Ang format ay unang lumitaw noong 1990s na may layuning i-standardize hindi lamang ang 3D na nilalaman kundi pati na rin ang karagdagang data na partikular sa pang-industriyang paggamit, tulad ng mga pagpapaubaya at materyales. Kilala bilang pamantayang ISO-10303-21, ang pamantayan para sa mga STEP file ay binago sa mga nakaraang taon upang paganahin ang mga karagdagang feature.
Ang 3D na data sa loob ng STEP file ay kinakatawan sa text form gamit ang kumbinasyon ng mga hugis na binubuo ng mga mukha, gilid, at iba pang geometric na data. Gaya ng nabanggit, ang STEP format ay idinisenyo upang maging isang pamantayan para sa 3D model exchange, ibig sabihin, ito ay may malawak na suporta sa gitna ng CAD at 3D modeling application pati na rin ang file conversion software.
000ISO-10303-21;
001HEADER;
002/* Generated by software containing ST-Developer
003 * from STEP Tools, Inc. (www.steptools.com)
004 */
005
006FILE_DESCRIPTION(
007/* description */ (''),
008/* implementation_level */ '2;1');
009
010FILE_NAME(
011/* name */ 'c5.stp',
012/* time_stamp */ '2024-02-05T06:35:35+00:00',
013/* author */ (''),
014/* organization */ (''),
015
016/* authorisation */ '');
017
018FILE_SCHEMA (('AUTOMOTIVE_DESIGN { 1 0 10303 214 3 1 1 }'));
019ENDSEC;
020
021DATA;
022#10=SHAPE_REPRESENTATION_RELATIONSHIP('SRR','None',#22544,#11);
023#11=ADVANCED_BREP_SHAPE_REPRESENTATION($,(#11436),#22538);
024#12=ORIENTED_CLOSED_SHELL($,*,#11433,.F.);
025#13=ORIENTED_CLOSED_SHELL($,*,#11434,.F.);
026#14=ORIENTED_CLOSED_SHELL($,*,#11435,.F.);
027#15=CONICAL_SURFACE($,#11713,0.59315625,0.759762754875772);
028#16=CONICAL_SURFACE($,#11720,0.59315625,0.759762754875772);
029#17=SPHERICAL_SURFACE($,#11545,0.01265625);
030#18=SPHERICAL_SURFACE($,#11591,0.050625);
031#19=SPHERICAL_SURFACE($,#11689,0.050625);
032#20=SPHERICAL_SURFACE($,#11742,0.050625);
033#21=TOROIDAL_SURFACE($,#12201,0.3290625,0.0759375);
034#22=TOROIDAL_SURFACE($,#12206,0.4809375,0.0759375);
035#23=TOROIDAL_SURFACE($,#12211,0.1771875,0.0759375);
036#24=(
037BOUNDED_SURFACE()
038B_SPLINE_SURFACE(2,2,((#16169,#16170,#16171,#16172,#16173,#16174,#16175,
039#16176,#16177),(#16178,#16179,#16180,#16181,#16182,#16183,#16184,#16185,
040#16186),(#16187,#16188,#16189,#16190,#16191,#16192,#16193,#16194,#16195),
041(#16196,#16197,#16198,#16199,#16200,#16201,#16202,#16203,#16204),(#16205,
042#16206,#16207,#16208,#16209,#16210,#16211,#16212,#16213),(#16214,#16215,
043#16216,#16217,#16218,#16219,#16220,#16221,#16222),(#16223,#16224,#16225,
044#16226,#16227,#16228,#16229,#16230,#16231),(#16232,#16233,#16234,#16235,
045#16236,#16237,#16238,#16239,#16240),(#16241,#16242,#16243,#16244,#16245,
046#16246,#16247,#16248,#16249)),.UNSPECIFIED.,.T.,.T.,.F.)
047B_SPLINE_SURFACE_WITH_KNOTS((3,2,2,2,3),(3,2,2,2,3),(-3.14159265358979,
048-1.5707963267949,0.,1.5707963267949,3.14159265358979),(0.,1.5707963267949,
0493.14159265358979,4.71238898038469,6.28318530717959),.UNSPECIFIED.)
050GEOMETRIC_REPRESENTATION_ITEM()
051RATIONAL_B_SPLINE_SURFACE(((1.,0.707106781186548,1.,0.707106781186548,1.,
0520.707106781186548,1.,0.707106781186548,1.),(0.707106781186548,0.500000000000001,
0530.707106781186548,0.500000000000001,0.707106781186548,0.500000000000001,
0540.707106781186548,0.500000000000001,0.707106781186548),(1.,0.707106781186548,
0551.,0.707106781186548,1.,0.707106781186548,1.,0.707106781186548,1.),(0.707106781186548,
0560.500000000000001,0.707106781186548,0.500000000000001,0.707106781186548,
0570.500000000000001,0.707106781186548,0.500000000000001,0.707106781186548),
058(1.,0.707106781186548,1.,0.707106781186548,1.,0.707106781186548,1.,0.707106781186548,
0591.),(0.707106781186547,0.5,0.707106781186547,0.5,0.707106781186547,0.5,
0600.707106781186547,0.5,0.707106781186547),(1.,0.707106781186548,1.,0.707106781186548,
0611.,0.707106781186548,1.,0.707106781186548,1.),(0.707106781186548,0.5,0.707106781186548,
0620.5,0.707106781186548,0.5,0.707106781186548,0.5,0.707106781186548),(1.,
0630.707106781186548,1.,0.707106781186548,1.,0.707106781186548,1.,0.707106781186548,
0641.)))
065REPRESENTATION_ITEM($)
066SURFACE()
067);
Dahil sa text-based na format, ang STEP file ay maaaring maging napakalaki kapag nagse-save ng kumplikadong 3D data sa format. Ang mga STEP file ay maaari ding tumagal ng ilang oras upang ma-load sa pag-edit ng software, kaya mangyaring maglaan ng karagdagang oras kapag ine-edit ang mga file na ito.
