Overview
ISO/TS 23301:2023 - "STEP geometry visualization services" defines a metadata-driven framework and a set of web services to support traceable, interoperable distribution and visualization of geometric model data across supply chains. The Technical Specification focuses on metadata to record the audit trail of geometry transformations, syntax for embedding that metadata in various geometry formats, conformance rules for implementers, and REST-style service definitions to query geometry data sets and their metadata.
Key points:
- Ensures traceability of geometric model data when copied or shared outside a single management system.
- Enables visualization applications and automated software to consume product geometry and associated metadata.
- Second edition adds features such as spatial query, large-model presentation (bounding boxes and occurrence tree), a dataset-URI metadata, and a new service (get_available_formats).
Key topics and requirements
- Metadata definitions for geometry transformation audit trail: standardized metadata model to document derivation, conversion and other transformations of geometry.
- Storage syntax: guidance for embedding metadata in multiple file formats (e.g., XMP sidecar files, ISO 10303-21 clear text, JSON).
- Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) and related namespaces (including an sgs namespace) as a primary mechanism for metadata serialization and sidecar usage.
- Large model presentation: bounding boxes and occurrence-tree support to enable efficient visualization of very large models.
- Web services specification: REST API definitions to query datasets, metadata, and available formats.
- Conformance levels: requirements for implementers and business processes to ensure consistent behavior.
- Information requirements: business scenarios (check-for-updates, visualization, retrieving PLM data, spatial queries) and cybersecurity context considerations (note: specification of cybersecurity infrastructure is out of scope).
- Explicit exclusions: CAD operation service specs, product/PMI definitions, technical client/server implementation, and archiving.
Applications
ISO/TS 23301 is practical for organizations needing consistent, auditable geometry exchange and visualization across distributed systems:
- PLM and CAD integrators seeking geometry traceability across suppliers and partners.
- Visualization and web-portal developers needing standardized metadata to enable dataset discovery, updates, and efficient rendering of large models.
- Manufacturing supply-chain managers who require provenance and audit-trails for derived or converted geometry.
- Automated systems that consume STEP-based geometry for verification, review, or downstream processing.
Who should use this standard
- PLM vendors, CAD exporters/importers, visualization-tool developers, system integrators, and manufacturing IT architects aiming to implement interoperable STEP geometry services and metadata-based audit trails.
Related standards
Keywords: STEP geometry, geometry visualization, metadata audit trail, XMP sidecar, REST API, traceability, conformance, bounding boxes, occurrence tree, spatial query, PLM.