CAD/CAM on HP-UX: MSC Nastran and Patran

CAD and CAM on HP-UX

• I-DEAS
• Unigraphics
• CATIA
• AutoCAD
• Nastran
• Patran
• ME10/ME30

HP 9000 PA-RISC computers were one of the main choices for CAD and CAM on Unix systems in the 1990s, when mainstream RISC workstations became powerful enough for technical computing. Of the variety of solutions and software in CAD and CAE, HP as first and foremost [...] in the MCAD and automation markets.

CAD/CAM on HP-UX; Dates and versions approximate

Software	Vendor	Versions on PA-RISC	Time
I-DEAS	SDRC EDS	to 9 10 to NXI6	1986—2001 2002—2007
Unigraphics NX	UGS, EDS	8.0 to 18.0 NX to NX5	1991—2001 2002—2007
CATIA	Dassault	V4 to V5R19	1996—2008
AutoCAD	Autodesk	11 to 13 unsure	1990—1994
Nastran Patran	MSC	68 to 2012 1.4 to 2011	1991—2012 1996—2011
Pro/ENGINEER	PTC		—2011
ME10/OSDD ME30/SolidDesigner	HP CoCreate	P/4.0 to 13 1.0 to 2005	1991—2004 1992—2004

From a market focused on mainframes and minicomputers in the 1970s and 1980s, CAD moved to Unix in the late 1980s and was dominated by RISC workstations troughout the 1990s. HP-UX on PA-RISC was a significant player in the MCAD market with many of the top tier CAD solutions supporting HP 9000 through the 1990s well into the 2000s.

In the early 1990s, companies moved from mainframe (host-based) CAD/CAM solutions to distributed Unix client-server models, including quite a few that transitioned from IBM System 370/390 to HP-UX or moved from Digital VAX to more distributed Unix platforms on the nascent RISC platforms

PA-RISC processors had strong floating point performance compared to other RISC and CISC architectures of the 1990s. 64-bit PA-RISC 2.0 was exceptionally strong in FP, making HP Visualize workstations from the late-1990s a prime CAE and technical design platform until being phased out for Windows-Intel and Linux in the early 2000s.

For 3D visualization, HP introduced PowerShade in 1992 along its HP 9000 700 workstations: through PowerShade, even entry level systems can access high levels of graphics functionality and dynamic performance. Low cost, high performance workstations obtain a broader and more flexible set of visualization capabilities. PowerShade could be access by applications through PHIGS or Starbase libraries

Traditionally, HP used the HP PEX libraries and Starbase for 3D design and development in the CAD market with its own graphics accelerators. HP PEX brought high-performance, full-featured 3D graphics through the X server to HP-UX and PA-RISC workstations, based on two modules: PEX, the protocol and PEXlib, the implementation of the protocol in software.

For MCAD in the early-1990s, the market preferred HP PEX over OpenGL. However, in 1995 HP moved to license and support Silicon Graphics OpenGL for HP-UX, making it easier for CAD programs to support this de-facto 3D standard on PA-RISC computers, as it was gaining broad acceptance in newer 3-D markets such as advanced visualization, simulation and animation.

One year earlier, HP contracted Evans & Sutherland (E&S) to customize an OpenGL hardware accelerator for HP-UX and its HP 9000 computers, in parallel to HP’s own graphics accelerators.

Definitions of CAD, CAM and CAE (Carlson 2003):

• CAD (computer-aided design): The use of computer programs and systems to design detailed two- or three-dimensional models of physical objects, such as mechanical parts, buildings, and molecules.
• CAM (computer-aided manufacturing): The process of using specialized computers to control, monitor, and adjust tools and machinery in manufacturing.
• CAE (computer-aided engineering): Use of computers to help with all phases of engineering design work. Like computer aided design, but also involving the conceptual and analytical design steps.

Market shares in 1992-1994 in the MCAD market (CAD/CAM/CAE) were roughly as follows, based on Dataquest statistics (worldwide, all platforms).

MCAD market share 1992/1993; Dataquest 1995

Vendor	Products includes*	1992 %	1993 %	1994 %
IBM	CATIA	14.2	14.2	15.5
Parametric	Pro/Engineer	3.7	6.6	8.3
Autodesk	AutoCAD	6.3	7.0	7.3
EDS, UGS	Unigraphics	4.9	5.6	6.8
Computervision	CADDS	8.9	6.4	5.8
MSC	Nastran/Patran	2.7	3.2	4.7
SDRC	I-DEAS	4.3	5.3	4.6
HP	ME10/ME30/SD	3.4	3.1	3.0
Intergraph	EMS	3.3	3.1	2.5

HP was in or around the MCAD top 10 with its Precision Engineering solutions (ME10, ME30) on HP technical PA-RISC and HP-UX platforms. Despite having a loyal, focused customer-base for its CAD solutions, especially 2D, HP left the MCAD solution market itself in the mid-1990s and spun-off its mechanical design division.

However, it nonetheless seems that HP has been unable to establish worldwide awareness of its MCAD. [...] We also believe that HP's lack of financial commitment to marketing is responsible for the lower penetration rates outside of Germany and Japan. products.

During the height of the Unix and RISC workstation era in the 1990s, the Big Three US car manufactures had forged close CAD and CAM links: DaimlerChrysler used CATIA, Ford used I-DEAS and General Motors used Unigraphics (and PA-RISC).

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I-DEAS

I-DEAS was a CAD and mechanical design automation (MDA) software developed in the early 1980s by SDRC, Structural Dynamics Research Corporation. I-DEAS was a suite of very diverse applications and products, centered around mechanical design and often used in the automotive sector such as Ford Motor in the mid-1990s.

