Glossary of Terms in CAD/CAM and Data

Exchange
ACIS
Is a geometric modelling kernel provided by Spatial Technology Inc. It supports 3D surfaces and
solids and is based upon NURBS and B-rep solid modelling.

AIX
Is a UNIX operating system that runs on the RS6000 series workstations from IBM.

ANSI
American National Standards Institute the overarching standards body responsible for
formalising the U.S. voluntary standards development process

AP
Application Protocol an ISO standard, contained within ISO 10303 (STEP), which specifies the
STEP product data construct required for the communication of information in a defined
application context. The only implementable portions of STEP.

Assembly
A product that is decomposable into a set of components or other assemblies

Autocad
A CAD system developed by Autodesk Inc.

B-rep
Refers to a Boundary REPresentation geometric modeller, which represents solids (and other
types of body) by their boundaries. (see below)

B-spline
A sequence of parametric polynomial curves (typically quadratic or cubic polynomials) forming a
smooth fit between a sequence of points in 3D space. The piece-wise defined curve maintains a
level of mathematical continuity dependent upon the polynomial degree chosen. It is used
extensively in mechanical design applications in the automotive and aerospace industries.

Bill-of-material structure (BOM)

A structural description of a product in terms of its nested constituents.

Boundary representation model

A solid model represented by a set of shells defining their exterior or interior boundaries.
Constraints ensure that the associated geometry is well defined and that the Euler formula
connecting the numbers of vertices, edges, faces, loops, and shells in the model is satisfied.

Boundary representation solid model (B-rep)

A type of geometric model in which the size and shape of the solid is defined in terms of the
faces, edges and vertices which make up its boundary.

CAD
Computer Aided Design - a term applied to a host of methods and applications used in product
design.

CAD drawing
A digital representation of a drawing that includes pictures, text, or combinations of both that are
presented in the drawing; information used in administering the drawing; and possibly
representations of the shapes of the products depicted in the drawing.

CADDS4X/5
Is a Computervision Corp. computer aided design product.

Cartesian co-ordinate system

A set of mutually perpendicular axes divided into known segments, each of whose length is a
specified unit of measure, with two axes in a two-dimensional system, three in a 3D one, etc.

CADverter
Is a Theorem Solutions Limited trade mark for a range of CAD data translation products.

CALS

Computer-aided Acquisition and Logistics Support a U.S. Department of Defense effort to

provide a working environment for contractors using heterogeneous system; it is currently
developing a testbed for using STEP between specific military systems.

CAM
Computer-Aided Manufacturing a term applied to a host of methods and applications used in
product manufacture.

CATDATA
Is a CATIA file handling utility supplied as part of the CATIA product.

CATEXP
Is a CATIA file type utility supplied as part of the CATIA product.

CATGEO
This refers to CATIA geometry libraries.

CATIA
Is a Dassault Systems computer aided design system.

CGS
Corporate Graphics System General Motors internal graphic system

CSG
Constructive solid geometry, a method of representing solid models.

DES
Data Exchange Standard data format for exchanging CAD data between systems at General
Motors.

DXF
A proprietary data exchange format developed by Autodesk and widely used in the CAD industry.

DWG

An Autodesk proprietary file format.

EDI
Electronic Data Interface a set of ANSI standards used in exchange of business data; capable
of being enhanced to encompass engineering data but not generally accepted as suitable for
such use.

EDM
Engineering Data Management a term applied to a host of methods and applications used in
product manufacture.

Entity
A geometric primitive - the fundamental building block used in constructing a design or drawing,
e.g. arc, circle, line, text, point, spline, figure, or nodal line. Or a group of primitives processed as
an identifiable unit. Thus, a square may be defined as a discrete entity consisting of four
primitives (vectors), although each side of the square could be defined as an entity in its own
right.

EXPRESS
A specific computer language adopted by ISO and used to define STEP and its attendant
application protocols .

FST
Ford Standard Tape format for transferring wireframe and surface geometry between PDGS
sytems.

Fillet
Rounded corner or arc that blends together two intersecting curves or lines. May be generated
automatically by a CAD system.

Fillet Surface
The transition surface which blends together two surfaces, for example, an airplane wing and the
planes body.

GCO
Stands for Generic Cad Object. This is the name of Theorem Solutions representation of CAD
models inside the translators.

HPUX
Is a UNIX operating system which runs on a range of Hewlett Packard systems.

ICEM surf
A proprietary CAD surfacing package, mainly for the automotive industry, developed by ICEM
Systems, a subsidiary of Parametric Technology Corp.

I-DEAS
Is a CAD system provided by Structured Dynamic Research Corporation (SDRC).

IGES
Initial Graphics Exchange Specification a U.S. standard developed in 1979 for use in
exchanging geometric data.

IRIX
Is a UNIX operating system which runs on a range of equipment from Silicon Graphics Inc.

