I had the need to retrieve the geometrical/technological attributes from the tools loaded in a Catia CATProcess machining project.
To do so, I came up with this piece of CATVBA code:
Dim MfgDoc1 As Document
On Error GoTo Erreur2
Set MfgDoc1 = CATIA.ActiveDocument
On Error GoTo 0
' Checks the extension of the loaded document
If Not (Right(MfgDoc1.Name, (Len(MfgDoc1.Name) - InStrRev(MfgDoc1.Name, "."))) = "CATProcess") Then GoTo Erreur
Set pprdocument1 = MfgDoc1.PPRDocument ' Select the PPR level
Set activities1 = pprdocument1.Processes ' Select the Process List
Set activity1 = activities1.Item(1) ' Select the #1 item from the process list
Dim actName As String
actName = activity1.Name ' Retrieve name of #1 item
Set aProcess = MfgDoc1.GetItem(actName)
'---------------------------------------------------------------
' Scan through Process elements, looking for tool-changes
'---------------------------------------------------------------
If (aProcess.IsSubTypeOf("PhysicalActivity")) Then
Set childs = aProcess.ChildrenActivities
quantity = childs.count
If quantity <= 0 Then
Exit Sub
End If
For i = 1 To quantity
Set CurrentSetup = childs.Item(i)
'MsgBox childs.Item(i).Name
If (CurrentSetup.IsSubTypeOf("ManufacturingSetup")) Then
'---------------------------------------------------------------
' Read the Programs of the current Setup
'---------------------------------------------------------------
Set ProgramList = CurrentSetup.Programs
NumberOfProgram = ProgramList.count
For J = 1 To NumberOfProgram
Set CurrentProgram = ProgramList.GetElement(J)
'---------------------------------------------------------------
' Read the Activities of the current Program
'---------------------------------------------------------------
FileName = CurrentProgram.Name ' Name of the Manufacturing Program [PP]
Set ActivityList = CurrentProgram.Activities
NumberOfActivity = ActivityList.count
If (NumberOfActivity = 0) Then
MsgBox "The Process does not contain any machining operation!" & vbNewLine & vbNewLine & "Operation stopped.", vbInformation, "The file is empty"
Exit Sub
End If
For K = 1 To NumberOfActivity
Set CurrentActivity = ActivityList.GetElement(K)
ActivityType = CurrentActivity.Type
If (ActivityType = "ToolChange" Or ActivityType = "ToolChangeLathe") Then
count = count + 1
' Read attributes from "CurrentTool" element called by "ToolChange" activity
Set CurrentTool = CurrentActivity.Tool
ToolNumber = CurrentTool.ToolNumber ' Gives the numeric name of the "T" tool
ToolComment = CurrentTool.ToolType ' Gives tool type es. "MfgEndMillTool"
MFG_TOOL_NUMBER = CurrentTool.GetAttribute("MFG_TOOL_NUMBER").ValueAsString()
MFG_NOMINAL_DIAM = CurrentTool.GetAttribute("MFG_NOMINAL_DIAM").ValueAsString()
MFG_CUT_LENGTH = CurrentTool.GetAttribute("MFG_CUT_LENGTH").ValueAsString()
MFG_OVERALL_LGTH = CurrentTool.GetAttribute("MFG_OVERALL_LGTH").ValueAsString()
MFG_NB_OF_FLUTES = CurrentTool.GetAttribute("MFG_NB_OF_FLUTES").ValueAsString()
' Exception for MFG_CONRER_RAD e MFG_NB_OF_FLUTES on tools without that attributes:
If Not ((CurrentTool.ToolType = "MfgCenterDrillTool") Or (CurrentTool.ToolType = "MfgSpotDrillTool") Or (CurrentTool.ToolType = "MfgDrillTool") Or (CurrentTool.ToolType = "MfgReamerTool") Or (CurrentTool.ToolType = "MfgBoringBarTool") Or (CurrentTool.ToolType = "MfgTapTool") Or (CurrentTool.ToolType = "MfgMultiDiamDrillTool") Or (CurrentTool.ToolType = "MfgTwoSidesChamferingTool") Or (CurrentTool.ToolType = "MfgThreadMillTool") Or (CurrentTool.ToolType = "MfgCounterboreMillTool")) Then
MFG_CORNER_RAD = CurrentTool.GetAttribute("MFG_CORNER_RAD").ValueAsString()
'MFG_NB_OF_FLUTES = CurrentTool.GetAttribute("MFG_NB_OF_FLUTES").ValueAsString()
CATIAResult = "MFG_TOOL_NUMBER~" & MFG_TOOL_NUMBER & "|" & "MFG_NOMINAL_DIAM~" & MFG_NOMINAL_DIAM & "|" & "MFG_CUT_LENGTH~" & MFG_CUT_LENGTH & "|" & "MFG_OVERALL_LGTH~" & MFG_OVERALL_LGTH & "|" & "MFG_CORNER_RAD~" & MFG_CORNER_RAD & "|" & "MFG_NB_OF_FLUTES~" & MFG_NB_OF_FLUTES
Else
MFG_CORNER_RAD = 0
CATIAResult = "MFG_TOOL_NUMBER~" & MFG_TOOL_NUMBER & "|" & "MFG_NOMINAL_DIAM~" & MFG_NOMINAL_DIAM & "|" & "MFG_CUT_LENGTH~" & MFG_CUT_LENGTH & "|" & "MFG_OVERALL_LGTH~" & MFG_OVERALL_LGTH & "|" & "MFG_NB_OF_FLUTES~" & MFG_NB_OF_FLUTES & "|" & "MFG_CORNER_RAD~" & MFG_CORNER_RAD
End If
If (MFG_TOOL_NUMBER = "") Then
MFG_TOOL_NUMBER = 0
End If
If (MFG_NOMINAL_DIAM = "") Then
MFG_NOMINAL_DIAM = 0
End If
If (MFG_CUT_LENGTH = "") Then
MFG_CUT_LENGTH = 0
End If
If (MFG_OVERALL_LGTH = "") Then
MFG_OVERALL_LGTH = 0
End If
If (MFG_CORNER_RAD = "") Then
MFG_CORNER_RAD = 0
End If
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The trick is to select the tool pointed by each tool-change activity. I was not able to cycle directly through the ResourcesList of the PPR (I've also tried with C# but apparently Catia does not allow to interact with the ResourcesList. Maybe it's available only with CAA dev tools.), the result is that I can get attributes only from resources linked by a PartOperations/MfgPrograms/Toolchanges