I-DEAS applications and modules were used by a very large range of companies for designing products – from consumer eletronics, PC peripherals, microchips, industrial designers and microchip vendors. I-DEAS was also successfully used by the Williams Formula 1 team in the 1990s (and 80s?).

Originally called Integrated Design and Engineering Analysis Software, I-DEAS and SDRC were part of several mergers and acquisitions in the 2000s and sold to EDS in 2001, merged into Unigraphics NX, another CAD product, in 2002 and eventually sold to Siemens and renamed Siemens PLM or Siemens Digital Industries Software.

• I-DEAS 9 (2001) supported HP-UX 11.00 and HP-UX 11i (TCOE) with OpenGL, X11R6 and Motif 2.1. Hardware support was more limited to 64-bit HP Visualize workstations (like I-DEAS 8) and Visualize fx pro adapters
• I-DEAS 8 (2000) supported HP-UX 10.20, 10.20 ACE and HP-UX 11.00 (ACE 9911) with PEXLIB, OpenGL and X11R6. I-DEAS 8 supported similar HP PA-RISC computers like Master Series 7, but with limited functionality for all 32-bit workstations and a few more 64-bit models added such as C360, C3600 and J5600.
• I-DEAS Master Series 7 (1999) supported HP-UX 10.20 and 10.20 ACE, with PEXLIB, OpenGL 1.1 (!) and Powershade. Hardware support was extended from Series 6 – 32-bit PA-7000, PA-7100 and PA-7100LC had limited functionality, and support was added for more 64-bit systems like B1000, C3000 and J5000 workstations and additional Visualize fx Pro graphics on OpenGL.
• I-DEAS Master Series 6 (1998) supported HP-UX 10.20 and 10.20 ACE, with PEXLIB, OpenGL 1.1 (!) and Powershade and the same set of HP 9000 and Visualize PA-RISC workstations and the likely addition of HP Visualize J280/J282 and J2240. Support for the new HP Visualize FX graphics was added (PA-RISC-based).
• I-DEAS Master Series 5 (1997) supported HP-UX 10.20 with PEXLIB, X11R6, Motif and Powershade, priced between $5,000 to $30,000. Series 5 supported HP 9000 700 workstations with 32-bit PA-RISC processors like I-DEAS Series 4 and added supported for PA-7300LC workstations (B132L, C160L) with with CRX, HCRX and Visualize graphics.
• I-DEAS Master Series 4 (1996) had the same support as Series 3 and added support for HP-UX 10.20 and select 64-bit PA-8000 processors (C160/C180 and K460-XP).
• I-DEAS Master Series 3 (1996) supported HP PA-RISC workstations on HP-UX 9.05/9.07 and HP-UX 10.10 with graphics support for HP VUE, X11R5, PEXLIB, Motif and Powershade. Supported were HP 9000 700 workstations with PA-7000, PA-7100 and some PA-7200 processors with CRX, HCRX and Visualize graphics. I-DEAS 3 still supported Hitachi PA-RISC workstations on HI-UX.
• I-DEAS Master Series 2 (1995) supported HP 9000 700 workstations on HP-UX 9.05 and HP VUE 3.0 and consisted of 70 tightly integrated software modules. Graphics software support included X11R5, PEXLIB, Motif and Powershade. Compliant machines included HP 9000 705, 710, 712 715, 725, 720, 730, 750, 735, 755, 742i, 745i, 747i workstations and many CRX and HCRX and some Visualize (HP-UX 9.07) graphics adapters. J200 and J210 workstations were supported for the first time in Series 2.1. Notably, I-DEAS 2.0/2.1 was ported to Hitachi HI-UX on 3050RX workstations.
• I-DEAS Master Series (1993) supposedly included support for Unix and RISC workstations including HP 9000 and PA-RISC.
• I-DEAS Release 6.0 (1991) supported several Unix platforms such as Digital, IBM, HP, Sun and SGI
• I-DEAS Release V (1990) included variational design technology, a new user interface, an adaptive meshing capability, plastic mold filling and cooling analysis, computeraided testing capabilities, and other features, priced between $6000 to $54,000.
• I-DEAS Release 4.0 (1988) supported several Unix platforms including Apollo and supposedly HP 9000 (300). It also ran on DEC VAXstation 8000, available for $32,000—$35,000 on VMS.
• I-DEAS (1986) was ported to Unix and HP 9000 computers, with HP 9000 300 workstations based on Motorola processors supported, pre-RISC.

Early releases of I-DEAS ran mostly on DEC VAX and PDP-11 servers with the rest consisting of a few IBM and Apollo installations, with ports to Unix and RISC started in the mid-1980s. I-DEAS on IBM RT-PC (ROMP) was apparently one of the first RISC ports.

Performance of 3D CAD on early-1990s RISC workstations was still limited though – The 3-D CAD programs are slow. [...] I-deas on IBM RISC System/6000 workstations under AIX are only adequate in terms of speed. (Byte 1992)

One year later, press reports were positive on I-DEAS on PA-RISC, with [...] the designers’ ability to fully exploit the capabilities of I-DEAS, thanks to the horsepower provided by the HP 720 workstation. (Computer Graphics World 1993) Note the PA-7000-powered HP 9000 720 were not really faster than IBM POWER machines of the time, even less in FP.

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Unigraphics

Unigraphics was a CAD and CAM solution under many guises, first developed by United Computing in 1973 as UNI-GRAPHICS. Initially used by US government agencies and vehicle manufacturers, the parent company was bought in the 1970s by McDonnell Douglas. Unigraphics was a very popular CAD and CAM solution used widely in the aerospace, automotive, engineering, medical and many other sectors, even include sports and footwear.

