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Use CAD Property Mappings

Import a Mapping File

To load your XML mapping file, use the System Administration menu item File > Import > CAD Property Mapping File.

Tip:

aPriori has a built-in mapping, which maps CAD-standard material properties to the Material production input, if the CAD property value exactly matches an aPriori material name. Other CAD properties must be mapped using XML files.

Note:

Because every company has different CAD property fields, aPriori cannot provide a default XML mapping file. See Creating CAD property mappings. Please contact aPriori Customer Support or aPriori Professional Services to acquire an example starting point mapping file and guidance for how to modify it for your purposes.

aPriori extracts CAD properties whenever it extracts or re-extracts GCDs.

Usage Notes

CAD files also sometimes contain datum objects that define draw direction. You can create a draw direction mapping file to designate the draw direction aPriori should use in costing.

You can specify Stock Form as a Production Input by mapping a CAD attribute to the STOCK_FORM_NAME production input in the CAD mapping file for Bar & Tube, Stock Machining, and Multi-Spindle process groups.

You can include CSL expressions in your mapping file, which allow you to map modified CAD property values to production input values or UDA values. For example, the CAD property COMMODITY with a value of “Casting” could be mapped to the value “Casting – Die” for the Process Group production input.

The availability of CSL expressions in the mapping file also means that the value of a production input or UDA can be driven by multiple CAD properties as well as by just a single CAD property.  For example, the value of the production input Digital Factory can be chosen based on the values of both the PRODUCTION_REGION and TOOLING_REGION CAD properties.

See Using CSL Logic in Your Mappings for more information.

Export a Mapping File

To create a fresh XML file from the currently loaded mappings, including comments, use the System Administration File > Export > CAD Property Mapping File menu item.

Supported CAD systems and neutral file formats

aPriori 's property extraction feature supports the following CAD systems:

  • Pro/ENGINEER and Creo® (includes Direct Integration mode)
  • CATIA™ V5 (includes the Cost in aPriori Plug-in)
  • NX™ (includes the Cost in aPriori Plug-in)
  • SOLIDWORKS™ (includes the Cost in aPriori Plug-in)
  • STEP AP242

Note the following:

  • Earlier versions of the STEP standard (AP203 and AP214) do not support CAD properties.
  • aPriori supports property extraction from part- and assembly-level but does not currently support feature-level attributes.
  • aPriori Supports property extraction from a Family-Table Instance of a component but not a generic.
  • aPriori does not support extracting SOLIDWORKS™ properties that are defined in configurations.
  • NX™ properties are sometimes defined as “category/attribute”. This can be mapped in aPriori using the vertical bar (“|”): <source name="MyCategory|MyAttribute"/>