Release Notes

HOOPS Communicator 2020 U1

The bundled temporary evaluation license has been updated.

HOOPS Communicator 2020

Platforms

macOS

The HOOPS Communicator installer is now available for macOS. However, the macOS package does not include server-side rendering or PDF Export support.

New Features

Docker Support Added

Review our new Programming Guide article that explains how to use HOOPS Communicator inside Docker containers. The provided images work out-of-the-box, but they are meant to be a point of departure for integrating HOOPS Communicator into your own workflow. In most cases, you will want the containers to be more self-contained and not rely on paths from the host machine.

Determine Set of Visible Points

The method testPointVisibility() has been added to allow you to check the visibility of an array of points. If the test is to be run every time the frame is drawn, then setPointVisibilityTest should be used. See the API reference for more information.

Multiple Handles on a Model

The WebViewer now supports multiple active handles, as shown here:

Screen capture of the BNC model with multiple handles being used

Options to Reproduce HC 2015 Behavior for Screenshots

The following Converter Command-Line Options have been added or extended to reproduce previous image generation behavior:

  • --png_camera_standard
  • --png_lighting_mode
  • –png_rendering_mode

Adjust Markup Pick Tolerance

A new method, MarkupManager.setPickTolerance(), has been added to the WebViewer, which allows you to set the pick tolerance (in pixels) for a MarkupItem.

Use EGL with SSR

Inside server_config.js, you can now specify if the server should use EGL for SSR via the ssrUseEgl setting.

DWG Drawing Improvements

DWG drawing support has been improved.

File Formats

Solid Works 2020 is now supported.

HOOPS Communicator 2019 SP2 U1

Improved Streaming Performance

CSR streaming performance has been improved significantly on lower bandwidth connections.

Enhancements

Node.js Server Configuration

In this update we have enhanced the HOOPS Server to allow you to force IPv4 or IPv6 addresses. Navigate to quick_start/server_config.js and change the ipVersion setting to the value of IpVersion.ForceIpv4 or IpVersion.ForceIpv6 to force that version of IP addresses. You can also set the value to IpVersion.Auto or null and the Server will select the version based on your machine's settings.

We have also exposed the modelSearchDirectories and model endpoints for the HOOPS Server. Set modelSearchDirectories to a directory containing Stream Cache files for your Web Viewer to load. In addition you can specify a model to override the model passed to the Web Viewer API in the client.

async function getViewerEndpoint() {
let data = await $.ajax({
type: "POST",
url: "http://localhost:11182/service",
data: {
"class": "csr_session",
"dataType": "json",
"params": {
"modelSearchDirectories": [MODEL_SEARCH_DIRECTORY], // filepath
"model": "bnc" // filename
}
}
});
return data.endpoints.ws;
}


HOOPS Communicator 2019 SP2

General

The Communicator documentation has undergone significant improvements, including an overhauled layout, a new Getting Started Guide and several Tutorials, and an extensive amount of new Programming Guide content.

Server

The original implementation of the HOOPS Server has been replaced by a new Node.js based implementation. This new implementation has increased reliability and performance, and is provided in full source code form.

Functional Changes

The original implementation of the HOOPS Server has been deprecated and is now located in the folder /legacy. Please refer to the server documentation included with version HC 2019.


HOOPS Communicator 2019 SP1 U1

HOOPS Communicator 2019 SP1 U1 fixes bugs and upgrades dependencies.

HOOPS Communicator 2019 SP1 U1 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2019 SP1, HOOPS Exchange 2019 SP2 U1, and HOOPS Publish 2019 SP2 U1.


HOOPS Communicator 2019 SP1

Enhancements

Support for Combined Viewing of 2D and 3D Geometry for DWG Files (Beta). 3D Geometry in DWG files (often referred to as model space geometry) can now be viewed alongside drawings (paper space geometry) in the same viewing session. This behavior can be controlled with the --drawings_mode Converter command-line option. This feature is currently in Beta.

Improved Performance for Streaming of Large Shattered Models. The loading performance for large shattered models has been improved.

Improved Performance for SCS Loading. The loading and interaction performance of the viewer when loading a large number of SCS files has been improved.

Converter & Authoring

Support for A3DAsmModelFile. libconverter now supports providing an A3DAsmModelFile object from HOOPS Exchange as input. See Importer::Load(void * modelFile).

SCS Shattered Generation. It is now possible to generate SCS files instead of SC Files during creation of shattered model --prepare_shattered_scs_parts.

