CATIA V5 R11

CATIA V5 R11

CADENCE reviewed CATIA V5 R7 in 2001, just a few months after that upgrade started shipping ("CATIA V5 R7," December 2001, pp. 26-31; www.cadenceweb.com/2001/1201/cadoptions1201.html). That article covered many of the modeling operations of the software. So, rather than repeat the information already presented, after opening with a review of CATIA basics, I'll focus on some of the key tools introduced since R7, and then conclude with my thoughts on whether or not CATIA is right for you.

CATIA Basics

What most programs call "modules" or "add-ons," Dassault calls "products." For example, there are products for specialized functions such as sheet metal design and weldments, as one might expect, but there are also products for ordinary tasks such as part modeling, assembly modeling, and drafting. A set of products bundled together to solve a particular design or engineering problem is called a "configuration" (for instance, CATIA Mechanical Design 1, also known as MD1). Most of these configurations include four to 12 products. After the first configuration is purchased, it is possible to expand the toolset by purchasing a single product. But, in most cases, it would probably make sense price-wise to find a configuration that already includes the desired extra product (and perhaps some others).

In addition to the products and configurations, there are also different user interfaces, known as P1, P2, and P3 (P for Platform). The first two are fairly similar to each other and contain the common elements of a typical MGAD program such as SolidWorks. The P3 user interface is used more in virtual reality scenarios, in conjunction with stereoscopic displays, virtual gloves, and the like. In general, a higher P number denotes a higher level product, so Assembly Design 2 (ASD2), found in several P2 configurations, houses more advanced tools than Assembly Design 1 (ASD1), which resides in most of the P1 configurations. It is possible to mix and match products from different platforms; however, adding a P2 product to a P1 configuration (or a P3 product to a P2 configuration) requires an additional $3,000 product.

New Products forVS

In many cases, when a new release of CATIA comes out, the functionality may have been available in CATIA V4, but the product is available for V5 for the...