UGS ran on minicomputers first and was ported throughout the 1970s and 1980s to Data General and DEC VAX systems, mostly utiziling graphical terminals and specialized systems. Ports to Unix platforms followed in the late-1980s, and there were OEM and VAR deals with Apollo and HP to integrate CAD/CAM applications with Unix workstations.

When EDS, a General Motors subsidiary for IT, bought the McDonnell Douglas computer services division in 1991, Unigraphics became an EDS product and a preferred GM solution for CAD and CAM. Prior to that, HP already was a preferred vendor for workstations at GM, and McDonnell Douglas a value-added reseller (VAR) to bring the Unigraphics mechanical CAD/CAM/CAE software to HP 9000 workstations and servers for $20m per year, starting in 1992.

EDS, the Unigraphics parent, was split from General Motors in 1996, keeping the Unigraphics devision, and purchased Intergraph’ MCAD business, combining them into the EDS Unigraphics subsidiary. Unigraphics was spun off from EDS in 1998 through an IPO and kept and extended many of the original GM contracts for CAD/CAM. Unigraphics went private again in 2001 through EDS before acquiring SDRC and I-DEAS, another CAD/CAM business. It was briefly called EDS PLM Solutions before renaming itself UGS.

• Unigraphics NX5 (2007) supported HP-UX and Unix, with 64-bit HP-UX 11i, Solaris 9, AIX 5.3 plus Windows XP and Linux. NX5 was the last version to support Unix, Proprietary UNIX (HP-UX, Solaris, and AIX) as a desktop environment has been eroding for years due to the strength and price/performance of Windows.
• Unigraphics NX4 (200x) supported 64-bit HP-UX 11i (11.11), Solaris, AIX, 64-bit Windows and Linux.
• Unigraphics NX3 (2003) supported 64-bit HP-UX 11.00 and/or 11.11, Solaris (SPARC64), IBM AIX 5.1, and Windows 2000 and XP.
• Unigraphics NX2 (2002) supported HP-UX 11.00, Solaris 8, IBM AIX 4.3, SGI IRIX, and Windows 2000 and XP. NX2 was apparently the only version to support Itanium 2.
• Unigraphics NX or NX1 (2002) was the first new Unigraphics product release after the integrated of the SDRC I-DEAS solution into the Unigraphics lineup. NX was Unigraphics Next Generation as a consolidated product between Unigraphics (V19) and I-DEAS. NX Unigraphics only supported 64-bit PA-RISC workstations and HP-UX 11.00 (ACE9911), along Solaris 8, AIX, IRIX and Windows 2000 and XP.
• Unigraphics 18.0 (2001) supported HP-UX 11.00, other Unixes and Windows NT4 and 2000. Version 18 was the first version to support OpenGL on HP-UX Unix and the last version to support 32-bit HP-UX and PA-RISC. There was no HP Starbase support and HP graphics were only supported with HP Visualize FX2 or higher.
• Unigraphics 17.0 (2000) integrated knowledge based engineering (KBE) based on the Intent! language. Version 17 was the last version that supported HP Starbase graphics.
• Unigraphics 16.0 (1999) included Predictive Engineering with a new user interface and advanced CAE functionality for structural analysis, parametric shape optimization and dynamic motion simulation and other extensions to take mechanical CAD/CAM/CAE to a higher level.
• Unigraphics 15.0 (1998) supported the same Unix and Windows NT as V14, and added Visualize fx graphics.
• Unigraphics 14.0 (1998) supported HP-UX 10.20 and other Unix (Digital, Solaris, AIX, IRIX), OpenVMS and Windows NT. Supported HP 9000 PA-RISC workstations included: 32-bit 705 and 710, 712, 715, 720, 730 and 750, 735 and 755, B132, B160, B160L and B180L, C100 and C110; plus first 64-bit workstations Visualize C200 and C240 and J200. Version 14 was the last Unigraphics that supported OpenVMS with a recommended transition to either Digital Unix or Windows NT (on DEC Alpha).
• Unigraphics 13.0 (1997) supported HP-UX 10.20 (Motif, CDE) and other Unix (Digital, Solaris, AIX, IRIX), OpenVMS and Windows NT, with a minimum of 128—256MB of RAM, with many HP PA-RISC graphics options including CRX and HCRX and Visualize and hardware mapping supported on Visualize-48XP. There was a choice of X11 or X/Starbase (HP) driver.
• Unigraphics 12.0 (1997) supported a variety of Unix platforms, including HP-UX 10.20 on PA-RISC plus Sun Solaris (SPARC), SGI Irix, IBM RS/6000, OpenVMS and Digital UNIX (Alpha). Minimum HP-UX was 10.20 with at least HP 9000 712, 715/64, 715/80, 715/100, or C100/C110 workstations.
• Unigraphics 11.0 (1996), integrated a complete version of XESS, a spreadsheet. It was the last version to support PVRX and TVRX graphics on HP-UX.
• Unigraphics 10.3 (1994) was the first stable version on HP-UX workstations.
• Unigraphics 10.0 (1993) supported HP 9000 700 PA-RISC HP-UX workstations, along Sun SPARC and DEC VAX/VMS. Field testing for UGS 10.0 initially started on HP-UX.
• Unigraphics 9.0 and 9.1 (1992)
• Unigraphics 8.0 (1991) was probably the first Unigraphics to support HP PA-RISC or was the development version PA-RISC was ported to.
• Unigraphics (1989) supported HP 9000 300 HP-UX workstations (Motorola-based) including HP 9000 Model 360SRX workstations for 3D design and graphics
• Unigraphics (1988) was apparently the first HP-UX release, a bit unclear to which HP 9000 workstations, and was also firstly ported to Apollo for their 3000 and 4500 workstations.

