INTERSYSTEM TRANSFERS
OF
A I M / A H S / A S E E AIRCRAFT D E S I G N PICTURE METAFILE§
SYSTEMS 6 O P E R A T I O N S MEETING
Z . Goldberg
OCT. 3 1 - N O V . 2 , 1984 G. Thompson
SAN D I E G O , CA Hughes Aircraft Co.
Fullerton, California
The t r a n s f e r of p i c t u r e information between CAD systems and
t e c h n i c a l documentation systems o f f e r s many advantages f o r
automating t h e production of proposals, engineering
notebooks and o t h e r documentation. T h i s paper d e s c r i b e s t h e
r e s u l t s of a p i l o t s t u d y a t Hughes Ground Systems Group t o
i n v e s t i g a t e and demonstrate t h e t r a n s f e r of p i c t u r e
m e t a f i l e information from c l l r r e n t CAD systems i n use t o a
Hewlett Packard based t e c h n i c a l documentation system. The
t e c h n i c a l documentation system a l l o w s CAD system graphics
t o b e merged w i t h word p r o c e s s i n g t e x t f i l e s t o produce
high q u a l i t y r e p o r t s and p r e s e n t a t i o n m a t e r i a l s such as
viewgraphs and s l i d e s .
Introduction
Most l a r g e o r g a n i z a t i o n s u s i n g computer g r a p h i c s and com-
p u t e r aided e n g i n e e r i n g systems have found t h a t software
and equipment from a s i n g l e vendor do not provide t h e op-
timum s o l u t i o n t o a l l t h e m u l t i p l e f u n c t i o n s those or-
g a n i z a t i o n s must perform. Hence, t h e t r a n s f e r and d i s -
t r i b u t i o n of product d a t a from one f u n c t i o n t o another can
of t e n b e a c h a l l e n g i n g and troublesome problem. Graphics
information t r a n s f e r s can b e accomplished a t a v a r i e t y of
d i f f e r e n t l e v e l s . The two most common l e v e l s of t r a n s f e r s
i n g e n e r a l u s e w i t h i n t h e computer g r a p h i c s community a r e
e i t h e r at t h e product d a t a l e v e l , o r a lower l e v e l t r a n s -
f e r which is a t t h e d i s p l a y o r p i c t u r e f i l e l e v e l .
Intersystem t r a n s f e r s a r t h e p i c t u r e f i l e l e v e l o f f e r t h e
advantages o f being s i m p l e r than t r a n s f e r s of complete
product d a t a and p i c t u r e f i l e s a r e more s u i t a b l e f o r merg-
ing g r a p h i c s information w i t h t e x t f o r t e c h n i c a l r e p o r t s .
Hopefully, t h e examples contained h e r e i n demonstrate t h a t
many u s e f u l exchanges can be performed w i t h i n t h e l i m i t a -
t i o n s of t o d a y ' s systems without w a i t i n g f o r t h e u l t i m a t e
i n d u s t r y p i c t u r e m e t a f i l e s t a n d a r d t o b e developed f o r
tomorrow's systems. A second purpose of t h i s paper is t o
i l l u s t r a t e , t o computer g r a p h i c s vendors, t h e need f o r
providing u s e r s w i t h open a c c e s s t o p i c t u r e f i l e formats
u i t h i n t h e i r systems as an a i d t o accomplishing a high
l e v e l of i n t e g r a t i o n .
F i g u r e 1 FILE HIERARCHY
Within a n o r g a n i z a t i o n , many f u n c t i o n s needing a c c e s s t o
g r a p h i c s product d a t a only r e q u i r e t h e d i s p l a y of p i c t u r e
information. Common examples a r e f o r proposal documents,
engineering notebooks, t e c h n i c a l manuals, manufacturing
planning information, vendor i n s t r u c t i o n s , communication t o
customers, and novel o f f i c e automation a p p l i c a t i o n s . It
probably is t r u e , t h a t t h e scope of t h e s e p a r t i c u l a r ap-
p l i c a t i o n s w i t h i n o r g a n i z a t i o n s overshadows t h e needs f o r
intersystem d a t a t r a n s f e r a t the h i g h e r product d a t a l e v e l .
