Project & Geometry Files

HelixChute2 uses a few main file types, all plain text:

File type	Extension	Purpose
Chute project file	`.xml`	Stores everything about a chute design – project details, Layers, Faces, Vertices, Feedboxes, Pulleys and DEM input settings.
Calculation recording	`.xml`	Stores a previously recorded DEM run for playback, tracing and reporting. See Recording Calculation Results.
Geometry exchange file	`.dxf`, `.stl`, `.obj`	Chute face geometry imported from, or exported to, a CAD or 3D modelling program.

The chute project file

Use File > Open Project... to open an existing design, or File > New Project to start a blank one. HelixChute2 ships with a number of sample chute designs under the samples\Projects folder – explore these for ideas before starting your own design.

Use File > Save Project or Save Project As... to save your work. Save regularly as you build your model.

The sample Demo projects can't be overwritten. Any project file whose name begins with Demo is kept as it was installed, whatever your licence. Save Project on a Demo project asks you to use Save Project As... instead, which suggests the name Copy of Demo ...; a name beginning with "Demo" is refused there too, and by New Project. This matters most in the Demo version, which reduces a project's feed when it is opened – saving a sample over itself would keep those reduced settings in it for good.

Calculation recording file

Use the Save/Open buttons above the main drawing (on the Recording tabsheet) to store or reload a previously recorded calculation run. Because these files are plain XML, you can also open them directly in a spreadsheet such as Excel to chart velocities, positions etc. See Recording Calculation Results.

Geometry exchange files

You can draw chute faces directly in HelixChute2 by adding Layers, or draw them in a CAD or 3D modelling program and import them. HelixChute2 supports three geometry formats for both import and export:

DXF (Drawing Exchange Format) – for AutoCAD® and most CAD packages.
STL – a common triangulated-mesh format supported by most CAD and 3D-printing tools.
OBJ – a widely supported 3D mesh format, including from SolidWorks® and MicroStation® via export.

See Importing Geometry and Exporting Geometry for details.