icem catia direct interface

ICEM Catia Direct Interface

Reference Manual

April 2004

© ICEM Ltd. 2004

Legal Notices and Contact

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Trade marks of ICEM Ltd. or a Subsidiary

ICEM Surf and ICEM DDN are unregistered trade marks of ICEM Ltd.

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Licensed Third-Party Technology Information

Certain ICEM software products contain licensed third-party technology: FLEXlm is a registered trade mark of Macrovision Corporation. LightWork Libraries are copyrighted by LightWork Design 1990-2003. Pro/ENGINEER, CDRS, 3DPAINT are copyrighted by Parametric Technology Corporation. The CADverter for Catia, Cadds, Unigraphics are copyrighted by Theorem Solutions Ltd.

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This document and the software described herein are Commercial Computer Documentation and Software, pursuant to FAR 12.212(a)-(b) (OCT'95) or DFARS 227.7202-1(a) and 227.7202-3(a) (JUN'95), is provided to the US Government under a limited commercial license only. For procurements predating the above clauses, use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is subject to the restrictions set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software Clause at DFARS 252.227-7013 (OCT'88) or Commercial Computer Software-Restricted Rights at FAR 52.227-19(c)(1)-(2) (JUN'87) or FAR 52.227-14 (ALT III), as applicable. 032603

ICEM Ltd.: registered office: Epsilon House, Enterprise Road, Chilworth Science Park, Southampton, SO16 7NS, U.K.

Contact Information

Homepage

http://www.icem.com

Licenses

[email protected]

Hotline

in Europe:

ICEM Technologies GmbHSiemensstrasse 963263 Neu-IsenburgGermany

Phone:Fax:E-mail:Internet:

+49 (0) 6102 366 9090+49 (0) 6102 366 [email protected]://www.icem.com (Support)

outside Europe:

ICEM Technologies, Inc.38705 Seven Mile RoadSuite 320 Livonia, MI 48152USA

Phone: USA & Canada:outside USA:

+1 800 692 7322+1 734 462 1795

Fax:E-mail:Internet:

+1 734 462 [email protected]://www.icem.com (Support)

Sales

in Europe:

ICEM Technologies GmbHSiemensstrasse 963263 Neu-IsenburgGermany


+49 6102 366 9000+49 6102 366 [email protected]://www.icem.com (Contact Us > Global Locations)

outside Europe:

ICEM Technologies, Inc.38705 Seven Mile RoadSuite 320 Livonia, MI 48152USA


+1 734 462 1795+1 734 462 [email protected]://www.icem.com (Contact Us > Global Locations)

http://www.icem.com

Contents

Contents

List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2 Data Conversion from CATIA to ICEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2.1 Entity Mapping from CATIA to ICEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2.2 Translator Input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2.2.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2.2.2 Description of the Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2.2.3 Starting the Translator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2.2.4 Mask File Format for CATIA to ICEM Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2.2.4.1 The OFF Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2.2.4.2 The ON Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.2.4.3 Example Mask Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.2.4.4 Mask File Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2.3 Translator Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2.3.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2.3.2 Screen Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2.3.3 The ICEM File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

2.3.4 The Progress File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

2.3.5 Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

2.4 Aids to Successful Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

3 Data Conversion from ICEM to CATIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

3.1 Entity Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

3.2 Translator Input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3.2.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3.2.2 Description of the Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3.2.3 Starting the Translator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3.3 Translator Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

3.3.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

3.3.2 Screen Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

3.3.3 The CATIA File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

3.3.4 The Progress File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

3.3.5 Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

3.4 Aids to Successful Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

4

Contents

4 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

4.1 Manual Installation of the Translator Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

4.2 License Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

4.2.1 FLEXlm Licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

4.2.2 Environment Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

5 FLEXlm License Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

5.1 Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

5.2 Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

5.3 Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

5.4 License Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

5.5 The License File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

6 Extended Entity Mapping Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

6.1 Transfer from CATIA to ICEM ASCII Part. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

6.2 Transfer from CATIA to ICEM Surf DB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

6.3 Transfer from ICEM ASCII Part to CATIA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

6.4 Transfer from ICEM Surf DB to CATIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

7 Translator Execution with Shell Scripts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

8 Release Bulletins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

8.1 Release Bulletin ICEM – CATIA Direct Interface 6.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

8.2 Release Bulletin ICEM – CATIA Direct Interface 6.1.005. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

5

List of Tables

6

List of Tables

Table 1 Supported Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Table 2 Entity Mapping from CATIA to ICEM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Table 3 Entity Mapping from ICEM to CATIA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Table 4 Software Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Table 5 Causes for Flexlm Licensing Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Table 6 Error Codes for Batch Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

1 Introduction

7

1 Introduction

The ICEM – CATIA Direct Interface (or CATIA <–> ICEM CADverter as Theorem Solutions call it) is a bi-directional direct translator between CATIA and ICEM DDN, ICEM Surf or other ICEM products. It runs onthe following platforms:

Table 1 Supported Platforms

If the input is a CATIA CATDATA, CATEXP or model file, the translator creates the equivalent ICEM file (inICEM ASCII Part File format or shortly IPARTA). The input can be a V3 CATDATA file or any V4 CATDATA,CATEXP or model file. If the input is an ICEM ASCII Part file as output from ICEM DDN or ICEM Surf, theequivalent CATIA model will be created.

The translators process CATIA geometric data up to and including solids (SOLIDE) and ICEM data up toand including trimmed surfaces.

The translators also process drafting data from CATIA and ICEM.

Platform Operating System

HP-UX 11i

IRIX 6.5.12

Solaris 8

Windows XP Professional,000 Professional

2 Data Conversion from CATIA to ICEM

2 Data Conversion from CATIA to ICEM

2.1 Entity Mapping from CATIA to ICEM

The following table contains information on the entity mappings from CATIA to ICEM. The notes below thetable deliver more specific details where required.

NOTE

• Those entities which are, by default, in noshow mode in CATIA, will not be converted. It is possible torequest these entities to be converted by using the Mask File. CATIA DETAILS are automaticallyexploded by the translator. CATIA layers are mapped to ICEM levels as appropriate.

• By default, the reading of CATIA drafting entities is switched off. To include the translation of draftingentities a Mask File must be used containing the statement ON ALL DRA. For details please refer tosection 2.2.4 “Mask File Format for CATIA to ICEM Conversion” on page 13. As an alternative, theinput argument draft can be applied when you invoke the translator. For details on using this argu-ment please refer to section 2.2.3 “Starting the Translator” on page 10 (CATIA –> ICEM) or section2.2.3 “Starting the Translator” on page 10 (ICEM –> CATIA).

Table 2 Entity Mapping from CATIA to ICEM

CATIA(type number in brackets)

ICEM(type number in brackets)

Notes(see below)

Point (1) Point (1)

Line (2) Line (2)

Circle (20) Circle (3)

Ellipse (21) Conic (4) 1

Parabola (22) Conic (4) 1

Hyperbola (23) Conic (4) 1

Curve (3) B-Spline Curve (31)Machining Curve (10)

2, 7

Composite Curve (24) 3

Surface (5) B-Spline Surface (26) 2, 4

Plane (4) Plane (4)B-Spline Surface (26)

5

Cst (14) Machining Curve (10)

Face (6) Trimmed Surface (27)

Solide (17) Trimmed Surfaces (27) 6

Skin (13) Trimmed Surfaces (27)

Skd (35) Trimmed Surfaces (27)

Draft (93) Systems Entity Form 2 (50)

View(s) (30) Systems Entity Form 11 (50)

8

2.2 Translator Input

NOTE

1. The form of the conic created in ICEM depends on the type of conic from CATIA. An ellipse willbecome an ICEM conic form 2, a parabola an ICEM conic form 3 and a hyperbola an ICEM conic form4.

2. If necessary, B-Spline curves and surfaces will be written to the ICEM file in extended form.

3. The composite curve will be exploded into its constituent curve types and converted to the appropriateICEM curves.

4. Both rational and non-rational Nsplines and Nsurfaces are supported.

5. Planes can either be kept as planes or converted to B-Spline surfaces.

6. Since ICEM Surf does not support solid entities, any solids encountered will be written to the ICEM fileas a collection of trimmed surfaces along with the required surface-curve-surfaces, loops and surface-curves.

7. Machining Curves can only be created from B-Splines if the bsp_to_mc option is used.


2.2.1 Overview

The primary purpose of the CATIA-to-ICEM translator is to translate the contents of a CATIA CATDATA,CATEXP or model file producing an ICEM ASCII Part File (IPARTA file). To achieve this, the translatorrequires the name of the CATIA file to work on, the name of the ICEM file to be created, the name the Partis to be given in the ICEM file, the name of an optional entity Mask File, and several options.

2.2.2 Description of the Input

CATIA CATDATA/CATEXP File Name

Name of the input CATIA file to be translated.

ICEM File Name

Name required for the ICEM file to be created.

The file does not need to exist. However, the directory the file will be saved in must exist.

ICEM Part Name

Name the ICEM Part is to be given.

Dimension (91) Linear Dimension (32)Radius Dimension (33)Diameter Dimension (35)Angular Dimension (36)

Axis (8) Work Axis (43)



Notes(see below)

9

2.2.3 Starting the Translator

This name appears as the first record in the ICEM file.

Mask File Name

Name of the optional Mask File which can be used to specify the entities which are to be translated.

Data can be masked by entity type, layer, and whether they are in noshow mode or not. The MaskFile is an ASCII text file which can be placed anywhere in the directory structure.

Options

There are a number of input arguments that can be provided to the translator to affect the informationwhich is put into the ICEM data.