Support for Screenspace Geometry During Authoring. When authoring models via libsc it is now possible to specify that geometry should not being affected by camera changes. For more information, see the ScreenSpace and ScreenSpaceStretched flags.

Web Viewer

API & UI for Editing and Exporting BCF Data. It is now possible to create and edit as well as export BCF data. Please see the API Reference for more info.

OnDemand Mode Now Supported for SCS Loading. The onDemand loading mode is now supported for SCS (non-streaming) loading, meaning that all geometry will be invisible at startup and can be requested after the model structure has been loaded.

Ability to Calculate Tight Bounding Box. It is now possible to calculate a bounding box that tightly fits transformed geometry within a node. See Model.getNodesBounding().

Server

HOOPS Server Now Available as a Library.

Functional Changes

HOOPS Communicator 2019 SP1 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2019, HOOPS Exchange 2019 SP1, and HOOPS Publish 2019 SP1.


HOOPS Communicator 2019

Linux Compiler Update. The Linux binaries for Communicator's server and authoring tools are now compiled with GCC 6.3.1 (specifically, the version from devtoolset-6 6.1 on CentOS 6.9) with -std=c++11. Please note that we are not using the C++11 ABI that is used by default by GCC 5 and later, so code that calls functions in libconverter (and probably any other code that interacts with that code) needs to be compiled with the -D_GLIBCXX_USE_CXX11_ABI=0 flag. Using this flag can prevent the compiler error detailed at the bottom of the FAQ page.

Enhancements

WebAssembly Support. The HOOPS Web Viewer is now available as a WebAssembly module. This change should improve overall performance of the Web Viewer and reduce the library size. The asm.js engine is still supported, primarily as a fallback when WebAssembly isn't available.

Converter & Authoring

Improved Support for Exchange to StreamCache Entity Mapping. Please see Programming Guide for more details about interoperability between HOOPS Exchange and StreamCache on a server.

HSF User Data Is Now Converted to SC. The following functions have been added to the Web Viewer API for accessing user-supplied data from HSF files: getNodeUserData() and getNodeUserDataIndices()

Support for additional visualization formats. See the Supported Formats page for more information.

Revit Now Officially Supported. For more information on Revit support in HOOPS Converter, please click here.

Support for Revit contains:

  • Import .rvt files and .rfa files
  • Import tessellated objects
  • Support for colour and transparency
  • Import 3d views (change visibility + set camera)

Not supported:

  • Links to external Revit files.
  • Views only handle the ability to change visibilities. You cannot change the LOD (level of detail), the color or rendering mode.
  • Revit metadata.
  • Floor plans or drawing sheets.
  • "Crop Region" from views.
  • Textures.
  • Instance: In case of identical .rfa files imported multiple times, the tessellation will simply be duplicated.

Web Viewer

Support for BCF Import. The Web Viewer can now read BCF files associated to an IFC model. See the Programming Guide for more information.

IFC Update. Type and GlobalID for IFC models are now directly accessible via the API. See the following functions from the Model class: model.getNodeGenericID() and model.getNodeGenericType()

Ground Shadow Support. See the API Reference for more information.

Ground Reflection Support. See the API Reference for more information.

Silhouette Edge Support. See the API Reference for more information.

DWG Enhancements. We've improved support for Sheets for 2D DWG drawings.

Custom Markup Import & Export. See registerMarkupTypeManager() and markupTypeManager for usage instructions, as well as the Markup Export developer example.

CAD Type and Filename. The type and filename of a CAD file can now be accessed in the Viewer. Please see the following functions for more information getModelFileNameFromNode() and getModelFileTypeFromNode().

Invisible Geometry in Selection. Invisible geometry can now be selected. There are two new masks that can be set in the PickConfig object:

New Developer Examples. Example code has been added to the Communicator package for:

  • Creating interactive cutting planes – see the Custom Cutting developer example.
  • Creating client-side text – see the 3D Text Insertion developer example.
  • Exporting markup – see the Markup Export developer example.

Measure Operator Update. The point-to-point measure operator MeasurePointPointDistanceOperator now snaps to closest line/line distance.

New Selection Documentation. A new section has been added to the Programming Guide for performing various selection operations in the Web Viewer.

Server

NodeJS-Based Server Reference Application. A new reference application based on NodeJS is now available in the Communicator package. Please see the Programming Guide for more information.

HOOPS Communicator 2019 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2018 SP2, HOOPS Exchange 2019, and HOOPS Publish 2019.


