CAD File Node

Node Development
1

Hello ,

i am creating a new node that reads a CAD file (.stl) . but i have a problem in the node MODEL class . i do not know

which library and its classes in knime SDK  should i use to make the node read this kind of files . Is any one who can help me . Thanx in advance.

Tony

2

Although I'm not an official KNIME representative, I would not assume that there's an existing library or class within KNIME to parse such kind of files.

I would rather look if there is some general standalone Java library which you can use to parse the format and integrate that within your KNIME node plugin (a Google search brings up some results which look quite promising). At the end this just means copying a JAR file to your plugin and specifying it in your classpath.

Hope that helps,
Philipp

3

Are you making a cell type to cover the input? If you are just creating a StringCell representation then you can use one of the existing file readers. The Load-text-based files node from the Vernalis community contribution should be able to read the contents for you. 

Otherwise, as Phillip said maybe look at a library such as:http://code.j3d.org/ which appears to have a reader. 

Cheers

Sam

 

 

4

Thank you Philipp and Sam . I already added the JAVA 3d library to eclipse. but my question is i need to know which classes can help me to read a CAD file and when i click EXECUTE on the node i want to visualize this file . as example my CAD file is a mans Head . when i click execute should this head appers and it should moved in 3d left to right or whatever with the crouser of the mouse . Thanks again for Your answers.

Tony

5

that's not really how KNIME works.

You would need to develop a workflow along these lines (and create your nodes where they don't exist)

STL Reader -> STL Object Viewer

The STL Reader parses the stl file and creates the object of an appropriate type (you may need to create this type). The Viewer then allows the visualisation of these that you can manipulate. 

You could also create a 2D renderer so they can be viewed in the cells in the table. 

I'm not familiar with stl files or j3d so couldn't give any more in depth advice without trying to implement myself. 

6

THANKS again SAM . forget the visualizing, i dont know which classes and methods could be used to read such a file. because it canot be implemented as a table of rows and columns . it should be viewed as an image in the node . but thanks again and best Regards .

Tony