Provided that the catfil_icem executable is in the current path, the translator can be started by enteringthe following either in a user-written script or directly in a UNIX window:

catfil_icem -i <CATIA_file_name>

-o <ICEM_file_name> -pn <ICEM_part_name>

[-l <log_file_name>] [mask <maskname>]

[model <mnum>] [cont <val>]

[keep_planes] [read2d] [draft] [no_fixup] [bsp_to_mc]

[pdegen] [unlink_edges] [ent_messages]

[no_write_attrs] [read_set <name>]

Input Arguments:

catfil_icem

Translator executable.

<CATIA_file_name>

Mandatory. Name of the CATIA file to be translated. This argument can be a relative or fullpathname. This argument must be preceded by -i.

<ICEM_file_name>

Mandatory. Name of the ICEM file to be created. This argument can be a relative or full pathname.The file does not need to exist. However, the directory the file shall be saved in must exist. This argu-ment must be preceded by -o.

<ICEM_part_name>

Mandatory. Name of the ICEM Part in the file. This argument must be preceded by -pn.

<log_file_name>

Optional. Name of the Progress File. This argument must be preceded by -l. It will override thedefault Progress File name.

10


mask <maskname>

Optional. Specifies that a Mask File with the name <maskname> is to be used. The name can be a rel-ative or full pathname.

model <mnum>

Optional. Specifies that the input CATDATA file includes more than one model. <mnum> is the numberof the required model in the file. If it is not used, the first (and possibly only) model is set as default.

cont <val>

Optional. Curve and surface segments from CATIA are in Bezier form. This argument enables thechecking of the continuity conditions between these curve and surface segments within the given tol-erance <val> to establish if they can be combined into a single Nurbs entity without the extra datarequired by keeping them in Bezier form. This argument requires more processing time but can leadto smaller output files.

keep_planes

Optional. If used, any planes encountered from CATIA will be written to the ICEM file as planes. If notused, planes will be converted to B-Spline surfaces.

read2d

Optional. Specifies that faces read from CATIA should not have their 2D parametric edges refittedwhen written to IPARTA but as far as possible, should be kept as they are from CATIA. This argumentalso increases the speed of processing because the translator does not have to perform the refittingprocess.

draft

Optional. Specifies that drafting entities (drawings, views, text, and dimensions) are to be read andtranslated. This is equivalent to using a Mask File with the following statement in it:

ON ALL DRA

If a particular drafting entity type is required then a Mask File must be used containing the followingstatement:

ON DRA <draft_name>

where <draft_name> is the required drafting entity type. In this case, the draft option should not beused. A 2D option license is required.

no_fixup

This option specifies that the check for effectively zero length parametric segments in B-SplineCurves should NOT be performed. If the option is not used then by default the check IS performedand any segments encountered which are too short are removed.

bsp_to_mc

This option determines what happens to B-Spline Curves which are degree 1 and NOT part of aFace. If the option is used, then data of this type will be converted to Machining Curves in IPARTA. Ifnot used, such curves will remain as B-Spline Curves.

11


Pdegen [tol]

By default, Bspline and NURBS surfaces read from CATIA are checked to see if they are degenerate.From CATIA, there are three types of surface degeneracy conditions:

1. Full degeneracy:

Where a complete edge of a surface has degenerated to a single point. This type of degeneracy does NOT require any EXTRA command line options for the translator to handle them. They will be handled by default.

2. Full row or column degeneracy:

Where, for example, a complete column (or several neighbouring columns) of patches of a sur-face have ZERO WIDTH.

If pdegen is not used then a message is output for this type of degeneracy but the translator will not fix it.

If pdegen is used, then the translator will fix this type of degeneracy.

3. Partial edge degeneracy:

Where only part of an edge of a surface is degenerate. Again, this type of degeneracy does NOT require any EXTRA command line options for the translator to handle them. It will split the sur-face (face) at the degenerate point thus making two faces. One of the faces will be normal (no degeneracies) and the other will be a type 1. above and so will be handled automatically.

unlink_edges

Faces from CATIA may or may not have 3D edges. If they have, the Translator will read them as nor-mal. If they have not, then the Translator generates them from the 2D edges. If the unlink_edgesoption is used, then any 3D edges that have been read from CATIA will appear as free geometry inthe output IPARTA file, hence making them available to the user when read into SURF/DDN. Theunlink_edges option operates ONLY on 3D edges that are read from CATIA, NOT on those that aregenerated by the Translator.

ent_messages

By default, no entity conversion messages are output to the logfile, only errors and warnings are out-put. The ent_messages option switches on entity conversion messages if required.

See also section 8.2 “Release Bulletin ICEM – CATIA Direct Interface 6.1.005” on page 52.

no_write_attrs

By default, any entity names from CATIA which are of the form “Part/Molecule/Atom” will be attachedto the converted Iparta entity as an Attribute, giving the Molecule name, and two Sub-attributes, giv-ing the Atom and Part names respectively. This mechanism can be disabled by using theno_write_attrs option.


12

2.2.4 Mask File Format for CATIA to ICEM Conversion

read_set <name>

By default, the contents of all SETs are read but if only a single SET is required for translation then itsname can be specified with the read_set option. Only the contents of the given SET will be readunless there is geometry subordinate to it in another SET in which case the subordinate geometrywill be read as well.

NOTE

The input arguments can be supplied in any order.


The Mask File contains information on the entity types to be extracted from the CATIA model and translatedinto the ICEM format. If no Mask File is specified, the defaults defining what solid types are switched on willdepend on the type of translator license.

Basically, the translator by default will attempt to translate all entities on all layers, provided that they arecompatible with ICEM, and not in noshow mode. Drafting entities, by default, will not be read. NURBS enti-ties also by default will not be read, a Mask File with the appropriate ON statement is required.

A Mask File is an ordinary ASCII text file, and can be created by the user using any of the available text edi-tors. It can be placed anywhere in the directory structure and written in upper or lower case.

The Mask File statements allow the user to turn on or off certain entity types and/or layers and entities innoshow mode. There are two basic statements: the OFF statement and the ON statement.

2.2.4.1 The OFF Statement

By default, all entities and all layers are ON. Each OFF statement looks like one of the following:

OFF ALL

Turns off all entities and all layers. This is the only statement which operates on both entities and lay-ers at the same time.

NOTE

If no ON statement follows this statement, nothing will be translated.

OFF ALL ENT

Switches all entities off, but leaves layer settings as they were.

OFF ALL LAY

Switches all layers off, but leaves entity settings as they were.

OFF <ent_type>

Switches off entities of type <ent_type>.

This can be one of:

POI Points

13


OFF NOSHOW

Default. Switches off all entities in noshow.

OFF NOSHOW LAY <laynum>

Switches off all entities in noshow mode which are on the specific layer laynum.

OFF LAY <laylist>

Switches off layers defined in <laylist>.

<laylist> can be a single number, a list of numbers separated by blanks or commas, ranges ofnumbers of the form 10-20, or combinations of these three.

Example:

OFF LAY 1

OFF LAY 12,13,34,45

OFF LAY 10-23,34-56

OFF LAY 2,3 6 12-23 7, 68-98

NOTE

The layer numbers for CATIA range from 0 to 254.

OFF FILTER <fname>

Switches off all entities on the layers represented by the CATIA layer filter <fname>.

LIN Lines

ARC Arcs, Circles

CON Conics (ellipses, hyperbolae, parabolae)

CUR Curves

BCUR B-Spline Curves

NCUR NURBS Curves

SUR Surfaces

BSUR B-Spline Surfaces

NSUR NURBS Surfaces

FAC Faces

SOL Solids (SOLIDM (facetted))

BRE Solids (SOLIDE (exact brep))

CSG Solids (Solids with history)

ISOL Solids (ISOLATED solids)

AXIS 3D Axis System

CST Constraint

14


2.2.4.2 The ON Statement

Since the default is ON for all entities and layers, it is not necessary to use an ON statement unless an OFFstatement has been used earlier in the Mask File.

Each ON statement looks like one of the following:

ON ALL

Switches on all entities and layers.

ON ALL ENT

Switches on all entities, but leaves layer settings as they were.

ON ALL LAY

Switches on all layers, but leaves entity settings as they were.

ON ALL DRA

Switches on the translation of drafting entities.

ON <ent_type>

Switches on entities of type <ent_type>.

For the definition of <ent_type> please refer to the section “OFF <ent_type>” above .

ON LAY <laylist>

Switches on layers defined in laylist.

For the definition of laylist please refer to the section “OFF LAY <laylist>” above.

ON FILTER <fname>

Switches on all entities on the layers represented by the CATIA layer filter <fname>.

ON NOSHOW

Switches on all entities in noshow mode.

ON NOSHOW LAY <laynum>

Switches on all entities in noshow mode which are on the specific layer <laynum>.

2.2.4.3 Example Mask Files

The following examples show how to use the OFF and ON statements to obtain the desired entities in theCATIA model.

• how to obtain only surfaces:

OFF ALL ENT

ON SUR

• how to obtain all SOLIDEs on layer 10:

15

2.3 Translator Output

OFF ALL

ON BRE

ON LAY 10

• how to obtain all entities on layers 12 to 23:

OFF ALL LAY

ON LAY 12-23

2.2.4.4 Mask File Management

It is recommended to have as many Mask Files set up as required rather than editing the same file everytime. Moreover, their names should reflect what they do.


2.3.1 Overview

The translator should not only create an ICEM file but give the user enough information about the transla-tion. With that information you may identify the translation, and check whether it has been successful or not,and if not, why.

To achieve this, the translator outputs screen informatory messages, a Progress File and error messages.

2.3.2 Screen Messages

A typical output from the translator is as follows:

**************************************************

* Copyright Theorem Solutions Ltd. *

* CATIA - ICEM converter ver 6.0.001 *

**************************************************

Fri Jan 11 14:13:46 2002

Input

CATIA file : test1.model

ICEM file name: test1.iparta

CATIA title : TEST1

Points - 1

Arcs - 1

Lines - 1

*******************************************

* Model successfully output *

* TEST1 *

*******************************************

16


This example shows a successful translation of a CATIA file containing a POINT on layer 0, an ARC onlayer 1 and a LINE on layer 2.

