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Exporting STEP is still a problem... (by Mirko)
Hello together...

the short way... :)
I exported a simple cube in CATIA V5 as STP and every software is able to handle the file.
I opened the file in GMSH. There are
- 8 points
- 12 curves (lines)
- 6 surfaces
- 1 volume

I designed the same cube in solvespace and exported as STP. The results...
- 24 points
- 24 curves (lines)
- 6 surfaces
- 0 volume

Obviously that's not what I expected. I opened both STP-files in an editor and compared them. Don't need to say... They don't match. :)))

I attached those files, so someone who understand its content may could give us suggestions to create clean and usable exports.

Btw. It's a great software and I'm happy to have found it.
Wed Nov 13 2019, 11:46:47, download attachment cube.tar.gz
Well the export button kinda says "Export Surfaces", you know ? (by Charlie_root)
yep. says that pretty explicitly

I believe you can use most CAD software to creade a solid from those surfaces ... Fusion360 has Stitch NURBS, Freecad has the Part Shapebinder, etc.
I don't see how useful this could be since the geometry you want is there and NURBS can't encode volumetric shapes anyway so a STEP "Solid" is just a list of shapes that have no holes and have a solid tag applied to them.
moreover, converting it to a solid won't actually allow you to edit much about the part. you can fillet, chamfer to your heart's content but you won't be able to properly "edit" your part in a parametric way. There's a reason CAD jokies reffer to STEP files as "Dumb solids", you know ?
Tue Apr 21 2020, 17:37:14
(no subject) (by Paul)
The STEP export is very primitive. It's good enough for several programs to read but there is much room for improvement. Getting rid of the redundant curves should be possible because internally they are not redundant - it's dumping them to the file once for each surface apparently. Points are another story.

It's hard to do anything with STEP in part because it's such a huge standard, and we also have no way to validate the exported files other than to try them in a few programs that various people have access to. We have no idea what people are importing those into and have no way to know if something breaks outside those few programs we have access to.

Anyone wanting to work on SolveSpace STEP file issues can now check the issue tracker on github for the "Step File" tag. There are several.
Tue Apr 21 2020, 22:36:04
(no subject) (by Mirko)
@Charlie_root "you know?"
I asked because in our company every CAD-System (CATIA, NX, Inventor, ...) can handle STEP files easily. For private purposes I tried to find a CAD-System which is good enough. I like Solvespace and I like to use it. Often I want to make a FEM calculation and normally a STEP file is perfect for that. I can import it in GMSH and Z88 Aurora. You know?
And why should I use FreeCad or any other stuff in addition when I decided to use Solvespace? You know?
That's why I asked then. You know?
I don't want to add chamfers, holes or anything, I want to use them for FEM calculation. You know?
But thanks a lot for your kind answer.

@Paul
Since then I read a lot about STEP. If I were a programmer, I would hate this stuff. :)
I am still trying to find a satisfying way to export in Solvespace for FEM calculations.
Anyway, your answer makes sence. :)
Sat May 16 2020, 03:53:54
(no subject) (by Thomas Herrmann)
Hi!

Just wanted to add that step export is vital to cam operations and working together with others.

I designed a 3D-Printer mechanic in it as a test but other than stls for printing it it is hard to make any other use for the results. Workflow is super fast maybe even faster than fusion360 but I´m pretty much locked in and can´t do much.

This needs to be high priority IMHO.

I just get empty documents when importing to any other CAD program. STL is just a dead mesh that is unusable for most usescases.
Sun Jan 31 2021, 08:51:23
(no subject) (by Thomas Herrmann)
Found it in another thread. Just couldn´t export surfaces as I had to convert nurbs to mesh at some point.

Exporting the groups or having parts in an assembly would be neat. It seems everthing is exported as one from an assembly. Kinda ok as the individual parts are available anyway.

Sorry just so excited about this program :D
Sun Jan 31 2021, 09:01:56
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