HOOPS Communicator 2018 SP2 U2

HOOPS Communicator 2018 SP2 U2 is a bug-fix release only.

Enhancements

  • HOOPS Communicator is now compatible with the 2019 release of HOOPS Exchange and HOOPS Publish.

HOOPS Communicator 2018 SP2 U2 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2018 SP2, HOOPS Exchange 2019, and HOOPS Publish 2019.


HOOPS Communicator 2018 SP2 U1

HOOPS Communicator 2018 SP2 U1 is a bug-fix release only.

Fixed Bugs

  • Performance regression for loading shattered models.
  • SVG export broken for some models.

HOOPS Communicator 2018 SP2 U1 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2018 SP2, HOOPS Exchange 2018 SP2 U2, and HOOPS Publish 2018 SP2 U2.


HOOPS Communicator 2018 SP2

Enhancements

Converter and Authoring

  • Ability to generate lines from tessellation.
    • Converter can now automatically create lines for models that only have faceted data and attach measurement data to them. To enable --sc_compute_lines true should be set.
      See the command line option Reference for more information.
  • Non-Compressed SCZ Support.
    • SCZ's can now be optionally created as uncompressed meaning that those files don't require decompression before they can be streamed. This can improve performance at the expense of disk space.
      To enable --sc_create_scz true and --sc_compress_scz false should be set.
  • Support for XT Export (requires exchange license).
  • Support for unit values in shattered XML.
  • Various Improvements to DWG Import (requires an Exchange license).
  • Ability to insert text via Java authoring API.

Viewer

Miscellaneous

HOOPS Communicator 2018 SP2 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2018 SP2, HOOPS Exchange 2018 SP2 U2, and HOOPS Publish 2018 SP2 U2.



HOOPS Communicator 2018 SP1 U1

Fixed Bugs

  • Selecting a face in the navigation cube example does not register [#32197]
  • WebViewer.takeSnapshot bug with redline markup [#32127]
  • Annotation Example Fixes [internal]
  • Shattered Model Fixes [internal]
  • HWF Import Fixes [internal]
  • Some View Orientations are incorrect [internal]
  • Selection broken with scale matrix applied to node [internal]
  • CAD View Frames not shown/hidden properly [internal]
  • Unable to switch to empty model [internal]
  • Markup view folder cleared out when switching sheets [internal]
  • Point Snapping incorrect [internal]
  • Missing DWG dll's in authoring sample [internal]

Enhancements

  • The loadSubtreeFromXML functions now support skipping over missing sc models instead of aborting.
  • Views and configurations for shattered parts are now ignored by default.

HOOPS Communicator 2018 SP1 U1 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2018 U2, HOOPS Exchange 2018 SP1 U1, and HOOPS Publish 2018 SP1 U1.



HOOPS Communicator 2018 SP1

Converter and Authoring

Viewer

Server

  • Various improvements and bug-fixes.

Fixed Bugs

  • [#29191] No view and wrong leaders in exported HTML
  • [#30708] dwg can't display Chinese
  • [#31689] Initial visibility in authoring is always set to true
  • [#31516] Model visibility is affected by mouse operator on navigation cube
  • [#31515] Inconsistent cutting plane behavior when markup is created
  • [#31549] Unable to deselect in XRay view mode
  • [#31543] License Exception when converting from DWFx to SCZ
  • [#30141] Improve DWG to PNG conversion
  • [#31109] Some Solidworks 2018 Assemblies zoomed in in initial view

HOOPS Communicator 2018 SP1 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2018 U2, HOOPS Exchange 2018 SP1 U1, and HOOPS Publish 2018 SP1 U1.



HOOPS Communicator 2018 Update 2

Fixed Bugs

HOOPS Communicator 2018 U2 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2018, HOOPS Exchange 2018 U3, and HOOPS Publish 2018 U3.



HOOPS Communicator 2018 Update 1

Fixed Bugs

HOOPS Communicator 2018 U1 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2018, HOOPS Exchange 2018 U2, and HOOPS Publish 2018 U2.



HOOPS Communicator 2018

Converter and Authoring

Viewer

Server

Fixed Bugs

Miscellaneous


HOOPS Communicator 2018 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2018, HOOPS Exchange 2018, and HOOPS Publish 2018.



HOOPS Communicator 2017 Service Pack 2 Update 1

Fixed Bugs

HOOPS Communicator 2017 SP2 U1 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2017 SP2, HOOPS Exchange 2017 SP2 U1, and HOOPS Publish 2017 SP2 U1.