The following information are given in the successive portions of the output file:

1. Details about the translator that has been run, the direction in which the translation was performed (inthe example CATIA –> ICEM), and the translator version.

2. Date and time of the translation.

3. Input details showing the name of the input CATIA Part and the required name of the output ICEM file.

4. List of entities found in the CATIA Part which are supported by the translator, and number of entity typesthat have been found.

5. Message giving the overall outcome of the translation and confirmation of the name of the ICEM Partcreated (enclosed in asterisks).

The translation is performed in essentially two stages:

1. Reading the CATIA Part into an internal format.

2. Writing the internal format to the ICEM file.

Generally, if the translator has found a problem in the first stage, an informatory message will be outputimmediately after the input details prior to the entity list. If a problem occurs during the second stage, aninformatory message will be output immediately after the entity list.

The following example shows an ICEM file error.

NOTE

Because the ICEM file could not be initialised correctly, the last section of output does not appear.

**************************************************


* CATIA - ICEM converter ver 6.0.001 *

**************************************************

Fri Jan 11 14:13:46 2002

Input

CATIA file : test1.model

ICEM file name : test1.iparta

CATIA title : TEST1

Points - 1

Arcs - 1

Lines - 1

Error initialising file for ICEM write

The following messages may occur:

• stage 1 message:

Read errors found - see progress file

17

2.3.3 The ICEM File


Write errors found - see progress file

If one of these messages are displayed, the translation has not been completely successful. To find outmore details, you have to check the Progress File (see section 2.3.4 “The Progress File” on page 18).

2.3.3 The ICEM File

The translated contents of the input CATIA file becomes an ICEM file (IPARTA) created under the desireddirectory and name. This file can be transmitted in various ways. It can be copied to tape or floppy diskusing, for example, the UNIX command tar, or it can be transmitted to another UNIX system using, forexample, ftp (ASCII transfer). The file can also be read directly by ICEM Surf, ICEM DDN, or other ICEMproducts.

2.3.4 The Progress File

The purpose of the Progress File is to detail the progress of the translator run. If any problems in process-ing the data occur, a warning message is displayed on the screen. An error message will be provided in theProgress File showing the entity which caused the problem and giving some more information.

The file is created automatically by the translator.

To locate any error messages in the Progress File, it is suggested to edit it using one of the available edi-tors, and to perform a search on the string “Error”.

By default, the Progress File will be located in the /tmp directory and it will be called tscprogress1e unlessthe -l option is used. It contains the five basic sections described below.

The following is an example Progress File from the translation of the Part described above:

**************************************************


* ICEM - CATDATA converter ver 6.0.001 *

**************************************************

Fri Jan 11 09:37:51 2000

Input

Input ICEM file : iparta

CATIA file : back.model

CATIA title : back

gco id 0 point icem id 2 entity read

gco id 1 arc icem id 3 entity read

gco id 2 line icem id 4 entity read

Points - 1

Arcs - 1

Lines - 1

gco id 0 ICEM id 2 catia id 1 ident *PT1 ent type point

gco id 1 ICEM id 3 catia id 2 ident *CRV1 ent type arc

18

2.3.5 Error Messages

gco id 2 ICEM id 4 catia id 3 ident *LN1 ent type line

Part creation at 9.37.52 on 5.7.96

*******************************************

* Model successfully created in CATIA *

* back *

*******************************************

The following information are given successively:

1. Information identical to the screen messages (see section 2.3.2 “Screen Messages” on page 16) downto and including the input file names.

2. Information on the reading of the CATIA file to internal format (referred to as gco).

3. List of entities found (again identical to the screen output).

4. Information on the writing of the internal format (gco) entities to the ICEM file.

5. Overall outcome of the translation and the name of the ICEM file (again identical to the screen output).

The second and fourth portion of the file require further explanation.

Each entity in a CATIA file is identified by an id number and name. Each entity will also exist on a CATIAlayer. When a CATIA entity is read into the translator, it is given a gco identification.

The second section of the Progress File shows the relationship between the CATIA entity and the gco entityit is mapped to. If an error occurs during the reading of a particular entity, an error message will immediatelyfollow the line identifying the entity.

Each entity from CATIA is given a unique identification number by the translator when written to the ICEMfile. The fourth section relates gco identification numbers to ICEM file identification numbers (calledsequence numbers). Again, if any errors occur, they will follow the entry for the entity in question.

By combining the information, you can find out where each CATIA entity has gone in the ICEM file. This canbe very useful for analyzing any problem entities.


The following list contains commonly occurring error messages (in alphabetical order) with an explanationof their meaning and suggested actions.

Disk write error - disk may be full

• Meaning:

An error was encountered when writing to the disk. The most likely reason for this is a full file sys-tem. An ICEM file may have been created, but may be incomplete.

NOTE

The conversion process uses a number of temporary files which will have been deleted. Forthis, the file system may not appear to be full even though the message is given.

• Action:

Check the file system and other possible reasons for disk write errors.

Rerun the conversion and monitor the file system.

19


Error in processing of data for ICEM write

• Meaning:

Before any CATIA faces are written to ICEM, they are checked to ensure that all edges are cor-rectly defined. If any problems occur while running the process, a more specific message will be displayed.

• Action:

The original data needs to be checked and, if necessary, redefined.

Error in writing base surface for gco Face id ffff gco_id ssss

• Meaning:

While writing a CATIA face entity to the ICEM file, a problem with its base surface has been found.

The gco id of the face (ffff) and the base surface (ssss) are given.

• Action:

The original face data is wrong. Either the base surface is defined incorrectly, or it does not corre-spond to the position of the face edges. Check the original face and redefine accordingly.

Failure to allocate memory...

• Meaning:

The translator has very few built-in limitations on data size as memory is allocated when required according to the specific data requirements. If this error occurs, the reason may be:

– insufficient swap space available for the operation, or

– a problem with the data requiring an excessive amount of memory to be allocated.

• Action:

Check the swap space available during program operation by using the command pstat -s. Examine the entity being processed at the time.

Failure to open input file for identification

• Meaning:

While verifying the format of the input file, an attempt has been made to open it for read which has failed. Since this occurs after the check to see if the file is a CATIA Part, it can be assumed that the input file is not a CATIA Part.

• Action:

Check the input file.

Failure to read input file for identification

• Meaning:

Same as the above, except that the file was opened successfully, but could not be read.

• Action:

20



Input file is not a CATIA model

• Meaning:

The file specified after the -i option is not a CATIA model.

• Action:


License validation failure - see Progress File

• Meaning:

A valid license to run the translator could not be found.

• Action:

Check the Progress File for more information. If unable to resolve, please contact your software supplier.

No data

• Meaning:

The translator has not found data in the model which satisfied the entity types currently sup-ported.

• Action:

Investigate the CATIA model.

Output name is a directory

• Meaning:

The name given for the output ICEM ASCII Part file is a directory.

• Action:

Start the translator again giving the correct output file name.

Output file exists already

• Meaning:

The translator will not overwrite a file that already exists.

• Action:

Either delete or rename the existing file or enter a different output file name when starting the translator.

Too many part access errorsError in reading CATIA database

• Meaning:

An unusually large number of read errors have been encountered.

21

2.4 Aids to Successful Translation

• Action:

Look at the specific error message for the entities and take corrective action.

Unable to create the output file in the required directory

• Meaning:

An attempt to create the output file has failed.

• Action:

Check permissions on the required directory, and verify that the file system has not filled up.


This section offers helpful hints, tips and prerequisites for a successful translation from CATIA to ICEM.They are not presented in any particular order.

• Make sure that the CATIA file contains only the information and specification required for translating.Unneeded information, e. g. construction geometry, increases the size and complexity of the ICEM fileobtained making it potentially more difficult to read.

• If many translations need to be performed, a script can be written starting the translator in a loop. Thiscan be left running over night if necessary.

22

3 Data Conversion from ICEM to CATIA

3 Data Conversion from ICEM to CATIA

3.1 Entity Mapping

The following table contains information on the entity mappings from ICEM to CATIA. The notes below thetable deliver more specific details where required.

NOTE

ICEM levels which are within the CATIA range (0 to 254) are mapped to the equivalent CATIA layers.

Table 3 Entity Mapping from ICEM to CATIA

NOTE

1. The type of conic created in CATIA will depend on the type of conic from ICEM.



Notes(see below)

Point (1) Point (1)

Line (2) Line (2)

Circle (3) Arc (20)

Conic (4) Ellipse (21)Parabola (22)Hyperbola (23)

1

Composite Curve (6) 2

3D-Spline (9) Curve (3)

Machining Curve (10) Lines (2)Curve (3)Cst (14)

7

B-Spline Curve (31) Curve (3)Lines (2)NURBS Curve (46)

3,4,6

B-Spline Surface (26) Surface (5)NURBS Surface (47)

4,6

Trimmed Surface (27) Face (6)Skin(13)

58

Systems Entity Form 2 (50) Draft (93)

Systems Entity Form 11 (50) View(s) (30)

Linear Dimension (32) Dimension (91)

Radius Dimension (33) Dimension (91)

Diameter Dimension (35) Dimension (91)

Angular Dimension (36) Dimension (91)

Work Axis (43) Axis (8)

23


2. The composite curve will be exploded into its constituent curve types, and converted to the appropriateCATIA curves.

3. If the B-Spline curve is degree 1 and not part of a trimmed surface, it is converted to a series of lines,otherwise it is converted to an Nspline.

4. Rational, non-rational, extended and normal cases are supported.

5. CATIA will not cope with parametric (2D) edge curves which have discontinuities (sharp corners),whereas ICEM products can. If any edges of this nature are found, they are split into several edges,i. e., the number of edges for this trimmed surface will increase.

