[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 70 (Wednesday, April 12, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18583-18586]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-9007]



-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Institute of Standards and Technology
[Docket No. 950317077-5077-01]
RIN 0693-AB13


Proposed Revision of Federal Information Processing Standard 
(FIPS) 177, Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES)

agency: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 
Commerce.

action: Notice; Request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

sumamry: NIST is prosing a revision of FIPS PUB 117, Initial Graphics 
Exchange Specification (IGES). IGES defines a neutral file format for 
the exchange of product model data and representation among differing 
computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CA/CAM) 
systems. This proposed revision will provided increased clarification 
and enhancement of the existing standard, and added conformance 
requirements and application protocols (APs) specified within the 
American National Standard Digital Representation for 
[[Page 18584]] Communication of Product Definition Data, ANSI/US PRO/
IPO (United States Product Data Association/IGES PDES Organization--
100-1993, Version 5.2.
    Prior to the submission of this proposed revision to FIPS 177 to 
the Secretary of Commerce for review and approval, it is essential to 
assure that consideration is given to the needs and views of 
manufacturers, the public, and State and local governments. The purpose 
of this notice is to solicit such views.
    This proposed revision contains two sections: (1) An announcement 
section, which provides information concerning the applicability, 
implementation, and maintenance of the standard; and (2) a 
specifications section. Only the announcement section of the standard 
is provided in this notice. Interested parties may obtain copies of the 
ANSI/US PRO/IPO-1993 and the specified application protocols (Layered 
Electrical Product (LEP) Application Protocol; 3-D Piping Application 
Protocol; and Engineering Drawing (Class II) Subset (MIL-D-28000A)) 
from the National Computer Graphics Association, 2722 Merrilee Drive, 
Suite 200, Fairfax, VA, 22031, telephone: (703) 698-9600.

dates: Comments on this proposed revision must be received on or before 
July 11, 1995.

addresses: Written comments concerning the adoption of this proposed 
revision should be sent to: Director, Computer Systems Laboratory, 
ATTN: Proposed Revision of FIPS 177, IGES, Technology Building, Room 
B154, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 
20899.
    Written comments received in response to this notice will be made 
part of the public record and will be made available for inspection and 
copying in the Central Reference and Records Inspection Facility, Room 
6020, Herbert C. Hoover Building, 14th Street between Pennsylvania and 
Constitution Avenues, NW., Washington, DC 20230.

for further information contact: Ms. Lynne Rosenthal, National 
Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, 
telephone (301) 975-3353.

Executive Order 12866

    This FIPS notice has been determined to be ``not significant'' for 
purposes of E.O. 12866.

    Dated: April 4, 1995.
Samuel Kramer,
Associate Director.

Proposed Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 177-1

(Date)

Announcing the Standard for Initial Graphics Exchange Specification 
(IGES)

