Extended Entity Data File Format

EED definition files are in ASCII format (plain text) with the file extension .EED. They are user defined and contain the description and format of the fields and predefined values.

Two separate EED definition files should be used/created, one for parts and another for groups.

Note: Do not use the same definition file for both parts and groups.

The user-defined fields can contain four different data types:

Setting	Description
character sting (char)	The user can freely input in any text data.
list	The input is restricted to a drop-down list from which the user selects one predefined value.
integer (int)	Integer values (e.g., 123).
double	Floating point decimal values (e.g., 123.456).

Additionally, there are flags included for each field which will determine if the EED field is recognized during Equal Parts Detection and if the EED is available for external Partlist output.

Unique Identifier

The first line of each EED is the name declaration. The name should be unique and no duplicate names are allowed. EEDs inside the CAD platform are identified by these names. When a duplicate definition with different formats is encountered, the EEDs will be destroyed.

IDENTSTRING= unique_name ;

Parameter	Description
unique_name	Any alpha-numeric string up to 30 characeters in length (may not contain any special characters or blanks).

Data Field Description Block

Each data field in the properties dialog is defined through a block of strings in the following format:

FIELDDESCRIPTIONSTART;

FIELDNAME= field_label ;

FIELDTYPE= { char | int | list | double } ;

FIELDLENGTH= field_length ;

PARTLIST= { yes | no } ;

PARTCHECK= { yes | no } ;

FIELDDESCRIPTIONEND;

Parameter	Description
field_label	An alpha-numeric string to display as the lable for the field in the user interface.
field_length	An integer to specify the length of the field for `char` and `list` types (i.e., ignored for `int` and `double` types) .

For FIELDTYPE=list;, you must provide list item values with the following for each item to populate the list:

RESTRICTVALUE= list_value ;

The default list item for FIELDTYPE=list; is specified by:

DEFAULTVALUE= default_value ;

Parameter	Description
list_value	An alpha-numeric string to use as a list entry.
default_value	An alpha-numeric string to display as the default value in the list.

For FIELDTYPE=double;, you can specify a number of decimal places to use:

PRECISION= precision_value ;

Note: Up to 128 fields (description blocks) can be used in an EED file.

Part EED Example

The following text can be saved in a plain text editor (e.g., Notepad.exe) with the file extension .eed in order to use.

IDENTSTRING=Sample UserEED;

FIELDDESCRIPTIONSTART;
	FIELDNAME=PartReference;
	FIELDLENGTH=15;
	FIELDTYPE=Char;
	PARTLIST=Yes;
	PARTCHECK=Yes;
FIELDDESCRIPTIONEND;

FIELDDESCRIPTIONSTART;
	FIELDNAME=Field2;
	FIELDTYPE=List;
	FIELDLENGTH=4;
	DEFAULTVALUE=RAL;
	RESTRICTVALUE=   ;
	RESTRICTVALUE=RAL;
	RESTRICTVALUE=E6;
	RESTRICTVALUE=FEVZ;
	PARTLIST=Yes;
	PARTCHECK=No;
FIELDDESCRIPTIONEND;

FIELDDESCRIPTIONSTART;
	FIELDNAME=Field3;
	FIELDTYPE=Int;
	PARTLIST=Yes;
	PARTCHECK=No;
FIELDDESCRIPTIONEND;

FIELDDESCRIPTIONSTART;
	FIELDNAME=Field4;
	FIELDTYPE=Double;
PRECISION=2;
	FIELDTYPE=Int;
	PARTLIST=Yes;
	PARTCHECK=No;
FIELDDESCRIPTIONEND;