Unigraphics was used for all kind of design and mechanical construction work, including US space, military, commercial and experimental airplanes. It was used by Apple industrial designers throughout the 1990s for Apple consumer hardware, to develop a sculptural look for the Apple Powerbook 500, using Unigraphics on HP 9000 735 workstations.

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CATIA

CATIA from Dassault Systems is a CAD, CAM and CAE software suite that has been released in many different versions since the early 1980s. Originally developed for aircraft design, it was released as CATIA (Computer-Aided Three-Dimensional Interactive Application) in 1981. CATIA was developed by Dassault and later marketed, distributed and supported worldwide by IBM.

CATIA was a set of solutions with some of the premier CAD/CAM tools that revolutionized product design grouped into several main functions: Mechanical Design, Shape Design & Styling, Analysis and Simulation, Manufacturing, Infrastructure, Electrical Equipment, AEC Plant and Shipbuilding. These functions were implemented in more than 100 diverse CATIA tools.

CATIA was ported to IBM Unix and RISC computers in the late 1980s, first to the IBM RT-PC, then RS/6000 in CATIA V3, besides its native IBM System/390. CATIA version 4 (V4) was ported to PA-RISC in the mid-1990s, the first non-IBM platform to support CATIA. It was used widely in the 1990s and 2000 on PA-RISC HP-UX systems for product development, design and engineering.

• CATIA V5R19 (2008) was the last version for HP and had high system requirements for PA-RISC: HP-UX 11iv1 (11.11) from December 2004 or newer in the TCOE version for PA-RISC on B-, C- or J-Class workstations with 64-bit PA-RISC processors (up to PA-8900) and Visualize-FX or FireGL graphics adapters
• CATIA V5 (1999) was a complete redevelopment of CATIA with HP-UX supported until V5R19 with HP-UX 10.20 ACE 4 and 5, HP-UX 11.00 and later HP-UX 11i.
  CATIA V5 had a certified Unix workstation list, which included HP Visualize B-Class, C-Class and J-Class with Visualize FX and HP FireGL-UX graphics adapters. CATIA V5 also supported IBM RS/6000, SGI MIPS and Sun SPARC workstations.
• CATIA V4.R2 (1999?) apparently already supported 64-bit PA-RISC workstations such as the B1000 and C3000 plus dedicated P-Class Windows NT workstations.
• CATIA V4 (1995) was the first version of CATIA that was ported to non-IBM platforms. HP PA-RISC was the first with HP-UX 9.07 and 10.20 support for CATIA V4R1.4.
  CATIA on PA-RISC supported then-modern 32-bit HP 9000 712, 715, 735 and J200 workstations. Older systems were supported but users with the 705, 710, 720, 730, 715/33, 715/50, and 715/75 models running CRX and CRX24 graphics are likely to be disappointed that these older configurations do not provide the breadth of performance capabilities available in current H-P offerings.

HP had a dedicated team and website for CATIA on HP-UX, with regular events, publications for HP 9000 and HP-UX and tests and certications. There were even full-time HP consultants at Dassault R&P to support CATIA on HP-UX. HP spent a great deal on configuration and performance guides to properly size and configure HP-UX und HP 9000 workstations for CATIA usage. CATIA in 1995 was divided into three brackets of HP 9000 PA-RISC computers: low-end were HP 9000 712/60 and 80 plus Envizex X-Terminals, mid-range were HP 9000 715/64 and 80 and high-end were HP 715/100XC, HP 9000 735/125 and HP 9000 J200.

However it seems CATIA was not the preferred CAD system on PA-RISC and HP-UX, with others like HP ME10/ME30 and AutoCAD much more widely.

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AutoCAD

AutoCAD is a 2D and 3D CAD software solution, developed and sold by AutoDesk sind the early 1980s. AutoCAD was conceived for mechanical design engineers and later extended to architects and other professions that use CAD. In the 1980s, AutoCAD was the first CAD program in the world to run on a PC.

Originally designed for PCs with MS-DOS and Macintosh – The IBM PC version was what enabled the company to shift into high gear. – AutoCAD was ported to Unix in the 1990s with limited success and market acceptance (less than 10% of sales). First AutoCAD Unix prototypes were shown in the mid-1980s for Sun and Apollo, the first Unix release was on SCO in 1989.

• AutoCAD 13 and AutoCAD Designer (1994) was the last release that supported Unix workstations, with Motif and OpenLook versions being developed in 1992. AutoCAD 13 supported Unix and RISC workstations to include HP 9000 HP-UX, among SGI IRIX and Sun SPARC.
• AutoCAD 12 (1992) supported several Unix platforms including Sun SPARC and HP PA-RISC with very little information and documentation still available today.
• AutoCAD 11 (1990) supported several RISC workstations including HP 9000 700 with PA-RISC, Sun SPARC and SGI IRIX. A port of AutoCAD to IBM RS/6000 on AIX was released much later by the Swiss AutoDesk subsidiary in Neuchâtel.
• AutoCAD 10 (1989) was the first release for Unix with SCO Xenix and SCO Unix System V on PC workstations, sold for $3,000, with very few traces left today.
• AutoCAD 9 (1988) and 2.6 (1987): AutoDesk announced plans around 1987—1988 and maybe even releases of AutoCAD for Digital DECstations (MIPS) under Ultrix as well as Apollo AEGIS, DEC VMS and Sun Unix. There were possibly ealier versions of AutoCAD for VAXstations on VMS (AutoCAD 2.5 or 2.6).

