Current Help System: Direct CAD Interfaces (View Core Help)

## Troubleshooting CATIA 5 DCI Errors

If you get errors when trying to use the CATIA 5 DCI, there is a utility that you can download that may help. This utility will test the connection to CATIA 5 and report the results.

Downloading the CATIA 5 Utility

There is a different utility for each release of CATIA 5. For example, for CATIA 5 R15, download this file:

ftp://ftp.wilcoxassoc.com/DCI/Catia5/TestCatiaR15.zip

Note: The above link is for CATIA 5R15. A different utility exists for each CATIA 5 release. For different releases, simply download the appropriate utility from the same directory: ftp://ftp.wilcoxassoc.com/DCI/Catia5

Using the CATIA 5 Utility

To use the CATIA 5 utility, follow these instructions:

1. Create a new shortcut to CATSTART.exe on your desktop. CATSTART.exe is located in your CATIA 5 installation directory in the intel_a\code\bin sub-directory.

2. After creating the shortcut, modify its properties by right-clicking on it. Append the following to the Target after CATSTART.exe (make sure there is a space between CATSTART.exe and –run):

-run cmd.exe -env {environment file} -direnv {environment directory}

You will need to replace {environment file} with the CATIA 5 environment file you want to use. It should correspond to the CATIA 5 release you are running.

You will also need to replace {environment directory} with the directory where the environment file is located. By default, the CATIA 5 environment files are located in the following directory (the directory will need to be surrounded by double quotes if the path contains spaces):

"C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\DassaultSystemes\CATEnv"

For example, if CATIA.V5R15.B15 was the name of your CATIA 5R15 environment file, and all CATIA 5 files were installed in the default directories, the shortcut Target would look like this:

“C:\Program Files\Dassault Systemes\B15\intel_a\code\bin\CATSTART.exe” -run cmd.exe -env CATIA.V5R15.B15 -direnv "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\DassaultSystemes\CATEnv"

3. Unzip the CATIA 5 utility you downloaded in section “Downloading the CATIA 5 Utility” to any directory.

4. Run the shortcut you created in steps 1 and 2. It should open a command window with the CATIA 5 environment initialized. This can be verified by entering the following at the command prompt:

set CATDllPath

This should display the correct path to your CATIA 5 intel_a\code\bin directory.

6. Browse to the directory to where you unzipped the CATIA 5 utility.

7. Run the CATIA 5 utility with a CATIA 5 CATPart or CATProduct file as a command line parameter. For example, if you had a CATIA 5 file named model.CATPart, you would enter the following at the command prompt:

TestCatia.exe model.CATPart

Note: if the CATIA 5 file is not located in the same directory where TestCatia.exe is located, you will need to specify the fully qualified path to the CATIA 5 file.

If the utility completes successfully, it will output the following:

Create_Session() succeeded.

CATDocumentServices::OpenDocument() succeeded.

CATLockDocument() succeeded.

Document opened successfully.

CATUnLockDocument() succeeded.

Otherwise, the utility will display information that can help you fix the CATIA 5 DCI problems.