r17 parts in r16...options?

[3dmdlr]

howdy! i am very new to catia. actually i don't really know much at all. i am going to try to get up to speed at my new job so i may be here a lot. our customer sent me r17 models. we have r16. can these be opened somehow? if not can i ask them to save tham as r16 like in acad? just so i know, if i do ask them to save tham as r16, what does that involve for my customer? time? difficult? thanks so much! Cheers C[[]]

[MrCATIA]

Howdy 3DMDLR, and welcome to the world of CATIA.

CATIA is "upward compatable" which means data from lower level releases can be open and modified with higher level releases. So your customer can open and modify your R16 files with his R17 system.

But not the other way around. You will not be able to open and modify R17 or higher files with your R16 system.

However, as you probably know, your customer can use the DOWNWARD COMPATIBILITY utility program to convert their CATPart files from R17 to R16. (it's a fairly simple process.) Then you will be able to open these files. You can use these files in a limited capacity; you add new features, you can make drawings and assemblies with these files, you can even do NC programming. But you will be unable to modify the solid file, since it's history will be deleted when the DOWNWARD COMPATIBILITY is run.

If you plan to do alot of business with the customer, I strongly recommend you upgrade your system and always run the same release as your customer.

I also recommend you take a CATIA class to get up to speed as quick as possible.