Since 1991, the STEP Tools® software solution has been the most reliable, best performing, easiest to use, and most broadly supported solution for STEP CAD standards.
We have decades of experience building solutions used within CAD systems for translation, for visualization in desktop and server apps, and in engineering applications for analysis, bill-of-materials, or supply chain integration. Since 1988, we have also worked within ISO to author and test many parts of the STEP standards.
Our technology stack is behind the STEP interfaces in more than one million commercial CAD seats, across a variety of large and small systems, as well as in-house enterprise applications. This broad comercial use has tuned our solutions for performance, stability, and scalability. Our tools cover all aspects of the STEP standards — geometry, tolerances, assemblies and bill-of-materials, as well as aspects of IGES, the ACIS and Parasolid kernels, WebGL, and other relevent tools.
We can deliver solutions on many platforms and in many programming environments. We typically work on Windows, Mac, and Linux, but have also delivered tools for HP-UX, AIX, Itanium, and Solaris. Much of our technology stack is C++, but we can also provide tools usable from .NET C# or Visual Basic, Node, a server-based REST API, desktop tools, or batch applications.
Common licensing options may cover internal use within an enterprise, external use by your customers from a central server, or distribution by an ISV as part of a desktop application. Terms vary depending on the application and expected usage.
STEP Tools® consulting can tailor a software solution for your specific needs. The deliverable will include software library components from our technology stack, and any additional work necessary to adapt it to your specific platform or project needs.
Read, write and manipulate STEP geometry for CAD and CAE applications.
Assemblies and Bill-Of-Materials
We can provide solutions that work well with the rich product structure, properties, and PDM information in STEP models. Create, traverse, or split assemblies, extract property pages, grouping, positioning, part identifiers and references within a STEP model.
Semantic Tolerances/PMI
Our technology stack contains rich APIs for working with the latest addition to STEP — semantic tolerances and PMI, which are connected to faces on the part shape and fully computer interpretable, unlike the human-only drawing annotations of the past.
Desktop or Web Viewing
A viewing solution converts the exact CAD geometry in STEP models into triangular meshes suitible for graphics display with OpenGL, WebGL, etc. The solution might involve desktop viewing or may include a server and 3D display in browsers and mobile devices.