Two versions of the Patran database are delivered with Patran. Both occur in the <installation_directory> directory and they are named base.db and template.db. The base.db database is a Patran database into which no analysis code specific definitions, such as element types and material models, have been stored. The template.db database is a version of the Patran database which contains analysis code specific definition needed by a number of the MSC supplied interfaces. In order to create a template database which contains only PAMCRASH specific definitions, the user should follow these steps:

Any databases derived from base.db may not contain the needed PAMCRASH specific definitions needed to run the PAMCRASH Preference. But, PAMCRASH specific definitions can be added to any database at any time by simply typing load_pamcrash() into the Patran command line while the target database is the database currently opened by Patran. Due to the savings in size and for the sake of simplicity it is highly recommended template.db not be used as a template database and that the user create their own unique template database which contains only the analysis code specific definitions pertaining to the analysis codes of immediate interest. For more details about adding analysis code specific definitions to a database and/or creating unique template databases, refer to Modifying the Database Using PCL (p. 445) in the PCL and Customization or to the Patran Installation and Operations Guide.