6. CATIA NURBS entities will only be created from ICEM entities if the nurbs command line option hasbeen used, the entities are truly rational and they are not part of a Trimmed Surface.

7. If none of the mc_to_bsp, mc_to_lin or mc_to_cst options are used then NO raw data is converted.Only ONE of these options can be used in a translation.

8. By using a special naming convention, Trimmed Surfaces can be “grouped” together so that they arewritten to CATIA as a SKIN entity. Please refer to the read_skins option.


3.2.1 Overview

The primary purpose of the ICEM-to-CATIA translator is to translate the contents of an ICEM ASCII Part file(IPARTA file) producing a CATIA CATDATA file. To achieve this, the translator requires the name of theICEM file to work on, the name of the CATIA file to be created, the title of the CATIA model, the name of anoptional log file, and several input arguments.

3.2.2 Description of the Input

ICEM ASCII Part File Name

Name of the input ICEM file to be translated.

CATIA File Name

Name required for the CATIA file to be created.

CATIA Title

Name the CATIA model is to be given.

This argument must not contain more than 70 characters.

Options

There are a number of optional information that can be provided to the translator to affect the infor-mation which is put into the ICEM data.


Provided that the icem_catdata executable is in the current path, the translator can be started by enteringthe following either in a user-written script or directly in a UNIX window:

24


icem_catdata -i <ICEM_file_name>

-o <CATIA_file_name> -t <CATIA_title>

[-l <log_file_name>] [read2d] [refit3D]

[icem_tol <val>] [mvs] [v3] [surfopt <val>]

[mdim <val> [mm | inch]] [mc_to_bsp] [mc_to_cst]

[mc_to_lin] [startpart <start_name>] [draft] [nurbs]

[no_plane_create] [ent_messages] [no_read_attrs]

[read_skins <tol>] [create_edge_curves] [version <n.m>]

[trim_face_surfs]

Input Arguments:

icem_catdata

Translator executable.

<ICEM_file_name>

Mandatory. Name of the ICEM file to be translated. This argument must be preceded by -i.

<CATIA_file_name>

Mandatory. Name of the CATIA file to be created. This argument can be a relative or full pathnameand must be preceded by -o.

<CATIA_title>

Mandatory. Title the CATIA model shall have. This argument must be preceded by -t.

<log_file_name>

Optional. Name of the Progress File. This argument must be preceded by -l. It will override thedefault Progress File name.

read2d

Optional. If used, parametric edge curves will be read from the ICEM file rather than be created fromthe 3D edges of trimmed surfaces.

This argument should only be used when reading ICEM files containing parametric data of type B-Spline curve.

icem_tol <val>

Optional. Tolerance to be used by the translator for checking whether 3D edge curves are within tol-erance of their parametric curves (if read2d is used) or for creating the parametric edge curves fromthe 3D edges (if read2d is not used).

If this argument is not used, the default tolerance is 0.0025 mm or 0.0001 inch.

25


mvs

Optional. If used, the output CATIA model will be in MVS/VM format rather than AIX.

v3

Optional. This argument should be used, if the output CATIA model is to be in CATIA Version 3 for-mat. By default, it will be in Version 4 format.

surfopt <val>

Optional. Rational curves and surfaces cannot be created in CATIA. This means that any that areencountered in the translation must be approximated by non-rational geometry which is done todegree 9 (for curves) or 9 x 9 (for surfaces). This argument can be used to optimize the degree in thisapproximation process, i. e. produce the lowest degree curve/surface to a user-defined tolerance<val>. If used, this argument increases processing time.

mdim <val> [mm | inch]

Optional. Used to specify the CATIA Model Dimension value required for the output model.

This argument must be followed by the value of the required dimension. Optionally, a unit of measurefor this value (either mm or inch) can follow. If the unit of measure is not given, the units of the ICEMfile are assumed.

If the mdim argument is not used, the Model Dimension will be set to 10000.0 for mm parts, or10000.0/25.4 for inch parts. Please note that if the mdim option is used with a start part, then it willoverride the Model Dimension value in the start part. If the start part value is required then do notuse the mdim option.

mc_to_bsp

This specifies that Raw Data (Machining Curves) read from IPARTA should be converted to linear B-Splines. Only one of mc_to_bsp, mc_to_cst and mc_to_lin can be used in a translation. If NONEof these 3 options are used then NO Raw Data is converted.

mc_to_cst

This specifies that Raw Data (Machining Curves) read from IPARTA should be converted to CSTentities (Constraints). Only one of mc_to_cst, mc_to_bsp and mc_to_lin can be used in a transla-tion. If NONE of these 3 options are used then NO Raw Data is converted.

mc_to_lin

This option specifies that Raw Data (Machining Curves) read from IPARTA should be converted toLine entities. Only one of mc_to_bsp, mc_to_lin and mc_to_cst can be used in a translation. IfNONE of these 3 options are used then NO Raw Data is converted.

startpart <start_name>

Optional. Specifies that the CATIA model <start_name> is to be used as a “start part”, that is, theenvironment for the model to be created should be obtained from it. Information such as code page,colour tables, model dimension, shading color, entity display in shaded/hidden line/wireframe modeetc. is taken from the start part. Please note that if the mdim option is used, then it will override theModel Dimension value given in the start part.

26


draft

Optional. Specifies that drafting entities (layouts, text, and dimensions) are to be read and translated.This is equivalent to using a Mask File with the following statement in it:

ON ALL DRA

A 2D option license is required.

nurbs

Optional. Enables the creation of CATIA NURBS Curves/Surfaces from ICEM B-Spline Curves/Sur-faces which are truly rational and not part of a Trimmed Surface.

no_plane_create

Optional. By default, if the CATIA write encounters faces which are based on order 2x2 B-Spline Sur-faces, it checks the surfaces to see if they are planar and if so will convert them to Planes to savespace. If such surfaces need to be kept as B-Spline Surfaces then the no_plane_create optionshould be used.

ent_messages

By default, no entity conversion messages are output to the logfile, only errors and warnings are out-put. The ent_messages option switches on entity conversion messages if required.


no_read_attrs

Iparta entities can have Attributes and Sub-attributes attached which give the entity's Molecule, Atomand Part names. By default, these are read in for conversion to CATIA names of the form “Part/Mol-ecule/Atom”. (Please note that names of edge curves in Trimmed Surfaces will not be translatedunless the create_edge_curves option is used). The no_read_attrs option disables this mecha-nism so the names will be ignored.


read_skins <tol>

This option makes the Translator search for Trimmed Surfaces which are related by a common Mole-cule name beginning “SKIN” followed by a skin number e. g. “SKIN1”. All Trimmed Surfaces sharingthe same skin number will be written to CATIA as a SKIN entity. There may be more than one skindefined in this way. The Trimmed Surfaces for a particular skin must have at least one edge commonwith another Trimmed Surface in the same skin. The Atom name must convert to an integer and thecombination of the Molecule and Atom names must give a unique identity to each Trimmed Surface.There is a sewing process required by this option which uses a default tolerance of 0.09/units (whereunits = 1.0 for a mm part or 25.4 for an inch part) assuming a Model Dimension of 10m (or equivalentif inches), this is inside the tolerance of 0.1 mm required by CATIA. If a different tolerance is requiredthen this can be given with the read_skins option.


27


create_edge_curves

By default, 3D edge curves are not written to CATIA for Faces as CATIA does not require them. Byusing this option the 3D edges will be translated to CATIA.

version n.m

By default, a Version of 4.1.5 will be written the the created CATIA model. This can be control-led by the version option. For example, if “version 2.1” was specified then a Version of 4.2.1would be written to the CATIA model.

trim_face_surfs

Faces can be based on surfaces that are very much greater than the Face requires. Bydefault, these surfaces are left unchanged in the translation but can cause tolerancing andextent problems in the receiving system. By using the trim_face_surfs option only the por-tion of the surface required by the Face will be translated.


3.3.1 Overview

The translator should not only create a CATIA file, but give the user enough information about the transla-tion. With that information you may identify the translation, and check whether it has been successful or not,and if not, why.

To achieve this, the translator also outputs screen informatory messages, a Progress File and error mes-sages.


A typical output from the translator is as follows:

**************************************************



**************************************************

Fri Jan 11 10:16:33 2000

Input

ICEM file : iparta

CATIA file : test.model

CATIA title : test_part

Points - 1

Arcs - 1

Lines - 1

*******************************************

28



* test_part *

*******************************************

This example shows a successful translation of a simple ICEM file.

The following information are given in the successive portions of the output file:

1. Details about the translator that has been run, the direction in which the translation was performed (inthe example ICEM –> CATDATA), and the translator version (all enclosed in asterisks).

2. Date and time of the translation.

3. Input details showing the name of the input ICEM file and the required name of the output CATIA file.

4. List of entities found in the ICEM file which are supported by the translator and number of entity typesthat has been found.

5. Message giving the overall outcome of the translation and confirmation of the name of the CATIA filecreated (enclosed in asterisks).

The translation is performed in essentially two stages:

1. Reading the ICEM file into an internal format.

2. Writing the internal format to the CATIA file.

Generally, if the translator has found a problem in the first stage, an informatory message will be outputimmediately after the input details prior to the entity list.

The following example shows a problem while reading the ICEM file.

NOTE

In this particular case, the problem has not been serious enough to prevent translation.

**************************************************



**************************************************

Fri Jan 11 10:20:33 2000

Input

ICEM file : iparta

CATIA file name : test.model



Points - 1

Arcs - 1

Lines - 1

*******************************************

29



* test_part *

*******************************************

If a problem occurs during the second stage, an informatory message will be output immediately after theentity list.

The following example shows a CATIA file error.

NOTE

Because the CATIA file could not be opened correctly, the last section of output does not appear.

