About the Environment Created on Your Computer on Windows

 A Version 5 installation has the following impact on your computer.

Installation Folder
The software is installed (if you used the default location) in the folder:

WindowsInstallPath\win_b64 (64-bit code on Windows, x64 Edition)
WindowsInstallPathx86\intel_a (32-bit code on Windows, x64 Edition)

Desktop
The installation:
  • creates the

    CATIA VersionNumber default environment shortcut on the desktop.

     

Only one environment is created: a global environment (not a user environment). For more information about global and user environments, refer to What are global and user environments?.

The environment is created in a text file located in:

C:\ProgramData\DassaultSystemes\CATEnv

and the environment file name is:

CATIAEnvironmentName.txt
  • sets up the:

    Start > Programs > CATIA > CATIA VersionNumber default environment shortcut

  • and sets up the:

    Start > Programs > CATIA > Tools


    menu containing the Batch Management VersionNumber, Printers VersionNumber, Environment Editor VersionNumber, Nodelock Key Management VersionNumber, Settings Management VersionNumber and Software Management VersionNumber commands.

Registry
Whenever you perform an installation (or run a command using the /regserver command option), the following registry keys are modified:
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
  • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

Note: for the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT key, 64-bit Windows requires different registry entries for 32-bit and 64-bit applications. Therefore, 32-bit and 64-bit applications have different registry paths for following software related entries.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\DassaultSystemes (Windows)

    The key "EnvNameSuffix" is added containing the key "0" which specifies the destination folder. Additional entries are made each time you install the same release in a different location, and the key number will be incremented for each installation as follows: "0", "1", "2", etc.
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Dassault Systemes EnvNameSuffix_0 (Windows)

    Specifies the application name for uninstallation purposes; additional entries are made each time you install the same release in a different location, and the key number will be incremented for each installation as follows: "EnvNameSuffix_0",  "EnvNameSuffix_1", etc.)
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths (Windows)
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths     (Windows)

    Sets up the Start > Run... command so you can enter the appropriate command to start a session for your product line). This key is now integrated when using the /regserver and /unregserver command options.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

This key registers the document types and extensions for the Version 5 product line you installed.

Furthermore, the default OLE behavior of certain document types has changed. For example, what happens when double-clicking a CATPart document in the Windows Explorer depends on which product lines have been installed. For example, if only CATIA is installed, the CATPart will be opened. However, if you installed ENOVIA DMU Navigator after installing CATIA, the default behavior associated with double-clicking a CATPart in the ENOVIA DMU Navigator context will be used. In this case, the CATPart must be inserted into a product, not opened.
  For 32-bit and 64-bit Applications on Windows x64 Edition, this is the original path for 64-bit applications:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\

For 32-bit applications this is now the path:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\

This difference is not visible to the 32-bit application. All registry references from a 32-bit application to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes

are automatically redirected to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Classes

by Windows. 64-bit applications simply access the registry with an unchanged path.
  The integration of the following key lets you import nodelock licenses by double-clicking the license certificate file in the Explorer:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CATIA.Licensing

Please note that keys have been integrated into the registry for the CATIA Application, DELMIA Application and ENOVIA DMU Application so that the the user can choose the appropriate security settings to use these applications as Distributed COM clients.
Registry entries, folders and files are not protected. You can protect access to these entries using system tools, for example the regedt32 command. Please note that this command is only recommended for advanced users because it is potentially dangerous.

Communications Backbone Files
The communications backbone is an implementation of message-oriented middleware (MOM), used to support process interoperability for distributed application networks in heterogeneous environments. Installing the product sets up the communications backbone on your computer. The backbone needs to be set up on each computer running applications which need to communicate. 

When one application attempts to communicate with another, the backbone process is started automatically. If the process is already running, it is not restarted. A timeout is triggered once there are no more clients attempting to communicate with other applications.

A typical scenario involving the use of the inter-application communications backbone is implemented to allow the ENOVIA Portal DMU Navigator and ENOVIA Portal WEB to communicate: ENOVIA Portal WEB can load geometry and product structures into a viewer such as ENOVIA Portal DMU Navigator, 4D Navigator or CATIA.
When installing from scratch, the installation procedure sets up the communications backbone by creating the following lines:

catiav5bb 55555/tcp

catiav5run 55556/tcp

in the file:

%windir%\system32\drivers\etc\services

Note that the line:

CATDeviceBroker 55557/tcp

which concerns peripheral device handling is also added to this file.

If you do not want to set up communication ports during the installation, you can always edit the above-mentioned files manually later.
  Note: The services file also contains the line:

mi-ray 7001/tcp # Rendering slave

for the Photo Studio Optimizer product.

Tools for Setting Backbone and Peripheral Device Broker Port Numbers

The preferred method for setting port numbers, however, is to avoid manual edits by using one of the following tools:

setV5Ports

The syntax of the command is as follows:

setV5Ports [-backbonePorts p1 p2] [-VRPort p3]|-h

  • -backbonePorts p1 p2: Specifies communication ports for backbone. Default values are 55555 and 55556
  • -VRPort p3: Specifies communication port for peripheral device broker - default value is 55557
  • -h: displays help.

To run the command using the default values:

  1. Log on as administrator.
  2. Open a Command Prompt window and go to the installation directory, for example:

    WindowsInstallPath\win_b64\code\bin (64-bit code on Windows, x64 Edition)
    WindowsInstallPathx86\intel_a\code\bin (32-bit code on Windows, x64 Edition)

  3. Enter the command:
    setV5Ports

When used with the default values, it adds the following lines:

catiav5bb 55555/tcp #Dassault Systemes Communication ports
catiav5run 55556/tcp #Dassault Systemes Communication ports
CATDeviceBroker 55557/tcp #Dassault Systemes Communication ports

to the file:

C:/WINDOWS/system32/drivers/etc/services

BBDemonService

You can also use the BBDemonService command to set up the backbone.

The syntax of the command is as follows:

BBDemonService [-create [-backbonePorts port1 port2] ] [-delete] [-start] [-stop]

-create [-backbonePorts port1 port2] : if necessary, updates the file:
 %windir%\system32\drivers\etc\services
and creates the Backbone Service demon and starts it.

  • if the option -backbonePorts is not used, and if the services file already contains the lines catiav5bb and catiav5run, it is not modified. If it does not contain these lines, it is updated using the default ports 55555 and 55556 if they are free, if not, an error occurs and the command fails
  • if the option -backbonePorts is used, a check is performed to see if the above-specified ports are free, and the port numbers are added to the services file; if they are not, the file is updated using the port number specified with the option.

-delete: stops the Backbone Service and deletes it

-start: starts the Backbone Service

-stop: stops the Backbone Service.
A backbone daemon is created as a service and started. You can monitor the daemon by selecting Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services. The name of the service is Backbone Service. The name of the executable program that corresponds to the backbone service is CATSysDemon.exe, which you can track using the Task Manager.

Administrator Setting Environments
  When running a session at the end of the installation procedure (as administrator), permanent administrator settings are created in:

C:\Users\ses\AppData\Roaming\DassaultSystemes\CATSettings

Temporary administrator settings (CATTemp, CATReport, etc.) are stored in:

C:\Users\ses\AppData\Local\DassaultSystemes\CATTemp
C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\DassaultSystemes\CATReport

 

System Libraries

System libraries are no longer installed in the Windows file tree. Furthermore, no system libraries are installed with Windows x64 Edition.
All end users can now log onto the same computer and run a Version 5 session, because the environment created at installation is global.