File Formats

The most commonly used input files to Surface are either files used to define the hull patches, files used to define construction curves or general particulars data. Of the files used to define the hull patches, the Lines DML file and the Hullsurf HSF file are binary and cannot therefore be read by the user. The files used to define 2D construction curves can be specified as either U,V or radial coordinates.

Output files consist of the DM file which is Surfaces working datastore and the link to AVEVA Hull. This is a binary file and cannot therefore be directly read by the user.

Surface can also input and output an ACIS SAT file. This is an ascii file that can be used for transferring models between different applications built using ACIS. However because it is a full description of the model, the format is complex and it is not recommended that the user attempts to edit this file or generate one manually. The format of this file is therefore not given in this manual.

It is also possible to input data for an individual curve or patch using an ascii file containing data that defines the knots and control points. This format is only intended for use where the user requires to transfer data from another surface definition that does not use ACIS and also does not have the third party IGES utility. It would normally be generated by the user writing a utility to convert to this format and cannot easily be created manually.