HOOPS Visualize Desktop 2026.7.0

Overview

Tech Soft 3D is pleased to announce the release of HOOPS Visualize 2026.7.0. This release introduces expanded CAD interoperability, modernized Linux platform support, enhancements to model subwindow and label controls, and improvements to point cloud streaming and integration workflows across HOOPS Visualize Desktop and Visualize Web.

What’s New in HOOPS Visualize 2026.7.0

Expanded CAD & Point Cloud Format Interoperability

QIF Format Support for Desktop Applications

HOOPS Visualize now provides native capabilities to read and display Quality Information Framework (QIF) file data. This enables developers to seamlessly incorporate QIF model data into digital manufacturing and inspection workflows.

E57 Point Cloud Import Support

Support for the E57 point cloud file format has been integrated into the point cloud import interface. Developers can now ingest E57 point cloud files directly into HPS databases for high-performance visualization.

Sprocket Point Cloud

A dedicated Sprocket Point Cloud has been added to the API, taking the place of HPS::PointCloud. This facilitates modular integration and distribution for desktop visualization applications and web applications through the Visualize Web SDK.

Model Subwindow and Label Handling Interfaces

New interface options in HPS enhance control over label subwindows attached to 3D models:

Automatic Camera Tracking: Subwindows no longer require manual application updates during camera movements; position and orientation sync automatically.
Natural Z-Sorting: Subwindows can now be depth-sorted naturally alongside model geometry while retaining the ability to set priority overrides for specialized annotation displays.

Quality and Stability Enhancements

In addition to feature enhancements, HOOPS Visualize 2026.7.0 delivers several targeted bug fixes and stability improvements across core rendering modules:

HSF Export Compatibility: Addressed backward-compatibility issues when exporting HSF files to ensure files saved in current releases can be reliably loaded in earlier versions of HOOPS Visualize.
Text Formatting & Attributes: Resolved an unexpected crash when applying character attributes (SetCharacterAttributes) to strings containing Unicode characters.
Visual Selection & Rendering Performance: Resolved a crash in the visual selection algorithm and optimized cut-geometry generation performance during model translation.
Qt Integration: Corrected a layout layer issue where HOOPS widgets rendered on top of overlapping QGraphicsItem elements in Qt-based applications.
Transformed Text Overlaps: Fixed display issues where transformed background mask text overlapped during zoom operations.

Technology Updates

Library Compatibility Information

Library name	Version	Notes
Android NDK	r27
HOOPS Exchange	2026.7.0	Android support is limited. See the programming guide.
HOOPS Visualize Web HTML Sprocket	2026.6.0	Formerly the HOOPS Communicator HTML Sprocket. Only works with Visual Studio toolset 142.
HOOPS Visualize Web Streaming Sprocket (HCA)	2025.3.0	Formerly the HOOPS Communicator Streaming Sprocket. Only works with Visual Studio toolset 142.
.NET Framework	4.8	Required for Visual Studio v14.2 libraries and samples.
.NET Standard	2.0	Required for Visual Studio 2019 (toolset 142) and 2022 (toolset 143).
.NET Core	8.0	Required for Visual Studio 2022 (toolset 143).
Parasolid	35.1	For iOS platforms, support is limited to 64-bit platforms for the Parasolid Sprockets (hps_sprk_parasolid and hps_sprk_exchange_parasolid).
RealDWG	2023	RealDWG 2023 is only compatible with Visual Studio 2019 (v142 toolchain)
RealDWG	2025	RealDWG 2025 is only compatible with Visual Studio 2022 (v143 toolchain)
Qt	5.12.7
SketchUp	2023	VS2019 Redistributable required, and only x64 Sketchup is supported

Third-Party Library Updates

Library	New Version
libE57Format	3.1.1
Xerces-C++	3.2.5
libtiff	4.7.2

libE57Format and Xerces-C++ are new dependencies introduced by the E57 point cloud import added in this release.

Platform Changes

Linux hosts without a GPU HPS core no longer links OpenGL itself, so it starts up on headless build agents, containers and hosts with no graphics driver. Your build is unaffected: applications that link HPS still get OpenGL exactly as before. GLU was never used and is no longer linked on any platform.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 (RHEL 8) Support

Linux binaries now support Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 deployments by targeting an updated toolchain configuration compatible with older libstdc++ runtime environments, ensuring seamless integration across enterprise Linux clusters.

HOOPS Visualize Web (HVW) 2026.6.0 Integration

The underlying HOOPS Visualize Web dependency across HPS components has been updated to version 2026.6.0, bringing updated web rendering components and performance optimizations to HTML and web-connected workflows.

New Features

New Functions / Capabilities

E57 point cloud import HOOPS Visualize Desktop now reads ASTM E57 (.e57) files, the format most laser scanners and reality-capture tools export. Import them with HPS::v2::PointCloud::File::Import. Per-point color and intensity are read from the file when present. Each scan is imported into its own subsegment with its own pose, so you can handle scans individually. Spherical coordinates are not supported, and E57 import ships on Windows in this release. See Notes on Point Cloud Files.
Point-anchored subwindows A subwindow can now be anchored to an object-space point instead of a window-relative rectangle. A callout or a label then stays attached to the geometry it annotates as the camera moves.
Subwindow sorting SetSubwindowSorting draws them in segment-priority order instead of visitation order, with depth breaking ties. Selection follows the same order, so what you click is what you see on top. See Subwindow Sorting.
HSF export version HPS::Stream::ExportOptionsKit::SetTargetVersion pins the export to a file-format version you choose. HPS::Stream::ImportResultsKit::ShowVersion reports the version you just loaded. Both are available in the HOOPS Demo Viewer HSF export dialog.

