Hmmm. I guess I don't know. I have never worked with any neutral files that actually DO have parametric data in them. I know that some companies were working on something to make them bi-directional (Pro/ENGINEER and Solidworks), but I don't know if anything ever came of it.
I'd be interested in getting one of these parametric files and importing it to Pro/ENGINEER to see how it turned out...
-Malfaetor
Reviled did I live, said I, as evil I did deliver...
I work in a position where I get to mess around with transferring geometry between CAD applications almost daily. Thankfully for me, there are already a couple of standards for 3D Data Transfer.
High-quality 3D CAD programs *should* already be able to import the Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES). IGES has absolutely been the de-facto standard for the past 10 years on data transfer between CAD packages. It handles surfaces, 2D drawings, 3D wireframe, as well as solids (although it didn't originally support solids). Unfortunately, some CAD software manufacturers *cough*AutoCAD*cough* force the consumer to buy an additional license to handle it. They want everyone to use their proprietary Drawing Exchange Format (DXF)
Some CAD packages had attempted to go to the solid model transfer format STEP (Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data), but few have been quick to adopt it. STEP works extremely well between CAD packages that do support the format. It'll even build assembly heirarchies for the user as necessary. Unfortunately, STEP doesn't handle parametric models (models driven by dimensions, instead of the other way around).
That said, there are still some downfalls of all flavors of the current intermediate transfer formats. I look forward to the day when I don't have to worry about what format a given CAD package uses, and how they interact with each other.
-Malfaetor
Reviled did I live, said I, as evil I did deliver.
Slashdot Mirror
Can you imagine the utter confusion in the NFL if they had to convert to 100 meter football fields?
-Malfaetor
...if I run it over with my truck? :)
-Malfaetor
This information may be a bit dated, but gives more detailed info on the YAL-1 ABL Airborne Laser, as well as many links to related articles.
-Malfaetor
Reviled did I live, said I, as evil I did deliver
I'd be interested in getting one of these parametric files and importing it to Pro/ENGINEER to see how it turned out...
-Malfaetor
Reviled did I live, said I, as evil I did deliver...
High-quality 3D CAD programs *should* already be able to import the Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES). IGES has absolutely been the de-facto standard for the past 10 years on data transfer between CAD packages. It handles surfaces, 2D drawings, 3D wireframe, as well as solids (although it didn't originally support solids). Unfortunately, some CAD software manufacturers *cough*AutoCAD*cough* force the consumer to buy an additional license to handle it. They want everyone to use their proprietary Drawing Exchange Format (DXF)
Some CAD packages had attempted to go to the solid model transfer format STEP (Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data), but few have been quick to adopt it. STEP works extremely well between CAD packages that do support the format. It'll even build assembly heirarchies for the user as necessary. Unfortunately, STEP doesn't handle parametric models (models driven by dimensions, instead of the other way around).
That said, there are still some downfalls of all flavors of the current intermediate transfer formats. I look forward to the day when I don't have to worry about what format a given CAD package uses, and how they interact with each other.
-Malfaetor
Reviled did I live, said I, as evil I did deliver.