Talk:ACIS

Timeline
Would it be possible to include more details about the personalities and origins of ACIS in the main article? eg. c.f. ACIS kernel and kernel context and comparison of parasolid
 * Build1 - "In 1973, Brad completed thesis, to continue to stay in the CAD solid modeling technology, laboratory research, published several series of informative studies, and has developed Build1 and Build2 two new experimental system."
 * Build2 - "Which was adopted in Europe Build2 into the latest structured programming language Algol 68."
 * Buildx - "In the meantime, Brad and his mentor Charles Lang, classmate, Alan Grayer cooperation, to employ the Dutch Peter Veenman for market planning, in 1974 founded the Shape Data Corporation, with the Fortran language to develop the first generation of solid modeling product system Romulus, and the From 1978 onwards the market."

NevilleDNZ (talk) 06:27, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

New section
This page is currently outdated and needs some updates. I work for Spatial and want to disclose my Conflict of Interest as per Wikipedia policy. While I've read quite a few articles on this process, it is my first time contributing to Wikipedia. I've described the changes I'm proposing in text, below, and then posted my suggested edits- please advise if I should do this differently.

Change 1

In the summary table at the top of this page, it incorrectly indicates that the last stable release was "Version R25 / July 2014." This should be updated to "Version 2016 1.0 / September, 2015"


 * ✅ Altamel (talk) 01:32, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

Change 2

In the "Supported Platforms and Operating Systems" section, the table should be updated to reflect current platforms/compilers:

Supported Platforms and Operating Systems

 * Done by another user. Altamel (talk) 01:32, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

Change 3

"PHL V5" has been replaced with "HLR." Also, as of September, 2015, there is a new ACIS Modeler Extension, CGM Polyhedra. I've added CGM Polyhedra to the extensions, below, and changed "PHL V5" to "CGM HLR"

ACIS Modeler Extensions

 * CGM Polyhedra: CGM Polyhedra is an add-on to the 3D ACIS Modeler combining polyhedral and B-rep modeling. Utilizing the same interfaces that 3D ACIS Modeler users are already familiar with, existing and new customers can integrate approximated polyhedral data to their 3D printing, subtractive manufacturing, analysis, and other workflows.


 * 3D Deformable Modeling: 3D Deformable Modeling is an interactive sculpting tool for shaping 3D models. Included as part of Spatial's suite of 3D modeling development technologies, 3D Deformable Modeling uses local and global editing features that allow for the easy creation and manipulation of free-form B-spline and NURBS curves and surfaces.


 * Advanced Covering: Advanced Covering is a feature of Deformable Modeling that is now available as a standalone add-on for the 3D ACIS Modeler. This single API uses sophisticated algorithms to create high-quality n-sided surfaces that meet user-specified tolerances for position and continuity on boundaries and on optional internal guiding geometry. Advanced Covering allows a surface to be fit onto circuits (collections of edges that form closed loops) in solid or wire bodies, which is useful in consumer product design. Among other uses, Advanced Covering can be used for end-capping, post-translation corrections, and surface definition from curve data.


 * Defeaturing: Defeaturing automatically identifies and removes small features that CAE analysts typically want to eliminate from the 3D model prior to meshing. Analysts frequently work from the same models that are used for design and manufacture, but these models often carry much more detail than is necessary for simulation or analysis purposes. By removing unnecessary detail, Defeaturing simplifies the model, a process that typically is done manually at significant cost.


 * CGM HLR: CGM HLR is a hidden line removal (HLR) solution from Spatial based on CATIA V6 technology. CGM HLR is an ACIS-dependent development technology - an ACIS license is required. Though 3D is now the de facto CAD standard in most engineering disciplines, 2D still has a place in industries such as technical illustration, manufacturing, and architecture. Since 3D models are the typical primary output for CAD design, users in these industries require an efficient and accurate method of generating 2D computational drawings directly from the 3D models. Hidden line removal (HLR) is an important aspect of creating an accurate 2D representation from a 3D model. Using HLR, the converted model only displays those parts visible from a given perspective; hidden (or occluded) edges normally included in a 3D model representation are removed, or drawn in a line style that indicates their obscured position.


 * ❌, need a citation for for CGM Polyhedra. Altamel (talk) 01:32, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

Change 4

Version Numbers and ACIS Releases
ACIS is currently being developed by Spatial. They maintain the concept of a current version (release) number in ACIS, as well as a save version number. The save version allows one to create a SAT save file that can be read by a previous version of ACIS.

Beginning with ACIS Release 4.0, the SAT save file format does not change with minor releases, only with major releases. This allows applications that are based upon the same major version of ACIS to exchange data without being concerned about the save version. To provide this interoperability in a simple implementation, ACIS save files have contained a symbol that accurately identified the major version number, but not the minor version. This meant that applications created using the same major version of ACIS would produce compatible save files, regardless of their minor versions. This was accomplished by simply not incrementing the internal minor version number between major versions.

Beginning with Release 7.0, ACIS started again providing accurate major, minor, and point version numbers. Beginning with Release 2016 1.0 in September, 2015, Spatial updated to Semantic Versioning, and now describes versions by the model year and major, minor and point releases within that model year.

To summarize how release numbers and SAT changes are related:
 * Major release: SAT file changes may be made; significant functionality changes likely; may require significant changes to existing applications
 * Minor release: No SAT file changes are made; may provide new functionality; may require some minimal changes to existing applications
 * Point release: Minor changes only (bug fixes). (Also known as service packs).


 * ✅ Altamel (talk) 01:32, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

Brianrohde (talk) 23:10, 18 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Hi Brianrohde. Some of your suggestions have been added to the article and others have been declined. Regards, Altamel (talk) 01:32, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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Explain Jargon
The lead paragraph mentioned "manifold and non-manifold topology" without providing an explanatory link. I've taken the liberty to link this to List of manifolds since at a cursory glance this seemed the least confusing of the manifold articles which I checked. Now I know a fair bit about solid modelling in an engineering workflow, and I'm absolutely convinced that in this context it's possible to explain what "manifold and non-manifold topology" means in simple layman terms. Without resorting to stuff like "a topological manifold is a second countable Hausdorff space that is locally homeomorphic to Euclidean space." After all, the whole point of solid modelling is to represent real world geometries and not abstract mathematical concepts. Can someone in the know please provide a simple understandable explanation, or at least link "manifold and non-manifold topology" to the appropriate article? --BjKa (talk) 09:18, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

Supported OS
It seems the latest ACIS Kernel does not support Windows 7 any more. I could not find official public documentation on the Spatial website, though. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.245.240.87 (talk) 07:55, 13 May 2020 (UTC)

Version number outdated
The latest release is 2020 1.0.1: https://www.spatial.com/news/2020-1-0-1-Release — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.245.240.87 (talk) 07:57, 13 May 2020 (UTC)