.SLDPRT File Format

Introduction

SLDPRT is the part file of SolidWorks, Dassault Systèmes’ mechanical CAD program, one of the most widely used in engineering and product design. A part file holds a single solid model together with the feature history that built it: sketches, extrusions, cuts, fillets and the dimensions that drive them, so the part can be edited by changing those dimensions.

Parts are combined in assembly files (.sldasm) and documented in drawing files (.slddrw), which refer to the part files rather than copying them. A file saved by a newer SolidWorks cannot be opened by an older one.

Structure

The format is proprietary and not published. The solid geometry is computed by the Parasolid kernel, the same one that writes Parasolid X_T files. Other CAD programs import SLDPRT files through licensed translators, and usually bring in the final solid without the feature history. To share a part, SolidWorks users commonly export STEP or Parasolid files.

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