1. Set Up Your Environment

Contents

This documentation provides step-by-step instructions for setting up your environment for developing with HOOPS Exchange using C.

The process includes installing a development environment, downloading and extracting the library package, obtaining and configuring the license, and testing the installation using sample codes.

1.1. Installing Your Development Environment

WindowsLinuxmacOSiOSAndroid

Developing applications with HOOPS Exchange for Windows is typically done using the Visual Studio Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

To get started, visit the Microsoft Visual Studio download page and choose the edition of Visual Studio that suits your needs. During the installation process, make sure to select at least the Desktop development with C++ component set.

Additionally, verify that your installed compiler adheres to the HOOPS Exchange platform requirements.

After completing the installation, restart your computer to ensure that all changes take effect.

1.2. Installing HOOPS Exchange

New EvaluatorExisting Partner

1. Getting HOOPS Exchange:

   This is your first visit to our website, and neither you nor your company has ever used or licensed our products before:

   • Go to our User Dashboard page and click the Sign Up link.

     

   • Create your self-evaluation account. You will be emailed a link to verify your account details.

   • Once you’ve verified your account, click on Product Downloads and then Download HOOPS Exchange to be taken to the Developer Zone.

     

   • Lastly, click the Download button for your chosen operating system.

     

   If you are on a Windows or Linux platform, you may download the Installer or the ZIP file. macOS users must use the ZIP file. To download the iOS or Android package, please Contact Us.

   

   Read the Package Description page for more information about the download package content.

   • Installer: Run the installer and follow the instructions to install the package on your local machine.
   • ZIP file: Locate the downloaded package file, which is a zip archive.

   You can use either a built-in extractor or third-party software to extract the contents to your chosen destination folder.

2. Obtaining, Setting Up and Checking the License:

   Before you can use this product, you must have a valid HOOPS Exchange license:

   • If you are using the Installer, you’ll be required to input the license key to complete installation of the SDK.

   • The generated key is permanent and accessible from the Developer Zone at any time during your evaluation.

     

   If you are using the ZIP file, you will need to copy and paste your new license key into the license file available in your installation folder:

   • Locate the folder where you have previously extracted HOOPS Exchange on your system.

   • Navigate to the ../include/ directory.

   • Edit the file hoops_license.h and enter your new license key.

     

   From the Developer Zone, clicking Active Evaluations at the top right of the page and then License Key will give you access to your license status.

   

   HOOPS Exchange only requires a new license key if you are currently using a key which was generated for a prior major version. For example, developers upgrading from HE 2024.0.0 to HE 2024.1.0 may use the same key, but those upgrading from 2023.0.0 to 2024.0.0 need to generate a new key.

   The expiration date for the generated license key is tied to your contract with Tech Soft 3D. If you have signed a license agreement for HOOPS Exchange, then the license key that is generated will be a perpetual (non-expiring) license key. If you are evaluating HOOPS Exchange, then the license key will expire when your evaluation expires. Evaluation license keys will expire at the end of the evaluation period and are not suitable for production software. Any software that uses an evaluation license key will no longer work after the evaluation period.

   HOOPS Exchange releases are not binary compatible with older releases. You must recompile your application when updating to a new version of HOOPS Exchange. Please see Distributing Your Application section for an up-to-date list of binaries required for distribution.

1.3. Testing the Installation

Now that you’ve completed the setup and successfully configured a valid HOOPS Exchange license, it’s time to test the installation using sample codes provided with HOOPS Exchange.

Locate the folder where you have previously extracted HOOPS Exchange on your system and navigate to the ../samples/ directory:

CMake (All platforms)WindowsLinuxmacOSiOSAndroid

Since HOOPS Exchange 2025.4.0, we provide CMake support for our sample code.

You need CMake version 3.20.2 or higher.

The example code projects follow a typical CMake workflow. If you are familiar with CMake, no special steps are required. If you are new to CMake, we recommend the official tutorial from Kitware.

To learn more or to download CMake, visit the official website.

Check if you have CMake

You can check if CMake is installed by running the following command in your terminal or command prompt:

cmake --version

This will show the version of CMake on your system. If you do not have it, or if the version is lower than 3.20.2, you should install a newer version.

You can download the installer from the CMake downloads page. There are versions for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Building sample code with the CMake UI

CMake has a graphical interface that can help you set up your project step by step. This is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

First, open the CMake application.

• In the field Where is the source code, choose the folder that contains the sample code.
• In the field Where to build the binaries, choose a different empty folder. This is where the build files will be created.

Click the Configure button. CMake will ask you which compiler or tool you want to use (see Supported Platforms). After configuration, you will see some options you can change if needed.

Click Generate to create the project files.

Now you can open the generated project in your IDE and build it there.

Building sample code from the command line (POSIX)

If you prefer to use the terminal, you can also run CMake from the command line.

First, create a new folder for the build:

$ mkdir build
$ cd build

Then run CMake with the path to the sample code:

$ cmake ../path/to/samples -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release

If you want to choose a specific compiler or generator, you can add the -G option:

$ cmake ../path/to/samples -G "Visual Studio 17 2022"

Once CMake finishes, you can build the code with this command:

$ cmake --build . --config Release

CMake will automatically run the correct build tool, such as make, ninja, or msbuild, depending on what you selected.

After building, you will find the compiled sample programs in the folder named sample_bin/ at the root of your build directory.

1.4. Conclusion

You have successfully set up your environment for HOOPS Exchange, including Visual Studio installation, package download and extraction, license configuration, and testing using sample codes.

You are now ready to start working with HOOPS Exchange. If you encounter any issues or have questions, please refer to our support resources or forum.

You are now ready for our next tutorial: File-to-File Translation.