AutoCAD focused on PCs and later Windows and MacOS, with the Windows version often lagging the main release for a bit during the early 1990s. AutoCAD 14 (1997) then was the first Windows 95 and NT-only release.

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ME10, ME30 and SolidDesigner

HP ME10 and ME30 are CAD applications developed by HP in the 1980s, originally for HP 9000 200 (BASIC) computers. HP ME10 was 2D CAD while ME30 was 3D solid modeling, both standalone programs. They were ported in the 1990s to PA-RISC and became a mainstay for HP’s MCAD offerings. HP ME10 was used well into the 2000s and HP SolidDesigner replaced ME30 in the early-1990s, both renamed CoCreate OneSpace Designer in the 2000s.

HP ME10 was used for 2D design, drafting and documentation [with] a user guidance system for fast accurate specifications of geometry, the capability to capture inherent geometric relationships, and the ability to ensure automatic and precise updates. HP ME30 in turn was an integrated modeling, design and drafting system [with] a smooth progression from 2D to 3D modeling.

ME10 and ME30 were developed by HP’s Mechanical Design Division (MDD), founded in Germany, Böblingen, in 1985. MDD developed ME10 and ME30 as part of HP Precision Engineering Systems, PE/Systems, popular during the early 1990s – HP [in 1991] chalked up a 25 percent growth on CAD/CAM, CAE revenues of $375 million with its ME10 and ME30, particularly in Europe and Japan where these mechanical design systems continue to increase in popularity.

HP MDD later developed SolidDesigner, as part of HP Precision Engineering Systems, starting in 1989 after MDD became an independent HP division in the HP Software Business Unit, SBU. PE/SolidDesigner was a newer 3D modeling software, based on a new 3D kernel, with which HP MDD planned to replace ME30 in the 1990s. MDD had a 3 percent market share of the CAD/CAM/CAE market in 1993, with ME10 making up the lion share of it.

HP’s Mechanical Design Division (MDD) was spun-off from HP in 1996 as CoCreate, a HP subsidiary, and took over ME10 and SolidDesigner. ME30 was EOLed in 1999, not Y2K-compliant and was replaced by SolidDesigner as 3D design product while ME10 was renamed by CoCreate to OneSpace Designer Drafting. CoCreate itself was later bought by PTC in 2007.

MDD (and CoCreate) products were intensively used internally at HP well into the 2000s to develop and design products and components, such as Inkjet printers, radio communication, storage and instruments.

Versioning of ME10, M30 and SolidDesigner is a bit unclear, as the products had been renamed quite a few times in HP and CoCreate ownerships. It seems the PTC acquisition was the end for HP-UX and PA-RISC support in ME10 and SolidDesigner (in various guises).

HP ME10 and OSDD versions:

• CoCreate OneSpace Designer Drafting 2005 (13) (2004) supported only 64-bit HP-UX 11i PA-RISC on select 64-bit PA-RISC workstations with select Visualize FX graphics.
• CoCreate OneSpace Designer Drafting 2004 (12) (2003) supported 64-bit HP-UX 11.0 and 11i workstations with Visualize FX.
• CoCreate OneSpace Designer Drafting (11.60?) , OSDD, was the new name for ME10 and supported HP-UX 11.0 and 11i on PA-RISC with Visualize FX graphics
• CoCreate ME10 2002 (11) (2001) supported HP-UX 10.20, 11.0 and 11i on 64-bit workstations plus Windows, with a focus on collaborative design
• CoCreate ME10 2000 (10) (2000) supported Windows, Linux and HP-UX 10.20 and 11.00 on 32-bit and 64-bit PA-RISC. It seems there were interim ME10 10.0, 10.20 and 10.50 releases with different HP-UX and workstation support. Older CRX, HCRX, onboard graphics on vintage HP 9000 (705, 710, 712, 715) were supported, as were Visualize and Visualize FX and even Envizex X terminals.
• CoCreate ME10 9.0 (1999) supported HP-UX 10.20 on PA-RISC (plus Windows and other Unix workstations)
• CoCreate ME10 8.0 (1997) supported workstation platforms including HP-UX
• HP ME10 7.0 (1995) introduced Dimension Advisor, to optimize the product-design process by significantly reducing the time for annotating a technical drawing and ran on HP 9000, Sun, SGI and IBM PCs, for $5,600. It supported HP-UX Unix as well as Sun, SGI and Intel PCs.
• HP PE/ME10 (1993), possibly ME/10 4.0, supported HP 9000 PA-RISC in 715, 735 and 755 workstations with CRX and HCRX graphics
• HP PE/ME10P (1991) was introduced at Autofact as parametric design package for HP 9000 400 and 700 (PA-RISC) systems, with a Sun version to follow in 1992. This might have been the first PA-RISC version.
• Earlier releases (since 1985) supported HP BASIC (on HP 9000 200) and then HP-UX Unix on possibly HP 9000 300 and 400 (Motorola-based). There were also ME10 releases for PCs – HP Vectra RS 16/20 with i386

ME30, SolidDesigner and OSDM versions:

