NX Open Author

Submitted by DHuskic on Thu, 01/09/2014 - 09:47
Forums: 
Journaling / NXOpen API

Has anyone here had experience with NX Open Author or the IDE for NX Open for custom applications? I have been looking into this and want to take the Open API Programming course to take our development to the next level and was looking for feedback because I cannot find much referencing this license or the IDE for the API.

NXJournaling - Thu, 01/09/2014 - 13:07

If you are writing journals at any level you should have an IDE. I recommend Microsoft's VB.net express IDE (it is free); you'll get a form designer, syntax checking, code completion, etc etc. You'll never go back to a plain text editor! Other options are available, see the VB.net section in the resources link in the main menu. Siemens doesn't offer its own IDE, rather they provide a way of linking their API with your IDE of choice.

The Author license allows you to compile your code to a .dll or .exe file. There are several benefits to this, the main one being speed of execution. There are different author licenses for .net, C/C++, etc; be sure to specify the right one for you.

The Block Styler license allows you to create dialog boxes with the NX look and feel. Even if you don't currently have a block styler license, you can try it out in 'demo' mode to see the capabilities (you won't be able to save your creations in demo mode).

ciao - Mon, 01/13/2014 - 02:17

The Microsoft Visual Studio Express downloads are huge, these days. For something smaller, you could try SharpDevelop, or Eclipse. I have used the former (a little), but not the latter.

The NX/Open docs don't tell you much about how to use any specific IDE. The SNAP docs assume you're using VS Express, but translating into SharpDevelop or Eclipse terms should be pretty easy.

The BlockForm object in SNAP lets you create simple NX-style dialogs without a Block Styler license.

dhusk09 - Thu, 01/23/2014 - 11:01

At this point, we are looking into training courses for NX Open .Net Author and the Dialog designer, as a part of this we have been quoted for price of the licenses. Journals are capable of automation as it is, taking this course is supposedly going to improve our capabilities and help with creating custom applications. Are there more capabilities with the .Net Author/Customized applications than there is with journaling? I am looking for justification of all these costs for my company.

Denis Huskic
Data Prep
Kettering University Class of '17

NXJournaling - Fri, 01/24/2014 - 09:46

Full disclosure: I don't currently have access to an author or a blockstyler license. Plain vanilla journaling has (so far) been enough for my needs. Since I don't have access to those licenses, I may not be the best one to answer, but I'll give it a shot...

The main advantages of an author license as I see it are:

  • compiled code runs faster
  • freely reference other code libraries - makes life easier if your code needs to talk to Excel, TKSolver, etc etc

It is my understanding that journaling has full access to the API, so an author license won't grant you access to any additional NXOpen functions.

If your programs have a lot of user interaction, the Blockstyler license will let you create dialogs with the look and feel of NX. This can soften the learning curve for users.

ciao - Tue, 02/11/2014 - 22:56

A few other benefits of authoring licenses
(1)Without an authoring license, you can't run compiled code in the Vis Studio debugger, which makes it much more diffcicult to find your mistakes.
(2) Code in the journal editor all has to be in one file. As your programs start to get larger, having all the code in a single file soon becomes messy.
(3) Without an authoring license (A SNAP Authoring license, at least), you can't use SNAP functions, even in journals. Using SNAP functions will often make your code much shorter and simpler.

maayansv - Fri, 03/07/2014 - 06:11

Without Authoring License

Let say i create a Journal.
Now I wanted to Compile it will Visual Studio. Is it Possible without Authoring License?
If Possible, Can I run the application In NX directly? (Prompt as NX function / Independent Application)
If Possible, Can I Share the Application With Other Users through a network drive?
If Possible, Can I configure this app in Tool bar? Please Clarify

NXJournaling - Fri, 03/07/2014 - 06:26

You can't really compile your journal without an author license.

However, you can save the journal in a network location to share with others and you can create a button to launch your journal.

http://nxjournaling.com/?q=content/start-journal-custom-button

maayansv - Mon, 03/10/2014 - 04:04

Thanks for your reply!!!

dafralo - Thu, 03/20/2014 - 07:19

How can I check if I already have an Author license?... when I got to the company they already had the licenses, so I don't know exactly if we have it or no, is there a way to check it?

NXJournaling - Thu, 03/20/2014 - 07:37

Probably the easiest way would be to contact your CAD admin (or whoever pays for the licensing fees) to see if you have paid for a license.

Depending on your install options, there may be an "NX licensing tools" group under the Start -> all programs -> NX group. You might try poking around in here (don't change anything unless you know what you are doing) to see if you can find an author license.

dafralo - Thu, 03/20/2014 - 08:00

I found it at:

Start > All programs > UG NX 7.5 > NX Licensing Tools > Licensing Tool.

There you can check the license bundle details. Lucky me! looks like we have the author toolkit available...

Thanks!

DHuskic - Tue, 07/29/2014 - 07:42

I read this excerpt from GTAC:

http://solutions.industrysoftware.automation.siemens.com/view.php?si=nx_api5025

"Once you have fully tested your NXOpen API application, you should "sign" it
before distributing it to your end users. Even if your end users also have
access to the Author license which is required to load and run an NXOpen
application, signing it has its benefits."

I thought it wasn't required to have an author license to run an NxOpen application(I believe I've ran one before I acquired my license)?

DHuskic
Nx 9 VB

NXJournaling - Tue, 07/29/2014 - 08:12

If the code is signed, anyone with an execute license can run it. If the code is NOT signed, you will need an author license to run it.