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Iris PLY File Specification

Ply data files provide a series of points necessary to project a image on the part or tool. It contains all of the coordinates and projection
information for that Process Step. Each ply data file contains one or more Process Step definitions. These files must follow the format described in
this topic.
You can convert ply data files from CAD data to the Iris PLY format using a conversion utility or an editor such as LaserEdge Planner. Ply files
normally contain Process Step definitions but they are not required. Process Step definitions may consist of one or more components or polygons.
Each polygon is defined by a list of 3-D coordinates and, optionally, a 3-D surface normal vector at each point. To work properly, data files must
also include a carriage return and line feed following each line.
The following is an example of a simple ply file.

LAYER START Layer1

Layer DATUMS
Start POINT Point #1
P 1
-1.028 -14.258 0.000
END POINT Point #1
Start LINE Line_1
P 2
-1.028 -14.258 0.00
-5.854 -10.536 0.00
End LINE Line_1
Layer END DATUMS
START PLY #1
P 4
10.0 1.5 0.12 0.0 0.412 0.91
20.0 34.5 0.15 0.1 0.424 0.90
30.0 22.5 0.14 0.4 0.296 0.95
10.0 1.5 0.12 0.0 0.412 0.91
T 3 ALIGN EDGE
-5 0 0
-3 0 0
-5 2 0
END Ply #1
LAYER END Layer1
LAYER START Layer2
START Hexagon
P 7
-11 -10.327 0
-11 10.327 0
0 15.872 0
11 10.327 0
11 -10.327 0
0 -15.872 0
-11 -10.327 0
END Hexagon
LAYER END Layer2
LAYER START Layer3
START Polygon
P 16
-10.67 -8.894 0
-10.221 7.904 0
-5.854 9.366 0
-1.028 14.19 0

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9.227 9.366 0
5.556 4.53 0
10.663 -1.855 0
7.413 -7.518 0
4.734 -5.818 0
6.524 -11.83 0
3.836 -10.767 0
-1.028 -14.258 0
-5.854 -10.536 0
-3.801 -8.894 0
-7.399 -6.277 0
-10.67 -8.894 0
END Polygon

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LAYER END Polygon Layer

EOD

Units
Measurement units are not specified within the Iris PLY file. It is the responsibility of the application to choose what units are applied to the file
content.

Process Step Identifier

Process step identifiers (or names) appear in the tree view on the Process list when operators open a workpackage.
Plies cannot contain Layers, but Layers can contain one or more plies. For more information on ending ply identifiers,
see End Markers. You can define as many process steps as you want within a ply data file.

IDENTIFIER

SPECIFIES

START

reserved must be present

PLY #1

name of process step being defined. name can contain spaces

Layer Identifier
You can include process step layers in part files. These layers appear in the Process list when you start a workpackage.
Layers are like folders for process steps, each folder containing one or more process steps.
Layer commands cannot be contained within the process step identifier markers. For more information on ending process
step layers, see End Markers. You can define as many layers as you want within a ply data file.

IDENTIFIER

SPECIFIES

LAYER

Indicates this is the start of a layer and may contain one or more Ply definition.

START

reserved, command must be present

Layer1

is the name of the layer

Layer names can contain space characters.

Layers can contain plies but plies cannot contain Layers

Polygon Definitions
A polygon is displayed as a closed figure only if the first and last vertices of the polygon are identical.

IDENTIFIER

SPECIFIES

Polygon

The number of points to follow

The information defining the 4 points. Notice that the last point is a duplicate of the first. This closes the polygon where it
began.

Each point's coordinates is defined following the number definition.

Coordinate definitions consist of the X, Y, Z coordinates followed (optionally) by the i, j,k data of a surface normal at the point. Individual polygons
within a process step provide a mixture of data with or without surface normal definitions:
If not defined, the software automatically detects the lack of surface normals through the number of values contained
in the coordinate definition line.
The surface normals are used if any polygons within the file include them.

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Normal vectors are unit length vectors perpendicular to the surface of the tool. If the vector is not one unit long, vectors are automatically scaled to
a length of one unit. If the software detects a zero length vector, or that a point is missing a normal vector, it does not use surface normals to
determine the clipping for any template data in the file.
Without normals, a projector will clip a part by calculating which points are closest to a projector and use that projector to display them. For more
information see Auto-Clipping.

Text Identifiers and Markers

When users place a retro-reflective material over a text marker, the associated text displays.
Including text identifiers in a ply data file is optional. To add hidden text to a ply projection, include the following
information

IDENTIFIER

SPECIFIES

Text

The number of coordinates for the text marker (always 3)

ALIGN EDGE

The text the projector will display (any string)

The next three lines are the coordinates of the text marker, identify the location where the application displays the text
marker.
When defining text markers, the first point should be the lower left of the text marker, the second point should be the
lower right of the text marker, and the third point should define the upper left point of the text marker. If the first and third points are reversed, the
system does not display the text marker. This is because the normal vector is formed
between the third and first points, and when using the right-hand rule, the defined marker points into the tool.