**************************************************



**************************************************

Tue Nov 23 10:27:18 1999

Input

ICEM file : iparta

CATIA file name : test.model


Arcs - 2

Lines - 2

Srevs - 2

Planes - 1

Faces - 3

Edges - 4

Vertices - 3

Bsolids - 1

Error opening temporary files for CATIA write

The following messages may occur:




Write errors found - see progress file

If one of these messages are displayed, the translation has not been completely successful. To find outmore details, you have to check the Progress File (see section 3.3.4 “The Progress File” on page 31).

30

3.3.3 The CATIA File

3.3.3 The CATIA File

The translated contents of the input ICEM file becomes a CATIA file. The CATIA file will be created with thename and under the directory specified by the user. The file can be communicated in various ways. It canbe copied to tape or floppy disk using, for example, the UNIX tar command, or it can be transmitted toanother UNIX system using, for example, ftp (BINARY transfer). The file can be read by the CATDATA util-ity.

3.3.4 The Progress File

The purpose of the Progress File is to detail the progress of the translator run. If any problems in process-ing the data occur, a warning message is displayed on the screen. An error message will be provided in theProgress File showing the entity which caused the problem and giving some more information.

The file is created automatically by the translator. For details please refer to section 4.2.2 “EnvironmentSetup” on page 37.

To locate any error messages in the Progress File, it is suggested to edit it using one of the available edi-tors, and to perform a search on the string “Error”.

By default, the Progress File will be located in the /tmp directory and it will be called tscprogresse0 unlessthe -l option is used. It contains the five basic sections described below.

The following is an example Progress File from the translation of the ICEM file described above:

**************************************************



**************************************************

Fri Jan 11 09:37:51 2000

Input

Input ICEM file : iparta

CATIA file : back.model

CATIA title : back

gco id 0 point icem id 2 entity read

gco id 1 arc icem id 3 entity read

gco id 2 line icem id 4 entity read

Points - 1

Arcs - 1

Lines - 1

gco id 0 ICEM id 2 catia id 1 ident *PT1 ent type point

gco id 1 ICEM id 3 catia id 2 ident *CRV1 ent type arc

gco id 2 ICEM id 4 catia id 3 ident *LN1 ent type line

Part creation at 9.37.52 on 5.7.96

*******************************************

31



* back *

*******************************************

The following information is given successively:

1. Information identical to the screen messages (see section 3.3.2 “Screen Messages” on page 28) downto and including the input file names.

2. Information on the reading of the ICEM file to internal format (referred to as gco).

3. List of entities found (again identical to the screen output).

4. Information on the writing of the internal format (gco) entities to the CATIA Part.

5. Overall outcome of the translation and the name of the CATIA Part (again identical to the screen output).

The second and fourth portion of the file require further explanation.

Each entity in the ICEM file is identified with a sequence id number. In the above Progress File, for exam-ple, the Point entity has the ICEM id number 2. In the second section of the Progress File, the ICEM entitysequence numbers are connected with the identification numbers of the gco entities they have been readinto.

The fourth section of the Progress File connects the gco identification numbers with the CATIA identificationnumbers of the equivalent entities when written to the CATIA model.

By combining the information, a complete trace of where the ICEM entities have ended up in the CATIA fileis obtained. If the translator encounters a problem with a particular entity, a suitable error message will beput into the Progress File immediately after the entry for that entity.


The following list contains commonly occurring error messages (in alphabetical order) with an explanationof their meaning and suggested actions.

Error in initial read of icem file <filename>

• Meaning:

Prior to the ICEM file being converted, certain preliminary activities have to be completed so that it can be read in correctly. This message implies that one of these activities could not be per-formed. A more specific message will appear immediately before this message.

• Action:

The input ICEM file should be checked in the area indicated in the specific message.

Error - whilst checking 3D/2D edges.Trimmed Surface tttt not read

• Meaning:

A problem has occurred when comparing the 3D edge curves of a trimmed surface with its 2D edge curves (the read2d option has been used). A more specific message will precede this one. The sequence number (tttt) of the trimmed surface is given in the message.

• Action:

32


The input ICEM file possibly contains edge data which is not consistent. This should be checked. Try the translation without the read2d option.

Error - whilst checking for edges to be split.Trimmed Surface tttt not read

• Meaning:

An error has occurred when the edges of a trimmed surface are being split (due to discontinuities in the 2D edges). This can imply that the edges are incorrectly defined on the input ICEM file. The sequence number (tttt) of the trimmed surface is given in the message.

• Action:

The trimmed surface definition on the ICEM file needs to be checked. If the read2d option has been used, try the translation without it, or if it has not been used, try the translation with it.

Error whilst reading Type 50, Form 11 entity...Reading of Drafting entities cancelled.

• Meaning:

Either the Type 50, Form 11 entity does not exist in the input ICEM file, or it is invalid in some way. Depending on the problem, a more specific message will precede this one.

• Action:

Check the input ICEM file as it may be corrupt. Re-create if necessary.

Failure to allocate memory...

• Meaning:

The translator has very few built-in limitations on data size as memory is allocated when required according to the specific data requirements. If this error occurs, the reason may be:

– insufficient swap space available for the operation, or

– a problem with the data requiring an excessive amount of memory to be allocated.

• Action:

Check the swap space available during program operation by using the command pstat -s. Examine the entity being processed at the time.

Input file is not an ICEM ASCII Part file

• Meaning:

The file specified after the -i option is not an ICEM ASCII Part file.

• Action:


Input file_name is a directory

• Meaning:

The name given for the input ICEM ASCII Part file is a directory.

33


• Action:


License validation failure - see Progress File

• Meaning:

A valid license could not be found to allow the running of the translator.

• Action:

Check the Progress File which will contain more specific information. If unable to resolve, please contact the supplier of your software.

No convertible entities found

• Meaning:

The input ICEM file has been searched, but no entities of the supported types could be found.

• Action:

Check the input ICEM file. Re-create if necessary.

Output file exists already

• Meaning:

The translator will not overwrite a file that exists already. The CATIA model name specified already exists.

• Action:

Either delete or rename the existing file or enter a different output file name when starting the translator.

Output name is a directory

• Meaning:

The name given for the output CATIA model is a directory not a file name.

• Action:

Restart the translator with the required CATIA model name.

Unable to create the output file in the required directory

• Meaning:

An attempt to create the output file in the specified directory has failed.

• Action:

Check permissions on the required directory, and verify that the file system has not filled up.

34



This section offers helpful hints, tips and prerequisites for a successful translation from ICEM to CATIA.They are not presented in any particular order.

• Make sure that the input ICEM file contains only the data required for translation. This decreases errorsoccurring, cuts down translation time and creates a smaller CATIA model.

• If many translations need to be performed, a script can be written starting the translator in a loop. Thiscan be left running over night, if necessary.

35

4 System Requirements

4 System Requirements

4.1 Manual Installation of the Translator Software

The software consists of the following modules:

Table 4 Software Modules

The above files should be copied to the system in /usr/theorem (Theorem Solutions customers) or in /usr/applications/lic (ICEM Technologies customers).

If there is insufficient disk space available under the /usr partition, it is possible to use space under anotherpartition with a link to the appropriate directory.

Example:

If there is space available under the /usr2 partition, the software can be installed in the directory /usr2/theorem (Theorem Solutions customers) or /usr2/applications/lic (ICEM Technologies customers)and the following link created:

ln -s /usr2/theorem /usr/theorem orln -s /usr2/applications/lic /usr/applications/lic

NOTE:

The /usr/theorem directory or the /usr/applications/lic directory should not exist prior to this linkbeing created.

Module Description

READ_ME A readable file containing the installation instructions.

apl/catfil_icem CATIA-to-ICEM translator.

apl/icem_catdata ICEM-to-CATIA translator.

licence The license file.

licence_example If the above license file cannot be supplied, an example license will be provided instead.

licdmn The license checking utility (Sun and SGI only).

flexlm/lmgrd FLEXlm license management daemon.

flexlm/lmutil FLEXlm license management utilities.

flexlm/lmsetup FLEXlm license management utilities script.

flexlm/license.dat FLEXlm licenses for CADverter software.

flexlm/theorem FLEXlm daemon for CADverter software.

flexlm/TS_updaemon Script to run lmgrd

flexlm/TS_downdaemon Script to stop the license daemon.

flexlm/TS_statdaemon Script to check the status of the daemon.

36

4.2 License Management

The above software will usually be delivered on 1/4" tape cartridge or a DAT tape and will be in tar format. Itshould be unloaded as follows:

cd /usr/theorem orcd /usr/applications/lic

tar xvf <device>

where <device> is the system name for the tape drive being used (for example /dev/rst0).

The software may occasionally be delivered on 3.5" diskette in bar format (compressed). In this case, itshould be unloaded using the following command:

bar -xvfZ /dev/rfd0

4.2 License Management

Each machine needs to have its own license for running a Theorem translator. This license is generated fora given machine based on that machines unique cpu identifier. This identifier can easily be obtained byusing one of the following commands:

• for the SUN operating system:

hostid

• for the HP operating system:

uname -i

• for the SGI operating system:

sysinfo -s

• for RS6000 machines:

uname -m

This version of the CADverter is licensed by the FLEXlm license mechanism.

4.2.1 FLEXlm Licensing

The FLEXlm license mechanism provides a server based floating license system, i. e. any workstation ableto access the server can be configured to use the CADverter.

For more information on the FLEXlm license mechanism see chapter 5 “FLEXlm License Mechanism” onpage 39.

NOTE:

If more than one Theorem translator is to be run on the same machine, all required licenses can go in thesame license file. For this, several licenses can be placed in the license file. The /usr/theorem/licdmnutility will check through each entry looking for the appropriate license.

4.2.2 Environment Setup

TSC_PROG_FILE

If the environment variable TSC_PROG_FILE is set, the translators will create the tscprogress file.

