STEP Overview

The STEP (ISO 10303) Product Data Representation and Exchange standardization initiative covers computer-interpretable representation of product data, and its exchange. The objective of ISO 10303 is to provide a means of describing product data throughout the life cycle of a product that is independent from any particular computer system. The nature of this description makes it suitable not only for neutral file exchange, but also as a basis for implementing product databases and for archiving data. In practice, the standard is implemented within computer software associated with particular engineering applications and so its use and function will be transparent to a user. The descriptions are information models that capture the semantics of an industrial requirement and provide standardized structures within which data values can be understood by a computer implementation.

STEP is a synonym for all of the aspects of the international project that is developing : the technology of product data representation, the methodology for creating the standards for information models and the standards themselves. Some authors use STEP as an acronym for STandard for the Exchange of Product data but the purpose of the standard is to provide information models for the representation of product data. The exchange of data is one of the uses for a standardized representation, but it is not the only use.

ISO 10303 is a collection of inter-related documents which form a multi-part standard. The parts are grouped into the following sections:

• Description methods (Parts 1-19)
• Implementation methods (Parts 20-29)
• Conformance testing methodology and framework (Parts 30 -39)
• Integrated generic resources (Parts 40-49)
• Integrated application resources (Parts 100 - 199)
• Application protocols (Parts 200 - 299)
• Abstract test suites (Parts 300 - 399)
• Application interpreted constructs (Parts 500 - 599)
• Application Modules (Parts 1000 - )

The description methods provide the specifications of the languages that are used for creating the standards. Implementation methods support the development of software implementations of the standards. Conformance testing methodology and framework documents specify how an implementation of ISO 10303 should be tested for conformance to the Standard. Integrated generic resources, as a group, provide a single information model for a manufactured product. Integrated application resources are specializations of the Integrated Generic Resources for some general engineering requirements. Application Protocols specify the requirements for data for a specific engineering application in a standardized representation derived from the Integrated Generic Resources. Application Protocols are implemented for use with the relevant engineering application software. Abstract Test Suites describe the tests to be used to determine if an implementation conforms to the related Application Protocol. Each Application Protocol has an associated Abstract Test Suite with the number 3xx, where xx represents the second and third digits in the number of the Application Protocol. For example, ISO 10303-207 has an associated Abstract Test Suite with the number ISO 10303-307. Application Interpreted Constructs (AIC) are sections of data models that describe concepts that are common to more than one Application Protocol. These parts are therefore intended for use by developers of new data models for the ISO 10303. Application Modules are small information models that are intended to be reusable in the development of future Application Protocols (AP). These parts are therefore intended only for use by developers of data models. The first Application Modules are representations of some aspects of CAD model data.

STEP Parts:

• STEP_Titles
• STEP Parts: 1-99
• STEP Parts: 100-199
• STEP Parts: 200-299
• STEP Parts: 300-399
• STEP Parts: 500-599
• STEP Parts: 1000-1049
• STEP Parts: 1050-1099
• STEP Parts: 1100-1199
• STEP Parts: 1500-1599