Introduction
Parasolid is a geometric modelling kernel, the part of a CAD program that computes solids, owned today by Siemens. It is used inside many CAD systems, among them Siemens NX and Solid Edge, SolidWorks and Onshape. Its transmit files save a model exactly as the kernel holds it, so they move solids between Parasolid-based programs without any translation.
The text form uses the extension .x_t and the binary form
.x_b. Siemens publishes a reference for the transmit format.
Structure
A transmit file holds one or more bodies as a network of linked nodes: bodies, regions, shells, faces, loops, edges and vertices for the topology, and the surfaces, curves and points under them for the exact geometry, with attributes such as colour attached. The file records the schema version of the kernel that wrote it, so a newer Parasolid can read files from older versions. The text and binary forms carry the same content.
Links
Software
- SolidWorks – mechanical CAD program built on Parasolid (Windows)
- Siemens NX – Siemens’ high-end CAD and CAM system, built on Parasolid
- Solid Edge – Siemens’ mechanical CAD program, built on Parasolid (Windows)
- Onshape – browser-based CAD program built on Parasolid (web browsers)
- Autodesk Fusion – Autodesk’s CAD and CAM program, which imports Parasolid files (Windows, macOS)