For users new to HOOPS Exchange, we recommend getting started by following these steps:
You must have a valid HOOPS Exchange license in order to use this product. Your license key can be generated using the "Generate Key" button located on the HOOPS Exchange downloads page in the Developer Zone. The license is delivered in a file called A3DSDKLicenseKey.h, which you must compile into your application as part of your source. The file should be placed at <HOOPS Exchange install dir>/include.
The next steps in getting an application up and running depend on whether you are planning to use automatic or manual initialization. More information can be found in the HOOPS Exchange Programming Guide.
Please see our Supported Platforms page for information on which platforms HOOPS Exchange can use.
Licensees of HOOPS Publish enjoy a high-level of responsive support both from the core team located in Lyon, France, and from the local teams based in each major territory worldwide. If you require help getting started, in the first instance please contact your Consulting Engineer or Account Manager, who will direct you to the appropriate support channels.
The HOOPS Exchange help files are available...
The online documents provide a free-form text search. To search the documentation in the download package we recommend using a standard free-form text search such as grep, Windows Search, or Visual Studio's "Find in Files".
If you are already a user of HOOPS Exchange, or plan to evaluate HOOPS Publish along with HOOPS Exchange, please be aware that the two libraries share some technology. For this reason, HOOPS Publish and HOOPS Exchange are bundled in the same package. The installer allows you to install either or both SDKs. Please note that a joint license code is required to use HOOPS Exchange and HOOPS Publish together. Your license code is generated based on your Tech Soft 3D customer account details.
The installer places both HOOPS Exchange and HOOPS Publish in the same directory. Some libraries are shared between Publish and Exchange, and the two products share the same bin directory. The Distributing Your Application page lists which libraries are necessary for Exchange. The Publish version can be found here.
If you are an existing HOOPS Visualize customer, you can use HOOPS Exchange to import CAD models directly into HOOPS Visualize using the MVO HIO Module hio_publish (for Visualize 3DF), or the HPS::Exchange classes (for Visualize HPS). The models may then be viewed, manipulated, and exported using any of our supported exporters.
For more information, please see the HOOPS Visualize documentation.
Note that when a license for one product stops, that license will also stop for the other product. Therefore care must be taken if you are a licensed user of one product and are evaluating the other, or if you have concurrent evaluations running that end on different dates. Once an evaluation license has expired you may need to revert to the original license for the licensed product. We advise you to always keep a secure copy of any licenses you generate along with the included products and termination dates.