a stage of compilation processing that occurs before the compiler proper is invoked Preprocessing handles macro expansion among other things In C++ use of const and inline functions makes preprocessing less important
the process of preparing finite element input data involving model creation, mesh generation, material definition, and load and boundary condition application
In the phase of preprocessing there are all steps, that hang together with data preparing for the Rapid Prototyping systems Here are included e g data transformation from CAD systems in STL format Another step is creation of supporting geometry and the process of slicing - creation of individual slices, that are the basis for model production , layer by layer