Using JT formats with Solid Edge. CAD, Design, Engineering and Data translation Services

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Importing JT files into solid Edge and converting faceted bodies with Solid Edge V19

JT format information posted below is directly from Siemens Corporation:

Working with JT Documents in Solid Edge :: You can open JT documents in Solid Edge assembly, part, or sheet metal with the Open command. On the Open File dialog box, after you select the JT (.JT) document you want to open, click the Options button to display the Import Options for JT Documents (.JT) dialog box. The JT document will always contain facet data, but you can use the dialog box to add wire and solid data to the document.

Solid Edge supports the following JT document structures:

Monolithic—Produces a single JT document, which can contain a single part, an assembly, and assembly structure information.
Per_Part—Produces a JT document containing an assembly structure and a folder containing the JT part documents.
Full_Shatter—Produces a JT document for each node in the assembly document.

Importing Facet Bodies
You can import facet bodies into Solid Edge Part and Assembly. A facet body is a surface representation defined by triangles.

Rules for Facet Bodies

When you import a JT facet body, it is stored in Solid Edge as a non-Parasolid body. The facet body is displayed in Feature PathFinder as a part copy. However, since the facet part copy is a non-Parasolid body, the rules are different than those for a normal part copy.
When a facet body is imported into Solid Edge Part, it is placed and treated as the base feature, but it is not considered a design body since no material can be added or removed from this type of feature.
Multiple facet bodies can exist in a part file as constructions. Only one of the facet part copies can be converted to a base feature in a document. Any other facet bodies are treated as constructions.
A document can contain both a facet part copy and design body (Brep). If a document contains both, only one can be converted to a base feature. Any other facet bodies are treated as constructions.
You cannot modify a facet part copy. If a multi-body facet JT files is imported into part, only one entry is added to the Feature PathFinder, and the multi-body facet is treated as a single entity.
A facet body from a JT files can be added to a Solid Edge document with either the Insert Part Copy command or the File Open command.
You cannot locate faces, edges, or vertices of a faceted body. You can only locate the entire body.
Commands that require faces, edges, or vertices as input will simply fail when trying to locate the faces, vertices or edges of a faceted body. For example, when drawing a sketch, the Sketch command will not locate faces, edge, and vertices of a faceted body. When the Solid Edge part file contains a facet body, any commands that only add or removes material from the base feature are disabled.
Commands that calculate physical properties are supported for facet bodies in a Solid Edge part document.
You can check for interference between facet bodies in a Solid Edge assembly document.

Displaying Facet Bodies
Faceted bodies are represented in Feature PathFinder with a unique icon and name. The color of the facet body is inherited from the sending system. You can control the display mode of the facet body in Solid Edge, as with any other design bodies. However, when the body is shaded, the edge display is never enabled. You can use the shortcut menu in either Feature PathFinder or the graphics window to show or hide the facet body.

Saving Solid Edge Documents to .JT Format
You can save Solid Edge assembly, part, and sheet metal documents in .JT format with the Save As command. On the Save As dialog box, after you select the Solid Edge document you want to save, click the Options button to display the Solid Edge to JT Translation Options dialog box. You can use the dialog box to control how the Solid Edge document is saved in .JT format.

The SePvTrn.ini file, found in the Solid Edge Program folder, is used to store the settings selected from the user interface. When you change a parameter in the options form, a new value is saved to the SePvTrn.ini file.

Some parameters are not exposed through the user interface. You can use a text editor, such as Notepad, to set these parameters. However, if you edit this file, use extreme caution in setting these parameters. Errors in this file can adversely affect translation quality.

