A lot of the requests we get for new translators are now related to smaller robot manufacturers. As a result, it can be hard for R&D to justify creation of a translator that might be used by just a few licenses. The solution here is often for the customer, partner, or DS services to develop a simplified translator tailored to an individual customer's needs. However until now, we have lacked a simple example for how to do this. Our existing translators support a lot of features and as a result can be quite difficult to understand. They also rely on parsers written in Bison and Flex for the upload which is not easily replicated by customers for a new language.

Our new Example Translator, developed by Ryan Quinn, provides a simple upload and download capability for an invented text based robot language. The parsing is managed directly in VB.NET to provide an example for how that could be accomplished. This translator is intentionally limited in its capabilities with a focus on uploading and downloading robot motions and the related data.

This translator "DELMIA Example Translator.3dxml" is available like the other under "C:\\Program Files\\Dassault Systemes\\B423\\win_b64\\startup\\OLP\\Translators"  in R2021xFD04, R2020xFD07, R2019xFP2103, R2018xFP2051 but the 3dxml can be pulled into earlier FDs/FPs if needed and should be compatible with any FP on those levels.

We also have documented the process to create a new translator. The new documentation will be available in the R2021xFD05 official developer assistance documentation under "Native Apps Automation | Simulation | Robotics | Robot Programming | Creating a New Translator" and you can find it in our internal documentation now.  I also have attached a PowerPoint.

Hopefully this will help break down the uncertainty and perceived complexity of what is involved in creating a new translator.   

Special thanks to Triden Bradley who have wrote this post