STEP: Best Practices

Import

 

Large Assemblies
We recommend that you import large assemblies in batch mode:
  • In this mode the CATPart documents are unloaded once transferred.
  • A maximum of the available memory is spared for the translation.

Quality of conversion
Always check the report and error files after a conversion ! Some problems may have occurred without been visually highlighted.

We recommend also that you use the Geometric Validation Properties when they exist. When an error occurs in the comparison, you can locate the problem as follows :

  • An error at solid or shell level means that the geometric translation failed.
  • An error at product level means that a sub-assembly translation failed.
  • An error at instance level means that a component is misplaced.

Note that the error at the lowest level gives the relevant information. It is the first error that appears in the report file:

  • An error at solid or shell level involves an error for corresponding product.
  • An error at product level involves an error for every product including instances of it.

How to Create a Topology

STEP files usually describe solids. It means that they contain the topology of the model. During the conversion of a part:

  • If no problem, the geometry and the topology are imported and the result is a solid.

  • If there is a geometric problem, one or several faces of the solid cannot be recreated and the solid itself is degenerated.
    The resulting model contains:

    • an empty PartBody,
    • an Geometrical set with a surface corresponding to all faces OK,
    • an Geometrical set for each face KO.

=> The repairing methodology is the same as faces KO in IGES.

  • There may also be a topological problem, when all the geometry has been converted OK but the topology could not be created. Then the resulting model contains:

    • an empty PartBody,
    • an Geometrical set with the surfaces that could not be joined properly.

=>The repairing methodology is the same as in IGES: Best Practices - How to create a topology.

Export

 

Large Assemblies
To export a large V5 Assembly in STEP, we recommend that you open it with the Work with the cache system option active (Tools/Options/Infrastructure/Product Structure/Cache Management/Work with the cache system): When this option is active, the referenced CATPart documents are loaded only during their transfer.

External references
For the exchange of large assemblies, we recommend that you use external references, using several small files instead of one large file (this will reduce memory problems). 
See the settings for more information.