NAME

PDL::IO::STL - read/write 3D stereolithography files

SYNOPSIS

            

              
              
use PDL;
use PDL::IO::STL;
($vertices, $faceidx, $colours) = rstl('owl.stl'); # read an STL file
wstl('file.stl', $vertices, $faceidx, $colours); # write an STL file
            
          

DESCRIPTION

Normal-vector information is currently ignored. The "attribute byte count", used sometimes to store colour information, is currently ignored.

This module is based on CAD::Format::STL, but with binmode on opened filehandles and little-endian (i.e. network) order forced on the binary format.

FUNCTIONS

rstl

Read an STL file (ASCII or binary), returning vertices and face-indices.

            

              
              
($vertices, $faceidx, $colours) = rstl('owl.stl'); # read an STL file
            
          

wstl

Simple PDL STL writer

            

              
              
wstl 'file.stl', $vertices, $faceidx;
wstl 'file.stl', $vertices, $faceidx, \%OPTIONS;
wstl $fh, $vertices, $faceidx, \%OPTIONS;
            
          

Passing a file-handle is supported, so multiple parts can be written to an ASCII file with several calls.

wstl accepts several options that may be passed in as a hash ref if desired:

mode (default='binary')

Whether to write out the file as ASCII or binary.

name (default='part')

The part name to use.

AUTHOR

Ed J, based on Eric Wilhelm's code in CAD::Format::STL.