Absolute Accuracy in Pro/ENGINEER

Pro/ENGINEER provides two ways to define accuracy: relative and absolute. The default is relative accuracy, and the default value is 0.0012. OSDM uses absolute accuracy, and the coarsest accuracy it allows is 0.01 mm. A part created with 0.0012 relative accuracy in Pro/ENGINEER probably cannot be transferred to OSDM. OSDM can use accuracy from E-6 to E-2 mm. CoCreate recommends an order of magnitude overlap in accuracy, which means a part should be created in Pro/ENGINEER with 0.001 mm accuracy.

A default installation of Pro/ENGINEER does not allow absolute accuracy. Here is the process with references from Release 17 manuals.

Before starting Pro/ENGINEER

Create a configuration file to enable absolute accuracy.
Fundamentals, pages 19-5, D-18
The configuration file could have various names and be located in various directories.
Fundamentals, page 6-1
Administration Guide, page 3-7
I created file text/config.sup under the proe directory containing two lines:

enable_absolute accuracy	yes
accuracy_lower_bound		0.000001

After starting Pro/ENGINEER

Absolute does not appear in the ACCURACY menu unless enable_absolute_accuracy yes has been executed.

Enter .001 for accuracy if the units are mm. Enter .0000394 if the units are inches.