STL Format

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The STL format (both its ASCII and binary variants) is read by LoaderSTL. This library only loads STL files — there is no STL writer; to export a mesh you loaded from STL, convert it into one of the writable formats instead (Binary v2 Format or JSON Format).

Loading an STL file

final var loader = new LoaderSTL(new File("model.stl"));
final var it = loader.load();
while (it.hasNext()) {
    final var chunk = it.next();
    final float[] vertices = chunk.getVerticesCoordinatesData();
    final float[] normals = chunk.getNormalsData();
    final int[] indices = chunk.getIndicesData();
    // process the chunk's geometry here
}

The LoaderSTL(File) constructor throws IOException; load() throws LockedException, NotReadyException, IOException and LoaderException; LoaderIterator.next() throws NotAvailableException, LoaderException and IOException (omitted above for brevity).

ASCII vs. binary STL is detected automatically from the file’s own content (the first 5 bytes are checked against "solid") — the caller never needs to specify which variant a file uses.

Related classes

Class Source Javadoc

LoaderSTL

Source

Javadoc

Loader

Source

Javadoc

LoaderIterator

Source

Javadoc

DataChunk

Source

Javadoc

LoaderException

Source

Javadoc

LockedException

Source

Javadoc

NotReadyException

Source

Javadoc

NotAvailableException

Source

Javadoc

Notes

  • STL only carries geometry: chunk.getNormalsData() returns each triangle’s facet normal duplicated onto its 3 vertices. chunk.getTextureCoordinatesData() and chunk.getColorData() are always null, and no material is ever set — STL has no texture, color or material support in this library.

  • loader.getNumberOfVertices() is only populated for binary STL files (computed from the file’s triangle count); for ASCII files it stays 0.

  • loader.getSolidName() is only populated for ASCII files (read from the solid <name> header line); binary STL has no name field.

  • Large files are read a chunk at a time (maxVerticesInChunk, default 65535) instead of being held entirely in memory.