STEP Tools Translator for OLE

Troy, New York, June 1, 1999 - A STEP translator built using STEP Tools software is included in IRONCAD. Visionary Design Systems licensed the ACIS translation libraries from STEP Tools, Inc. in 1996. In 1997, they contracted STEP Tools to use these libraries to build translators for the AP-203 (Configuration Controlled Design) and AP-214 (Automotive Design) data exchange standards. In 1997, this translator was released to the IRONCAD customer base of Windows 95 and Windows NT desktop users.

The ACIS translation library is a set of function calls for translating STEP geometry to ACIS geometry and vice versa. The product has been on the market since 1995 and is included in the STEP translators of CADKEY 98, Hitachi Zosen Grade/Cube II, Newport News Vivid and numerous private systems. Blair Downie, Vice President for Product Development at STEP Tools, Inc., stated that the "inclusion of a STEP Tools translator in IRONCAD means that STEP is going to be included in a wide range of OLE/COM Windows 95 and NT applications."