Exchange Format Features

The main features of exchange formats are shown in the table below:

Format	C3D	3MF	OBJ	STL	VRML	JT	X_T/X_B	SAT/SAB	IGES	STEP
Primary purpose	C3D ecosystem format	3D printing	Visualization	3D printing	Visualization	Data exchange in Parasolid CAD‑PLM	Parasolid ecosystem format	ACIS ecosystem format	Data exchange, storage	Data storage, mechanical engineering
Unit of length	mm	Specified in file	-	-	-	Per component	m	Per entire file	Per entire file	Per component
Physical structure features	Binary	Set of XML files	-	Available	Text	Binary	bin+txt	bin+txt	Text	Text
References to other files	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Assembly model features	-	-	-	Single mesh per model	Spatial transformations	-	-	Unfolds into linear list	Different methods of grouping objects	Right‑handed coordinate systems only
Visual properties	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
GD&T	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
PMI	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes, tessellation	No	No	Yes in 2D	Yes
Polygonal representation without topology	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Polygonal representation with topology	Yes	Yes	-	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Points	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Curves	Yes	No	-	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Surfaces without topology	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Boundary representation of shape	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes