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CATPart file at a glance

Full name

CATIA V5 Part

Developer

Dassault Systèmes

Extensions

.CATPart · assemblies: .CATProduct

Geometry

Exact B-rep solids, surfaces and wireframe

Carries

Geometry, attributes, materials and PMI

3D InterOp
Read Write

Writes CATIA V5 R15 to R36, no CATIA license

  • Building software that needs to read or write CATPart?

    3D InterOp is an SDK that lets your application import and export CATIA V5 alongside 30+ CAD and BIM formats.
Extension What it holds

.CATPart

A single part: geometry, attributes, materials and PMI

.CATProduct

Assembly structure that references parts and sub-products

.CGR

CATIA Graphical Representation: tessellated display data

.CATDrawing

2D drawings derived from parts and products

  • Exact B-rep

    Solids and surfaces with exact geometry and topology

  • Wireframe

    Curves, work planes and construction geometry

  • PMI

    Dimensions, tolerances, GD&T and annotations, semantic and graphical

  • Attributes

    Names, colors, layers, visibility and identifiers

  • Materials

    Material names, properties and transparency

  • Visualization

    Tessellated display data and textures

Aspect CATPart CATProduct

Level

Single part

Assembly

Contains

Geometry and part data

Structure, positions and references to parts

Typical use

Designing individual components

Managing a full product structure

Missing files

Self-contained

Components fail to load if referenced files are missing

  • Spatial doesn’t provide a CATPart viewer or converter for end users. 3D InterOp is for software developers who want their own application to read and write CATIA V5 files.
  • Treating CATPart as a generic 3D file

    Reliable reuse depends on preserving exact geometry, topology, metadata and part structure. Losses at import can create issues later in visualization, meshing, simulation or manufacturing.

  • Confusing part and assembly data

    A CATPart describes one part, while a CATProduct manages the assembly. If an application expects a full hierarchy but receives only a CATPart, assembly relationships are missing by design.

  • Converting to lighter formats

    A lightweight or neutral format may be fine for viewing or exchange without keeping the same fidelity, editability or semantic richness as the CATPart source.

  • CATDrawing

    CATIA V5 2D drawings
    CATDrawing
  • CGR

    CATIA graphical representation
    CGR
  • 3D XML

    Dassault Systèmes lightweight XML format
    3D XML
  • CATIA V4

    The previous CATIA generation
    CATIA V4
  • STEP (STP)

    ISO 10303 product data exchange
    STEP (STP)
  • Product · 3D InterOp

    3D InterOp for CAD applications

    Read and write 30+ CAD, BIM and mesh formats inside your own application.
  • Add CATIA V5 import and export to your software

    Evaluate 3D InterOp on your own models with support from Spatial’s engineers.

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