ISO
International Standards Organisation formally called the International Organisation for
Standardisation and a world-wide federation of national bodies from over ninety countries. There
are 8,000 standards on the books now and growing and over 20,000 volunteers from industrial
concerns participate. Interestingly, this is NOT an acronym, even though the letters may plausibly
be thought to stand for those in "International Organisation for Standardisation". Which ISO refers
to. Instead, ISO is a Greek prefix meaning equal, and is found in such words as isobar, isometric
and isosceles. Founders of ISO meant to take all things equal: a level playing field for the
exchange of goods and services.

Layering
A method of logically organising data in a CAD/CAM database. Functionally different classes of
data (e.g. various graphic/geometric entities) are segregated on separate layers, each of which
can be displayed individually or in any desired combination. Layering helps the designer
distinguish among different kinds of data in creating a complex product.

Layers
User-defined logical subdivisions of data in a CAD/CAM database which may be viewed on the
graphics screen individually or overlaid and viewed in groups.

LINUX
Is a public domain operating system, developed initialy by Linus Torvalds, and now developed in
the public domain.

MVS
An IBM operating system.

Mechanical Desktop
A proprietary CAD/CAM system developed and marketed by Autodesk Inc.

NIST
National Institute for Standards and Technology a branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce
responsible for the establishment and promulgation of standards, formerly the Bureau of
Standards.

NURBS
Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines. A mathematical definition of geometric data.

PARASOLID
Is a geometric modelling kernel provided by Unigraphics Solutions Inc.. It supports 3D surfaces
and solids and is based upon NURBS and B-rep solid modelling technology.

PDES
Product Data Exchange using STEP the U.S. national effort in support of the development of
the international standard STEP.

PDES, Inc
An industrial consortium formed to expedite development of standards to be used in the
exchange of product data.

PDGS
Product Design Graphics System. A CAD system developed by the Ford Motor Company.

PIM

Product Information Management a term applied to the topic of managing product data in a
computer environment.

Precision
Refers to the internal representation of floating point numeric values, in general and specifically,
in the CATIA database. Double precision gives increased size and accuracy over single precision.

ProEngineer
A proprietary CAD/CAM system developed and marketed by P.T.C.

P.T.C.
Parametric Technology Corp a CAD/CAM vendor

Rational
Rational curves (NURBS, for example) can represent conic sections exactly as well as free form
curves. Non-rational curves cannot do this.
Rational surfaces (NURBS, for example) can represent all the analytical surfaces (such as
cylindrical, spherical etc) exactly as well as free form surfaces. Non-rational surfaces cannot do
this.

SC4
Subcommittee 4 industrial data and global manufacturing programming METHODS; a
subcommittee within the ISOs Technical Committee TC184; responsible for the development of
ISO 10303, informally known as STEP.

SET
Standard dExchange et de Transfert neutral format for exchanging data between CAD systems
Developed in France by Aerospatiale, and maintained by GOSET.

SIF
Standard Interchange Format - neutral data format developed by Intergraph for transferring data
to and from their CAD systems.

Solaris
Is a UNIX operating system which runs on a range of equipment from SUN Microsystems.

Solide
Is an Exact Solid i.e. a B-rep. The terminology is that used in the CATIA CAD system.

SolidEdge
A proprietary CAD/CAM system developed and marketed by Unigraphics Solutions.

Solid Facetting Tolerance

This is the tolerance applied to B-rep edge curves to define the facetting for a CATIA facetted
solid model.

Solidm
Is a Mock-Up Solid and refers to a facetted solid. The terminology is that used in the CATIA CAD
system.

SolidWorks
A proprietary CAD/CAM system developed and marketed by SolidWorks Corporation.

STEP
Standard for The Exchange of Product model data the informal name for ISO 10303, a neutral
format for product definition data, which will eventually enable universal transfer of product data
between heterogeneous systems.

TC184
Technical Committee 184 industrial automation and integration: a committee within ISO, created
in December 1983 to work in the area of representation and exchange of digital product data.

Unigraphics
Is a CAD system developed and provided by Unigraphics Solutions Inc.

UNIX
Is a general purpose operating system developed by AT&T and used as the basis for several
derived operating systems.

VDA-IS

Verband der Automobilindustrie standard to exchange two dimensional basic CAD geometry
and dimensions.

VDS-FS
Verbrand der Automobilindustrie neutral format for exchanging surface data between different
CAD systems. Developed in Germany by the VDA organisation.

VM
Is an IBM mainframe operating system.

Windows 95
Is a general purpose operating system developed by Microsoft and used as the basis for several
derived operating systems.

Windows 98
Is a general purpose operating system developed by Microsoft.

Windows NT
Is a general purpose operating system developed by Microsoft and used as the basis for several
derived operating systems.