It is possible to associate cells in excel to parameters in Pro Engineer and thus create a bi directional link (import or export), but it seems few people know how to do it. There are many uses for this functionality and several different methods of implementation. This tip will guide you through one of the cleaner methods and will work on a foundation license of Pro Engineer.

Scenario

A small company manufactures brake discs for motorcycles ranging from complex aftermarket discs for race bikes through to very simple replacement discs for old mopeds. The design team need to spend more time on the specialist projects and less on modeling simple moped solutions. To solve this problem we will drive a Pro Engineer model from a simple spreadsheet form that a non technical staff member can fill in – this model could then be used to produce all the required downstream deliverables such as drawings or machining data.

Summary of Method

A simple UI is created in the form of a spreadsheet which is then linked to Pro E via an excel analysis feature. Cells in the spreadsheet are then linked to Pro E dimensions or parameters through relations. With the help of a simple map key we can save changes in excel press one button in Pro Engineer and see the model update accordingly.