WriteSTL
VTKExamples/Cxx/IO/WriteSTL
Description
An [(file format)|STL file]]([wikipedia:STL) describes a triangulated three-dimensional surface by the unit normal and vertices (ordered by the right-hand rule) of the triangles. This example saves a 3D geometric data stored in a {{class|vtkPolyData}} to an STL file using {{class|vtkSTLWriter}}.
Code
WriteSTL.cxx
#include <vtkPolyData.h>
#include <vtkSTLWriter.h>
#include <vtkSTLReader.h>
#include <vtkSphereSource.h>
#include <vtkSmartPointer.h>
#include <vtkPolyDataMapper.h>
#include <vtkActor.h>
#include <vtkRenderWindow.h>
#include <vtkRenderer.h>
#include <vtkRenderWindowInteractor.h>
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
if(argc != 2)
{
std::cout << "Required parameters: filename.stl" << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::string filename = argv[1];
vtkSmartPointer<vtkSphereSource> sphereSource =
vtkSmartPointer<vtkSphereSource>::New();
sphereSource->Update();
vtkSmartPointer<vtkSTLWriter> stlWriter =
vtkSmartPointer<vtkSTLWriter>::New();
stlWriter->SetFileName(filename.c_str());
stlWriter->SetInputConnection(sphereSource->GetOutputPort());
stlWriter->Write();
// Read and display for verification
vtkSmartPointer<vtkSTLReader> reader =
vtkSmartPointer<vtkSTLReader>::New();
reader->SetFileName(filename.c_str());
reader->Update();
vtkSmartPointer<vtkPolyDataMapper> mapper =
vtkSmartPointer<vtkPolyDataMapper>::New();
mapper->SetInputConnection(sphereSource->GetOutputPort());
vtkSmartPointer<vtkActor> actor =
vtkSmartPointer<vtkActor>::New();
actor->SetMapper(mapper);
vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderer> renderer =
vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderer>::New();
vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindow> renderWindow =
vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindow>::New();
renderWindow->AddRenderer(renderer);
vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindowInteractor> renderWindowInteractor =
vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindowInteractor>::New();
renderWindowInteractor->SetRenderWindow(renderWindow);
renderer->AddActor(actor);
renderer->SetBackground(.3, .6, .3); // Background color green
renderWindow->Render();
renderWindowInteractor->Start();
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
CMakeLists.txt
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8)
PROJECT(WriteSTL)
find_package(VTK REQUIRED)
include(${VTK_USE_FILE})
add_executable(WriteSTL MACOSX_BUNDLE WriteSTL.cxx)
target_link_libraries(WriteSTL ${VTK_LIBRARIES})
Download and Build WriteSTL
Click here to download WriteSTL and its CMakeLists.txt file. Once the tarball WriteSTL.tar has been downloaded and extracted,
cd WriteSTL/build
If VTK is installed:
cmake ..
If VTK is not installed but compiled on your system, you will need to specify the path to your VTK build:
cmake -DVTK_DIR:PATH=/home/me/vtk_build ..
Build the project:
make
and run it:
./WriteSTL
WINDOWS USERS PLEASE NOTE: Be sure to add the VTK bin directory to your path. This will resolve the VTK dll's at run time.