37

4.2.2 Environment Setup

The variable can be used if the tscprogress file needs either to be called something different fromthe default, or placed in another directory. It can be set in the user’s .cshrc file by entering one lineof the following form:

setenv TSC_PROG_FILE /usr2/mine/myprog

The tscprogress file will then be placed at /usr2/mine and get the name myprog.

If the environment variable is not set, the Progress File will be placed in the /tmp directory.

The use of the -l option when starting the translator overrides all the above so that the user can pro-duce a different Progress File for each run of the translator.

38

5 FLEXlm License Mechanism

5 FLEXlm License Mechanism

The FLEXlm license mechanism is provided by Macrovision Corp. and is widely used within the CAD/CAMsoftware industry.

For detailed information on on the installation and configuration of FLEXlm, please refer to the manual“FLEXlm End Users Guide” available for download under the web address http://www.macrovision.com.

5.1 Components

In the following, the four main components of the mechanism are described.

License Manager Daemon

The License Manager Daemon (lmgrd) controls access to the various licenses which may be underthe control of FLEXlm. If the user has a number of packages which utilize FLEXlm, they will all usethe same lmgrd daemon.

Theorem Daemon

The Theorem daemon (theorem) controls access to the CADverter software. This keeps control ofwhat options are available and checks out licenses as requested.

If a user has multiple licenses, a number of users may access the software on different machines upto the maximum number of licenses available. When all licenses are checked out, any further requestfor a license will be denied until a user with a license terminates an operation and returns the licenseto the pool.

License File

The license file is an ASCII text file storing the license information. It contains information about theserver node and the daemon in use for that license mechanism (theorem).

Each CADverter program which is licensed will have a FEATURE line in the file defining the serverhostid, the number of licenses available, the expiry date for the license and the feature beinglicensed.

The default location and license file name for Theorem implementation is /usr/theorem/flexlm/license.dat (for Theorem Solutions customers). ICEM Technologies customers will find the licensefile at /usr/applications/lic/license.dat by default.

However, the license file name can be configured by the user in different ways. The user can defineany name for the license file and use the environment variable LM_LICENSE_FILE to pass thisname to the FLEXlm package.

• for a C shell:

setenv LM_LICENSE_FILE /usr/defined/<file name>

• for a Bourne shell:

LM_LICENSE_FILE = /usr/defined/<file name>

export LM_LICENSE_FILE

39

http://www.macrovision.com

5.2 Utilities

The License mechanism searches for a license file in the following order of preference:

1. LM_LICENSE_FILE (as defined by the user)

2. /usr/theorem/flexlm/license.dat or/usr/applications/lic/license.dat

3. /usr/local/flexlm/licenses/license.dat

CADverter Software

When the CADverter software is activated, it requests the appropriate license from the lmgrd dae-mon. If a license is not granted, an error message will be displayed.

Events which cause a failure to access a license may be:

Table 5 Causes for Flexlm Licensing Error Messages

5.2 Utilities

In addition to the main components, a set of utilities is available to manage the mechanism:

• shut down mechanism

• status enquiry

• license text check

• hostid identifier

• refresh capability

5.3 Installation

The FLEXlm software runs on and controls licenses for a variety of workstation types within a network. Thatmeans, for example, that a SUN server will be able to provide licenses for RS6000, SGI, HP, etc. worksta-tions.

However, the FLEXlm software itself is machine dependent. Thus, the appropriate executables should beinstalled for the server. It is recommended to use a stable machine as server. If the license server isrebooted frequently, this will cause problems to access the licenses.

Circumstance Remedy

The FLEXlm daemon is not running. Restart the daemon.

The Theorem daemon is not running. Restart the daemon.

The license file is not found. Check the file definition being used.

The requested feature is not licensed. Contact Theorem Solutions or ICEM Technologies.

The maximum number of licenses available is in use. Wait for release of a license.

The license expiry date has passed. Contact Theorem Solutions or ICEM Technologies.

40

5.3 Installation

Installation Procedure

You have to copy the license files to a selected directory.

If existing software also uses FLEXlm, the appropriate files may be used with the CADverter software too.Otherwise, we suggest to use the directory /usr/theorem/flexlm (for Theorem Solutions customers), or /usr/ applications/lic (for ICEM Technologies customers).

NOTE:

The name of the license file may be altered, if desired (see information on the license file in section 5.1“Components” on page 39).

The license management files are:

• TS_updaemon

• TS_downdaemon

• TS_statdaemon

• lmgrd

• lmutil

• lmsetup

• license.dat

lmutil combines the various utility options, and a linked name is created for each option. The executableitself determines the user requirement from the command line name used, e. g. lmstat.

1. Run the script lmsetup to create the utility option names.

2. Run the lmhostid command to define the required hostid name for the license control server.

Inform Theorem Solutions or ICEM Technologies of the result, and request the generation of the licenses purchased. These should be entered to the file license.dat.

3. Run the lmcksum command to ensure the license file text is correct.

4. Run the lmgrd program in the background to start up the license mechanism.

Alternatively, if the system is an existing FLEXlm installation, use the lmreread command to update the overall mechanism with the information of the new file:

lmgrd -c <license file name> -l <logfile name> [-p] &

or

lmreread -c <license file name>

Options:

licence file name

Name selected for the FLEXlm licenses.

logfile name

Name for a log file for license access.

-p

Option which restricts usage of lmdown and lmreread to the FLEXlm administrator (by default root).

41

5.4 License Administration

If a unix group named lmadmin has been defined, only members of that group will be allowed access to these commands. If root is not a member of the group, root will not have permission to use the com-mands.

5. If desired, the boot up files may be modified to start up the lmgrd program at boot up time.

Depending on the system, add a line to the file /etc/rc.boot or /etc/rc.local or the file appropriate for your system.

This line should look as the following:

nohup <lmgrd file> -c <licence file name>

> <logfile name> 2>&1 &

Options:

lmgrd file

Full path name for the lmgrd executable.

licence file name

License file name selected for the Theorem licenses.

logfile name

Name for a log file for license access.


For the FLEXlm license mechanism, a number of utilities are available. These are alternate names forlmutil. The operation of the utility executable depends on the command line name with which it is invoked.

lmhostid

Reports the system identifier for the system on which it is run.

It will only run on the workstation type similar to that for which lmutil is loaded. That means, if theserver is an SGI machine, this utility cannot be run on a SUN workstation.

The following commands give the appropriate information.

• for SUN:

hostid

• for SGI:

echo 'sysinfo -s' 16o p | dc

• for HP:

echo 'uname -i' 16o p | dc

• for RS6000:

echo 'uname -m' 16o p | dc

lmstat

Provides current status information.

lmstat [a] [-A] [-c <license file name>] [-S theorem]

42


Options:

-a

All information will be displayed.

-A

All active licenses will be listed.

-c <license file name>

Only the license file specified will be used. If the lmgrd daemon is serving other software than theTheorem software, this will restrict the information to that one which is relevant to CADverter.

-S

Report only for the Theorem daemon. If the lmgrd daemon is serving software other than the Theo-rem software this will restrict the information to that one which is relevant to CADverter.

lmreread

Causes the lmgrd daemon to re-read the license information.

It is to be used when a license is changed, or a new daemon is to be added to an existing installation.

lmreread [-c <license file name>]

Option:


The information for the file name defined will be re-read.

lmdown

Shuts down the license mechanism.

lmgrd should be used to restart the system.

lmdown [-c <license file name>]

Option:


The information for the file name defined will be processed.

lmcksum

Performs a checksum for the data entered in the license file.

lmcksum will ignore fields which are not used for the encryption computation. The server node, portnumber and daemon pathname are configurable by the system administrator and are not used.

lmcksum [-c <license file name>]

Option:


The information for the file name defined will be processed. If this is not used, the license.dat inthe current directory will be processed.

lmremove

Removes a single user's license for a specified feature.

43

5.5 The License File

This may be used if a workstation crashes causing a license to be locked out and unavailable foranother user. This will return the license to the pool of available licenses.

This should not be used when a user is using the CADverter software as the system maintains a“heartbeat” with a licensed application, and the removal of the license will cause the CADverter tofail.

There are additional scripts performing some license daemon tasks:

TS_updaemon

Boot script to start the license system.

TS_downdaemon

Script to shutdown license daemon.

TS_statdaemon

Script to check the status of the license daemon.


The license file looks as follows:

SERVER tscsp05 807a6dfc 7601

DAEMON theorem /usr/theorem/flexlm

FEATURE Catia_UG theorem 1.300 1-jul-97 2 ABFE22418E16FEA79E191 ck = 84

FEATURE UG_Catia theorem 1.300 31-dec-97 2 9B2E93D1F74D46EE6B06 ck = 24

FEATURE CADDS_UG theorem 2.100 31-dec-97 2 DB5E2424A8AA9A674B66 ck = 242

FEATURE UG_Cadds theorem 2.100 31-dec-97 2 0B3E5701DF1232C78EF6 ck = 252

FEATURE STEP_AP203_UG theorem 1.00 31-dec-97 2 0B4E33A14B44F02842E1 ck=19

FEATURE UG_STEP_AP203 theorem 1.000 31-dec-97 2 4B9E60E1274BA1246A77 ck=19

FEATURE GCO_Parasolid theorem 1.100 31-dec-97 2 7B2EF0911352B8C4DB9D ck=7

FEATURE ICEM_Cadds theorem 1.100 31-dec-97 2 1B4E74315CAB720C20F9 ck=243

FEATURE CADDS_ICEM theorem 1.1000 31-dec-97 2 0C82E14E3B25878757A4 ck=229

FEATURE ICEM_Catia theorem 1.100 31-dec-97 2 1C72C41E297AFEE5593B ck=41

FEATURE Catia_ICEM theorem 1.100 31-dec-97 2 8C24016E231AF33C8D35 ck=32

For ICEM Technologies customers, the second line will be similar to:

DAEMON theorem /usr/applications/lic

NOTE:

You can edit the hostname on the server line (1st arg), the port address on the server line (3rd arg), thepath to the daemon on the daemon line (2nd arg), or any right-half of a string (b) of the form a=b where (a)is all lowercase (for example, xxx in vendor_info=“xxx” can be changed) . Any other changes will invalidatethis license.

