# CATIA V4 Reader

CATIA V4
File Extension | MODEL, SESSION, DLV, EXP
Supported Versions | Up to 4.2.5
Platforms |
Tessellation | Supported
Boundary Representation (B-rep) | Supported
Product and Manufacturing Information (PMI) | Supported

CATIA V4 files are legacy CAD formats that store surface- and wireframe-based design data. When read by HOOPS Exchange, they provide access to model structure and supported surface and curve data for visualization and processing. The CATIA V4 Reader also provides full access to the assembly, b-rep, and PMI data that is stored within a CATIA V4 file.

A file does not need to have a particular extension to be read correctly by HOOPS Exchange. However, the file extensions of CATIA V4 files that you can expect to be loaded by HOOPS Exchange include:

- .DLV
- .EXP
- .MODEL
- .SESSION

## How to Import From CATIA V4

Reading `CATIA V4` files follows the same pattern as other formats: configure load parameters, then call the standard load function.

To load a CATIA V4 file, use `A3DAsmModelFileLoadFromFile()`. The `A3DParamsLoadData` structure is used to customize the loading behavior:

    A3DAsmModelFile* pModelFile = 0;

    A3DRWParamsLoadData sReadParam = A3D_MAKE_DATA(A3DRWParamsLoadData);
    sReadParam.m_sGeneral.m_bReadSolids = true;

    // ... set other A3DRWParamsLoadData fields as necessary

    A3DAsmModelFileLoadFromFile("path/to/file.dlv", &sReadParam, &pModelFile);

See Simple Load and Export for more about loading model files.

## Tessellation

The visualization data for this format is generated by the HOOPS Exchange tessellation engine.

## Boundary Representation (B-rep)

B-rep support within CATIA V4 is limited; therefore, the list of different types of geometries is small. HOOPS Exchange provides evaluators, which allows you to direct query all of the geometric types available in CGM. Additionally, you can use HOOPS Exchange to approximate any specific geometry and provide it in a standard NURBS form.

The list of surface types available in CATIA V4 include:

- B-spline
- Cylinder
- Extrusion
- Plane
- RuledSurface
- SurfOfRevolution

The list of curve types available in CATIA V4 include:

- B-spline
- Circle
- Conic (ellipse)
- Conic (hyperbola)
- Conic (parabola)
- Line

## Product and Manufacturing Information (PMI)

CATIA V4 has limited PMI support, which consists solely of supporting 3D notes. This feature is supported by HOOPS Exchange.

## Assembly

HOOPS Exchange supports datum planes and construction geometry. These are accessed through the assembly tree.

Incremental load is available with CATIA V4.

## Views

This concept is unsupported by CATIA V4.

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