Step Import Failure

[B. Ludin]

I'm trying to import a 65MB ProE-generated STEP file (header below) on a 1GB RAM machine and get a out-of-memory message from the SmartHeap Library.

The task manager suggests that there's still some 150MB of physical memory available and the page file is not even at 50% of its maximum.

I've tried reducing the smoothness and import to both ACIS and Parasolid, but to no avail. Any ideas (apart from getting more RAM) how to get the problem solved?

Is this a problem of heap size and is there a way to allocate more memory to the heap?

 

And no, going back to the provider of the file to ask them to give us another format or break the model down into smaller parts is virtually impossible. We have received the file as a courtesy and it took our contact in that company more than 8 weeks of persistent nagging, until their oh-so-busy CAD guys were finally willing (or sufficiently unnerved, rather) to spend the 15 minutes to export the model. So this file is what we have to work with.

 

TIA, Beat

 

ISO-10303-21;
HEADER;
FILE_DESCRIPTION((''),'2;1');
FILE_NAME('000000-1299-411_01-205_ASM','2004-09-06T',('zjspe'),('<company name deleted>'),
'PRO/ENGINEER BY PARAMETRIC TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION, 2003090',
'PRO/ENGINEER BY PARAMETRIC TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION, 2003090','');
FILE_SCHEMA(('CONFIG_CONTROL_DESIGN'));
ENDSEC;
DATA;

[Guest IronKevin]

There could be a number of things happening:

 

Windows could be reserving that last 150mb (seems unlikely)

 

IronCAD may be stuck on some corrupt or inaccurate/inconsistent data in the file (more likely)

 

PRO/E IGES files by default are too inaccurate to be of much use once imported so I would be careful not to waste too much time on this file. PRO/E has a function to increase the parts accuracy before export but I supose that would take another 8 weeks in your case.

 

If you like, you could send the file to ftp://ftp.ironcad.com/upload and an email to support@ironcad.com and someone should be able to look at the file on Monday. There may not be a solution for this specific file.

 

IK

[B. Ludin]

Thanks for the offer, I'll get back to you. But what do you mean by "PRO/E IGES files by default are too inaccurate to be of much use"? Firstly, the file in question is a STEP file not IGES, and secondly, we have used both PRO/E STEP and IGES files in the past and never noticed any inaccuracies, just mistakes like false orientations and missing surfaces. Or is the latter what you meant?

BTW, one intersting observation is that IC reports bad entities when importing to ACIS but not to Parasolid. That's a bit puzzling, isn't it?

 

Beat

 

 

[Guest IronKevin]

STEP and IGES have the same issues. The lower accuracy is small, PRO/E at .0012mm versus ACIS/Parsolid at .000001 so modeling further on these imports can be problematic. This also can depend on the model complexity since both kernels have different abilities to heal inaccuracies.

 

IK

[Cary OConnor]

You may want to enable the 3G Memory Switch (Details below). You could also post the file on the FTP site and let us try the import on a box with more menory to see if that is the issue/

Thanks,

Cary

 

 

3Gig Memory configuration

 

* For users with large models that are experiencing "out of memory" or "low on memory"

messages from within IronCAD:

 

IronCAD has been configured to run in "Large Address

aware" mode. In this mode, the application is able to take advantage of 3GB of memory

instead of the default 2GB allowed by the operating system.

 

To effectively use this Large Address capability the boot.ini file must be modified on your

system to include the flag "/3GB". Following is an example of how your boot.ini should

appear after the /3GB switch has been added. This example was copied from, and further

information regarding this switch may be found at the following web address:

http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/platform/se.../PAE/PAEmem.asp.

 

Warning: Incorrect edits to your boot.ini file may prevent your system from booting entirely.

Insure that you have a backup copy of the boot.ini file before editing it. IronCAD LLC

claims no responsibility for any damages caused to your system by editing this file.

Proceed at your own risk.

 

====example DEFAULT boot.ini=====

 

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="????"

 

 

====example EDITED boot.ini=====

 

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="????" /3GB

 

 

As you can see in the "EDITED" boot.ini section above, the only change made was adding

the "/3GB" flag to the bottom line. This is all that is required to make use of

that additional gig of memory.

