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      <title>What it is</title>
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      <div class="title_topic2" id="xps10_pagetitle">What it is </div>
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      <p class="para_topic">Interoperability allows I-deas and NX to associatively share parts and assemblies. Part geometry is transferred between these software packages using a Parasolid file and is associatively updated when the &quot;master&quot; part is modified. The master part can be maintained in either system, and downstream applications in the other software package can use the geometry. The receiving system can add any information such as part features, finite element models, NC toolpaths, or 2D drawings. If the master part is changed in the sending system, the part in the receiving system can be associatively updated while preserving the added information. Assemblies can also be maintained as a &quot;master&quot; in one system and transferred for viewing or analysis in the other system.</p>
      <p class="para_topic">Example uses of interoperability follow. </p>
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            <p class="para_item">Simulation.</p>
            <p class="para_item">One typical scenario might be to design a part in NX and pass it to I-deas to build a finite element model using I-deas Simulation tools. Building a finite element model might require cutting the part for symmetry, creating a mid-surface abstraction, and splitting surfaces to apply boundary conditions. With interoperability, all these additional steps can be preserved in I-deas when the master part in NX is modified.</p>
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               <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/FE.gif"></p>
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            <div class="title_figure">Master part in NX - Associative 1/4 FE model in I-deas</div>
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         <li>
            <p class="para_item">Manufacturing.</p>
            <p class="para_item">Another typical scenario is to model the master part in I-deas and pass it to NX to create NC toolpaths. When the master part is modified in I-deas, part modifications and toolpaths created in NX can be updated.</p>
            <div class="figure">
               <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/nc.gif"></p>
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            <div class="title_figure">Master part from I-deas machined in NX</div>
            <p class="para_item"></p>
         </li>
         <li>
            <p class="para_item">Assemblies.</p>
            <p class="para_item">Another use for interoperability is to model individual parts in NX and/or I-deas, and bring the parts into one common system to build assemblies and perform packaging studies. If the master parts are modified in the sending systems, the parts in the assembly can be updated to reflect the latest changes.</p>
            <div class="figure">
               <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/assembly.gif"></p>
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            <div class="title_figure">Associative assembly using I-deas and NX parts</div>
            <p class="para_item">It is also possible to transfer the entire assembly product structure between NX and I-deas. An assembly maintained as the master assembly in one system can be displayed in the other.</p>
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         <li>
            <p class="para_item">Family of Parts.</p>
            <p class="para_item">Interoperability can also be used to maintain a &quot;family of parts&quot; generated in one system to use in the other. In this case, when the part or feature is updated, instead of picking the latest version of the file, you would pick a specific version corresponding to the desired part configuration.</p>
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               <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/family.gif"></p>
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            <div class="title_figure">Family of parts</div>
            <p class="para_item"></p>
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      <p class="para_topic">Interoperability is designed to keep the master part in one system, and make modifications to the master part's features there. It is possible to model a basic master part in one system and then add detailed features such as fillets or machining features in another system. In this scenario, the basic master part features will need to be modified in the first system, and the detailed features modified in the second.</p>
      <p class="para_topic">There are two ways to transfer models with Interoperability. If the I-deas data installation is accessible, NX users can directly access I-deas files from theI-deas Team Data Manager libraries. Otherwise, file transfers may be used. These files may be transferred as e-mail attachments.</p>
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