CMM: Chinese text created by "User Note" in I-deas is not migrated to NX

CMM: Chinese text created by "User Note" in I-deas is not migrated to NX IR Number: 1965627

   Priority:	1

Business Urgency: No

   GTAC Urgency:	No

  PR Matrix:	1i

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

Problem Description:

CMM: Chinese text created by "User Note" in I-deas is not migrated to NX.

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

NX Versions: NX 8.0.2 (with CMM 8.0.2) and NX8.5.2 (and CMM 8.5.2)

Managed Mode: No

Tc Versions: n/a

Containing:

---

Part: Yes. I-deas package file and resulting NX data from CMM migration.

AVI: n/a

Syslog: CMM log files.

Other Files: n/a

Work Around: No.

Steps to Duplicate:

1. Configure I-deas to display/interpret Chinese characters on customer supplied drawings.

Create 'custom_varbs.cmd' file in the 'bin' folder of the I-deas installation that contains the following entry;

set SDRC_GDRFONT=%SDRC_INSTL%\gdr\prc\local

Note: The customer used the supplied editor (editor.exe) to enter the 'User Notes' in I-deas.

Add the following entry to the 'custom_varbs.cmd' file to enable the editor;

set SDRC_GDRTERMEDITOR=\editor.exe

2. Start I-deas 6.2 and import the package file (export.pkg - supplied with the support data).

3. Check-out the drawing '2_closing_halfspindle_cpl' and 'Get from Bin'. Note the Chinese characters in the parts list and title block.

4. Configure CMM (Solo) 8.0.2 to display/interpret Chinese characters created by the "User Note" command in I-deas. Edit the 'cmmComfig.cmd' file to include the following entry;

set SDRC_GDRFONT=C:\CMM\802\IDEASG~1\gdr\prc\local

5. Migrate the I-deas package file (export.pkg - supplied with the support data) using CMM (Solo) 8.0.2.

6. Start NX 8 and open the migrated drawing 'SR_A7E_102_01577_001_BL1.1.prt'. Note that the Chinese characters have not been translated correctly. In NX Drafting enable the 'Drawing Migration' toolbar and select the 'Drawing Overlay ON/OFF' button. Note the Chinese characters from I-deas.

The customer requires the capability to migrate Chinese character text, created as a 'User Note' in I-deas, to NX via CMM. They have hundreds if not thousands of such drawings that require migration. (We have demonstrated that Chinese characters created using the standard Note command in I-deas are migrated successfully to NX.)

Problem is part specific: No

Problem is OS specific: No

Platform Information-

Problem is platform specific: No Platform:

Problem verified on the following platforms and OS versions:

Intel IV, Win7 64-bit

The problem where Chinese text created by "User Note" in I-deas is not migrated to NX, has been investigated and the following has been found.

The issue described is not a software defect. The software is working as designed.The root cause of the problem was the use of an old customer-created Input Editor used to create the notes in I-deas, using a method that is no longer supported.

However, it is possible to workaround the issue to repairing the characters.This can be done by using the relationship between the character set used by the custom editor and the one used today by NX, it is possible to de-construct and re-construct the notes to repair them in most cases.

A summary with more detail follows and additional details and sample VB scripts are available on request.

There are various encoding methods available, each with their one character set, to display CKJ (Chinese/Korean/Japanese, aka "double-byte characters") in computer systems. In the early 1990's when the CKJ input was first developed for I-deas Drafting, when I-deas supported only UNIX workstations, each UNIX OS had its own method. Some used JIS, some EUC, or Shift-JIS, GB, etc. And each came with their own Input Editor to actually key-in the CKJ characters from an ASCII keyboard.

It was also possible for customers to develop their own Input Editors, although most customers just used the Input Editor provided with their OS. When I-deas standardized on Windows, it standardized on a specific Input Editor method provided with Windows, and the encoding and character set that went with it.

In the case of the data provided, the customer created their own Input Editor for Windows that used one of the older UNIX encodings and character sets.I-deas could still display the resulting notes correctly, since the older UNIX-based code was still present in I-deas Drafting.

However, that method differs from the mainstream character set used by I-deas and subsequently ported to NX to help support migration.

Therefore when the drawings are migrated, the notes are being interpreted as being User-Defined (double-byte) notes, so the raw ASCII characters are being displayed as they are.The good news is that the conversion from the Shift character set used (it was shift 128 bits toward the unprintable end of the ASCII set), is a simple math exercise to rectify (by parsing each character and shifting backwards 128 characters).

A document containing further detail is available on request.

In addition an NX Open VB script was uploaded that demonstrates how the process could be automated (the AVI shows the VB script in action).There are a few special cases where some characters are interpreted as special characters, either by I-deas Drafting or NX, such that the original double-byte intention is lost. Those cases are also discussed in the document, and would need to addressed case-by-case, and perhaps repaired manually.

PR 1965627 Product Information: Product: NX , Application: TRANSLATOR , Version: V8.0.2