Parameter in SePvTrn.ini file	Description
Enable Logging = 0	Turns on or off the creation of the log file. The default is off.
Include Precise Geometry = 0	Specifies that you want to pass the Brep to the JT files as well as the triangles.
JT Units = m	Controls the model units for the JT files.
ChordalOption = RELATIVE	Controls the interpretation of the Chordal LOD parameter. RELATIVE - The toolkit tessellates all parts relative to their size (equally) and with the same surface quality. The Chordal value is interpreted as a fractional percentage of the underlying B-REP geometry's bounding box diagonal. ABSOLUTE - The toolkit interprets the tessellation value as a strict number of units, which is applied to all parts, regardless of size. The Chordal value is interpreted as a value in the units of the original CAD file.
StructureOption = PER_PART	Controls the mapping of the JT product structure to the JT file structure for any JT output. Possible values include: PER_PART FULL_SHATTER MONOLITHIC
WriteWhichFiles = ALL	Controls the filtering of the JT files to be written based on the content. Possible values include: ALL - All parts and assemblies are written to the JT files. This allows no filtering. PARTS_ONLY - Only data that is translated as parts is written to the JT files. ASSEMBLY_ONLY - Only data that is translated as assemblies is written to the JT files.
PmiOption = NONE	Not used
Compression = true	Controls the toolkit's ability to output compressed JT files. Setting the value to false writes uncompressed JT file. Setting it to true writes compressed JT files.
TristripOpt = true	Controls the toolkit's ability to perform an additional optimization. The additional optimization increases the visualization performance of renderable geometry data in each JT part file. When set to true, the toolkit attempts to reduce the number of triangles to render without reducing the quality of the geometry displayed. This increases visualization performance, but may increase the JT file export time. When used in conjunction with the compression option, this option may increase JT part file sizes due to alterations in the renderable geometry's data composition.
SeamSewing = true	Controls the toolkit's logic to create shared edges between adjacent surfaces in the renderable geometry. This helps to eliminate gaps in the geometry.
SeamSewingTol = 0.001	Controls the tolerance used by the SeamSewing option to compare two vertices for equality in a seam to be sewn. The value specified represents a floating point fractional percentage of the bounding box diagonal of the part undergoing seam sewing. The option can be a floating point value in the range [0.0,1.0].
BrepPrecision = DOUBLE	Controls the floating-point precision for any B-REP geometry data saved in a JT file. Possible values include: DOUBLE - Use eight bytes per floating point value. SINGLE - Use four bytes per floating point value. This parameter controls how the data is stored on the disk and does not affect the settings of the Include Precise Geometry or XTBasedNewFormat parameters.
AutoNameSanitize = true	Controls the toolkit logic to remove undesirable characters from the names of JT files by replacing them with an underscore character (_). The default set of undesirable characters that will be replaced is: *$ ~ ` ! @ # % ^ & ( )- + = " ' ; , . < > ? [ ]{ } You can use the FilenameSanitizeSet, FilenameSanitizeSetAdd, and FilenameSanitizeSetDelete options to modify this set of characters.**
WriteAsciiAssembly = false	Controls the toolkit logic preventing the use of the jttoascii utility on resultant assembly-only JT files. When set to true, the translator creates an .AJT file equivalent for each .JT file that is created. In order for this option to function, JT Utilities product must be configured so that the jttoascii executable can be run from the same command line environment as the toolkit client application.
AutoLowLODgeneration = true	Controls the toolkit logic that analyzes and potentially creates two default lowest LODs. Specifically, this logic (potentially) creates a convex hull ("shrink wrapped") and bounding box representation of a part's geometry.
SmartLODgeneration = false	Controls the toolkit logic that automatically analyzes and creates LODs to smooth the transition between the lowest user-defined LOD and the highest LOD generated by the autoLowLODgeneration option. This option may result in an arbitrary number of additional LODs.
Number of LODs = 3	Contols the number of LOD definitions. The value must be an integer greater than 1.
AdvacedCompressionOn = false	Controls the toolkit's ability to output JT files using advanced or standard compression. This option is used in conjunction with the compression option. Setting this option to false enables standard compression of the JT files. Setting it to true enables advanced compression of the JT files.
AdvacedCompressionLevel = 0	Controls the level of compression. The compression level can be set from 0 (minimum compression) to 1 (maximum compression). As the compression value increases, the compression increases and the amount of data kept is decreased. Minimum compression maintains precision for the translated geometry information, but produces a larger file size. Maximum compression results in loss of precision to achieve a smaller file size.
XTBasedNewFormat = true	Controls the inclusion of XT Brep into the JT files. When this is true: Solid Edge uses the Parasolid Brep by adding it to the JT files. Prior to version 15 Solid Edge translated the JT file from Parasolid to JT Brep format. Reusing the Parasolid Brep is much faster. Solid Edge uses the Solid Edge triangles instead of creating them from the JT Brep. When X_TBasedNewFormat is enabled the Levels Of Detail (LODs) are not used since Solid Edge uses the Solid Edge triangles instead of generating them.
IncludeVisibleConstructions = true	Controls the inclusion of Solid Edge construction geometry in the JT files. If this is true, all visible constructions are translated to JT format.
IncludeSEProperties = true	Controls the inclusion of Solid Edge properties in the JT files.
[LOD 1]	A grouping of parameters that controls tessellation and simplification for a specific LOD.
Chordal	Specifies the distance that a (tessellated) line segment may deviate from the actual curve it is approximating. The value specified is interpreted as dictated by the chordalOption option. For best results, use chordal values in conjunction with the Angular parameter. Chordal values affect primarily the larger features of the model, while angular values affect primarily the smaller features.
Angular	Specifies the maximum angle (in degrees) between two adjacent (tessellated) line segments in a curve approximation. For best results, use angular values in conjunction with the Chordal parameter. Angular values affect primarily the smaller features of the model, while chordal values affect primarily the larger features.
Length	Specifies the maximum absolute length of (tessellated) line segments in a curve approximation.
FeatureSuppression	Specifies the size tolerance of holes and arcs to suppress. The value specified represents a floating point fractional percentage of the bounding box diagonal of the part undergoing suppression. A value of 0.0 indicates no suppression.
Simplify	Specifies the minimum percent reduction of renderable geometry (triangles) for the specific LOD versus the highest LOD. The value specified represents a floating point fractional percentage of the number of triangles in the highest LOD. This value should be left at 1.0 (100%) for the high LOD.