The advantage of doing t h e communication a t t h e p i c t u r e
f i l e l e v e l is t h a t t h e o v e r a l l complexity is s h a r p l y
reduced, thereby making t h e p r o c e s s more e f f i c i e n t and f a r
l e s s d a t a i n r e n s i v e . Hence t h e o v e r a l l computational and
d a t a communications demand on t h e system a r e a l s o
decreased.
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P i c t u r e F i l e s Versus IGES
To achieve intersystem d a t a t r a n s f e r s , one must r e l y on a
s p e c i f i c format t o communicate t h e product information,
p l u s t r a n s l a t o r programs must be invoked t o do conversions
between t h e d i s s i m i l a r formats of e a c h s p e c i f i c system. An
i l l u s t r a t i o n of t h e d i f f e r e n c e between d a t a t r a n s f e r s a t
t h e product d a t a l e v e l and those based on p i c t u r e m e t a f i l e s
is shown i n Figure 1. The I n i t i a l Graphics' Exchange
S p e c i f i c a t i o n (IGES] is a n e u t r a l format a t t h e product
d a t a l e v e l which has been developed under t h e d i r e c t i o n of
t h e N a t i o n a l Bureau of Standards. S i n c e IGES r e p r e s e n t s
t h e complete product d a t a , i t i n h e r e n t l y c o n t a i n s a l l t h e
t h r e e dimensional information corresponding t o the r e a l
p h y s i c a l product d e s i g n s o r o b j e c t s . Picture f i l e s ,
however, a r e c l o s e t o t h e d i s p l a y d e v i c e l e v e l where they
may b e v e c t o r f i l e s t h a t a r e normalized i n p i x e l space. I n
g e n e r a l , any p i c t u r e d e s c r i p t i o n which is s t o r e d i n s t a n d -
a l o n e form a t t h e d i s p l a y l e v e l is termed a p i c t u r e
m e t a f i l e . Because of compactness, m e t a f i l e s can o f f e r con-
v e r s i o n advantages t o d r i v e d i f f e r e n t d e v i c e s such as r a s t -
e r equipment, s t r o k e w r i t t e n d i s p l a y s , o r p r i n t e r p l o t t e r
devices.
WCUMENTS
Figure 2 INTERSYSTEM TRANSFERS
 -
Current -
Software
F i g u r e 2 shows c u r r e n t s o f t w a r e i n u s e f o r general mechani-
c a l computer-aided engineering design a t Hughes Ground
Systems Group. A s shown, S t r u c t u r a l Dynamics Research
C o r p o r a t i o n ' s I -DEAS system is u t i l i z e d f o r s o l i d s model-
i n g , f i n i t e element s t r u c t u r a l and thermal a n a l y s i s and
r e d u c t i o n of l a b o r a t o r y v i b r a t i o n t e s t d a t a . Through t h e
u s e of IGES, s o l i d modeling r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s can be t r a n s -
f e r r e d t o the Calma Design, Drafting and Manufacturing
(DDM) s o f t w a r e o r t o t h e MCS Anvil 4000 System f o r c r e a t i o n
o f engineering drawing documentation. I n a d d i t i o n t o those
IGES t r a n s f e r s , t h e r e e x i s t s t h e c a p a b i l i t y t o exchange
g r a p h i c s information i n p i c t u r e f i l e form by u t i l i z i n g
T e k t r o n i x emulation l i n k e d t o g r a p h i c s documentation sys-
tems which r e s i d e on Hewlett-Packard HP 3000 h o s t s . Through
t h e HP 3000 Systems, l a s e r documents, p l o t s and viewgrap'hs,
and o t h e r o f f i c e automation documents can be produced with
exceptional quality.
Metafile Transfers
H e t a f i l e t r a n s f e r s t o t h e HP 3000 Systems a r e performed by
c a p t u r i n g t h e p i c t u r e s i n m e t a f i l e form using Tektronix
4014 emulation. A s o f t w a r e a p p l i c a t i o n c a l l e d HP Drau a l -
lows u s e r s t o manipulate t h e p i c t u r e information t r a n s f e r -
r e d and combine t h e g r a p h i c s w i t h t e x t p l u s they can add
a d d i t i o n a l f i g u r e s from a s t o r e d l i b r a r y . HP Draw has mul-
t i p l e t e x t f o n t s and a l l o w s s c a l i n g and r o t a t i o n s of t h e
g r a p h i c s f i g u r e s t r a n s f e r r e d from engineering d e s i g n sys-
t e n s . These t e c h n i c a l documentation f e a t u r e s a r e a l s o aug-
mented w i t h t h e a b i l i t y t o merge t h e s e composite f i g u r e s
w i t h t e x t generated on t h e TDP 3000 word processing
software.
