STEP Index Quick Start

The STEP index is a powerful tool for finding and loading STEP files into CAD systems. In the future it will be implemented as a server where users can upload and download data directly. In the mean time, you can create your own read only web sites, that can be linked to other web sites, using the tools described here. First try the system by clicking on one of the icons shown on the STEP Tools web site. You may want to try one of the smaller models if you are using a tablet or other lighter weight system.

Create Data

A STEP index consists of a set of STEP and XML files. A STEP file represents each sub-assembly or part in the original data set. The XML is a simplified view of the data used by WebGL and other JavaScript code.

To generate the data, first split the STEP file into parts using the splitasm utility. (This step is optional, but if it is skipped, there will be not STEP data available for download). You now have a directory full of STEP Files. Next, run export_product_asm to generate the XML. Be sure to use the same input STEP file and output directory as the previous step.

# Use the input file data.stp, and put in in the directory dir.
splitasm -o dir -trees data.stp
export_product_asm data.stp -d -o dir

For more details about the export_product_asm tool, please see its manual page.

For more details, please see the export_product_asm and splitasm manual pages.

Viewing

To view, place the data directory that was generated in the previous step on a HTTP server that also contains the viewer files (from the stpidx_client.zip file). Then use the following URL to access the data: http://www.server.example.com/path/to/asm-frames.html?path/to/datadir/ Note that the path to the data directory must end with a slash (/). This path may be relative the directory containing asm-frames.html, or it may be a full path beginning with /. If you do not have access to an HTTP server, you can also use file: URLs, but be aware that some browsers impose security limitations on html applications loaded from file: URLs.

Save

You can save the state of the tool to create a configuration for others to use A state includes the set of data that is loaded, the zoom and placement of the part in the view frame, as well as other state information. Since the save state can be quite large, it is stored as a XML file on the server. To open a saved state, use the save file itself instead of the data set in the URL to open the view.
http://www.server.example.com/path/to/asm-frames.html?path/to/save.xml

To create a save file, first set up the view as you want it, then click on the Save State button. This will pop up a window containing the XML. Copy and paste this text into an editor. The start of the file will look something like the line below. You may need to change the ref tag of the Save element depending on where you want to store the new file.
<save type="step-assembly" ref="/path/to/datadir/" load="id681630 id37840 id670560
The ref attribute of the <save> element points to the index data directory from the save file. It is a relative url, relative to the save file itself. Depending on where you put the save file, you may need to adjust the URL. If you place the save file in the data directory, set the ref attribute to the empty string ("").