STEP Tools, Inc. Announces ST-Developer TM Version 7

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Troy, New York, April 9, 1999

STEP Tools, Inc. has begun shipping of ST-Developer ^TM version 7. ST-Developer ^TM is a comprehensive set of programming tools for using the ISO 10303 Standard for Product Data Exchange (STEP).

Applications built with ST-Developer used by thousands of design and manufacturing engineers. Programmers use ST-Developer reduce, by up to 75%, the effort needed to implement STEP applications and translations. ST-Developer used in the STEP translators of Unigraphics Solutions, Bentley Microstation, 3D-Eye/Trispectives, SGI Alias Wavefront, Hitachi Zosen, Bridgeport Controls, Baystate CADKEY, Tecnomatix and Boeing DCAC/MRM.

ST-Developer being used by customers in more than 20 countries to build standard databases in the aerospace, automotive and shipbuilding industries. It minimizes the work needed to bring applications and databases into compliance with ISO STEP and other standards that use EXPRESS information models.

The integrated suite of tools and libraries cover every aspect of STEP implementation. The EXPRESS-G tools visualize information model diagrams for quick learning while the EXPRESS compiler tools produce HTML, C++ classes, and data dictionaries to quickly get down to business. ST-Developer built around SDAI C and C++ programming libraries that read and write data sets as STEP Part 21 files and provide advanced creation, traversal, and management features. Conformance checking tools also included to test data sets against information model constraints.

Version 7 takes ST-Developer a new level of sophistication and integration. On the Windows platform the tools plug directly into Microsoft Developers Studio and include wizards and toolbars to make application building simple.

The programming APIs have been optimized for use with large data sets. Several engineering changes have increased traversal performance and can reduce memory usage by up to 40%. One customer even reported that his SDAI application runs three times faster!

A new advanced EXPRESS compiler checks information models more thoroughly than ever before possible. New conformance checking tools can verify data sets. An AP-203 checker includes all of rules in the ISO standard, plus vendor agreements and other lessons learned.

Also in version 7 is a STEP to XML converter for using XML as an alternative transport mechanism for EXPRESS-defined information. The package also contains advanced tutorials for STEP AP-203 that show how to use the ISO standard for exchanging bill of material information and parts lists.

ST-Developer is available on nine different UNIX and Windows platforms: AIX, IRIX, HPUX, Linux, OSF/1 , Solaris, SunOS, Windows/Intel, and Windows/AXP. The cost of a single ST-Developer CPU license is $12,125 (UNIX) and $6,500 (Windows NT/95).

The ISO Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data (STEP) grew from the need to represent digital product information for design and manufacturing. STEP accelerates the flow of product information, including CAD geometry, within and between engineering activities. The ability to condense and manage all the data related to a part, a process, or any related function can produce significant improvements in productivity. Using STEP, information pertaining to initial design, revisions, bill of materials, production, performance, and so on, can be centrally stored and electronically shared through networks, from LANs to the Internet.

STEP Tools, Inc., founded in 1991, provides software tools based on ISO STEP. STEP Tools products leverage STEP technology to facilitate the sharing of engineering product information for worldwide design and manufacturing. These products provide the flexibility of EXPRESS information modeling language, integration with existing tools and database systems, cross-platform portability, and ease-of-use. STEP Tools is the leading source of software for the ISO STEP community with over 300 customer sites worldwide, including many Fortune 100 companies.

Contact STEP Tools for more information about the entire STEP Tools product line: