How to Install Machinery Library In NX Reuse Library

Welcome to our latest blog post where we delve into the technical aspects of Siemens NX CAD – a platform recognized worldwide for its comprehensive flexibility and high-performance computer-aided design (CAD) tools.

We understand how crucial it is to optimize workflows to ensure your design process is as efficient as possible. In this context, the installation and use of the Machinery Library can significantly assist in streamlining your efforts. This library is an invaluable tool for those who regularly engage with machinery components in their modeling tasks.

Today, we will provide a step-by-step guide on how to install the Machinery Library in Siemens NX CAD’s Reuse Library, a repository that allows designers to store, modify, and reuse common objects, thereby reducing time consumption and enhancing effective project execution.

The user desires access to a library containing standard hardware components that can be easily reused in their product assemblies.

Siemens offers a complimentary Machinery Library. This library houses a collection of standard hardware components. These components can be added to the NX Reuse Library. Users can then conveniently access and incorporate these reusable components into their product assemblies while working with NX

JAVA – The last free version of JAVA is Version 8 Update 201.

A copy can be downloaded from the Swoosh Support Servers by clicking below on the icon:

To install the Machinery Library in the designated directory, whether on a client or server computer, it’s important to have JAVA installed. This is a prerequisite for running the MachineryLibrary-Installation.bat installer file.

• Machinery Library Install Tool – The Machinery Library Install Tool is the software used to install the Machinery Library on either the Server or Client computer. The Machinery Library Install Tool can be downloaded from the Siemens Support Center using the link below: NX Machinery Library (siemens.com)In the directory, you will choose the file called Machinery-library-install-tool-2022-03-31.zip You will need a Siemens Support Login to access the downloads at the link above. If you do not have a Siemens Support Login, follow the instructions at the link below to create a new account.
  • How do I register for the Support Center? (siemens.com) If you are a Swoosh customer on Active Support Maintenance, you can also request the Machinery Parts Library Install Tool from Swoosh and a link will be provided to download the file.

• Machinery Parts Libraries – To obtain the Machinery Parts Libraries for the standard part catalogs you need, you can download them from the Siemens Support Center. Simply use the link provided below to access and download the Standard Part Libraries. NX Machinery Library (siemens.com)Again, you will need a Siemens Support Login to access the downloads at the link above. If you do not have a Siemens Support Login, you can follow the instructions at the link below to create a new account. How do I register for the Support Center? (siemens.com)

• If you are a Swoosh customer with Active Maintenance Support, you can also request the Machinery Parts Libraries from Swoosh and a link will be provided to download the required parts catalogs.

Here are the parts catalogs that can be included in the Machinery Library, categorized by their respective standards:

• AIA NAS
• ANSI Metric
• ANSI Inch
• DIN
• GB
• GOST
• ISO
• JIS
• SAE
• UNI

1. Installing JAVA on Server or Client computer (only necessary if JAVA is not already installed) *Note: If you already have JAVA installed on the Server or Client computer that you are installing the Machinery Library with, you can skip this step and proceed to the next step.

• • Run the JAVA software installer program on the Server or Client computer that you will be using to install the NX Machinery Library.

After the JAVA installer completes the installation process, a system environment variable must be added to the Windows System Environment Variables.

The system environment variable will tell NX where to find the JAVA program on the computer.

2. Create the JAVA Home System Environment Variable

• Open the Windows System Environment Variables by selecting the Windows Start Icon.
• Start typing “E” “N” “V” on your keyboard to begin searching. The Best Match section will show matching programs and items in the list below.
• Select the “Edit the system environment variables” option.

• On the System Properties dialog, select the “Advanced” Tab.
• Select the “Environment Variables…” button.

• Select the “New…” button.
• On the Edit System Variable dialog, enter the following information:
  • Variable Name: JAVA_HOME
  • Variable value: C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_201

Note: Ensure that you enter the correct address where the JAVA program is installed on your system. The example above shows the default installation directory for the JAVA program.

• Select “OK” to create the new System Environment Variable, select “OK” to close the Environment Variables dialog, then select “OK” on the System Properties dialog to close it.

• Decide where you would like to locate the Machinery Library on the client or server computer.

Example location for Machinery Library on client computer

• After creating the Machinery Library directory, locate the Machinery Library ZIP file (Machinery-library-install-tool-2022-03-31.zip) that you downloaded from the Siemens Support Center and unzip the contents into a temp folder on your desktop.

• Copy the Machinery Library ZIP files that you downloaded from the Siemens Support Center into the “${Installation_Tool_Root}\Tool\libs” folder. You do not need to unzip the files.

