About STEP Files
Through STEP (Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data), you can exchange complete product definitions between heterogeneous computer-aided design, engineering, and manufacturing systems.
You can import and export:
• Drawings that are in accordance with ap202_dis of the ISO 10303 STEP format.
• Parts and assemblies that are in accordance with ap203_is, ap214_is, ap242, ap242_e3, ap203_e2, ap202_is, and ap209_dis formats.
• Geometry in accordance with the STEP ap209_dis, ap242, and ap242_e3 formats.
• Planar and zonal cross-sections in accordance with the ap242 and ap242_e3 formats.
• Datum features such as points, planes, axes, and coordinate systems and the import of STEP groups in accordance with the ap214_is, ap203_e2, ap242, and the ap242_e3 formats.
• Non-geometric data and the graphical representations of annotations that include Product Manufacturing Information (PMI) in accordance with the ap203_e3, ap214_is, ap242, and ap242_e3 formats. The non-geometric data includes material properties such as name and density, user-defined parameters, layers, geometric and assembly validation properties, and the combined states. The STEP ap242 and ap242_e3 formats also support graphical representations that consist of faceted surfaces.
• Tessellated shape representations in accordance with the STEP ap242 and ap242_e3 formats. Tessellated shape representations display 3D shapes using simplified representation. The model surfaces that are tessellated consist of a collection of triangulated surfaces.
You can import and export tessellated part and assembly models as faceted data to STEP ap242 and ap242_e3 formats. You can export graphical faceted data of parts and assemblies as 3D tessellations to the STEP ap242 and ap242_e3 formats and import the 3D tessellated data of part and assembly models from the STEP ap242 and ap242_e3 formats.
STEP Format
STEP is an international standard, defined in publications produced by the U.S. Product Data Association (US PRO) IGES/PDES Organization. The complete set of specifications for STEP is referred to as ISO 10303.
The STEP format is organized as a series of documents (referred to as parts in STEP terminology), with each part published separately. Application Protocols (APs), which reference generic parts of ISO 10303, are produced to meet specific data exchange requirements for a particular application. ap202, ap203, and ap214 have reached the status of an International Standard (IS) version. Other APs include ap202_dis, ap209_dis and ap214_dis (Draft International Standard), and ap214_CD II (Committee Draft).
Products supporting STEP can implement this interface using different levels of data transfer. Each level provides various mechanisms to store, accept, and pass product definition data between heterogeneous systems in a consistent and standardized way.