    Federal Information Processing Standards Publications (FIPS PUBS) 
are issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 
after approval by the Secretary of Commerce pursuant to Section 111(d) 
of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 as 
amended by the Computer Security Act of 1987, Public Law 100-235.
    1. Name of Standard. Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES) 
FIPS PUB 177-1).
    2. Category of Standard. Software Standard; Graphics and 
Information Interchange.
    3. Explanation. This publication is a revision of the FIPS PUB 177 
and supersedes FIPS PUB 177 in its entirety. It provides a substantial, 
upward-compatible enhancement of IGES Version 4.0. FIPS PUB 177-1 
specifies new conformance requirements, the addition and use of 
application protocols (APs), and increased enhancement, correction, and 
clarification of the existing specification. It does not contain any 
new requirements that would make an existing conforming implementation 
nonconforming.
    FIPS PUB 177-1 adopts the American National Standard Digital 
Representation for Communication of Product Definition Data, ANSI/US 
PRO/IPO (United States Product Data Association/IGES PDES 
Organization)-100-1993, Version 5.2, and the specified application 
protocols. FIPS PUB 177-1 addresses IGES implementation and data file 
acquisition, interpretation, and conformance.
    The purpose of the FIPS for IGES is to enable the compatible 
exchange of product definition data used by dissimilar computer-aided 
design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) systems. Utilizing a 
neutral database format the IGES processor can create or translate two-
dimensional (2-D) or three-dimensional (3-D) vector-based digital 
product model data. The standard specifies file structure and 
syntactical definition, and defines the representation of geometric, 
topological, and nongeometric product definition data. The exact 
specification is in Section 10 of this standard.
    4. Approving Authority. Secretary of Commerce.
    5. Maintenance Agency. U.S. Department of Commerce, National 
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Computer Systems 
Laboratory (CSL).
    6. Cross Index.
    a. American National Standard Digital Representation for 
Communication of Product Definition Data, ANSI/US PRO/IPO-100-1993, 
Version 5.2.
    b. American Society of Mechanical Engineers/American National 
Standards Institute (ASME/ANSI) Y14.26M-1989, Digital Representation 
for Communication of Product Definition Data, IGES Version 4.0.
    c. MIL-D-280000A, Continuous Acquisition and Life-Cycle Support 
Specification, Digital Representation for Communication of Product 
Definition Data: IGES Application Subsets and IGES Application 
Protocols, February 10, 1992.
    d. American national Standard, 3-D Piping IGES Application 
Protocol, ANSI/US PRO/IPO-110-1994.
    e. IGES Layered Electrical Product Application Protocol, Committee 
Draft SAND94-2375, December 1, 1994.
    7. Related Documents.
    a. Federal Information Resources Management Regulations (FIRMR) 
subpart 201.20.303, Standards, and subpart 201.39.1002, Federal 
Standards.
    b. Federal ADP and Telecommunications Standards Index, U.S. General 
Services Administration, Information Technology Management Service, 
October 1994 (updated periodically).
    c. FIPS PUB 29-3, Interpretation Procedures for Federal Information 
Processing Standards for Software.
    d. NISTIR 4379, IGES Technical Illustrations Application Guide.
    e. NISTIR 4600, IGES 5.0 Recommended Practices Guide.
    f. NISTIR 5541, Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES): 
Procedures for the NIST IGES Validation Test Service.
    g. MIL-T-31000, General Specification for Technical Data Packages.
    8. Objectives. Federal standards for electronic interchange permit 
Federal departments and agencies to exercise more effective control 
over the production, management, and use of the government's 
information resources. The primary objectives specific to IGES are to:

--Reduce the overall life-cycle cost for digital systems by 
establishing a [[Page 18585]] common exchange format that allows for 
the transfer of product definition data across organizational 
boundaries and independent of any particular CAD/CAM system.
--Exchange digital representations of product definition data in 
various forms: illustrations, 2-D drawings, 3-D edge-vertex models, 
surface models, solid models, and complete product models.
--Provide CAD/CAM implementation manufacturers with a guideline for 
identifying useful combinations of product definition data capabilities 
in any CAD/CAM system.
--Specify Application Protocols that can be used by Federal departments 
and agencies to support the exchange of product data when applicable.

    9. Applicability.
    9.1  This FIPS for IGES is intended for the computer-interpretable 
representation and exchange of CAD/CAM product definition data among 
applications and programs that are either developed or acquired for 
government use. Each CAD/CAM system acquired or developed by a Federal 
agency shall include an IGES preprocessor and IGES postprocessor 
capability. FIPS for IGES is designed to support the exchange of 2-D or 
3-D product definition data with rich attribute information. It 
provides a data format for describing product design and manufacturing 
information that has been created and stored in a computer-readable, 
device independent form.
    9.2  The FIPS for IGES shall be used when one or more of the 
following situations exist:

--The product definition application or program is under constant 
review, and changes may result frequently.
--It is anticipated that the life of the data files will be longer than 
the life of the presently utilized CAD/CAM system.
--The application is being designed centrally for a decentralized 
system that may employ computers of different makes and models and 
different CAD/CAM devices.
--The product definition application may run on equipment other than 
that on which it was developed.
--The product definition data is to be used and maintained by other 
than the original designer.
--The product definition data is or is likely to be used by 
organizations outside the Federal Government.
--It is desired to have the design understood by multiple people, 
groups, or organizations.

    9.3  For layered electrical product technology, three dimensional 
piping, and engineering drawing applications, the use of the 
appropriate application protocol or subset (as described below) is 
required for implementation of this FIPS IGES.
    An AP or subset provides a means to improve the fidelity of the 
product data exchanged. APs are developed by domain experts for the 
purpose of defining the processes, information flows, and functional 
requirements of an application. An AP defines the scope, context, 
information requirements, representation of the application 
information, and conformance requirements. Initial release of this FIPS 
for IGES publication includes two application protocols and one 
application subset.