• CoCreate OneSpace Designer Modeling 2005 (2004) supported only 64-bit PA-RISC on HP-UX 11i
• CoCreate OneSpace Designer Modeling 2002+/2004 supported only 64-bit PA-RISC on HP-UX 11.00 and 11i on 64-bit workstations such as J6750 with only Visualize FX and FireGL-UX graphics
• CoCreate OneSpace Designer Modeling 2002 (11), supported PA-RISC in HP-UX 10.20 (ACE5), HP-UX 11.0 with several patches and quality packs and 64-bit HP-UX 11i with HW enablement and gold patches on 32-bit and some newer 64-bit Visualize workstations (B2600, C3650)
• CoCreate OneSpace Designer Modeling 2001 (9.0x), OSDM, was the new name for SolidDesigner and supported PA-RISC in HP-UX 10.20 (ACE 5) and HP-UX 11.0 (ACE 1299) on 32-bit and 64-bit HP Visualize B-Class, C-Class and J-Class with Visualize and Visualize FX graphics
• CoCreate SolidDesigner 2000+ (2000) supported HP-UX 10.20 and 64-bit HP-UX 11.00 (ACE 1199) on HP 9000 700, B, C and J-Class workstations with CRX, HCRX and Visualize graphics
• CoCreate SolidDesigner 2000 (1999)
• CoCreate SolidDesigner 7.0 and 7.1 (1999) supported HP-UX 10.20 on PA-RISC along SGI IRIX and Windows NT
• CoCreate SolidDesigner 6.0 (1998)
• CoCreate SolidDesigner 5.1 (1997)
• HP PE/SolidDesigner 4.0 (1995—96) supported HP 9000 700 workstations on PA-RISC, adding dynamic-modeling and freeform-modeling capabilities. HP also introduced PE/WorkManager for Workgroups, a data management solution for PE. 1995 also marked the conclusion of the transition of ME30 customers to SolidDesigner. Version 4.0 also apparently supported Sun SPARC and SGI. It sold sold for $7,500.
• HP PE/SolidDesigner (3.5) (1995) included additions for designers of printed-circuit boards (PCBs) – the PE/SheetAdvisor and Mentor Graphics Link. The integrated for 2D/3D design was improved with the link to HP PE/ME10 7.0. SolidDesigner 3.5 supported HP-UX and SGI IRIX, for $7,500.
• HP PE/SolidDesigner (3.0) (1994)
• HP PE/SolidDesigner (2.1) (1994) was up to three times faster than the previous version, and specific capabilities, such as machining, may perform up to five times faster, with automatic update capabilities for ME10. Started at $7,500.
• HP PE/SolidDesigner (2.0) (1993)
• HP PE/SolidDesigner (1.0) (1992) was developed as an 3D alternative to ME30 as part of HP Precision Engineering Systems and released in July 1992 for HP Apollo workstations for $7,500. A version for Sun workstations was to follow later.
• HP PE/ME30 was first released in (1986) exclusively for HP-UX workstations, with further versioning and releases until 1995 unclear.

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MacNeal-Schwendler Corporation

MacNeal-Schwendler Corporation, MSC, was for considerable time, the market leader in the business of Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE). Most structural analysis software for engineering have their roots in the 1960s space and airplane industry, when MSC and NASA co-developed NASTRAN, Nasa Structural Analysis System.

Most MSC applications ran on mainframes and supercomputers until MSC ported Nastran, Patran, Marc, Dytran and other applications to Unix including to HP-UX and HP 9000, making use of PA-RISC’s strong FPUs for floating-point arithmetic in analysis applications.

Nastran

MSC Nastran is a software solution for finite element analysis (FEA) used for Structural Analysis, Thermal Analysis, and Optimization. Nastran had been the core product of MSC for a long time, used for the analysis of stress, vibration, and heat in automobiles, airplanes and structures. MSC/NASTRAN was developed as a spinoff of NASA’s NASTRAN in 1971. It was later used by NASA to support Space Shuttle and X-Plane projects, space satellites and also in the Challenger post-incident review.

Initial versions of NASTRAN used analog computers, and were first ported to mini-computers like VAX in the late-1970s, then to vector computers like Cray in 1981. MSC/NASTRAN was slowly ported from Cray (C90, X-MP and Y-MP), IBM 3090 and Convex mainframes to other platforms in the 1980s. MSC added ports to to Silicon Grapics (SGI) and Sun SPARC, later HP Apollo with PA-RISC and HP-UX support around the early 1990s. In 2004, Nastran became part of MSC SimOffice.

• Nastran 2012 and 2012.2: Supported HP-UX 11i on PA-RISC 2.0 and HP Itanium, the last release to support HP-UX (also Solaris and AIX)
• Nastran 2010: Supported HP-UX 11i on PA-RISC 2.0 and HP Itanium 2
• Nastran 2008: Supported HP-UX 11i on 64-bit computers and HP-UX 11i v2 on HP Itanium computers.
• Nastran 2007: Supported HP-UX 11.0 on 64-bit HP V-Class servers and HP-UX 11i v2 on HP Itanium computers.
• Nastran 2005: Supported HP-UX 11.0 on 64-bit HP V-Class servers and HP-UX 11i v2 on HP Itanium computers. HP-UX 10.20 support was dropped in 2004 (but HP Alpha was supported with EV-5 and EV-6).
• Nastran 2004: Supported HP-UX 10.20 on 32-bit PA-RISC computers, and HP-UX 11.0 on HP V-Class with 64-bit PA-RISC plus HP Itanium, with HP-UX 11i v2
• Nastran 2001: Supported HP-UX 10.20 on 32-bit and 64-bit PA-RISC computers, HP-UX 11.0 on HP V-Class and HP Exemplar on SPP-UX with 64-bit PA-RISC
• Nastran 2001: Supported HP-UX 11.0 in 64-bit
• Nastran 2000: Supported HP-UX 11.0 in 64-bit
• Nastran 70 and 70.5 (1998): Supported HP-UX 10.20 in 32-bit and 64-bit and HP-UX 11.0 in 64-bit (on V-Class machines) and HP Exemplar on SPP-UX, besides many other platforms RISC platforms and Cray. Nastran 70.5 was benchmarked on HP 9000 K460 and SPP 2000
• Nastran 69 (1996) and 69.1 (1997): Supported PA-RISC workstations and servers, inclucing HP Exemplar S-Class servers, faster than any other RISC platform, including systems from SGI, IBM, DEC and Sun.
• Nastran 68 (1994): Unclear, possible PA-RISC support
• Possibly more Nastran versions supported HP-UX and PA-RISC since 1991

