File Formats

Overview

HOOPS Exchange allows you to read and write a wide variety of file formats without needing to license any additional technology. You work through a standard interface, so once you complete an integration, you have access to the large number of formats supported by HOOPS Exchange and can easily access newly supported formats as well as updates to existing versions.

The writers are often used by developers to speed the development of integrating the HOOPS Exchange technology into their application. For example, if you are a Parasolid or ACIS based application you can use our XT or SAT export to export the B-rep definition of the model.

Below we detail the specific capabilities of each reader and writer in addition to detailing any other relevant features and limitations.

HOOPS Exchange File Readers

The data supported by the HOOPS Exchange readers can be broken down into six primary categories:

Detailed information for each file type can be found by clicking the name of the file format in the table below.


Format Version Extensions Tess BREP PMI
ACIS Up to v26.0
SAT, SAB Supported Supported Unsupported
Autodesk Inventor Up to 2017 IPT, IAM Supported Supported Unsupported
CATIA V4 Up to 4.2.5 MODEL, SESSION, DLV, EXP Supported Supported Supported
CATIA V5 Up to V5-6 R2016 (R26) CATDrawing, CATPart, CATProduct, CATShape, CGR Supported Supported Supported
CATIA V5 [3DXML] Up to V5-6 R2016 (R26) 3DXML Supported Unsupported Supported
CATIA V6 [3DXML] Up to 2013x 3DXML Supported Unsupported Supported
Creo - Pro/E Pro/Engineer 19.0 to Creo 3.0 ASM, NEU, PRT, XAS, XPR Supported Supported Supported
I-deas Up to 13.x (NX 5), NX I-deas 6 MF1, ARC, UNV, PKG Supported Supported Supported
IFC IFC2x Editions 2, 3 and 4 IFC, IFCZIP Supported Unsupported Unsupported
IGES 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 IGS, IGES Supported Supported Unsupported
JT Up to v10.0 JT Supported Supported Supported
Parasolid Up to v28.1
X_B, X_T, XMT, XMT_TXT Supported Supported Unsupported
PDF All Versions PDF Supported Supported Supported
PRC All Versions PRC Supported Supported Supported
Rhino3D 4, 5
3DM Supported Supported Unsupported
Solid Edge V19 - 20, ST - ST8
ASM, PAR, PWD, PSM Supported Supported Unsupported
SolidWorks * From 97 up to 2016 SLDASM, SLDPRT Supported Supported Supported
STEP AP 203 E1/E2, AP 214, AP 242 STP, STEP, STP.Z Supported Supported Supported
Stereo Lithography (STL) All Versions STL Supported Unsupported Unsupported
U3D ECMA-363
(1st, 2nd and 3rd editions)
U3D Supported Unsupported Unsupported
Unigraphics-NX V11.0 to NX 10.0 PRT Supported Supported Supported
VDA-FS Version 1.0 and 2.0 VDA Supported Supported Unsupported
VRML V1.0 and V2.0 WRL, VRML Supported Unsupported Unsupported

= supported

= this concept is not supported by this format

= unsupported

 HOOPS Exchange reads tessellation data from certain file formats such as SolidWorks, CATIA V5, and Autodesk Inventor. For file formats that don't contain tessellation data, HOOPS Exchange will calculate the tessellation/visualization data. Details on how HOOPS Exchange generates visualization data is included in the Visualization section on the page of each individual file format.

* Our SolidWorks PMI reader is limited. See SolidWorks format notes for details.


HOOPS Exchange File Writers

HOOPS Exchange includes a number of writers. These writers are used to either implement export capabilities within an application or to facilitate the quick integration of HOOPS Exchange readers into an application. In this second case developers often have a model converted to ACIS, Parasolid or STEP and then import that data into their system. This allows developers to easily get the B-rep model definition into their system. When you are exporting the data HOOPS Exchange often has to translate or modify the data in order to adapt the data to the geometrical model of the destination system. The modifications that occur are detailed in the format specific document.

The information for each type of file is reviewed in the page specific to the corresponding writer. For a brief summary of the capabilities of each writer, see the supported file formats table, below.


Format Extensions Tess B-rep PMI
ACIS SAT, SAB Unsupported Supported Unsupported
IGES ** IGS, IGES Unsupported Supported Unsupported
JT ** JT Supported Supported Supported
Parasolid X_T Unsupported Supported Unsupported
PRC PRC Supported Supported Supported
STEP ** + STP, STEP Unsupported Supported Unsupported
Stereo Lithography (STL) ** STL Supported Unsupported Unsupported
U3D U3D Supported Unsupported Unsupported
VRML ** VRML Supported Unsupported Unsupported

= supported

= this concept is not supported by this format

= unsupported

** requires a license to HOOPS Exchange Export

+ Our STEP writer supports AP203, AP214, and AP242.