VRML Reader

VRML
File Extension WRL, VRML
Supported Versions 1.0 and 2.0
Platforms
Tessellation Supported
B-Rep N/A
PMI N/A

VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) is a file format used to create 3D interactive scenes and objects for the web. It was developed in the 1990s to represent virtual reality environments in a standard format that could be easily shared and viewed over the internet. VRML files contain information about the geometry, appearance, and behavior of 3D objects and can include textures, colors, animations, and interactivity.

VRML files are plain text files with a .wrl extension. They use a hierarchical tree structure of objects (nodes) to describe a 3D scene.

The VRML Reader provides full access to the assembly, view, PMI data stored within a VRML file. The file extensions of VRML files that you can expect are:

  • .VMRL
  • .WRL

HOOPS Exchange geometry access for VRML includes:

  • Tessellation: Mesh or polygonal geometry is imported directly.
  • B-rep: Not present in this format - HOOPS Exchange treats it as tessellation only.

How to Import From VRML

If you are new to reading models with HOOPS Exchange, see the basic load workflow </guide/basic_operations/load_model>` section of the Programming Guide.

To load a VRML, use A3DAsmModelFileLoadFromFile().

Below, the A3DParamsLoadData structure is used to customize the loading behavior. See our API reference manual for more information about this important data type.

A3DAsmModelFile* pModelFile = 0;

A3DRWParamsLoadData sReadParam;
A3D_INITIALIZE_DATA(A3DRWParamsLoadData, sReadParam);
sReadParam.m_sGeneral.m_bReadSolids = true;

// ... set other A3DRWParamsLoadData fields as necessary

A3DAsmModelFileLoadFromFile("path/to/file.vrml", &sReadParam, &pModelFile);

See Simple Load and Export for general information about loading model files.

Tessellation

The triangle information along with the RGBA coloring and texture information is parsed and provided via HOOPS Exchange.

B-Rep

This concept is not supported by VRML.

PMI

This concept is not supported by VRML.

Assembly

This concept is not supported by VRML. However, many VRML files may contain multiple components or objects. Once loaded, HOOPS Exchange represents these as a model tree that you can traverse using the standard structure APIs.

To learn more about how HOOPS Exchange handles assemblies, see our tutorial about assembly traversal.

Views

This concept is not supported by VRML.