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Nearly two years after the 2001 release of Pro/ENGINEER, PTC has now put a lot at stake with its new program. In fact, the company considers the new program so different, that it has even given it a different name, as well as aggressively promoting it against SolidWorks. So let's see what Pro/E Wildfire is all about. And how it stacks up against SolidWorks and other mid-range MCAD players.
The Navigator
A key concept behind Wildfire is a set of tools found in something called The Navigator, which is located in the upper left side of the screen. It consists of four tabbed components-a model history tree, the Folder Brower, a Favorites tab, and a final area called Connections.
When Wildfire is initially opened, the Folder Browser is selected, allowing users to browse the contents of the local hard disk or network. At the same time, what used to be the main modeling area is now an embedded Web browser. Essentially, this setup gives quick access to any one of the three usual locations where a file may be located. Such a file may be a Pro/E document, which can be previewed and rotated using the built-in ProductView Express viewer. Microsoft Office and other non-graphic files can also be opened via the Folder Browser, as long as the native application is present.
Within the Navigator, Wildfire provides free access to Pro/COLLABORATE, which can be used as a remote server to store and access projects. Conference Center, a new program based on technology from Groove Networks, is also available. It allows two or more Wildfire users to share a model via a Web-based design session. Users can also add markups during collaborative sessions, with the proper software installed.
I had a brief Conference Center session with a PTC technical person. He began the session as the Leader and invited me in as a Member. Soon after, I was able to see his actions on my screen. Later, he was able to give me control of the session, and we communicated via text messages (and of course over the phone). The session moved smoothly, due to the Groove technology that allows only the updated data to be sent, rather than the...