Old conference proceedings describe many use cases of Nastran since the 1990s: Space Station Freedom Solar Array (SSFSA), earthquake effects of cable bridges and pipes, many explosion dynamics, airplane dynamics, brake squeal, International Space Station (ISS)

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Patran

MSC/Patran is a CAE tool for simulation of mechanical products, used for Modeling, Analysis, and Results Evaluation. Patran is a 3-D mechanical computer aided-engineering (MCAE) solution, used in CAE for for linking engineering design, analysis, and results evaluation functions. MSC bought Patran in 1994 from PDA Engineering.

Both Patran and Nastran, another MSC product, were used in the design and analysis of aircraft and spacecraft, reportedly by Boeing, NASA and others. With MSC software designed products include NASA X-33 spacecraft and the US Army RAH66 (Comanche) helicopter. MSC tools like Patran were also used a lot in the automotive industry by car manufacturers.

MSC Patran was often used as pre/post-processor with the Nastran FEA software. Patran could interface with various CAD files, including CADDS, CATIA, EUCLID, I-DEAS, Pro/ENGINEER and Unigraphics.

Patran supported different Unix platforms after being ported from mainframes and supercomputers, which included HP-UX in a few versions:

• Patran 2011 supported HP-UX 11i on PA-RISC, and was apparently the last Patran version to do so.
• Patran 2008 supported HP-UX 11i with OpenGL on HP Visualize B, C and J-Class workstations with PA-8000 to PA-8900 processors with Visualize FX and FireGL-UX.
• Patran 2007 supported HP-UX 11i on PA-RISC plus HP-UX 11i v2 on Itanium. It seems there was no more Itanium HP-UX support.
• Patran 2005 and 2006 supported HP-UX 11i and 11.0 on PA-RISC with OpenGL plus HP-UX 11i v2 on Itanium. PA-RISC workstations included B, C and J-Class based on PA-8000 up to PA-8900 processors with Visualize FX and FireGL-UX adapters.
• Patran 2001: Supported HP-UX 11.0 and 11i in 32-bit and 64-bit PA-7200 to PA-8600
• Patran 9.5/2000 (1999): Supported HP-UX 10.20 (up to ACE5) and HP-UX 11.0 (up to ACE9911) on 32-bit and 64-bit PA-RISC (PA-7000 to PA-8600)
• Patran 9.0 supported HP-UX 10.20 (up to ACE4) and HP-UX 11.0 on 32-bit and 64-bit PA-RISC (PA-7000 to PA-8600)
• Patran 8.5 supported HP-UX 10.20 (up to ACE3) and HP-UX 11.0 (2D only) with PA-7000 to PA-8000 processors and HP CRX/HCRX, Visualize and Visualize-FX graphics
• Patran 8.0 (1998): Supported HP-UX 10.20 and 10.20 ACE on 32-bit and 64-bit PA-RISC workstations from HP 9000 710 (!) to Visualize C3000 and K460 with CRX/HCRX and Visualize adapters
• Patran 7.5 (1997) and 7.6 (1998): Supported HP-UX 10.20 and 10.20 ACE on PA-7000 up to PA-8600 PA-RISC workstations
• Patran 70.5 (1997): Supported HP-UX 10.20 and HP-UX 11.0 on 32-bit and 64-bit PA-RISC workstations with HP Starbase and OpenGL 3D drivers on OSF Motif. Also supported HP V-Class servers and HP Exemplar SPP computers with SPP-UX on PA-RISC (also Cray C90 et al.)
• Patran 7.0 (1996): Supported HP-UX 10.20 on 32-bit and 64-bit PA-RISC workstations, from HP 9000 710 to C180 and K460.
• Patran 6.0 (1996): Unclear
• Patran 1.4 (1996): Supported HP-UX on HP 9000 workstations

Even though a mainstay on HP-UX and PA-RISC computer, in the late-1990s HP supported the Pentium III Xeon development of Nastran and Patran, together with NSC for its Visualize Xeon computers.

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Documentation

HP and general

• HP-UX 10.20 Availability of ISV Applications, list of different commercial software packages, Hewlett Packard 1997 archive.org
• The Workstation Warriors, Computer Graphics World, January 1995 archive.org
• Hughes Missile Systems Moves to UNIX Platforms, Press Release, Hewlett Packard 1997 archive.org
• CAD/CAM/CADD/CAE, A Critical History of Computer Graphics and Animation, Wayne Carlson 2003 archive.org
• CAD/CAM/CAE/GIS Market Share Table, Dataquest 1995 computerhistory
• HP Enhances PEX and Starbase 3-D Graphics Software Capabilities, Press Release 1995 computerhistory

