UPID v1 contract
UPID is this application's controller-neutral geometry and machining-intent format. This document describes the implemented v1 contract. It does not claim conformance to an external industry standard.
File and validation
A portable file is UTF-8 JSON named <name>.upid.json, at most 64 MiB. Its envelope has exactly these fields:
{ "format": "upid", "schemaVersion": 1, "document": {} }
document must be a complete v1 path-planning document, not the empty object above. The authoritative model is PathPlanningDocument. The portable shape checker rejects unknown properties and wrong field types. The semantic validator checks geometry, identities, references, traversal, topology and decisions. Use the public parser at a JSON boundary; a TypeScript assertion does not validate a file.
const result = parsePortableUpid(text);
if (result.ok) {
// A detached, structurally valid document. No storage or machine binding changed.
const document = result.document;
}
For a user project, open the portable file in the app and review its execution-plan diagnostics. Postprocessor conformance uses the downloadable canonical execution fixtures in the contract reference.
Portable examples:
These are reference documents for format authors, not machine-certified programs. Negative and mutation conformance cases live in the portable, semantic and execution-plan test suites.
Geometry and units
- Coordinates, radii, lengths and positional tolerances are millimeters in the XY plane. Segment geometry angles are radians; DXF provenance retains explicitly named fields such as
rotationDegrees. Original DXF units are provenance; they do not change the interpretation of stored coordinates. - Native segments are finite lines, circular arcs and circles. An arc's signed sweep is nonzero, no greater than one full turn, and agrees with its direction and endpoints. A full-turn ARC is executable even when its endpoints coincide.
- DXF polylines become line/arc segments. Supported spline or ellipse approximations travel as line segments with explicit approximation provenance. Import warnings remain attached to the document.
- Source unit code, label and scale must agree with the DXF unit table. A user-confirmed reinterpretation is represented separately from the original declaration.
geometryBasisdistinguishes a finished part boundary from a wire-center path. Controller compensation choices retained on a wire-center document are dormant. They become relevant again when the document uses finished-contour geometry.- Endpoint clustering tolerances describe topology. A structurally valid import can still be blocked from execution when its joins or machining decisions are unresolved. Import success is not machining approval.
Identity and source of truth
Segment, cluster, chain, contour, path-element, operation and diagnostic IDs are unique within their corresponding collections. Every reference must resolve; traversal and ownership must agree across the document. Derived metrics and geometry must remain consistent with their source.
Contour analysis records containment depth as the count of eligible source containers, using the configured area threshold and source boundary bounds/witness. Near-equal areas can make this relation nontransitive, so a child's depth need not equal its parent's depth plus one. A paired path element must carry the same recorded depth. These caches do not authorize positioning through finished material; route checks derive container counts from source geometry and retain reviewed material roles. Correct inconsistent metadata in a new document and review it before saving a new revision. The app preserves the original file and saved revisions.
Contour bounds must equal the union of the bounds of their chain's source segments; path-element bounds must equal the union of their referenced source segments. Arc extrema count even when neither endpoint reaches them. Floating-point noise is tolerated, but a matching pair of stale contour/path-element bounds is still invalid. A bounds diagnostic leaves the original untouched: correct the derived bounds in the authoring document, import that as a new project and review it before saving a new revision.
Store source segments and source operations together with machiningParticipation. Temporary clipped operations and their machiningIntent are execution views and must not be serialized as source operations. Partial-cut traces identify the saved source operation, source segment and exact source parameter interval. Reversal reverses the interval direction; stops subdivide it.
IDs are opaque: source authors do not need to reserve an internal prefix. Temporary clipped-segment IDs are allocated without replacing any stored source segment. Exclusion ranges retain their exact parameter values; formatting an ID does not round the geometry. Reapplying the same participation choice preserves the existing span ID and any unchanged partial-entry/exit review.
Geometry edits preserve unaffected identities. If splitting or joining a contour cannot preserve its explicit machining decisions unambiguously, the edit is refused without changing the document. Moving a complete contour remains supported. Mirroring circular geometry reflects its excluded parameter ranges so the same physical material stays excluded.
