawings are a reasonable size, no further action is required. However if you have a CATDrawing that has reached an extreme size (close to 300 MB) contact Level 1 support or open a PMR via the Technical Support web site and be prepared to transfer the large file to the support team. There is a CATDUA rule that can be used to diminish the file size, however it must be used carefully and with guidance from the support team.