As part of this community we want to be able to communicate new developments and highlight the advantages that they bring. One of the largest changes in the software in recent years was the development and implementation of the SDM (Surpac Data Model) format.
Why did we need a new format?
All formats have a lifecycle, they are created, they are used and eventually they become superseded and finally obsolete, it is important as a software provider that we are always looking for what we can improve and make better.
The standard datatype in Surpac is the .str file and to a lesser extent the .dtm file, these file formats are pervasive across the program and have been in existence for as long as the program has existed. The power and flexibility of the .str/.dtm file format is well understood, by default they are text based files allowing anyone to open them in a text editor and clearly see the structure. This has allowed numerous 3rd party developers to utilise the format to extend their own software and provide support to Surpac users. There are few other formats in the mining software space which have been as open and well understood.
Unfortunately the strength of the format is also its weakness, utilising a text based format has limited Surpac when it comes to a wide number of requested enhancements such as named attributes, integrated styles, performance when using large numbers of points or triangles, the ability to record additional meta data and a range of other functions.
After a number of decades it was decided that Surpac needed a new modern format which would allow the program to move in to the future and provide a means to connect and integrate to more tools within the Dassault Systemes portfolio. SDM was the chosen solution.
The Solution
The aim when developing any enhancement in our software is to maximise the impact of the change by ensuring that it streamlines the current workflow and can ideally be reused in a number of others. To deliver this interoperability is a critical requirement, this is why it was a priority to ensure that the SDM format can be used across the 3DEXPERIENCE platform and MineSched.
SDM allows Surpac to store all point, line, polygon, triangle and style information in a single file, combining the .str/.dtm/ .ssi files which would all need to be saved and maintained. SDM files can store meta data in the form of attributes which can be populated by a number of Surpac functions with more on the way and is fully script enabled too allow for further customisation.
While not all functions in Surpac support SDM format at present we are progressively adding more functionality on each release and enhancing them further to better support the new capability that SDM provides.
The 3DEXPERIENCE Platform is a critical part of our solutions for the future, the collaboration, data management and exchange of data between our apps is a powerful benefit and the SDM format supports this by allowing the exchange of data between GEOVIA desktop apps and the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. By using SDM we can democratise the data that we create everyday and bring more people from the company and community in to the tent with us to understand the work that we are doing in mining.
What comes next?
A data model like SDM allows Surpac to enrich otherwise data poor 3D objects, the vision here is to not only add the capabilities that Surpac has now (grades, tonnages, attributes etc) but to allow for concepts of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) to be provided for. In future releases Surpac will be able to write attributes directly to the SDM file from various reporting functions, scripting tools will be enhanced to provide greater access to the attributes. More functions are being updated to work with the format as we seek to make this the format for the future for Surpac.
Within MineSched SDM provides a mechanism to provide detailed 3D geometry in to the scheduling tools with material types and tonnages which allow us to bypass the define geology step. This object orientated approach to scheduling is a significant change within MineSched and open up a number of different workflows.
I hope that this has helped to provide a better understanding of what SDM is, how we arrived at this point and where we're going in the future. In future posts I aim to highlight some of the functionality listed above and how this benefits existing workflows.
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