HOOPS Communicator 2017 Service Pack 2

License Key

Since HOOPS Communicator 2017 SP1 a new license key specifically generated for HC2017 SP1 and above is required. Licenses generated for previous versions of HOOPS Communicator will not work. Please visit the HOOPS Communicator download page to generate a new key. The number of supported Import and Export formats you will have access to depends on your contract with Tech Soft 3D. Please refer to the supported formats page for more information.

Converter and Authoring

Viewer

Server

Fixed Customer Bugs

HOOPS Communicator 2017 SP2 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2017 SP2, HOOPS Exchange 2017 SP2, and HOOPS Publish 2017 SP2.



HOOPS Communicator 2017 Service Pack 1 Update 1

Fixed Bugs

HOOPS Communicator 2017 SP1 U1 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2017 SP1, HOOPS Exchange 2017 SP1 U1, and HOOPS Publish 2017 SP1 U1.



HOOPS Communicator 2017 Service Pack 1

License Key

HOOPS Communicator 2017 SP1 requires a new license key specifically generated for HC2017 SP1. Licenses generated for previous versions of HOOPS Communicator will not work. Please visit the HOOPS Communicator download page to generate a new key. The number of supported Import and Export formats you will have access to depends on your contract with Tech Soft 3D. Please refer to the supported formats page for more information.

Converter and Authoring

Viewer

Server

Fixed Bugs

HOOPS Communicator 2017 SP1 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2017 SP1, HOOPS Exchange 2017 SP1 U1, and HOOPS Publish 2017 SP1 U1.

 

HOOPS Communicator 2017 Update 1

Fixed Bugs

HOOPS Communicator 2017 U1 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2017 U1, HOOPS Exchange 2017 U2, and HOOPS Publish 2017 U2.



HOOPS Communicator 2017

Converter and Authoring

Functional Changes

Viewer

Functional Changes

Server

Functional Changes

Misc

Starting with this release, access to full CAD format import and export is only available to customers with a valid HOOPS Exchange license or a license to the HOOPS Web Platform.

HOOPS Communicator 2017 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2017, HOOPS Exchange 2017, and HOOPS Publish 2017.



HOOPS Communicator 2016 Service Pack 2 Update 1

Converter and Authoring

Viewer

Functional Changes

Server

Misc

HOOPS Communicator 2016 SP2 U1 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2016 SP2, HOOPS Exchange 2016 SP2, and HOOPS Publish 2016 SP2.

 

HOOPS Communicator 2016 Service Pack 2

Converter and Authoring

New documentation for Stream Cache has been added.

libconverter and libsc now ship with libraries for VS2013 and VS2015.

Viewer

Functional Changes

Server


A note on backwards compatibility:

Starting with this release, the Stream Cache Format will be backwards compatible meaning that all subsequent releases of HOOPS Communicator will be able to read Stream Cache Models created with previous versions from SP2 onward. Stream Cache Models created with SP1 or earlier releases of Communicator have to be reconverted from the original CAD data.

 

HOOPS Communicator 2016 SP2 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2016 SP2, HOOPS Exchange 2016 SP2, and HOOPS Publish 2016 SP2.

HOOPS Communicator 2016 Service Pack 1

Converter and Authoring

Viewer

Server

Misc

HOOPS Communicator 2016 SP1 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2016 SP1, HOOPS Exchange 2016 SP1 U2, and HOOPS Publish 2016 SP1 U2.


HOOPS Communicator 2016 Update 1

This release addresses a few critical bugs in the original package and contains updates to the documentation.

Converter and Authoring

Viewer

HOOPS Communicator 2016 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2016, HOOPS Exchange 2016 U3, and HOOPS Publish 2016 U3.


HOOPS Communicator 2016

This release represents a major rearchitecture of HOOPS Communicator. Improvements include a new high performance graphics engine built from scratch and a completely overhauled viewer API that maintains functional parity with Communicator 2015 while at the same time allowing for more flexible customization. By moving to a server/client architecture and the new compact and highly optimized "Stream Cache" format, Communicator now supports fast streaming of model data to the client and native support for on-demand loading and more advanced workflows. In addition, Communicator also ships with a library for data authoring that makes it easy to bring customer data into its native format.

Converter and Authoring

Viewer

Server

For information on transitioning from the previous release of HOOPS Communicator, please consult the transitioning guide in the documentation.

HOOPS Communicator 2016 is based on HOOPS Visualize 2016, HOOPS Exchange 2016 U3 and HOOPS Publish 2016 U3.