The placement, width, and direction of the text marker determine the position, size, and orientation of the display text
(respectively). The projection program bases the font size of the projected text on the width of the text marker (x distance between first two data
points). You can assign any size font in this manner.

End Markers
The end of each process step is indicated by the keyword END, followed by the string that identifies the process step.
The end of each process layer is indicated by the keywords LAYER END, followed by the string that identifies the name
of the process layer.

The layer and process step names must match the names in the corresponding LAYER START string exactly. The layers and
steps must be in the correct order.

EOD signals the end of the data for this file.

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Defining and Using Datums within the Iris PLY File Format
Since the Iris PLY File Format can be read and written by the LaserEdge Planner program, its syntax is conformant with other PLY files. When
used to support Iris SPS (Photo Alignment) Work Orders, there are some additional rules applied to Ply naming and layering. Iris is able to identify
these special ply and layering conventions and from the content, it constructs legal SPS content.

Layering
For Iris 3D support, Iris allows at most one level of layering, i.e. no layer can exist inside another layer. For Iris SPS support, all regular Process
Steps must be enclosed in a single layer. Each of those layers must contain another layer whose name must be DATUMS.
Plies defined inside the DATUMS layer are considered to be the Datums, defined below and each must conform with the Datum naming
conventions described below.

Datum Naming Convensions

The Datum types supported by Iris are POINT, ARC, LINE, HOLE and SURFACEPOINT. To define a datum, create a ply, inside the DATUMS
layer, whose name starts with one of these datum type names, followed by a space, followed by a unique name. See Datum Definitions below on
the specifics of defining each type of Datum.

Shared Datums
Two different layers may use the same CAD feature as one of its Datums. When used in this way, the feature is known as a Shared Datum. To
create a Shared Datum, copy the ply from one DATUMS layer to the other DATUMS layer, keeping the geometry and name identical. When
loaded, Iris will merge these into a single entity.

Datum Definitions
POINT
The Point Datum is defined according to the above naming conventions. A single point polygon is required.

IDENTIFIER

SPECIFIES

start POINT

This indicates the start of the definition of a POINT datum entity

Point #1

Name of the datum, it can have spaces

Polygon

Number of Points

-1.028 -14.258 0.000

X,Y and Z coordinates of the point which is usually a double precision floating point number

end POINT Point #1

This indicates the end of the definition of a POINT datum entity

LINE
The Point Datum is defined according to the above naming conventions. A two point polygon is required.

IDENTIFIER

SPECIFIES

start LINE

This indicates the start of the definition of a LINE datum entity

A Line

Name of the datum, it can have spaces

Polygon

Number of Points

-1.028 -14.258
0.000

X,Y and Z coordinates of a point on the line

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-7.028 -4.012
0.000

X,Y and Z coordinates of another point on the line. There many be more than two if they are collinear but there must be at
least two

end LINE A Line

This indicates the end of the definition of a POINT datum entity

ARC
The Arc Datum is defined according to the above naming conventions. The points included in the definition are fitted to a circle and must conform
to the circular shape to a certain tolerance. An ARC must be circular and planar and may or may not form a complete circle. A complete circle
must specify the same point in the first and last positions.

IDENTIFIER

SPECIFIES

start ARC

This indicates the start of the definition of a ARC datum entity

Hole #1

name of the datum, it can have spaces

Polygon

36

The number of points to follow

XYZ

The next thirty six lines are the values of the points which define the circle.

end ARC Hole #1

This indicates the end of the definition of a ARC datum entity

HOLE
The Hole Datum is defined according to the above naming conventions. The points included in the definition are fitted to a circle and must
conform to the circular shape to a certain tolerance. An HOLE must be circular and planar and may or may not form a complete circle. A complete
circle must specify the same point in the first and last positions.

IDENTIFIER

SPECIFIES

start HOLE

This indicates the start of the definition of a HOLE datum entity

Hole #1

name of the datum, it can have spaces

Polygon

36

The number of points to follow

XYZ

The next thirty six lines are the values of the points which define the circle. There must always at 3 values defining the location
X Y Z of the point, each a floating-point number.

end HOLE
Hole #1

This indicates the end of the definition of a HOLE datum entity

SURFACEPOINT
The Surface Point is defined according to the above naming conventions. A polygon of a single point, including a normal vector, is required.

IDENTIFIER

SPECIFIES

START SURFACEPOINT

This indicates the start of the definition of a SURFACEPOINT datum entity

Point #1

Name of the datum, it can have spaces

Polygon

Number of Points

-1.028 -14.258 0.000

X,Y and Z coordinates of the point which is usually a double precision floating point number

001

X,Y and Z of the surface normal of the point, whose direction is at right angles away from the surface.

END SURFACEPOINT Point #1

This indicates the end of the definition of a SURFACEPOINT datum entity

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