BIG SNIP

 there

are no CAD file standards as far as we have been able to discover even in DXF
file format. Everybody seems to use a different CAD program.

Paul Lamar

 IGES is pretty close to a std exchange format (that is what we spent 10+
yrs trying
for, at least).  The only problem is that AutoCAD just moved their
translator into
a separate extra cost "enhancement" rather than have it as a std part of the
package.
Most CAD packages will read and write some level of IGES file.  IGES is just a
std, so the translators (in and out) can vary from great to crap.  I just
brought a
solid model into I-DEAS yesterday from ProE with IGES and the resulting part was
good enough that I could modify it in my package.  This is amazing progress
in the
last few years.  The IGES std has been OK for a long time, but the
translators have
often been poorly executed - just good enough to claim "IGES capable" in the
ads.

Bill  Freeman
Long EZ builder & pilot
BSME, MSME

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