Editing ACIS (section)

== History ==

As a geometric kernel, ACIS is a second generation system, coming after the first generation [[Romulus (b-rep solid modeler)|Romulus]].<ref name="cadazz">
{{cite web
 | title= CAD software history CAD CAM computer aided design 1980 to 1985
 | url= http://www.cadazz.com/
 | access-date= 2007-03-14
 | url-status= live
 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070203084236/http://www.cadazz.com/
 | archive-date= 3 February 2007
}}
</ref>

<!-- Since there are several versions about ACIS name, a reference would be best to sort it out for good. -->
There are several versions about what the word ACIS actually stands for, or whether it is an [[acronym]] at all. The most popular version is that ACIS stands for ''Alan, Charles, Ian's System'' (Alan Grayer, Charles Lang and Ian Braid as part of Three-Space Ltd.), or ''Alan, Charles, Ian and Spatial'' (as the system was later on sold to Spatial Technology, now [[Spatial Corp]]). According to a close source the name actually stands for ''Alan, Charles, Ian, Sowar'', with Sowar coming from Dick Sowar, founder of Spatial Technology. However, when asked, the creators of ACIS would simply suggest that its name was derived from [[Greek mythology]] (See also [[Acis]]).{{citation needed|date=March 2012}}

In 1985 Alan Grayer, Charles Lang and Ian Braid (creators of [[Romulus (b-rep solid modeler)|Romulus]] and Romulus-D) formed Three-Space Ltd. ([[Cambridge]], [[England]]) which had been retained by Dick Sowar's Spatial Technology (which had been founded by Sowar in 1986) to develop the ACIS solid modeling kernel for Spatial Technology's Strata CAM software. The first version of ACIS was released in 1989 and was licensed by [[Hewlett-Packard|HP]] for integration into its ME CAD software.

In late 2000, around the time when Spatial was acquired by [[Dassault Systèmes]], the ACIS file format changed slightly and was no longer openly published.