 

Notes:

- The boot.ini file is a hidden/system file. To see it you will need to enable the showing

of hidden/system files through Tools/Folder Options in Windows Explorer (My Computer).

- The boot.ini file is typically a read-only file. You may need to edit its properties

and uncheck the "read-only attribute" before you are able to save it.

- The boot.ini file may be edited with Notepad found in Start/Programs/Accessories.

- Insure that you add the /3GB flag to the [operating systems] entry in the boot.ini, not

the [boot loader] entry.

- The 3gig limit is a total limit of RAM and Virtual Memory combined.

- In addition to a ram limitation, you may also receive "out of memory" errors due to a

lack of available space on your "C" drive. IronCAD relies on building temporary

files during its normal operation so if it is unable to create those files, it will

then tell you that it's out of memory. When encountering an out of memory error,

always first insure that you have more than 1 gig of currently available space on

your "C" drive, or wherever your %temp% environment variable points to.

- The 3gig limit is the total "allocated" memory. When using the windows Task Manager

you are viewing the "used" memory. The task manager does not accurately display

the information that pertains to this limit. Due to this limitation of the task

manager, you may be hitting the 2 or 3 gig limit from within IronCAD, but the task

manager may only show that you are using 1.4 gigs of memory. If IronCAD tells you

that you are running low on memory, AND you have more than a gig of currently available

space on your "C" drive (or wherever your %temp% environment variable points to),

then it is safe to assume that you are hitting the memory limit (even if the task

manager doesn't reflect this assumption).

[Mike Twining]

====example DEFAULT boot.ini=====

 

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="????"

====example EDITED boot.ini=====

 

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="????" /3GB

 

 

I would like to HIGHLY recommend (from past experience) that instead of modifying the boot.ini file as Cary mentioned (by simply adding the /3gb switch to the end of the existing line) that you modify it as follows:

 

====example OTHER EDITED boot.ini=====

 

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="????"

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="???? /3GB" /3GB

 

==============================

 

The only difference being the copying of your normal boot loader line and adding the switch to your new line. This will allow you to recover quickly if your manchie has any problems with the /3gb switch (see the microsoft knowledge base for more info). If you are running on FAT32, then it is not such a risk, but if you are running NTFS, recovery can be a real P.I.T.A.

 

MikeT

[B. Ludin]

I've ended up solving the problem by installing an evaluation copy of Rhino , which opened the file w/o problems using about 350MB of RAM only. I then exported to ACIS and Parasolid. IC couldn't handle the Parasolid but did fine with ACIS (with the usual occurrence of bad entities).

Originally, the out-of-memory error occured at a page file size of about 2GB according to TaskManager (although the limit was set to 5GB). If that's cumulative with the 1GB RAM that I have, this would nicely fit the 3GB limit, wouldn't it? I'll give it a try when I get to it. I'd rather not give out the original file if I don't have to because we promised to keep it confidential.

 

Beat

[Chris Lohman]

Beat, the /3GB limit isn't logical and is very difficult to fully explain. Setting that switch helps many things even if you only have a gig of ram. The more I see that switch help, the more I'm beginning to realize that it might end up being recommended that all IC users use the /3GB switch. The task manager does not show what the 3GB switch affects, so don't rely on it for an accurate gauge of memory usage. That switch affects "allocated memory" (task manager shows "used memory") which is a totally different game inside of the Microsoft Operating System.

 

Definitly try the 3GB switch with the second boot string like Mike recommended. Sometimes the switch doesn't work and if you don't use the second string then your system could be rendered useless by the switch. In situations where the system can not handle the /3GB switch; SP2 for XP seems to be fixing those problems. The second string will allow you to revert back to the default setting if the 3GB switch doesn't work for you.

 

And as you found with the Rhino Export: The default kernel in IronCAD can make a big difference with your import. Try changing your default kernel and then reimport to see if that changes anything.

 

Oh and to exonerate Cary; he's copy/pasting from a document that I wrote about the 3GB switch so not recommeding the second line is my mistake. I wrote it before your day of fun and I knew that it could cause problems Mike. I need to update that doc...