F i g u r e 3 SUBASSEMBLY
PINlTE ElgYENT MODEL OP BARB PIATE
WITH CONCEN'IRATKD MASSES
REPRESENTINO EQVLPYENT
NWUIENTAL YODC
m Q U M C Y = 176 HZ
Figure 5 ANALYSIS
Evolving Standards
One of t h e problems w i t h m e t a f i l e t r a n s f e r s based around
T e k t r o n i x p r o t o c o l s is t h a t i t does not take advantage of
A s t h e accompanying F i g u r e s show, any GEOHOD d i s p l a y of
v e c t o r o u t l i n e geometries can be conveniently captured i n
t h e documents system f o r merging w i t h t e x t o r o t h e r d a t a .
T h i s allows g e n e r a t i o n of h i g h q u a l i t y engineering doc'men-
t a t i o n such as s t r u c t u r a l a n a l y s i s and t e s t r e p o r t s . The
method can be c u r r e n t l y a p p l i e d t o any g r a p h i c s a p p l i c a t i o n
which p r o v i d e s support of Tektronix 4010 d e v i c e s . Hence,
Anvil 4000 g r a p h i c s can a l s o b e captured f o r merging with
t e x t and o t h e r g r a p h i c s information.
The GEOMOD s o l i d s modeling program s u p p o r t s a n e u t r a l form
p i c t u r e f i l e format which is device dependent. Depending
on t h e terminal used t o g e n e r a t e t h e p i c t u r e f i l e s , e i t h e r
bit-mapped formats o r v e c t o r f i l e s a r e produced. These
GEOMOD formatted f i l e s have t h e advantage of r e t a i n i n g the
f u l l r e s o l u t i o n of t h e t e r m i n a l d e v i c e s they correspond to.
T r a n s f e r of p i c t u r e s t o o f f i c e automation systems from
GEOMOD can a l s o be accomplished by t h e t r a n s f e r and
processing of t h e p i c t u r e f i l e from GEOMOD i n s t e a d of in-
t e r a c t i v e c a p t u r e of a Tektronix formatted f i l e . Using
t h i s a l t e r n a t i v e approach, g e n e r a l i n t e r f a c e s a r e p o s s i b l e
including t h e i n t e g r a t i o n t o s m a l l e r p e r s o n a l computer
systems.
Figures 3 t o 6 a r e examples of work i n p r o g r e s s f o r i n t e r -
n a l working documents. The layout of t h i s page i l l u s t r a t e s
t h e a b i l i t y t o i n t e g r a t e t e x t and g r a p h i c s .
Figure 4 STANDARD COMPONENT
FIGURE 6 HUMAN FACTORS
many of t h e f e a t u r e s of a wide range of c o l o r graphics
d i s p l a y devices. Hence, a more g e n e r a l purpose approach is
desired. Future e x t e n s i o n s t o achieve a more general
purpose system w i l l most l i k e l v be d i r e c t l y based or, t h e
Graphical Kernel System (GKS) m e t a f i l e format which is
c u r r e n t l y being developed from w i t h i n IS0 and ANSI.
Conclusions
The r e s u l t s of t h i s p i l o t p r o j e c t have demonsrrated t h a t
t h e c a p a b i i i t y of doing intersystem t r a n s f e r s of p i c t o r i a l
information is a r e a l i t y today and many s h o r t term benefits
can be accrued. The method p r o v i d e s a n extremely valuable
i n t e g r a t i o n t o o l which o f f e r s lower d a t a t r a f f i c compared
t o IGES based t r a n s f e r s . Although advances i n picture
m e t a f i l e formats w i l l b e forthcoming, u s e r s should not wait
t o s t a r t c a p i t a l i z i n g on p o t e n t i a l paybacks.