Units

This is a statement of how the interface handles units.

1. has a minimal set of unit definitions. ("feet", "meters", "inches","millimeters")

2. exports in mm, that is the units exported in the file are mm.

3. imports all units from internally. It reads any file unit (according to the "standard"), but...

4. the interface then converts the input units to mm prior to writing an input "macro", so the model in the ABS file is therefore in mm.

5. To support this, the interface environment, switches units to MM DIST, and UNITS DEGREES units prior to export and import.

6. Because of the way the interface handles UNITS, the original units cannot be restored to be precisely what they were before.

7. Therefore, after an export or import transaction, the units will be set to MM DIST/MM BORE/UNITS DEGREES.

The AVEVA Bocad Steel Interface attempts to keep the behaviour of the system as consistent as possible across versions of the base product. Holes are always imported as NXTR elements because the interface does not do any shape recognition. This highlights a possible issue in exporting a model and re-importing. While a secondary PLOO would represent a hole, this would have to be represented on import as a negative extrusion, NXTR. So round tripping data will cause secondary PLOO elements as well as other negative primitives, to be converted to NXTR elements.

When importing into an empty area and using the "Import linear members as GENSECs" option, straight members may not be converted to GENSECS. This often occurs with a file that was previously exported from another base product model. The UUID attribute on the imported element may refer to an element with the same database reference number in the current model. Do not use the option to convert all straight members into GENSECs when importing a file containing elements that originated in the base product.