Machining intent carried by v1
| Area | Supported representation |
|---|---|
| Setup | Reviewed manual or circle-center-linked initial wire position; default threading policy |
| Operation | Explicit order, direction, classification, selected start and source provenance |
| Compensation | Kept-material inside/outside intent, explicit side for derived partial cuts, or manual centerline intent |
| Entry/exit | No lead, straight manual leads, circular-center entry; review state |
| Participation | Active source geometry with excluded parameter ranges; one contiguous active group per source operation |
| Transfer | Continuous, manual or automatic threading and compatible wire-separation policy |
| Stops | Before entry, remaining active cut distance, after contour, after exit; reason and note |
| Execution | One single-cut pass per active operation, exact source trace, no default feeds or technology generation |
Portable files exclude machine definitions, post source, controller words, output formatting, generated NC, raw DXF and workbench state. Export detaches source.projectId. Import always creates a new local project and retains the original imported file separately. Controller artifacts require a saved job revision and the exact installed machine-package setup.
Compatibility policy
Both envelope and document schema versions are 1. Readers reject unsupported versions and unknown fields rather than silently dropping manufacturing intent. Optional fields may be omitted; an explicit null is valid only where the model declares it. Existing reader compatibility for older valid v1 records is covered by tests.
Freeze the published v1 vocabulary. An incompatible shape or semantic change requires a new version and explicit, tested migration. Adding an optional field that an old strict reader rejects is still a compatibility change. Do not use arbitrary extra fields to smuggle unsupported operations into v1.
The automatic-during-positioning separation strategy and after-positioning stop placement are UPID v2 vocabulary. Current readers accept v1, v2 and v3; portable v1 files containing either value are rejected. Old local snapshots written while these values were mistakenly labeled v1 remain readable for recovery. Export promotes a detached copy of such a snapshot to v2 without rewriting the original project or saved revision bytes. Travel-distance stops require v3.
Portable validation checks shape and structural integrity separately from executable readiness. Incomplete review decisions and geometry requiring attention remain portable. Machine limits and controller realization belong to the saved job and machine package, not this document.
Current validation rejects inconsistent contour and path-element bounds that earlier readers could accept. Current partial-cut derivation also avoids collisions between temporary IDs and stored source IDs. Ordinary valid documents and their execution traces are unchanged. A historical saved revision affected by an ID collision can produce a different corrected execution plan and will fail its plan-integrity comparison. Its original bytes and installed packages remain unchanged: review the editable project and save a new revision. Do not modify a post or rewrite a historical snapshot merely to make the old comparison pass.
Current validation also rejects disagreement between paired contour/path-element depths that earlier readers could accept. Jobs whose forged or stale hierarchy previously hid finished material can now be blocked by the positioning checks. This can prevent reopening or generating output from an affected historical snapshot. Installed packages and original snapshot bytes remain unchanged; review a corrected editable project and save a new revision rather than changing the post or weakening its audit.
Simulation stock, playback speeds, guide envelopes and part-retention assumptions are separate viewing settings. They are not UPID feeds, controller compensation, physical verification or additional v1 fields. Simulation uses the saved document's executable events; missing reviewed intent remains a compilation diagnostic.
Possible later versions
These require their own model, compiler and conformance work; they are not advertised as implemented v1 support:
- Multiple rough/skim passes, pass direction and technology selection. This is the most useful production expansion after single-cut v1.
- Several disconnected active groups on one source contour, with explicit ordering, leads and threading for each group.
- Taper/UV and separate upper/lower profiles, with guide-plane and synchronization semantics.
- A smaller canonical source document that rebuilds derived topology caches, plus a published JSON Schema and a portable negative-case conformance corpus for outside writers.
- Native NURBS/ellipses when preserving the original curve offers a measurable benefit over the current explicit approximations.
- Stock, fixture and compensation-aware clearance verification; associative construction constraints.
The September 2026 audit records defects fixed within the current format and verification evidence.