NASA

• Computer Aided Engineering, NASA 1987 archive.org

I-DEAS and SDRC

• Structural Dynamics Research Corporation, History of CAD, 2023
• I-DEAS Master Series 2.0 Hardware Requirements: HP700, SDRC 1997 archive.org
• I-DEAS Master Series 2.1 Hardware Requirements: HP700, SDRC 1997 archive.org
• I-DEAS Master Series 3 Hardware Requirements: HP, SDRC 1997 archive.org
• I-DEAS Master Series 5 HP Hardware Requirements, SDRC 1997 archive.org
• I-DEAS Master Series 6 HP Hardware Requirements, SDRC 2000 archive.org
• I-DEAS Master Series 7 HP Hardware Requirements, SDRC 2000 archive.org
• A New I-dea in Mechanical Design, Computer Graphics World, May 1993 archive.org

Unigraphics

• Unigraphics System Software UG V15.0 Release Notes, EDS 2000 archive.org
• UG V140 Platform Guide, EDS 2000 archive.org
• UG V130 Platform Guide, EDS 2000 archive.org
• Unigraphics V17, UGS 2001 archive.org
• Unigraphics Version 16 Overview, White Paper, UGS 2000 archive.org
• UG V16 - and the First Elements of Predictive Engineering, UGS 2000 archive.org
• Unigraphics Release notes, 1998, Unigraphics Solutions archive.org
• Unigraphics Workstations, PLM World, 2017 archive.org
• Unigraphics in the 90s, PLM World 2012 archive.org
• Unigraphics in the Today, PLM World 2012 archive.org

CATIA

• Dassault Systemes Early Website, Dassault Systemes 1996 archive.org
• Hardware for CATIA/CADAM Solutions - Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Dassault Systemes 1998 archive.org
• Certified Unix workstations, Dassault Systemes 2007 archive.org
• CATIA V5: Supported Hardware Configurations for UNIX, Dassault Systemes 2000 archive.org
• Optimizing HP-UX for CATIA, HP and/or Dassault Systemes 1995 archive.org
• Optimizing - 5. HP Hardware configuration, HP and/or Dassault Systemes 1995 archive.org
• Welcome to the HP CATIA team’s web site for CATIA Solutions!!, HP 1999 archive.org
• Technical Information for Dassault Systèmes Products on HP Platforms, HP 2001 archive.org
• HP 9000 Workstations First Non-IBM Platform to Run IBM/Dassault Systemes’ Industry-leading CATIA Software , Press Release, Hewlett Packard 1995 archive.org

MSC

• Analysis Origins - MSC and NASTRAN, NAFEMS blog , n.d. (2018?)
• MSC.Patran Product FAQs, MSC 1999 archive.org
• MSC.Nastran Product Page, MSC 2000 archive.org
• Nastran Product Information & Documentation , MSC 2004 archive.org
• Nastran Product Information & Documentation , MSC 2013 archive.org
• MSC/NASTRAN Version 70, MSC 1997 archive.org
• HP Announces Record Results On MSC’s NASTRAN App, HPC Wire 1998
• MSC Press Archive, MSC 2006 archive.org
• MSC Press Archive, MSC 2004 archive.org
• Patran 95, Patran 90, Patran 85, Patran 76, Patran 75, Patran 7, MSC 2001/2002 archive.org
• MSC/PATRAN Version 70, MSC 1997 archive.org
• Support for MSC.Patran, MSC 2004 archive.org
• MSC Documentation Nastran and Patran, MSC 2001 archive.org
• Patran Product Information & Documentation 2007-2012, MSC 2012 archive.org
• Now Shipping! MSC.Patran Version 8.0 press release, MSC 2000 archive.org
• MSC.Patran Product Page, MSC 2000 archive.org
• MSC.Software Users’ Conference Papers, MSC 2002 archive.org
• MARC News&Events, MSC 2000 archive.org
• MSC.Dytran Version 4.7 Platforms, MSC 2000 archive.org
• HP Announces Availability of MSC/NASTRAN Version 69.1 on HP Workstations and Exemplar Technical Servers , Press Release, Hewlett-Packard 1997 archive.org

AutoCAD

• Autocad-Erweiterung und 3D-Programm erneuert: Grafiksoftware arbeitet jetzt genauer und hat mehr Features, Computerwoche 1992
• Autodesk and AutoCAD, History of CAD, 2023

ME10/ME30 and CoCreate

• HP CAD Sales Continue To Skyrocket, HP Professional, January 1991, Hewlett Packard archive.org
• HP Ports Precision Engineering To 700, HP Professional, May 1993, Hewlett Packard archive.org
• Modeling Made Easy – HP’s ME3O Software HP Professional, April 1994, Hewlett Packard archive.org
• CoCreate SolidDesigner Fact Sheet, CoCreate 2000 archive.org
• CoCreate/SolidDesigner 8.0 Installing and Configuring on UNIX, PDF handbook, Edition 10, CoCreate 2000 archive.org
• Press Releases Archive, CoCreate 2000 archive.org
• OneSpace Designer Modeling Platform Requirements (Versions 2001, 2002, 2002+, 2004) - HP-UX, CoCreate 2004 archive.org
• OneSpace Designer Drafting for HP-UX System Requirements, CoCreate 2003 archive.org
• ME10 Technical Fact Sheet, CoCreate 1999 archive.org
• Hewlett-Packard and CoCreate Software, Flyer, HP 1999 archive.org
• HP Establishes Subsidiary Company to Focus on Mechanical Design and Product-Data-Managment Solutions, Press Release, Hewlett-Packard 1996 archive.org
• HP Announces HP PE/SolidDesigner 3.5 with Improved Design Capabilities, Press Release, Hewlett-Packard 1995 archive.org
• HP Enhances PEX and Starbase 3-D Graphics Software Capabilities, Press Release, Hewlett-Packard 1995 archive.org

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