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AddPlyby Addcomposites

Guided exercise

AddPath-ready handoff: export design intent, not paths

Assemble the design intent AddPly can currently provide and export the open handoff, with its boundaries stated.

Time about 20 minLevel AdvancedExample Four-ply laminate with a cutout

This page prints cleanly to sit beside the workspace.

Prerequisites

  • A CAD laminate with at least one tooling group, one region, one material, one rosette and an ordered ply stack. Exercise 2 produces one; Exercise 1’s planar example is enough to see the package shape.
  • A desktop browser with mouse input.

Starting example

Label
Four-ply laminate with a cutout
Open from
CAD laminate workspace → Tools → Templates → Four-ply laminate with a cutout.
Basis
Synthetic starter

Any open CAD laminate works. This synthetic starter is enough to see every field the handoff carries. For a richer package, add process cards (Exercise 3) first.

Open workspace All tutorials

  1. Check the handoff preconditions

    In the CAD workspace, confirm there is a tooling group (Tooling groups), a region (Regions and boundaries), a rosette (Rosettes), a material (Materials) and at least one ordered ply (Ply stack).

    Controls this step usesTooling groupsRegions and boundariesRosettesMaterialsPly stack

    Expected: The status bar reads CAD laminate · N faces · N tooling groups · N regions · N plies with non-zero groups, regions and plies.

    Note: Export for AddPath… and Export HDF5… stay disabled until a tooling group exists: they hand off the group’s support surfaces, not a bare face selection.

    Report this step ↗

  2. Add process intent if you want it carried

    Press Process and, if none exists, press New process card, fill Name and Process family, then Apply card. Bind it to a ply under Ply stack via Process card for <ply>.

    Controls this step usesProcessNew process cardNameProcess familyApply cardProcess card for

    Expected: The package will carry the cards and the ply bindings; without them those fields are simply absent.

    Note: Process limits are declarations only. The handoff refuses a card that claims to be manufacturing-qualified.

    Report this step ↗

  3. Export the AddPath handoff

    Choose Deliver → Export → Export for AddPath….

    Controls this step usesExportExport for AddPath…

    Expected: A .addply-handoff file downloads and the notice names what it carries: selected support faces, ordered plies, materials, orientations, rosettes, process cards and ply bindings at the design revision.

    Note: The notice says it plainly: this is AddPly’s reference contract for a future AddPath consumer. It contains no fibre paths, courses, drape, verdict or machine program. The receiving adapter is not built or tested here, so exporting does not establish consumer compatibility.

    Report this step ↗

  4. Export the open HDF5 exchange file

    Choose Deliver → Export → Export HDF5….

    Controls this step usesExportExport HDF5…

    Expected: An .addply.h5 file downloads. Its notice names the design projection groups you can inspect in any HDF5 viewer: plies, materials, process_cards and tooling_groups.

    Note: This is AddPly HDF5 1.2, AddPly’s own open profile, not a vendor schema. It carries design intent and selected STEP surfaces only — no fibre paths, courses, drape, verdict or machine program.

    Report this step ↗

  5. Export a portable project backup as well

    Press File → Export project….

    Controls this step usesFileExport project…

    Expected: A portable project file downloads, carrying the exact BRep and the authored design, and the notice says it is a copy on disk rather than the local project.

    Note: Project files store authored inputs only; generated sheets and measurements are not stored in them and are rebuilt on open.

    Report this step ↗

  6. State the boundary between implemented and future

    Read the two export notices and the Export menu note. Write down, in your own words, which fields are implemented and which are explicitly absent.

    Controls this step usesExport

    Expected: Implemented: support surfaces, regions and boundaries, ordered plies, materials, orientations, rosettes, process cards, ply bindings and result provenance placeholders. Absent: fibre paths, courses, drape, verdict and machine program; the AddPath receiving/import path is a future consumer.

    Note: Do not describe a handoff as AddPath-compatible, qualified, manufacturable or ready to run. It is design intent.

    Report this step ↗

← Back to the guide

Completion checklist

  • The design has a tooling group, a region, a rosette, a material and an ordered ply stack.
  • A .addply-handoff file has been exported, and you can name what it carries and what it omits.
  • An .addply.h5 file has been exported, or you can explain why you did not need it.
  • A portable project backup exists.
  • You can state that the AddPath consumer does not exist here and that no paths, courses or machine program are produced.

Download a feedback report for this exercise ↗. The report stays local until you choose to share it.

Reset and recovery

  • Undo and Redo reverse design edits; exports themselves change nothing in the design.
  • If an export is refused because there is no tooling surface, create the group first and retry.
  • The exported files are already on disk; re-export after a design change to keep them current (the file name carries the design revision).

Why this matters

The value of an open handoff is that its boundary is stated. A receiver can build on declared intent precisely because the package says what it does not contain. Learning that boundary now prevents a downstream team from treating design intent as a manufacturing result.

What this exercise does not claim

  • No fibre paths, courses, drape, verdict or machine program are produced.
  • The AddPath receiving adapter is not built or tested here; export does not establish consumer compatibility.
  • Nothing in the handoff is a qualification, producibility or airworthiness claim.

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