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Storing Data |
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In Parasolid, the method of storing model data is broken down into two separate processes:
These processes are sometimes collectively referred to as archiving. The functionality that Parasolid offers for managing archives is flexible enough to let your applications save model data to any relational or object-oriented database manager, or simply to files stored on disk.
When you store model data, the following items are saved:
Parasolid saves all model data using the Parasolid XT file format. This is an open file format, the details of which have been published by Siemens Digital Industries Software, and are available either as a component in the standard Parasolid documentation suite, or on request.
XT format data from a model can be saved in either binary or text format, directly to disk, or to a database management system, and your applications can combine this information with their own application-specific data (for instance, to save feature information that is not encapsulated directly by Parasolid). Exchange of Parasolid XT data is 100% reliable: if your applications also provide users with the option to save pure XT data to disk - and most Parasolid-powered applications do - then you have an easy way of exchanging data with other users, not just of your applications, but of any Parasolid-powered application, without risking any loss.
Siemens Digital Industries Software uses the XT format as the basis for a concept known as the Parasolid XT Pipeline. This is the seamless exchange of digital models across enterprises, between different disciplines, using different MCAD applications from different vendors.
The value of the Parasolid Pipeline to end-users is increasing rapidly as more and more leading MCAD vendors market Parasolid-powered applications. Users of your applications can design and develop products more quickly, more cheaply, and with no risk of corrupting the digital data during product development. The Parasolid XT Pipeline also makes it possible for them to utilize several different applications for product design, allowing them to choose the best tool for each stage of the process so that they can optimise the design without fear of data corruption.
As enterprises continue to build their MCAD strategies around the Parasolid XT Pipeline, the value to application developers of adopting the XT format, with the concomitant prospect of hooking into those strategies in a seamless fashion, is compelling.
XT data is forward compatible: any XT data can be loaded into any version of Parasolid that is newer than the one it was created in. For example, a part created in Parasolid V10 can be loaded into Parasolid V12. In the most extreme case, data created in Parasolid V1 can still be loaded into the current version of Parasolid.
In addition, because XT data is transparent across all supported computer platforms and operating systems, a part created on one platform can be loaded into a Parasolid session on any other supported platform.
From Parasolid V14.0 onwards, XT data is also backward compatible to at least the next major version. Thus, XT data created in Parasolid V18.0 can be received by Parasolid V17.0. This powerful capability means that data can be exchanged between different Parasolid-powered applications without those applications being required to use the same version of Parasolid.
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