• Navigate to the NX_Machinery Library Install – Kits > tool directory and Run the MachineryLibrary-Installation.bat file.

• On the Machinery Library Install dialog perform the following steps. Select the Language you want to use.

• Select OK

• Accept the Copyright Notice on the next page by selecting the check box next to “I agree with the above terms and conditions.”

• Select “Next>”

• Choose the type of installation environment, either “Native Mode” or “Teamcenter Mode”.
• Native Mode will import all libraries into a designated directory by the user.
• Teamcenter mode will import all libraries into the Teamcenter database.
• Select “Next>”

• Choose the type of installation, select Create a new installation if this is the first time you are installing the Machinery Library, or select Upgrade an existing installation if you have an existing Machinery Library installed that you would like to upgrade.
• Select “Next>”.

• Select the libraries to install in your Machinery Library directory.
• Select “Next>”.

• Designate the installation location for the Machinery Library to be installed.

• Select “Next>”

• Review the Configuration Information; If any changes need to be made, you can use the “Back” button to navigate back to a previous step.

• Select “Install” to begin the installation.

• When the installer completes, select “Finish” (it may take a minute for the installer to close on your computer).

After the installation is finished, a configuration file will be created in the Machinery Library directory named, “install.xml”. This file will store information about this installation, which will be utilized for future upgrade installations.

Upgrading an existing installation

If you choose “Upgrade an existing installation” in step 3.4.7 to upgrade the existing installation. You will need to specify the existing location of the Machinery Library for the installation path. The tool will unzip the libraries to the specified folder.

• If “Upgrade existent version, backup old files” is chosen, the tool will back up the old files;

• If “Upgrade existent version, overwrite the old version” is chosen, the tool will not back up the old files and overwrite files in the directory that have the same name as the files that are being written to the directory;

Updating the Machinery Library
If the user needs to change some parts or add new parts in the library, use the following steps:

1. Unzip the library zip file, such as ANSI-Inch-2022-03-31;

2. Make any necessary changes to existing parts in the category folders or add a new Reusable Part (including the NX .prt, .krx and .bmp image for the Reusable Part) to the to the category folder

3. Document the change in the version list file after changing existing parts or adding new parts to the library category folders.

Open the “.txt” version list file in the directory to edit the contents

This file contains the versioning information for tracking updates to the library. When a change is made to the library, this file will be opened, and the change entry should be formatted as shown below:

• UPDATE=2023-08-15
• Slotted C-sunk Bolt, AI.prt
• Slotted C-sunk Bolt, AI.krx
• Slotted C-sunk Bolt, AI.bmp

• Save the .txt list file.

4. Compress the modified Library into a .ZIP file and use same naming convention as was previously used with the new modified date on the end of the file name, such as: ANSI-Inch-2023-08-15.zip

Copy the updated Library ZIP file in the into the “${Installation_Tool_Root}\Tool\libs” folder. You do not need to unzip the files.

Navigate to the NX_Machinery Library Install – Kits > tool directory and Run the MachineryLibrary-Installation.bat file.

5. When running the Machinery Library Installer Tool again, choose the “Upgrading an existing library” option as shown in the Machinery Library Install section, step 3.4.16.

After installation, the tool will create an xml file under the install folder.

Now that the Machinery Library is installed in the designated location, the Customer Defaults can be updated to point to this directory so the Machinery Library will appear in the NX Reuse Library.

The instructions below are for a Native NX Environment:

1. Inside of NX, select File
2. Select Utilities
3. Select Customer Default
4. In the Customer Defaults dialog, on the left-hand panel, select Gateway
5. Expand the + node next to Reuse Library
6. Select General
7. On the right-hand panel, select the Navigator tab
8. Scroll down the Navigator panel to the Shared Library Configuration, in the Native NX section, you can add the information for the Machinery Library in the input field. The default Reuse Examples library is already in the field; you can add a new library below.

The naming convention for the Reuse Library is as such: Machinery Library|”C:\machinery_library_location\Machinery Library”

• After adding the Machinery Library information, select “OK” and then restart your NX session for the New Machinery Library to show up in the Reuse Library.

After reopening NX, you will find the Machinery Library in the Reuse Library and all the Parts Catalogs available to easily add reusable components to your designs and assemblies.

If Swoosh is your primary resource for support related to your Siemens software products, you can reach out to us using the options below – pick a method that works for you.

• Email us at [email protected]
• Go to our Swoosh Support page to submit a ticket.
• Call us at (314) 549-8110, Option 2.