STEP Tools Weekly Newsletter for November 30

[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.

--------------------
STEP-NC Mapping Table on Web Site

A home page for the STEP-NC project has been added to the STEP Tools
home page. The home page contains a mapping of the STEP-NC EXPRESS
model into the STEP integrated resources.

    http://www.steptools.com/library/stepnc

The STEP architecture requires that all STEP models be mapped into
the integrated resources so that different models can share data. The
advantage of mapping is that it allows different Application Protocols
to take advantage of each others data resources. This is particularly
true for STEP-NC because the EXPRESS model for STEP-NC does not define
how the data in a controller database will be produced by CAD and CAM
systems.

The mapping answers this question by showing how STEP-NC resources can
be connected to the rest of STEP.  Specifically it shows how a machine
tool working step can be connected to:

* A manufacturing feature (as defined by AP-224)
* An elementary surface (that defines a security plane)
* A tool or fixture
* Another working step

Those of you who want to know more are invited to look at the
mapping on the home page. However, be warned that the material
is very technical. For most people only the end result of the
mapping matters.


--------------------
SDAI C in ST-Developer Version 7

Submission of the SDAI C standard for DIS registration has been
delayed a little because it got caught by a change in the ISO
documentation requirements. PDES, Inc. has now finished the necessary
changes and last week they announced the shipment of the document to
Geneva.

For ST-Developer v7, STEP Tools, Inc. has invested considerable
resource into improving its implementation of the SDAI C binding.  
The highlights include:

* Unset testing for integer and real values
* EXPRESS model validatation
* Schema instances

The SDAI C is a late binding which means that an application written
can be applied to data defined by any EXPRESS model.


--------------------
Translation Service reaches 2000 users

The Translation Service has been used by more than 2000 users.
It took eight and half months for the first 1000 users to try
the system. The second 1000 users has been reached in just
three and a half months.



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

Summary:
Period Covered: Sun Nov 22 03:25:03 1998 -- Sun Nov 29 03:25:03 1998
Total usage: 88
Successful usage: 79 (89%)
Errors: 9 (10%)

Translator	total	errors	success rate

acis-ap203	19	0	100%
ap203-acis	32	3	90%
ap203-stl	2	1	50%
ap203-vrml	10	2	80%
ap203-xml	5	1	80%
ap203check	11	1	90%
express2html	6	0	100%
gifviz		1	1	0%
steptoimage	2	0	100%

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

------------------------------------
Summary:
Period Covered: Wed Dec 31 19:00:00 1969 -- Sun Nov 29 03:25:11 1998
Total usage: 2138
Successful usage: 1857 (86%)
Errors: 281 (13%)

Translator	total	errors	success rate

acis-ap203	465	15	96%
ap203-acis	758	84	88%
ap203-stl	51	17	66%
ap203-vrml	272	78	71%
ap203-xml	41	6	85%
ap203check	34	6	82%
expfront	124	17	86%
expfront2	5	0	100%
express2html	187	0	100%
expxfront	11	1	90%
gifviz		30	17	43%
iges-ap202	10	0	100%
sp203-xml	13	2	84%
steptoimage	137	38	72%

--------------------
WELCOME NEW AND REPEAT CUSTOMERS IN NOVEMBER 1998!

Boeing - 6 ST-Developer
Chonbuk National University - ST-Developer
Design Power Europe OY - ST-Developer
Ecole Polytechnique Federale - 2 ST-Developer
Espri Concept - 2 ST-Developer
EuroSTEP OY Finland - ST-Developer
Georgia Institute of Technology - 3 ST-Developer
KAIST - ST-ACIS Translator
Toyota Caelum - ST-Developer
Rockwell  - 2 ST-Developer
University of New Orleans - 3 ST-Developer


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