wCAX File Format User Guide

VCollab Pro offers the option to export your viewpoints in 3D to either HTML or wCAX file type. Both files contain identical simulation data but the wCAX doesn’t contain the Web Viewer platform in the file itself like the HTML. This is to say the wCAX is not viewable on its own but requires the VCollab Web Viewer to be accessed first then the wCAX can be opened in the viewer. Options and instructions on how to use wCAX are below.

Generate wCAX File

To generate a WCAX file, in VCollab go to File > Export > Export wCAX/HTML. From the dialog that pops up, select the … next to the file path. In the file browser, select the Save as type dropdown and select Web CAX file(*.wcax). This will save a wCAX in the specified file path.

Working With wCAX

wCAX files are generally much smaller than the HTML alternative. This is due to the fact that HTML files are completely self-contained (data and visualizer) whereas wCAX is not (just the data). In order to view a wCAX then, the visualizer needs to be accessed separately. This can be done in any different ways.

Option 1

The first is by accessing the HTML viewer in the VCollab installation directory. In your VCollab installation location, there is a file called WCAXVIEWER.html. Double click this file to open the blank VCollab Web Viewer and the drag/drop a wCAX file into the viewer or go to the File Open button in the top left (next to VCollab logo) to navigate to the wCAX file.

You can also share with viewer file with anyone that doesn’t have VCollab installed and they can open the viewer first then open the wCAX after.

Sample location: C:\Program Files\VCollab\22.3\VCollabProX\WCAXVIEWER.html

Option 2

Host the wCAXViewer on a web platform and share as a link.

For example, if you go to https://apps.vcollab.com/vcollabweb/ you can see the blank VCollab Web Viewer and drag/drop in wCAX files for easy viewing. This can be done by anyone using the WCAXVIEWER.html file discussed in Option 1 and can be configured behind any company firewall or network restriction by IT teams as well.

Option 3

You can also drag/drop a wCAX file into any existing VCollab HTML file. So, if the person receiving the wCAX file doesn’t have access to VCollab or the wCAXViewer.html file, you can share with them a dummy, small blank HTML file and instruct them to open that one first, then drag/drop the wCAX into that window to view the data in the wCAX.

Try these options for yourself with the attached HTML and wCAX files!