--Layered Electrical Product (LEP) Application Protocol: The LEP AP is 
used for the transference of 2-D electrical and electro-mechanical 
product models. This AP is required for layered electrical products 
technology applications, including specification control drawings, 
circuitry, fabrication and final assembly of a layered product system.
--3-D Piping Application Protocol: The 3-D Piping AP is used for the 
exchange of models from one piping modeling application to another. 
This AP is required for 3-D piping and related equipment models, 
including the fabrication and assembly of piping systems (e.g. pipe, 
pipe fittings, attached equipment, piping supports, and insulation).
--Engineering Drawing (Class II) Subset (MIL-D-28000A): The Class II 
subset is used for exchange of the drawing model; including geometric 
and annotation entities, attributes such as color and line fonts, and 
organization information such as levels and subfigures. This subset is 
required for the exchange of engineering drawings and product data 
following MIL-T-31000 (General Specification for Technical Data 
Packages).

    10. Specifications. This FIPS adopts ANSI/US PRO/IPO-100-1993 and 
the specified application protocols: Layered Electrical Product (LEP) 
Application Protocol; 3-D Piping Application Protocol; and Engineering 
Drawing (Class II) Subset (MIL-D-28000A). The ANSI/US PRO/IPO-100-1993 
standard for IGES, defines the communications file structure and format 
(i.e., a file of entities), language format, and the representation of 
product definition data.
    New entities and constructs are added with each revision and are 
upwardly compatible. Thus, a processor conforming to IGES Version 5.2 
would be able to read and process an IGES Version 4.0 file, but the 
converse may not be true. The capabilities brought to the IGES user 
implementing the IGES Version 5.2 standard are:

--A new character set for the European Community;
--Additional properties to the attribute table for Architecture/
Engineering/Construction (AEC);
--The addition of a new form of the drawing entity; and
--The addition of a new class of entity use, termed construction 
information.

    Conformance Requirements. Conformance is mandatory for this 
standard and is applicable to all Federal department and agency 
procurements. Conforming data files and processors must adhere to all 
the rules appropriate to specific features, such as entities, defined 
within ANSI/US PRO/IPO-100-1993 and any of the specified application 
protocols. Vendors of processors claiming conformance to this standard 
shall complete documentation which accurately indicates the processor's 
support of, and mapping between, native and IGES entities.
    A conforming preprocessor shall create conforming IGES data files 
which represent the native database which was input to the 
preprocessor. File content shall represent the native entities 
according to the vendor's completed documentation. It is desirable and 
recommended that the preprocessor report on any native feature or 
entity which has not been written to the IGES data file.
    A conforming postprocessor shall translate conforming IGES data 
files into the native database form of a specific CAD/CAM system. It 
shall convert each supported entity into native constructs, which 
preserve the functionality and match the geometry, attributes, and 
relationships of the IGES entity in the file. It is desirable and 
recommended that the postprocessor report on any IGES entities or 
features which have been discarded.
    Any visual presentation produced by the processor shall accurately 
and correctly represent the IGES constructs contained in the data file 
and specified by ANSI/US PRO/IPO-100-1993 and, if applicable, the AP or 
subset. For example, the display of a design which is filled with a 
pattern of lines as indicated by the pattern code of the Sectioned Area 
Entity (type 230) shall resemble the predefined definitions illustrated 
in the ANSI/US PRO/IPO-100-1993 specification.
    Conformance Rules for Application Protocols and Subsets. An 
application protocol or subset which claims [[Page 18586]] conformance 
to this standard, must satisfy the following rule:

--An implementation conforming to an AP shall satisfy the conformance 
requirements specified in the AP as well as the conformance 
requirements in the ANSI/US PRO/IPO-100-1993 specification.

