STEP Tools Newsletter for Week of November 9

[Martin Hardwick]

This weekly newsletter is a brief update of what is going on in STEP
and at STEP Tools, Inc.  If you want to know more, try the STEP Tools
web site (http://www.steptools.com) or the contact for each article.

--------------------
Modular Extensions to STEP

PDES, Inc. is developing a series of modular extensions to AP-203. The
extensions allow new kinds of geometry to be exchanged using AP-203. 
Each extension is described by a mini-document that shows how the core
of AP-203 is extended to include a new capability. Some of the modules
being validated include:

	Validation Properties
	Associative Text
	Color Layers and Groups
	Parametric and Construction Geometry
	Dimensional Tolerances

Each module is first going to be tested by the CAD vendors in the
PDES, Inc. sponsored STEPnet. Then, when consensus has been reached
the the module will be "fast tracked" through the ISO standardization
process.  For more informaton see:

	http://www.stepnet.org

--------------------
AP-203 Conformance Testing

Like most computer tools, our translators obey the garbage
in, garbage out law. Consequently they fail when you ask them
to translate a STEP file that contains bad data. Of course the
average user often has no idea why a file fails, so we have 
installed a data checking tool onto our translation service.

You can find the checking tool on the translation service at
http://www.steptools.com/translate. The current version checks
a file to make sure that obeys all of the rules defined by
AP-203. 

--------------------
Translation Service Statistics

Summary:
Period Covered: Sun Nov  1 03:25:04 1998 -- Sun Nov  8 03:25:04 1998
Total usage: 57
Successful usage: 45 (78%)
Errors: 12 (21%)


Translator	total	errors	success rate

acis-ap203	23	0	100%
ap203-acis	5	1	80%
ap203-stl	1	0	100%
ap203-vrml	12	7	41%
ap203-xml	2	0	100%
express2html	7	0	100%
gifviz		6	4	33%
steptoimage	1	0	100%

=======================================
All-Time stats

Summary:
Period Covered: Wed Dec 31 19:00:00 1969 -- Sun Nov  8 03:25:24 1998
Total usage: 1860
Successful usage: 1639 (88%)
Errors: 221 (11%)


Translator	total	errors	success rate

acis-ap203	419	15	96%
ap203-acis	633	56	91%
ap203-stl	43	14	67%
ap203-vrml	253	70	72%
ap203-xml	33	5	84%
ap203check	19	2	89%
expfront	124	17	86%
expfront2	3	0	100%
express2html	155	0	100%
expxfront	11	1	90%
gifviz		20	10	50%
iges-ap202	10	0	100%
sp203-xml	13	2	84%
steptoimage	124	29	76%


--------------------
Our Tools

Our tools have been used to implement the STEP translators of
EDS Unigraphics, Bentley Microstation, Alias Wavefront, IRONCAD, 
CADKEY and many more. For more information on classes, consulting
and any of these tools contact info at steptools.com. 

Programming:
* ST-Developer -- programming tools for writing STEP applications,
  translators and databases.

* ST-ORACLE -- SQL programming tool for moving STEP data into and
  out of ORACLE databases. 

* ST-ObjectStore -- ObjectStore binding of ST-Developer for moving
  STEP data into and out of ObjectStore databases.

* ST-PowerModel -- programming tools for moving STEP data into and
  out of PowerModel databases.

* ST-WebDeveloper -- XML, JAVA, GIF and HTML programming tools for
  managing STEP data on the Internet.

* ST-ACIS Library -- programming functions to convert STEP data to 
  and from ACIS models and SAT files.

Desktop:
* ST-EXPRESS -- desktop tool to visualize EXPRESS schemas.

* ST-ACIS Translator -- desktop tool for translating STEP data to
  ACIS and vice versa.

* ST-Visualizer -- desktop tool to view, analyze and check the
  accuracy of STEP databases.

Data Exchange:
* ST-WebExchange -- World Wide Web translation and visualization
  services for sharing standard product data with customers and
  suppliers.

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