Downloading Of Source Code For Open Cascade Gains Momentum

As announced by Matra Datavision on December 7, 1999, the source code for the CAS.CADE geometric modeling libraries, now known as Open CASCADE, has been available on the http://www.opencascade.org Internet site since December 20th. To date, there has been extensive downloading activity on the web site, showing that Open Source is a promising economic model for Matra Datavision and that it responds to a real development need.

Growing Interest Around the Initiative

Marc Gainette, Director of the Open CASCADE Department, comments : "We have already received a number of requests for joining the Open CASCADE core team, which will have as its objectives the technical piloting of the product and the coordination of projects. These requests come from Germany, Norway, the United States and India. The enthusiasm generated by the initiative indicates to us that we should be able to announce the constitution of the core team by the end of January 2000."

Benefits for Research, ISVs and Industry

Open CASCADE will effectively expand research and development perspectives for universities and research centers, while providing them with a web platform that will allow publishing their results for a worldwide audience. Free access to source code will provide engineers with greatly-enlarged research possibilities, with components that function in many different types of environments.

Independent Software Vendors will benefit from continued enrichment of the basic software and from simplified maintenance. Additionally, Open CASCADE gives industrial companies the freedom to define their own software development strategy independently of commercial applications, with a proven tool of quality and long-term viability, guaranteed by an international community of world- class developers. By becoming members of the Open CASCADE core team, they will also be able to directly influence the future evolution of the software.

Free Access to Advanced Functionality

The current Open CASCADE Version 3.0 runs on the Linux platform and includes a set of C components for the development of trade-specific technical and scientific modeling applications ranging from CAD/CAM/CAE to metrology and measuring machines, biomedical software, 3D geological mapping and optical simulation.

This first version of Open CASCADE gives developers free access to the source code of dozens of 3D geometry data structures from volume primitives to advanced surface creation and includes hundreds of modeling algorithms. Documentation, examples and demonstrations are provided along with the source code.

About Open CASCADE

Open CASCADE is based on CAS.CADE technology and features many enhancements and innovations, such as interfaces that allow exchange of models with CAD systems, advanced components for surface design, and reverse engineering. CAS.CADE and Open CASCADE are registered trademarks of Matra Datavision.

About Matra Datavision

Matra Datavision is a leading international supplier of engineering solutions and services to companies looking for competitive advantage from continuous improvement of design-to-manufacturing processes.

Awholly owned subsidiary of Aerospatiale Matra, Europe's second largest aeronautics and defense group, Matra Datavision supports over 6,000 customers worldwide, with sales and service teams based principally in Europe and North America. Matra Datavision solutions address the needs of companies of all sizes, primarily in the automotive, aerospace and defense, general manufacturing and machinery, consumer product and electromechanical industries.

Matra Datavision offers customers a comprehensive range of engineering services designed to help them implement, deploy and profit from end-to-end engineering solutions. This service portfolio includes consulting, deployment and implementation, education, and engineering services. Matra Datavision is certified ISO 9001 for software engineering. To learn more about Open CASCADE, see http://www.opencascade.com and http://www.opencascade.org. For questions on Open CASCADE, e-mail to marketing.contact@opencascade.com. For more information on Matra Datavision, see http://www.matra-datavision.com.