Editing IGES (section)

{{Short description|Initial Graphics Exchange Specification}}
[[File:Initial Graphics Exchange Specification Logo.svg|thumb|upright|Logo of the IGES Project from [[National Institute of Standards and Technology|NIST]]]]
The '''Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES)''' is a vendor-neutral [[List of file formats|file format]] that allows the [[CAD data exchange|digital exchange]] of information among [[computer-aided design]] (CAD) systems. It is an ASCII-based textual format.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Schoonmaker|first=Stephen J.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/54090798|title=The CAD guidebook : a basic manual for understanding and improving computer-aided design|date=2003|publisher=Marcel Dekker|isbn=0-8247-4569-8|location=New York|oclc=54090798}}</ref>{{Rp|page=59}}

The official title of IGES is '''''Digital Representation for Communication of Product Definition Data''''', first published in March, 1980 by the U.S. [[National Bureau of Standards]] as '''NBSIR 80-1978'''.<ref>[https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/IR/nbsir80-1978.pdf Initial Graphics Exchange Specification IGES Version 1.0], Roger N. Nagel, Ph.D., Project Manager Walt W. Braithwaite, M.S., Boeing Philip R Kennicott, Ph.D., General Electric, National Bureau of Standards, NBSIR 80-1978, March 1980</ref>  Many documents (like early versions of the [[Defense Standard]]s MIL-PRF-28000<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.everyspec.com/MIL-PRF/MIL-PRF-010000-29999/MIL-PRF-28000B_NOTICE-1_27385/ |title=MIL-PRF-28000B |work=everyspec.com |date=2011-05-26}}</ref> and MIL-STD-1840<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.everyspec.com/MIL-STD/MIL-STD-1800-1999/MIL-STD-1840C_4779/ |title=MIL-STD-1840C |work=everyspec.com |date=2011-05-26}}</ref>) referred to it as '''[[American Society of Mechanical Engineers|ASME]] Y14.26M''', the designation of the [[ANSI]] committee that approved IGES Version 1.0.

Using IGES, a CAD user can exchange product data models in the form of [[circuit diagram]]s, [[wire frame model|wireframe]], [[freeform surface modelling|freeform surface]], [[Boundary representation|boundary]] (B-rep) or [[solid modeling]] (CSG) [[Representation (arts)|representations]]. Applications supported by IGES include traditional [[engineering drawing]]s, models for analysis, and other [[manufacturing]] functions.