.stl file format of 3D Systems Stereolithography: Go parsing library

STL files are used to represent simple 3D models, defined using triangular 3D faces.

Initially it was introduced as native format for 3D Systems Stereolithography CAD system, but due to its extreme simplicity, it was adopted by a wide range of 3D modelling, CAD, rapid prototyping and 3D printing applications as the simplest 3D model exchange format.

STL is extremely bare-bones format: there are no complex headers, no texture / color support, no units specifications, no distinct vertex arrays. Whole model is specified as a collection of triangular faces.

There are two versions of the format (text and binary), this spec describes binary version.

Application

3D Systems Stereolithography

File extension

stl

KS implementation details

License: CC0-1.0

References

This page hosts a formal specification of .stl file format of 3D Systems Stereolithography using Kaitai Struct. This specification can be automatically translated into a variety of programming languages to get a parsing library.

Go source code to parse .stl file format of 3D Systems Stereolithography

stl.go

// Code generated by kaitai-struct-compiler from a .ksy source file. DO NOT EDIT.

import "github.com/kaitai-io/kaitai_struct_go_runtime/kaitai"


/**
 * STL files are used to represent simple 3D models, defined using
 * triangular 3D faces.
 * 
 * Initially it was introduced as native format for 3D Systems
 * Stereolithography CAD system, but due to its extreme simplicity, it
 * was adopted by a wide range of 3D modelling, CAD, rapid prototyping
 * and 3D printing applications as the simplest 3D model exchange
 * format.
 * 
 * STL is extremely bare-bones format: there are no complex headers, no
 * texture / color support, no units specifications, no distinct vertex
 * arrays. Whole model is specified as a collection of triangular
 * faces.
 * 
 * There are two versions of the format (text and binary), this spec
 * describes binary version.
 */
type Stl struct {
	Header []byte
	NumTriangles uint32
	Triangles []*Stl_Triangle
	_io *kaitai.Stream
	_root *Stl
	_parent interface{}
}
func NewStl() *Stl {
	return &Stl{
	}
}

func (this *Stl) Read(io *kaitai.Stream, parent interface{}, root *Stl) (err error) {
	this._io = io
	this._parent = parent
	this._root = root

	tmp1, err := this._io.ReadBytes(int(80))
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	tmp1 = tmp1
	this.Header = tmp1
	tmp2, err := this._io.ReadU4le()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	this.NumTriangles = uint32(tmp2)
	for i := 0; i < int(this.NumTriangles); i++ {
		_ = i
		tmp3 := NewStl_Triangle()
		err = tmp3.Read(this._io, this, this._root)
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}
		this.Triangles = append(this.Triangles, tmp3)
	}
	return err
}

/**
 * Each STL triangle is defined by its 3 points in 3D space and a
 * normal vector, which is generally used to determine where is
 * "inside" and "outside" of the model.
 */
type Stl_Triangle struct {
	Normal *Stl_Vec3d
	Vertices []*Stl_Vec3d
	Abr uint16
	_io *kaitai.Stream
	_root *Stl
	_parent *Stl
}
func NewStl_Triangle() *Stl_Triangle {
	return &Stl_Triangle{
	}
}

func (this *Stl_Triangle) Read(io *kaitai.Stream, parent *Stl, root *Stl) (err error) {
	this._io = io
	this._parent = parent
	this._root = root

	tmp4 := NewStl_Vec3d()
	err = tmp4.Read(this._io, this, this._root)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	this.Normal = tmp4
	for i := 0; i < int(3); i++ {
		_ = i
		tmp5 := NewStl_Vec3d()
		err = tmp5.Read(this._io, this, this._root)
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}
		this.Vertices = append(this.Vertices, tmp5)
	}
	tmp6, err := this._io.ReadU2le()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	this.Abr = uint16(tmp6)
	return err
}

/**
 * In theory (per standard), it's "attribute byte count" with
 * no other details given on what "attribute" is and what
 * should be stored in this field.
 * 
 * In practice, software dealing with STL either expected to
 * see 0 here, or uses this 16-bit field per se to store
 * additional attributes (such as RGB color of a vertex or
 * color index).
 */
type Stl_Vec3d struct {
	X float32
	Y float32
	Z float32
	_io *kaitai.Stream
	_root *Stl
	_parent *Stl_Triangle
}
func NewStl_Vec3d() *Stl_Vec3d {
	return &Stl_Vec3d{
	}
}

func (this *Stl_Vec3d) Read(io *kaitai.Stream, parent *Stl_Triangle, root *Stl) (err error) {
	this._io = io
	this._parent = parent
	this._root = root

	tmp7, err := this._io.ReadF4le()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	this.X = float32(tmp7)
	tmp8, err := this._io.ReadF4le()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	this.Y = float32(tmp8)
	tmp9, err := this._io.ReadF4le()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	this.Z = float32(tmp9)
	return err
}