    11. Implementation. The implementation of this standard involves 
four areas of consideration: effective date, acquisition, 
interpretation, and validation.
    11.1  Effective Date. This publication is effective six (6) months 
after date of publication upon final announcement in the Federal 
Register. A transition period of twelve (12) months, beginning on the 
effective date, allows industry to produce IGES implementations and 
data files conforming to this is standard. Agencies are encouraged to 
use this standard for solicitation proposals during the transition 
period. This standard is mandatory for use in all solicitation 
proposals for IGES data files and implementations (i.e., computer-aided 
design and manufacturing systems) acquired twelve (12) months after the 
effective date.
    11.2  Acquisition of IGES Implementations and Data Files. 
Conformance to this standard should be considered whether the CAD/CAM 
systems are developed internally, acquired as part of a system 
procurement, acquired by separate procurement, used under a leasing 
agreement, or specified for use in contracts for programming services. 
Recommended terminology for procurement of FIPS IGES is contained in 
the U.S. General Services Administration publication Federal ADP and 
Telecommunications Standards Index, Chapter 5, Part 1.
    11.3  Interpretation FIPS IGES. Resolutions of questions regarding 
this standard will be provided by NIST. Procedures for interpretations 
are specified in FIPS PUB 29-3. All questions concerning the 
specifications and content should be addressed to: Director, Computer 
Systems Laboratory, ATTN: FIPS IGES Interpretation, National Institute 
of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899.
    11.4  Validation of IGES Implementations. Implementations of FIPS 
for IGES shall be validated in accordance with the NIST Computer 
Systems Laboratory (CSL) validation procedures for FIPS for IGES, 
NISTIR 5541, Procedures for the NIST IGES Validation Test Service. 
Recommended procurement terminology for validation of FIPS for IGES is 
contained in the U.S. General Services Administration publication 
Federal ADP and Telecommunications Standards Index, Chapter 5, Part 2. 
This GSA publication provides terminology for three validation options: 
Delayed Validation, Prior Validation Testing, and Prior Validation. The 
agency shall select the appropriate validation option and shall specify 
appropriate time frames for validation and correction of 
nonconformities. The agency is advised to refer to the NIST publication 
Validated Products List for information about the validation status of 
IGES products. This information may be used to specify validation time 
frames that are not unduly restrictive of competition.
    Implementations shall be evaluated using the NIST IGES Test Suite. 
The NIST IGES Test Suite was first released in October 1994 to assist 
users and vendors determine compliance with FIPS PUB 177 and/or MIL-D-
28000, Class II subset. The results of validation testing by the NIST 
IGES Validation Test Service are published on a quarterly basis in the 
Validated Products List, available from the National Technical 
Information Service (NTIS).
    Current information about the NIST IGES Validation Test Service and 
validation procedures for FIPS for IGES is available from: National 
Institute of Standards and Technology, Computer Systems Laboratory, 
Graphics Software Group, IGES Test Service, Building 225, Room A266, 
Gaithersburg, MD 20899, (301) 975-3265.
    12. Waivers.
    Under certain exceptional circumstances, the heads of Federal 
departments and agencies may approve waivers to Federal Information 
Processing Standards (FIPS). The head of such agency may redelegate 
such authority only to a senior official designated pursuant to section 
3506(b) of Title 44, U.S. Code. Waivers shall be granted only when:
    a. Compliance with a standard would adversely affect the 
accomplishment of the mission of an operator of a Federal computer 
system, or
    b. Cause a major adverse financial impact on the operator which is 
not offset by Governmentwide savings.
    Agency heads may act upon a written waiver request containing the 
information detailed above. Agency heads may also act without a written 
waiver request when they determine that conditions for meeting the 
standard cannot be met. Agency heads may approve waivers only by a 
written decision which explains the basis on which the agency head made 
the required finding(s). A copy of each such decision, with procurement 
sensitive or classified portions clearly identified, shall be sent to: 
National Institute of Standards and Technology; Attn: FIPS Waiver 
Decisions, Technology Building, Room B-154; Gaithersburg, MD 20899.
    In addition, notice of each waiver granted and each delegation of 
authority to approve waivers shall be sent promptly to the Committee on 
Government Operations of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Governmental Affairs of the Senate and shall be published promptly 
in the Federal Register.
    When the determination on a waiver applies to the procurement of 
equipment and/or services, a notice of the waiver determination must be 
published in the Commerce Business Daily as a part of the notice of 
solicitation for offers of an acquisition or, if the waiver 
determination is made after that notice is published, by amendment to 
such notice.
    A copy of the waiver, any supporting documents, the document 
approving the waiver and any supporting and accompanying documents, 
with such deletions as the agency is authorized and decides to make 
under 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552(b), shall be part of the procurement 
documentation and retained by the agency.

[FR Doc. 95-9007 Filed 4-11-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-CN-M