DEFINE STL FILES

Qingsong Wang's picture
Qingsong Wang
Fri, 04/09/2021 - 16:52
Forums: 
Data Exchange and Application Framework

Hello, everyone!

I have a question about exporting stl file. When I tried to export a shape to a stl file, all the faces are defined in one group. For my personal need, I want to define the faces in different group. Does anyone have ideas? Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,

Qingsong

Kirill Gavrilov's picture
Kirill Gavrilov
Fri, 04/09/2021 - 17:25

There is no "groups" in STL format - in traditional definition STL file may define only single SOLID object.
Though some applications may handle multiple SOLID entities in STL file (OCCT reader can do that).

If you need preserving structure information - consider using better formats like glTF.

Qingsong Wang's picture
Qingsong Wang
Sat, 04/10/2021 - 13:54

Thanks for your reply. I have another question, can I use OCCT reader to export a .stl file which inchludes different faces? 

Kirill Gavrilov's picture
Kirill Gavrilov
Mon, 04/12/2021 - 14:25

The reader cannot be used for exporting anything - it is designed for the opposite operation.

Technically you may dump shapes into several STL files and concatenate them manually into final file. But really, STL file is very simple format (and feature-less), so it should be simpler writing an own exporter.