STEP Tools news for Wednesday August 8

Wed Aug 8 13:17:47 EDT 2001

This 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 
at http://www.steptools.com

------------------------------ 
Part Programming using STEP-NC

The STEP-NC demonstration at General Dynamics Land Systems featured a 
part being made on a milling machine directly from a STEP-NC (AP-238) 
Part Program pulled of the Internet using XML.

The STEP-NC Part Program Interpreter contained three elements

* Generic code to read the STEP-NC data and determine the meaning of 
  each operation.
* General Dynamics-specific code to determine the best strategy for 
  making the part on the chosen machine using the chosen material 
  (plastic substituting for aluminium).
* GibbsCAM-specific code to generate tool paths for the operation. 
  These tool paths were then immediately posted to an MDSI controller 
  resident on the same machine as the interpreter using a previously 
  selected post from the GibbsCAM library of 4,500 posts.

The time savings of STEP-NC were neatly demonstrated by having an 
operator perform the same scenario using AP-203. He read the AP-203 
file into GibbsCAM using an AP-203 interface and then made decisions 
about how to make the part using the geometry in the model and his 
understanding of how GD makes parts using this material on this kind 
of machine.

The STEP-NC interpreter performed exactly the same operations but 
instantly because his knowledge was captured as algorithms resident in 
the controller.

As well as posting machine-specific codes, the STEP-NC interpreter was 
able to check the STEP-NC part program for tool path collisions using 
another option available in GibbsCAM and to generate a spreadsheet 
documenting the operations. All of this took place on the CNC, with 
the required user input being limited to choosing between the "Run", 
"Verify" or "Document" buttons.

-------------------------------------------- 
STEP Tools Awarded Contract to Extend SHTOLO

Short To Long (SHTOLO) is a tool developed by NIST to convert 
Application Protocol EXPRESS models from the short form used by AP 
developers to the long form used by AP implementors. The short form 
is preferred by AP developers because it allows them to simply 
reference the STEP integrated resources. The long form is preferred 
by AP implementors because it includes all the resources needed to 
implement a STEP translator in one file.

SHTOLO was developed several years ago by NIST as part of its 
mission to support the early development of STEP. SHTOLO converts 
short forms into long forms by including all of the integrated 
resources referenced by the short form in the long file. Only the 
resources required to support the AP must be included so the 
algorithm used to determine what is included is a complex one.

In recent years, industry has prefered commercial EXPRESS tools 
developed by STEP Tools and others because they include support 
instead of the EXPRESS tools developed by NIST. Consequently, SHTOLO 
has been growing out of date. The requirement to update SHTOLO is now 
urgent because AP developers are beginning to use EXPRESS v2 (E2) to 
develop short forms.

Therefore, NIST has awarded a contract to STEP Tools to develop a new 
SHTOLO using the STEP Tools EXPRESS compiler. STEP Tools is going to 
develop the new SHTOLO in three stages:

Stage 1: Convert short form E1 to long form E1. 
Stage 2: Convert short form E2 to long form E2. 
Stage 3: Convert short form E2 to long form E2.

Stage 1 will fix the known bugs with the current SHTOLO tool and 
should be ready for testing by the next STEP meeting in Japan at the 
beginning of October.

--------------------------- 
Summary: 
Period Covered: Sun Jul 29 03:25:03 2001 -- Sun Aug 5 03:25:03 2001 
Total usage: 50 
Successful usage: 47 (94%) 
Errors: 3 (6%)

Translator total errors success rate 
ACIS to STEP: 13 3 76% 
STEP to ACIS: 26 0 100% 
AP203 Checker: 2 0 100% 
Parasolid to STEP: 5 0 100% 
======================================= 
All-Time stats 
------------------------------------ 
Summary: 
Period Covered: Wed Dec 31 19:00:00 1969 -- Sun Aug 5 03:25:51 2001 
Total usage: 14039 
Successful usage: 12718 (90%) 
Errors: 1321 (9%)

Translator total errors success rate 
ACIS to STEP: 3245 69 97% 
STEP to ACIS: 4253 256 93% 
STEP to XML: 87 18 79% 
AP203 Checker: 1126 49 95% 
CEB XML Writer: 39 3 92% 
EXPRESS Checker: 11 1 90% 
OSEB XML Writer: 38 0 100% 
Parasolid to STEP: 734 128 82% 
STEP to Parasolid: 671 174 74% 
STEP to XML: 483 36 92% 
Visualization tools: 691 166 75% 
Visualization Service: 220 24 89% 
XML to STEP: 106 21 80%

--------------------------- 
Tools From STEP Tools, Inc. 

The world's foremost firms use the STEP Tools product line to help 
them share engineering product information. Over one million people 
use product data applications built with ST-Developer, the company's 
flagship product.

Data Management Tools: 
* ST-Repository -- STEP database with SOAP XML services for sharing 
STEP-CAD, STEP-PDM and STEP-NC information with the supply chain.

Programming Tools: 
* ST-Developer -- programming tools for writing STEP applications, 
translators and databases. 
* ST-ACIS Library -- programming functions to convert STEP data to and 
from ACIS models and SAT files. 
* ST-Parasolid Library -- programming functions to convert STEP data 
to and from Parasolid models. 
* ST-XML -- programming functions to convert STEP data to STEP XML and 
business object data.

Desktop Tools: 
* ST-ACIS Translator -- desktop tool for translating STEP data to ACIS 
and vice versa. 
* ST-Parasolid Translator -- desktop tool for translating STEP data to 
Parasolid and vice versa. 
* ST-Viewer -- desktop tool to view, analyze and dimension STEP data. 

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