Computer Aided Design and Drafting (CAD) software has revolutionized the way we design and manufacture products. An early pioneer in the field was CADDS, a CAD system developed by Computer Vision and later acquired by PTC. CADDS 5 is the latest version of this software, which was widely used in the aerospace, automotive and defense industries.
CADDS was known for its powerful 3D modeling capabilities, allowing designers to create complex parts and assemblies with ease. It also offered advanced drafting and detailing capabilities, making it a complete solution for product design.
A unique feature of CADDS is its file organization system. Unlike other CAD software that uses different file extensions for parts, assemblies, and drawings, CADDS stores all files for a single model in a single directory. This directory includes files with names such as camu, pl01, pl02, pl03, pl04, _fd, _pd and _db.
The camu file contains the Competitor Assembly Mock-Up, which is a file used to visualize the assembly of parts in 3D. Files pl01 to pl04 are the drawing files, where pl01 is the main drawing file and pl02, pl03 and pl04 are auxiliary drawing files. The _fd file contains parametric data, while the _pd file contains 3D geometry data. Finally, the _db file contains the assembly data.
CADDS also has interoperability capabilities, supporting neutral formats. Neutral file formats are widely used and accepted by other CAD software. CADDS supports two neutral file formats, IGES and DXF, which are used to transfer 3D geometry and 2D drawings, respectively.
In summary, CADDS is a CAD system developed by Computer Vision next PTC. CADDS 5 is the last version. CADDS supported native or neutral formats are IGES, DXF. There is no file extension in CADDS. Part, assembly and drawing file are located in a unique diretory per model :
camu (Concurrent Assembly Mock-Up)
pl01 (drawing)
pl02 (drawing)
pl03 (drawing)
pl04 (drawing)
_fd (parametric)
_pd (3D geometry)
_db (Assembly)
CAD Interop distributes several solutions to view, translate or validate CADDS files. Find below the list of our products compatible with CADDS:
