D-Cubed -- Latest release of the HLM, version 31.0

FOR RELEASE Monday, July 12, 2004

D-Cubed announces the latest release of its Hidden Line Manager (HLM), the precise hidden line technology with a market-leading combination of performance, reliability and functionality. The new enhancements include:

Annotation support
Applications can now specify that geometry should never be hidden by other faces or parts. This enables applications to add annotation geometry to the HLM model and determine precisely how it is displayed. The model below,  for example, consists of three elements: a cylinder, a block and a wire edge that represents the projected cylinder axis. This particular annotation of the cylinder axis is achieved by specifying that the wire edge should not be hidden by the cylinder.

The new functionality joins a suite of tools - including model outline detection and intersection curve visualisation that makes the HLM an ideal solution for technical illustration applications.

Face visibility hints
In certain circumstances, applications may have prior knowledge about the visibility status of some of the faces in a model. For instance, an inaccurate hidden line technology used for fast visualisation on large models, such as a z-buffering technique, can determine that some faces are not visible in a particular view. It is now possible for anapplication to provide such information to the HLM in order to accelerate the calculation of an accurate hidden line view of the entire model.

Improved boxing
For each part in an assembly, applications can specify a box that completely encloses the part. The HLM uses such boxes to reduce the time taken to compute the hidden line view. Generally, the more closely the box matches the part, the better the possible performance gain. In previous releases, only axis-aligned boxes were permitted. It is now possible to specify an axis-aligned box that has been transformed to enclose a part more precisely.

About the HLM
The HLM, first released in 1999, is one of the most widely deployed hidden line solutions in the CAD field. Its kernel independence enables a dedicated team of experts to focus exclusively and continuously on the development of advanced hidden line algorithms without being distracted by the wide rrequirements of a general solid modelling technology.

About D-Cubed
D-Cubed is a part of the PLM Components division of UGS. We develop software components and provide technical consulting services to the CAD/CAM/CAE application development industry in all areas of geometric,solid andvariational/parametric modeling. Most of the world’sleading CAD/CAM/CAE vendors have adopted one or more of D-Cubed’s widely respected component technologies for integration into their end-user applications.

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