ANT column configuration

[carlharr]

Hi,

Does anyone know if it's possible to save the ANT column configuration by version NX8.5, and if so how?

Thanks, Carl

http://www.jcb.com

NX 8.5 with TC 8.3

 

[Arkance/PhoeNX]

It's stored in registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\UNIGRAPHICS SOLUTIONS\NX\8.5\General\ANT\Columns

It is possible to export the key & force it onto others.
I used to do it years ago when I was an admin.

Anthony Galante
Senior Support Engineer

NX5.0.6, NX6.0.5, NX7.5.5, NX8.0.0 -> NX8.0.3
NX8.5.0 -> NX8.5.3, NX9.0.0 -> NX9.0.2, NX10 Beta

 

[carlharr]

Dare I do this... in all honesty, no.
Presumably your answer means no other (safer) way to do it Anthony.

http://www.jcb.com

NX 8.5 with TC 8.3

 

[looslib]

What is wrong with using the registry key? It isn't anything magical. It is well documented. The export/import of a registry key to copy them from one machine to another is done all the time. Don't let the Microsoft warning scare you off, you will not hurt your registry with the export. If the import machine does not have the key structure, the import will add it. If it does have the key structure, it will be overridden with your changes. If MS was totally against you doing an export/imp[ort why did they include the ability to do so?


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[Arkance/PhoeNX]

I agree with Ben, I used it to force registry stored settings on a user when they logged in.
I honestly can't remember how I did it, but I think we had a login script for our domain users that identified a NX user and forced the registry import as well.
Never had a problem with it. As long as the key your importing is only for a defined area, which in your case would just be the ANT settings then you'll be fine.


Anthony Galante
Senior Support Engineer

NX5.0.6, NX6.0.5, NX7.5.5, NX8.0.0 -> NX8.0.3
NX8.5.0 -> NX8.5.3, NX9.0.0 -> NX9.0.2, NX10 Beta

 

[carlharr]

Well I was really hoping this could be done inside NX, as it's always seemed odd to me that it can't - maybe as part of the role file.

I've no idea what a registry key is, my background is not computers.
With some googling I could probably figure it out, but I know enough to know it's best to leave the insides of work computers well alone!

Plus I'm guessing you need to be an admin, so "normal" users wouldn't have access.

No big problem, I'll just stick with my screenshot of ANT columns that I use.

http://www.jcb.com

NX 8.5 with TC 8.3

 

[ChrisAbbott]

I recently had the opportunity to ask one of the developers exactly this question - storing assembly/part navigator column configurations in roles.

The short answer is that right now, it cannot be done without using the registry. However, while no specific plans were revealed, it is an ongoing project to migrate these sorts of configurations from the registry to MTX roles for management inside NX.

 

[carlharr]

Thanks for the info Chris, that would definitely be a big improvement!

http://www.jcb.com

NX 8.5 with TC 8.3

 

[looslib]

These keys are in an area of the registry that does not require admin rights to export/import.

I don't have NX loaded, so cannot point to the key name directly.
My guess is it would be under HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Siemens/NX or (NX#)/ANT
Locate the key, right click on it and Export. It will ask for a name, use ANT for simplicity, and it will create an ANT.reg file in your documents folder.
To import tyhe file on another machine, just copy it over and double click on it. You will get a warning about corruption, but just say YES and the registry on that computer will now have the same ANT display as your machine, after it is rebooted.


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[JohnRBaker]

However, while no specific plans were revealed, it is an ongoing project to migrate these sorts of configurations from the registry to MTX roles for management inside NX.

As an example of what's comging from this "ongoing poject", for NX 10.0, except for the configuration of the internals of the navigators such as the columns, the set-up options which controls the content (tabs), the location (Left/Right side) and other aspects of the Resource Bar itself have been moved to the .MTX file, which also means that they can now be captured in your user-defined Roles as well.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[carlharr]

OK, google has helped and I've figured out how to export the columns folder from the registry.

2 queries:

Ben you suggested giving it a name e.g. ant, so it is now called ant.reg
Does it not need to have the orginal name (columns) to update on the other new PC.

Secondly, I have two instances of 8.5, one native and one Teamcenter managed (the one that matters).
But there is only one registry folder.
How do I know whether this is the native or TC managed ANT column settings?

Looking forward to NX10.0!

http://www.jcb.com

NX 8.5 with TC 8.3

 

[JohnRBaker]

I suspect that you've only installed one copy of NX, just that it can be run either native or under TC, and if that's the case, Windows will only need a single set of registry entries.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[looslib]

The name of the registry export file (.reg) has no bearing on what is in the file. If you open the file in an editor, you will see a bunch of code that tells the OS where in the registry to place the contents. If one of the registry levels already exists, it will just use that until it comes to a missing level, then it will add them.

Native or TC connection is dependent on how NX starts up. Like John said, you only have 1 instance of NX installed on your computer.

If you use a network install for NX, the registry settings must still be local.


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[jpetach]

Carl,

Adding to details from John and Ben...

The .reg extension just makes it able to install if double clicked. The name is not important - a self documenting name is highly recommended since the contents is difficult to read since the column headings are hex values (to support multi-byte attibute names), so NX_X.Y_ANAV_for_Department_Z_rev_1.reg might be helpful.

The ANAV info for native NX and TC managed are stored in the same registry entry. NX just ignores the columns that are only relevant to TC when running native mode.

The column titles, content, width, and visibility are stored in the registry so if the original machine that exported the reg file had the additional columns, the receiving machine that used the reg file would not need anything defined - the identical columns, titles, order, widths would be created from the imported reg file.

HTH, Joe