The following information are given in the different lines of the license file:

SERVER line

Defines the node name and unique id (hostid) of the server, and the TCP port number to use.

44


DAEMON line

Defines the CADverter daemon name theorem and the full path to the executable.

The latter may be changed according to the installation, however, the daemon name should not bechanged.

FEATURE lines

Define the product licensed, the daemon which is to be used, the version number of the productlicensed, the expiry date of the license, the number of floating licenses available, the license key, andthe checksum for that entry.

Nothing in this entry should be changed.

UPGRADE lineINCREMENT line

A new license can be appended to the license.dat file in an UPGRADE or INCREMENT line.

If a new license is provided as a FEATURE line, the original FEATURE line needs to be replaced withthe new one.

Where new licenses are supplied to allow new versions of the software to be used, the new license willallow use of earlier versions.

For example, if a new license is provided for version 2.000 of ICEM-to- CATIA, version 1.100 or 1.200 willbe allowed to run with the new license. However, version 2.100 will not be allowed to run until a new licenseis provided for that version.

45

6 Extended Entity Mapping Tables

6 Extended Entity Mapping Tables

6.1 Transfer from CATIA to ICEM ASCII Part


ICEM ASCII Part(type number in brackets)

Point (1) Point (1)

Line (2) Line (2)

Curve (3)B-Spline Curve (3)NURBS Curve (46)

B-Spline Curve (31)

Plane (4) Plane (18)

Surface (5)B-Spline Surface (5)NURBS Surface (47)

B-Spline Surface (26)

Face (6) Trimmed Surface (27)

Edge (12) Surface Curve (17) and2D-Spline (within the context of a trimmed surface) (5)

Solide (only Brep form; CSG form and facetted form are not supported) (17)

Trimmed Surfaces (for each face of the solid) (27)

Volume (17) Trimmed Surface (for each face of the solid) (27)

Circle (20) Circle/Arc/Fillet (3)

Ellipse (21) Conic, Form 2 (4)

Parabola (22) Conic, Form 3 (4)

Hyperbola (23) Conic, Form 4 (4)

Composite Curve (24) (constituent parts)

Draft (93) Systems Entity Form 2 (50)

View(s) (30) Systems Entity Form 11 (50)

Dimension (91) Linear Dimension (32)Radius Dimension (33)Diameter Dimension (35)Angular Dimension (36)

Cst (14) Machining Curve (10)

Axis (8) Work Axis (43)

46

6.2 Transfer from CATIA to ICEM Surf DB

6.2 Transfer from CATIA to ICEM Surf DB

6.3 Transfer from ICEM ASCII Part to CATIA


ICEM Surf DB

Point (1) Point

Line (2) Curve Segment

Curve (3)B-Spline Curve (3)NURBS Curve (46)

Curve Segment

Plane (4) Patch

Surface (5)B-Spline Surface (5)NURBS Surface (47)

Patch

Face (6) Face

Solide (only Brep form; CSG form and facetted form are not supported) (17)

Face (for each face of the solid)

Volume (17) Face (for each face of the solid)

Circle (20) Curve Segment/Circle/Arc

Composite Curve (24) Curve Segment (constituent parts)

Cst (14) Raw Data Segment

Axis (8) Work Plane



Point (1) Point (1)

Line (2) Line (2)

Arc/Circle/Fillet (3) Circle (20)

Conic, Form 2 (4)Conic, Form 3 (4)Conic, Form 4 (4)

Ellipse (21)Parabola (22)Hyperbola (23)

Composite Curve (6) (constituent parts)

Point Set (8) Point(s) (1)

3D-Spline (9) Curve (3)

Machining Curve (10) Lines (2)Curve (3)CST (14)

47

6.4 Transfer from ICEM Surf DB to CATIA

6.4 Transfer from ICEM Surf DB to CATIA

Surface Curve (17) Edge (used to trim a CATIA face) (12)

Plane (18) Plane (4)

Surface Curve Surface (25) (implicitly available in the face topology and face sur-face relationship)

B-Spline Surface (26) Surface (5)NURBS Surface (47)

Trimmed Surface (27) Face (6)

B-Spline Curve (31) Curve (3)NURBS Curve (46)

Loop (55) (implicitly available in topology of the associated face)

Systems Entity Form 2 (50) Draft (93)

Systems Entity Form 11 (50) View(s) (30)

Linear Dimension (32) Dimension (91)

Radius Dimension (33) Dimension (91)

Diameter Dimension (35) Dimension (91)

Angular Dimension (36) Dimension (91)

Work Axis (43) Axis (8)

ICEM Surf DB CATIA(type number in brackets)

Point Point (1)

Curve Segment/Arc/Circle Circle (20)

Raw Data Segment Lines (2)Curve (3)Cst (14)

Patch Surface (5)NURBS Surface (47)Plane (4)

Face Face (6)Plane (4)

Curve Segment Curve (3)NURBS Curve (46)

Work Plane Axis (8)



48

7 Translator Execution with Shell Scripts


If you have purchased the CATIA Direct Interface from ICEM Technologies or one of its vendors, you canexecute the translator with the shell scripts:

CatiaToIparta.sh and IpartaToCatia.sh

Default Settings

These shell scripts use the following default settings:

• for Progress File names

/tmp/catia_to_iparta.lst

or

/tmp/iparta_to_catia.lst

• for Part names

catia_to_iparta

or

iparta_to_catia

You may use the command options and parameters as described in this manual. This will overridethe default settings.

Additional Command Options

There are two additional command options for the shell scripts:

-help

Prints a help text (explanation of the command options and parameters) to the screen.

-s

Prevents the translator from printing any screen messages.

Please set the environment variable DI_CATIA_ACN. It must point to the installation directory of the binariesicem_catdata and catfil_icem.

Table 6 Error Codes for Batch Processing

Code Message Description

0 TIO_NO_ERROR; No error.

10 TIO_FERR_PAR_ERROR; A parameter error occured.

11 TIO_FERR_INVALID_KEY; An invalid keyword was specified.

20 TIO_FERR_INP_FILE_NOT_EX; The input file does not exist.

21 TIO_FERR_INP_FILE_NO_PERM; The input file exists without read permissions.

22 TIO_FERR_INP_DIR_NO_EX; The input directory does not exist.

23 TIO_FERR_INP_DIR_NO_PERM; The input directory exists without read permissions.

49


24 TIO_FERR_INP_PAR_NO_FILE; The input directory does not exist.

25 TIO_FERR_INP_PAR_NO_DIR; The input directory exists without read permissions.

30 TIO_FERR_INP_OUT_IDENT; Input file and output file are identical.

31 TIO_FERR_INP_LST_IDENT; Input file and list file are identical.

32 TIO_FERR_OUT_LST_IDENT; Output file and list file are identical.

33 TIO_FERR_INP_DIR_OUT_FILE_IDENT; Input file and output file are identical.

34 TIO_FERR_INP_DIR_LST_FILE_IDENT; Input file and list file are identical.

35 TIO_FERR_OUT_DIR_LST_FILE_IDENT; Output file and list file identical.

40 TIO_FERR_INP_NOT_SPEC; Input file not specified.

41 TIO_FERR_INP_DIR_NOT_SPEC; Input directory not specified.

42 TIO_FERR_OUT_NOT_SPEC; Output file not specified.

43 TIO_FERR_OUT_DIR_NOT_SPEC; Output file not specified.

44 TIO_FERR_START_PART_NOT_EX; Start Part does not exist.

50 TIO_FERR_OLD_OUTPUT_NOT_REM; Unable to remove the old output file

51 TIO_FERR_CANT_CREATE_OUTPUT; Unable to create the output file

52 TIO_FERR_OLD_PROT_NOT_REM; Unable to remove the old list file

53 TIO_FERR_CANT_CREATE_LIST; Unable to create the list file

54 TIO_FERR_OLD_OUT_DIR_NOT_REM; Unable to remove the old output directory

55 TIO_FERR_CANT_CREATE_OUT_DIR; Unable to create the output directory

56 TIO_FERR_CANT_CREATE_TMP_FILE; Unable to create temporary files

8000 TIO_FERR_NO_LICENSE; Translator not licensed.

9000 TIO_FERR_INVALID_ARGS; Invalid input arguments used.

9001 TIO_FERR_INVALID_INP_FILE_FORM; Input file_name is not in required format.

9002 TIO_FERR_INP_FILE_IS_DIR; Input file_name is a directory, not a file.

9003 TIO_FERR_CANT_OPEN_INP_FILE; Failure to open input file for identification.

9004 TIO_FERR_CANT_READ_INP_FILE; Failure to read input file identification.

9100 TIO_FERR_CANT_CREATE_OUTPUT; Invalid output file name given.

9101 TIO_FERR_INVALID_FILE_NAME; Output name is not a directory.

9102 TIO_FERR_OUT_NOT_DIR; Output name is a directory, not a file.

9103 TIO_FERR_OUT_FILE_IS_DIR; Output name is a directory, not a file.

9104 TIO_FERR_OUT_FILE_EXISTS; Output name is a directory, not a file.

default TIO_FERR_UNDOC; Not documented error.


