Interfaces for CAD Applications

Abstract

IGES and lately VDAFS are the key concepts when discussing CAD-interfaces. CAD-interfaces are a major topic in the realm of CAD-integration. Up to the present time it has been the task of the CAD-systems analysts in industry to introduce and support particular design processes i.e. to develop or adapt appropriate CAD-systems. The emphasis was on the human interface in its fullest sense between a designer and his CAD-workstation. Since a vast amount of CAD-data has been generated which is benefical not only to the design process but also for many other branches in a company, CAD-data has to be made available to those other systems i.e. users. Eventually CAD must have an impact on the corporate data structure. This is a natural consequence of having CAD-data since these data contain the most complete geometrical description of the products. Due to response time requirements, the kind of CAD-modeling involved and the operating systems, CAD-data is structured in many extremely complex ways. Each CAD- system has a different structure.