xeokit Model Formats

Import, export, and conversion support for multiple 3D and BIM file formats

Overview

This module allows applications to load, parse, encode, and export models in a variety of 3D, BIM, and point cloud formats. Every format ships behind a uniform ModelLoader / ModelExporter interface so tooling and applications can work with multiple formats through one API.

Shape

classDiagram
    direction TB
    class ModelLoader {
      <<abstract>>
      +format         : string
      +versions       : string[]
      +fileDataType   : string
      +load(params, options?) Promise~void~
    }
    class ModelExporter {
      <<abstract>>
      +format         : string
      +versions       : string[]
      +fileDataType   : string
      +write(params, options?) Promise~fileData~
    }
    class ModelParser {
      <<abstract>>
      +parse(params) Promise~void~
    }
    class ModelEncoder {
      <<abstract>>
      +encode(params) Promise~fileData~
    }
    class GeometryFormats {
      gltf / ifc / dotbim / las / xgf / xkt
      cityjson / obj / mtl / rvm / step
    }
    class XeokitNativeFormats {
      scenemodel / datamodel / metamodel
    }
    ModelLoader <|-- GeometryFormats
    ModelExporter <|-- GeometryFormats
    ModelLoader <|-- XeokitNativeFormats
    ModelExporter <|-- XeokitNativeFormats

Features

• Uniform loader / exporter interface — every format subclasses ModelLoader or ModelExporter so callers can swap formats without changing call shape.
• Multi-version per format — many formats (XGF, XKT, glTF) ship multiple readers / writers under one class; version selects which one to use, defaulting to the latest.
• Cooperative yields — every loader / exporter honours the yieldToHost interval so very large files don't block the host's UI thread.
• Progress reporting — options.onProgress fires from inside loader / exporter hot loops at ~60 Hz; pair with SDKProgress for typed updates.
• AbortSignal cancellation — loaders and exporters check options.signal.aborted at every yield and reject with DOMException("Aborted", "AbortError") when the caller cancels.
• Browser-side I/O — file fetches go through BrowserFileIO, which wraps the fetch API.

Supported Formats

The following formats are supported:

• gltf – glTF and GLB
• ifc – Industry Foundation Classes (IFC)
• cityjson – CityJSON
• dotbim – DotBIM
• las – LAS / LAZ point cloud formats
• xkt – xeokit XKT
• xgf – xeokit Geometry Format
• obj – Wavefront OBJ
• mtl – Wavefront MTL
• rvm – AVEVA RVM
• step – ISO 10303-21 STEP (.step / .stp)
• scenemodel – xeokit SceneModel
• datamodel – xeokit DataModel
• metamodel – xeokit Metadata and schema-level information (legacy support)

Each format's namespace typically provides one or more of the following:

• Loaders for importing external files
• Exporters for writing files from xeokit models
• Parsers and encoders for converting intermediate representations

SceneModel and DataModel Formats

In addition to external file formats, this module includes support for xeokit's native JSON-based serialization formats:

• scenemodel – Serialization of SceneModels
• datamodel – Serialization of DataModels
• metamodel – Serialization of metadata and schema-level information (legacy support)

These formats are typically used for persistence, interchange between applications, or pre-processing workflows.

Generic Import and Export APIs

The module defines generic base types that are shared across format implementations:

• ModelLoader / ModelLoaderParams
• ModelParser / ModelParseParams
• ModelEncoder / ModelEncodeParams
• ModelExporter / ModelExporterParams

These abstractions allow tooling and applications to work with multiple formats through a consistent API, independent of the underlying file type.