Understanding JT Attributes and Solid Edge Properties
Documents saved in JT format contain attributes that describe the information contained in the document. These attributes are the equivalent of file properties used by Solid Edge to describe document information.

When you export a Solid Edge document to JT format, Solid Edge file properties are written where they can be read by viewers, and other CAD systems that read JT format.

When you import a JT to Solid Edge all JT user attributes are imported and saved as file properties. There is no file property associativity between the Solid Edge document and the JT document. In other words, if you change attribute values in the JT file, the changes are not updated in the Solid Edge file. There is no user interface to control the import of file properties. You can use the ImportJTProperties parameter in the SePvTrn.ini file. Setting the parameter to True enables the import of JT attributes to Solid Edge file properties. By default, the value is True. If the parameter does not exist in the SePvTrn.ini file, the default value of True is assumed and the attributes are imported.

The [Import Property map] section of the SePvTrn.ini file serves as a mapping table, allowing you to map JT attributes to Solid Edge file properties. The mapping table contains two columns. The left column is an exact match of the Solid Edge property page string and the right column is the string found in the JT file.

[Import Property map]
Document Number = I-DEAS Part Number
Author = Creator Project Name = I-DEAS Project
Density = CAD_Density

Note: Parameters found in the [Import Property Map] section are case insensitive.

Physical properties are exported by IDEAS and NX with the same naming conventions. This provides a standard name used by the VIS viewers to display or calculate properties of a solid body. Solid Edge exports physical properties using the same naming convention'

End of UGS Corporation provided data on this topic.

CAD data conversion formats:

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