BricsCAD Communicator

Commands: COMMUNICATORINFO, EXPORT, IMPORT

BricsCAD Communicator is an optional plug-in for Pro and higher editions of BricsCAD that imports and exports 3D data between major CAD formats. Its high-quality conversions facilitate the re-use of 3D CAD data to improve productivity and reduce project costs.

Supported file formats

Export (Windows)

• 3D PDF: .pdf
• ACIS: .asab, .asat, .sab, .sat
  
• CATIA v4: .model
  
• CATIA v5: .CATPart, .CATProduct
• IGES: .iges, .igs
• STEP: .step, .stp
  • The following export protocols can be specified; AP203, AP214, AP242
    (fig. 1)

• VDA-FS: .vd
• XCGM: .xcgm

Export (Linux)

• 3D PDF: .pdf
• ACIS: .asab, .asat, .sab, .sat
• CATIA v4: .model
• IGES: .iges, .igs
• STEP: .step, .stp
  • The following export protocols can be specified; AP203, AP214, AP242 (see fig. 1).
• VDA-FS: .vda

Export (Mac)

• ACIS: .asab, .asat, .sab, .sat
• CATIA v4: .model
• IGES: .iges, .igs
• STEP: .step, .stp
  • The following export protocols can be specified; AP203, AP214, AP242 (see fig. 1).
• VDA-FS: .vda

You can export a BricsCAD assembly with mechanical components as a file with product structure. To do that set the desired value in the Settings dialog:


(fig. 2)

Import (Windows)

• ACIS: .asab, .asat, .sab, .sat
• Autodesk Inventor: .iam, .ipt
• CATIA v4: .model
• CATIA v5/v6: .CATPart, .CATProduct, .CGR
• Creo Elements / Pro Engineer: .asm, .prt
• IGES: .iges, .igs
• NX: .prt
• Parasolid: .xmt_bin, .xmt_txt, .x_b, .x_t
• Siemens: .jt
• Solid Edge: .asm, .par, .psm
• SolidWorks: .sldasm, .sldprt
• STEP: .step, .stp, .stpz
• VDA-FS: .vda
• XCGM: .xcgm

Import (Linux)

• ACIS
• CATIA v4: .model
• Creo Elements / Pro Engineer: .asm, .prt
• IGES: .iges, .igs
• Parasolid: .xmt_bin, .xmt_txt, .x_b, .x_t
• Siemens: .jt
• Solid Edge: .asm, .par, .psm
• SolidWorks: .sldasm, .sldprt
• STEP: .step, .stp, .stpz
• VDA-FS: .vda
• XCGM: .xcgm

Import (Mac)

• ACIS: .asab, .asat, .sab, .sat
• CATIA v4: .model
• Creo Elements / Pro Engineer: .asm, .prt
  
• IGES: .iges, .igs
• Parasolid: .xmt_bin, .xmt_txt, .x_b, .x_t
• STEP: .step, .stp, .stpz
• VDA-FS: .vda

You can import an assembly file, as a plain geometry (a nonhierarchical set of entities) or map its product structure into native blocks or mechanical components.

PMI (Product and Manufacturing Information) is supported for the following file formats (Communicator license is required): ACIS, CATIA V5, NX, Pro/E / Creo, SolidWorks, XCGM. PMI annotations are imported as graphical elements grouped in blocks.

If the assembly contains hidden parts, you can decide how to represent them in BricsCAD: 'import and hide', 'import and set visible' or just 'do not import'. This feature is currently supported on CATIA v5 only.

You can change this with the Settings dialog:


(fig. 3)

You can also set other import options to automatically repair, stitch and simplify imported geometry.
Note the IGES format has its own options to stitch and simplify. If you import a 3D model from SolidWorks, it makes sense to set an option to map Y axis into Z (because in SolidWorks the vertical axis is Y).

For SolidWorks and other native CAD formats, it is possible to specify an alternate search path. This will be used to look for parts absent in the imported assembly folder.