QIF import You can now open Quality Information Framework files, used to exchange dimensional metrology and inspection results. The new HPS::Exchange::File::Format::QIF enumerator identifies them. QIF ships on Windows in this release.
Exchange format discovery Four new functions on HPS::Exchange::File report the formats, names and file patterns Exchange supports on the current platform. Build your filter from them and it stays correct as formats come and go. See Discovering Supported Formats.

New Drivers

No new drivers in this release.

API Changes

New API Functions

The functions behind the features above, grouped by the class they belong to.

HPS::SubwindowKit and HPS::SubwindowControl

SetSubwindow(Point const & in_subwindow_point_position, IntRectangle const & in_subwindow_offsets) - defines a subwindow from an object-space anchor point and pixel-space offsets.
ShowSubwindow(Point & out_subwindow_point_position, IntRectangle & out_subwindow_offsets) const - returns true only when the subwindow was defined by a point.
SetSubwindowSorting(bool in_sorting = true), UnsetSubwindowSorting(), ShowSubwindowSorting(bool & out_sorting) const.

HPS::Stream::ExportOptionsKit

SetTargetVersion(unsigned int in_version), UnsetTargetVersion(), ShowTargetVersion(unsigned int & out_version) const.

HPS::Stream::ImportResultsKit

SetVersion(unsigned int in_version), UnsetVersion(), ShowVersion(unsigned int & out_version) const.

HPS::v2::PointCloud::ImportResultsKit

SegmentKeyArray ShowPointCloudSegments() const - the subsegments created for each scan in the imported file, in import order. Currently populated for E57 imports only; empty otherwise.

HPS::Exchange::File

Format::QIF - new enumerator for Quality Information Framework files. Windows only.
FormatArray - typedef std::vector<Format, HPS::Allocator<Format>>.
static FormatArray GetFormats() - every format importable on the current platform. Formats absent from the running configuration are not returned, and Format::Unsupported is never returned.
static UTF8 GetFormatName(Format in_format) - short, user-facing name, e.g. "QIF".
static UTF8 GetFormatDescription(Format in_format) - file-dialog friendly description, e.g. "Quality Information Framework Files".
static UTF8Array GetFormatFilePatterns(Format in_format) - lower-case filename globs ready for a file dialog, e.g. {"*.stp", "*.step", "*.stpz", "*.stp.z"} for Format::STEP. The most common pattern comes first. Empty for Format::Unsupported.

Functional Changes

Per-character text attribute ranges The attribute array is now sized to the range you ask for, not to the length of the string on the kit. The result no longer depends on whether you call SetText before or after SetCharacterAttributes.
SetCharacterAttributes default count For the single-kit overload it is now 1 instead of std::numeric_limits<size_t>::max(), so an unqualified call now styles one character rather than the rest of the string. For the array overloads, the effective default is the length of the supplied array. Code that relied on the old “to end of text” default must now pass the count explicitly.

Note

This is a source-compatible but behavior-changing modification. Review any call to SetCharacterAttributes that omits in_count.
HPS::TextKit::UnsetCharacterAttributes now leaves the kit untouched when in_offset is past the end of the attribute array.
Subwindow priority scope Segment priority normally orders sibling segments only. When subwindow sorting is enabled on a window ancestor, priority instead orders every subwindow segment beneath that ancestor.

Documentation Changes

The Programming Guide has a new Subwindow Sorting section. The Subwindow Priority section now states that priority alone orders only subwindows sharing a common parent.
Notes on Point Cloud Files now covers E57 import.
HSF Export now covers targeting a file-format version on export, and reading it back on import.
Supported File Formats now lists E57 among the importable point cloud formats.

A new Discovering Supported Formats section shows how to build a file dialog filter.

Deprecations

HPS Core PointCloud (reminder, deprecated in 2026.6.0) HPS::PointCloud in HPS Core is deprecated in favor of HPS::v2::PointCloud, and targeted for removal in HPS 2028.1.0. New functionality, including E57 import, goes only to HPS::v2::PointCloud.
PointCloud import returning a notifier (reminder) HPS::v2::PointCloud::File::Import(char const * in_file_name, ImportOptionsKit const & in_options) remains deprecated. Use the overload that takes an ImportNotifier as a parameter.
Support for Visual Studio 2019 (toolchain 14.2) and .Net 8 will be discontinued starting with HOOPS Visualize Desktop 2027.1.0, planned for release in January 2027.
Support for macOS on Intel architecture will be discontinued starting with HOOPS Visualize Desktop 2027.1.0, planned for release in January 2027 due to the end of support in MacOS 27.
HOOPS Communicator sprocket (HCA) is deprecated and will be removed in HPS 2027.1.0.

Fixed Bugs

Issue	Description
SDHV-21649	Added an option to export HSF at an desired version
SDHV-21614	Removed the text-length limit on character attributes, fixing data loss and crashes.
SDHV-21609	Guarded against depth peeling during visual selection, fixing a crash
SDHV-21539	Stopped text labels with backgrounds from overlapping when zooming in and out
SDHV-21399	Sped up OOC point cloud preprocessing by replacing slow string stream parsing
SDHV-21346	Fixed slow scene updates when a modelling matrix was added to a cut model

Fixed CVEs

Issue	Description
VIZ-7722	libtiff upgraded to 4.7.2.