Reads a geometry file into DeskArtes or displays the selected file on the screen.
Alternatively to selecting this command from the menu, you may double click on the file name to read a file.
Note: If you try reading a file that has been created by another UNIX user, the read might fail due to a protection violation. See the FilesÞINFO and PROTECT commands.
The following types of files are available for reading:
Model file (identifier
geom)Reads a DeskArtes model for further work within DeskArtes. If needed, the system asks if the current model should be replaced, or if the file model will be combined with the current one.
Object file (identifier
cobj)Reads a DeskArtes object after the current target object, or as its sub-object.
DXF file (identifier
dxf)The command reads a DXF file created by another modeling system for use within DeskArtes. Version 11.0 of the DXF standard is supported.
IGES file (identifier
igs)Reads an IGES file (created by another modeling system) for use within DeskArtes. Version 5.0 of the IGES standard is supported. A list of entities found and processed in the IGES file is printed to the command window where DeskArtes was launched.
The command asks for an approximation tolerance as a parameter. It is used for data conversions, if the file contains curves or surfaces of a higher degree than cubic polynomial.
As another parameter, the tolerance for optimizing trim curves is asked for. If set to a positive value, it automatically performs the command
FORMATÞChange:Reduce Trims to the model. This is useful to prevent having "too" accurate, but slow trim curves.The third option, recompute all trim curves, forces the program to trim all surfaces with the 3D trim curves in the IGES file, instead of the 2D parameter space trim curves. The 2D trim curves are generally preferred by DeskArtes, and they are faster to read, too. However, if there are any problems with reading the file then you may try to improve the situation by recomputing the trim curves from 3D.
If there are no 2D trim curves defined in the IGES file, then the recomputation is done automatically.
The parameter force tangent continuity determines how tangent continuity between neighboring surface patches is treated when the surfaces are converted into bicubic representation.
By default tangent continuity between patches is not forced, and each surface patch in the file is converted within the given approximation tolerance without worrying about the neighbors. This leads to less data in the resulting surfaces than when forcing tangent continuity.
The next parameter option is to read incomplete data or not. Incomplete data here refers to all kinds of data in the IGES file that does not seem to be part of the actual geometry, or is incorrectly defined, but may be nevertheless processed for viewing.
The final option with reading IGES is whether to convert the data units into millimeters or inches.
It might take a long time to read complex models from IGES files, especially if the 2D trim curves are not defined. A separate window shows how the reading of the file is proceeding, and it also allows for canceling of the reading if required.
VDAFS file (identifier
vda)Reads a VDAFS file (created by another modeling system) for use within DeskArtes. Version 2.0 of the VDAFS standard is supported.
The three first parameters are the same as when reading IGES files. As a fourth parameter, DeskArtes asks, whether the surfaces should be stored in just one element, or separate elements for each surface. The latter is usually better if there are not many surfaces in the VDAFS file.
It might take quite a long time to read complex models from VDA files.
Rapid Prototyping file
(identifier stl)Read the contents of an STL file (stereolithography standard) as a faceted model. Both the binary and ASCII formats are supported.
ASCII Point Data
(identifier pnt)This option allows the reading of arbitrary ASCII point data files into the system. In order for the system to recognize the file as ASCII points, it has to have an identifier "
.pnt" at the end of the file name.The file must start with the string "
START POINTS", or "START FACETS" in its first line, and end with "END POINTS", or "END FACETS" in the last line. The user must typically add these lines to the original file created by some other system.The difference between a "
POINTS" and a "FACETS" file is that the former is interpreted as a disconnected point cloud, whereas in the latter case the points are interpreted as consecutive triangle vertices.The numbers in the file can be in floating point form, with or without the decimal point, but without an exponent part. For example, 12345.67 would be recognized correctly, but 123.4567E+3 not.
There can be any non-numeric characters between the numbers, such as alphabetic characters, blanks and commas. For example, both the lines "X 123.45, Y -67.8, Z +90" or "123.45 -67.8 90" would be recognized as the same three numbers.
Sun Raster file
(suffix pic or rgb)Displays a Sun Raster file format picture on the screen. The picture may have been created with DeskArtes, or any other CAD system.
The picture may be erased from the screen by pointing at it with the mouse and hitting
q on the keyboard.TIFF file
(suffix tif)Shows a TIFF picture file on the screen. The picture may be removed from screen with the
q key.BMP file
(suffix bmp)Shows a BMP picture file on the screen. The picture may be removed from screen with the
q key.Text file
If the file to be read is not any of the formats mentioned above, it is assumed to be an (ASCII) text file, and it is loaded for text editing in a separate window.
You may choose one of the UNIX text editors "more", "vi" or "emacs" for viewing the file. The "more" editor is easiest for users who don’t know UNIX, while the two latter also allow for text editing, i.e., changing the contents of the file.