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Table 7 Error Codes for Catia V5


9201 TIO_FERR_CAT5_WRITE_ERRORS; Catia V5: Write Errors

9203 TIO_FERR_CAT5_ARGUMENT_ERROR; Catia V5: Command line argument error

9204 TIO_FERR_CAT5_READ_ERROR; Catia V5: Read error

9205 TIO_FERR_CAT5_NO_ENTITIES; Catia V5: No entities found

9206 TIO_FERR_CAT5_NO_CATINIT; Catia V5: Document does not implement CATInit

9207 TIO_FERR_CAT5_CANT_OPEN_DOC; Catia V5: Can not open the CATIA5 document

9208 TIO_FERR_CAT5_CANT_CREATE_SES; Catia V5: Can not create the CATIA5 session.

9209 TIO_FERR_CAT5_SES_EXISTS; Catia V5: Session of same name already exists

9210 TIO_FERR_CAT5_INCOMPATIBLE; Catia V5: Incompatible run and build versions

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8 Release Bulletins

8 Release Bulletins

8.1 Release Bulletin ICEM – CATIA Direct Interface 6.1

The following enhancements have been implemented in the ICEM – CATIA Direct Interface 6.1:

• Faces can contain more then 100 loops now.

• The icem_catdata options mc_to_bsp/cst/lin now all work independently.

• The icem_catdata option mc_to_lin has been fixed so that it does create Lines instead of linear b-splines.

• A bug has been fixed in icem_catdata which caused it to crash on NT when converting Machining Curves.

• A bug has been fixed in the ICEM write code to prevent a crash under certain conditions after the edge-splitting process.

• The CATIA format EXPORT is available now.

• The CATIA write code has been enhanced so that surfaces which are basically revolved in nature are written to CATIA in a more space efficient manner.

• The translation of Workspaces is introduced.

8.2 Release Bulletin ICEM – CATIA Direct Interface 6.1.005

The following enhancements have been implemented in the ICEM – CATIA Direct Interface 6.1.005:

no_read_attrs

ICEM Attributes are now read from IPARTA and passed through to the CATIA model inicem_catdata. This can be switched off using the no_read_attrs option in the translator start scriptIpartaToCatia.

In CATIA the Attribute appears in the entity name in the form “Part/Molecule/Atom” (for informationabout the hierarchical structure of geometry data types in ICEM Surf see section “ICEM Surf DataBase” in the ICEM Surf reference manual). Example: In Catia V4, the ICEM Surf entity “LV005/Fender/15” will have the name “LV005/Fender/15”. The layer assignment (via part name in ICEMSurf) will be carried out as usual.

In ICEM Surf, the export of entity names is preset by default and cannot be controlled by switching onand off an option in the function File – Export – Catia V4.

no_write_attrs

catfil_icem now checks each entity from CATIA to see if it has a name in the form “Part/Molecule/Atom”, e. g. Catia V4 name = “body/door/12”. If it has, the entity is written to the IPARTA file with astandard Attribute. If the naming convention“Part/Molecule/Atom” is disregarded, the entity name willnot be imported in ICEM Surf!

52


This mechanism can be switched off using the no_write_attrs option in the translator start scriptCatiaToIparta.

In ICEM Surf, the import of entity names is preset by default and cannot be controlled by switchingon and off an option in the function File – Import – Catia V4.

read_skins

Specially named Trimmed Surfaces (Faces) from IPARTA can now be written to CATIA as SKINs byusing the read_skins option in the translator start script IpartaToCatia. There is a sewing processrequired by this option which uses a default tolerance of 0.09/units (where units = 1.0 for a mm partor 25.4 for an inch part). CATIA uses a tolerance of 0.1 mm for a Model Dimension of 10m. If thetranslator default is not adequate then an optional tolerance can be put immediately after theread_skins option.

In ICEM Surf, the export of patches and faces defined as SKINs is preset by default and cannot becontrolled by switching on and off an option in the function File – Export – Catia V4.

For the export of patches and faces as SKINs, in ICEM Surf the following conditions must be kept:

1. Data Structure

The patches and faces must be included into a surface (molecule).

2. Naming

The surface name must have the prefix “skin” followed by a (consecutive) number, e. g. “skin1, skin2, …”.

IMPORTANT:

• The name is not case-sensitive.

• A number must not be used twice.

• If zeros are added before the number, e. g. to force a consecutive listing in selection lists incase of more than 9 names, the mathematical value in the name is decisive and not thenotation, e. g. the number 1 has the same meaning as 01.

53


Figure 1 Data Structure and Naming of Surfaces for the Export to Catia V4

3. Trim Patches

In Catia, an entity can only be defined as SKIN if it consists of faces. Therefore, it is necessary to trim all patches (to faces) of a surface to be defined as SKIN before exporting. This is also neces-sary, if the dimension of the patches needs not to be decreased. In this case, the patches have to be trimmed at their own edges. This “formal trimming” will be done automatically during the export

operation, if you set in the Geometry tab of the function File – Export – Catia V4. If this setting has been used, all exported ICEM Surf patches will be read as faces in Catia V4. This setting is not neccessary in case of patches already manually trimmed.

4. Keeping Tolerances

In order that the translator can define the Catia-SKIN, the patches of the surfaces to be exported as SKINs must be connected to each other with position continuous transitions keeping certain tolerances needed by Catia V4. As these tolerances are not automatically corrected if they have not been kept, you have to check the surfaces before exporting them with the function Diagnoses – Check – Surface using the following parameters:

• Topology Regions: 0.01

• Position: 0.0001 Min, 0.0099 Max

Part/skin4/6

Part/skin4/4

Part/skin4/8

Part/skin4/10

Part/skin4/2

Part/skin3/2

Part/skin3/4

Surface (Molecule) “skin4” Surface (Molecule) “skin3”

54


Figure 2 Surface Check the Export of SKINs

If according to the above mentioned parameters a topology edge is found at the inner patch boundaries, the SKIN definition fails and the error message “Error whilst sewing required Skins” will be entered in the translation protocol.

After the import in Catia V4 the SKINs can be used, for example, for the definition of solids.

Figure 3 SKINs imported from ICEM Surf in Catia V4

Part/skin4/6

Part/skin4/4

Part/skin4/8

Part/skin4/10

Part/skin4/2

Part/skin3/2

Part/skin3/4

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ent_messages

catfil_icem and icem_catdata now produce less entity related messages on the logfile. Bydefault, only error and warning messages are given along with the usual entity counts. To switch onfull entity messages the ent_messages option can be used in the translator start scripts IpartaTo-Catia and CatiaToIparta

In ICEM Surf, the creation of the short translation protocol is preset by default and cannot be control-led by switching on and off an option in the functions File – Import/Export – Catia V4.

Fixes for Startpart issues in icem_catdata:

• Face visualization parameters,

• NOSHOW is the default for base surfaces,

• Spurious View no longer created,

• NHR ONLY display setting.

Fixed Bugs

• A bug has been fixed in the ICEM Read code when the refit3d option is used. This bug wascausing certain 3D edges to be re-fitted when it was not necessary.

• A bug has been fixed in catfil_icem on NT which caused a crash when CST entities were beingread from CATIA.

56

Glossary

57

Glossary

C

CADverter

Theorem Trade Mark referring to a range of CAD data translation packages.

CATIA

Computer Aided Design Package by Dassault Systems.

G

gco

Generic Cad Object. The Theorem internal geometric data format.

R

Rational

When related to a curve (e. g. NURBS), “rational” means that the curve can exactly represent conicsections as well as free-formed curves. Non-rational curves do not have this feature.

When related to a surface (e. g. NURBS), it means that all analytical surfaces (e. g. spherical, cylin-drical, etc.) as well as free-formed surfaces may be exactly represented. Non-rational surfaces donot have this feature.

T

tar

A UNIX tape utility.

Index

58

Index

Bbsp_to_mc 12

CCADverter Software 40catfil_icem 10CATIA_file_name 10, 25CATIA_title 25cont (val) 11create_edge_curves 28

Ddraft 11, 27

Eent_messages 56

CATIA to ICEM 12ICEM to CATIA 27

Entity MappingCATIA to ICEM 8ICEM to CATIA 23

Environment Setup 37Error Messages


FFLEXlm License Mechanism 39FLEXlm Licensing 37

IICEM File 18icem_catdata 25ICEM_file_name 10, 25ICEM_part_name 10icem_tol (val) 25Input Arguments CATIA to ICEM

bsp_to_mc 12catfil_icem 10CATIA_file_name 10cont (val) 11draft 11ent_messages 12ICEM_file_name 10ICEM_part_name 10keep_planes 11log_file_name 10mask (maskname) 11model (mnum) 11

no_fixup 11no_write_attrs 12Pdegen (tol) 12read_set (name) 13read2d 11unlink_edges 12

Input Arguments ICEM to CATIACATIA_file_name 25CATIA_title 25create_edge_curves 28draft 27ent_messages 27icem_catdata 25ICEM_file_name 25icem_tol (val) 25log_file_name 25mc_to_bsp 26mc_to_cst 26mc_to_lin 26mdim (val) (mm / inch) 26mvs 26no_plane_create 27no_read_attrs 27nurbs 27read_skins (tol) 27read2d 25startpart (start_name) 26surfopt (val) 26trim_face_surfs 28v3 26version n.m 28

Kkeep_planes 11

LLicense Administration 42License File 39, 44License Management 37License Manager Daemon 39log_file_name 10, 25

Mmask (maskname) 11Mask File

Format 13OFF Statement

13ON Statement 15

mc_to_bsp 26mc_to_cst 26mc_to_lin 26mdim (val) (mm / inch) 26model (mnum) 11mvs 26

Nno_fixup 11no_plane_create 27no_read_attrs 27, 52no_write_attrs 12, 52nurbs 27

PPdegen (tol) 12Progress File


Rread_set (name) 13read_skins 53read_skins (tol) 27read2d 11, 25Release Bulletins 52

SScreen Messages


Shell Scripts 49startpart (start_name) 26surfopt (val) 26System Requirements 36

TTheorem Daemon 39trim_face_surfs 28TSC_PROG_FILE 37

Uunlink_edges 12

Vv3 26version n.m 28

icem catia direct interface

Documents