STL export file size - UI versus CLI

I accidently found out STL files are much smaller when exported from the UI than when created from the CLI.

Using Windows, OpenSCAD 2021.01

// sample code, lots of detail for bigger STL demo
$fn=180;
sphere(10);

From UI, I press F6, then F7.
From CLI, I use:

openscad.com -o from-cli.stl stl-test.scad

Results:
from-ui.stl = 1,619,884 bytes in STL file

Parsing design (AST generation)...
Compiling design (CSG Tree generation)...
Rendering Polygon Mesh using CGAL...
Geometries in cache: 1
Geometry cache size in bytes: 2315672
CGAL Polyhedrons in cache: 0
CGAL cache size in bytes: 0
Total rendering time: 0:00:00.047
   Top level object is a 3D object:
   Facets:      32042
Rendering finished.

from-cli.stl = 6,594,615 bytes in STL file

Geometries in cache: 1
Geometry cache size in bytes: 2315672
CGAL Polyhedrons in cache: 0
CGAL cache size in bytes: 0
Total rendering time: 0:00:00.015
   Top level object is a 3D object:
   Facets:      32042

From what I see, the UI STL file is great. So I have two questions.

1. Is the UI file really 'as good'?
2. I am a fan of the CLI, can I get the same version of the UI STL via CLI as well? I you RTFM me, please add a deeplink ;-)

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Maybe a clue here? https://github.com/openscad/openscad/issues/1555

I accidently found out STL files are much smaller when exported from the UI than when created from the CLI.

Using Windows, OpenSCAD 2021.01

// sample code, lots of detail for bigger STL demo
$fn=180;
sphere(10);

>From UI, I press F6, then F7.
>From CLI, I use:

openscad.com -o from-cli.stl stl-test.scad

Results:
from-ui.stl = 1,619,884 bytes in STL file

Parsing design (AST generation)...
Compiling design (CSG Tree generation)...
Rendering Polygon Mesh using CGAL...
Geometries in cache: 1
Geometry cache size in bytes: 2315672
CGAL Polyhedrons in cache: 0
CGAL cache size in bytes: 0
Total rendering time: 0:00:00.047
   Top level object is a 3D object:
   Facets:      32042
Rendering finished.

from-cli.stl = 6,594,615 bytes in STL file

Geometries in cache: 1
Geometry cache size in bytes: 2315672
CGAL Polyhedrons in cache: 0
CGAL cache size in bytes: 0
Total rendering time: 0:00:00.015
   Top level object is a 3D object:
   Facets:      32042

>From what I see, the UI STL file is great. So I have two questions.

1. Is the UI file really 'as good'?
2. I am a fan of the CLI, can I get the same version of the UI STL via CLI as well? I you RTFM me, please add a deeplink ;-)

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On 2021-04-02 16:27, Adje wrote:
> I accidently found out STL files are much smaller when exported from
> the UI than when created from the CLI.

There are 2 kinds of STL files: Binary and ASCII. Binary is smaller and
better, but the ASCII variant will be ok in most cases.

I am guessing you get ASCII STL with CLI (but I have not checked).

Carsten Arnholm
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cacb wrote

There are 2 kinds of STL files: Binary and ASCII. Binary is smaller and
better, but the ASCII variant will be ok in most cases.

I am guessing you get ASCII STL with CLI (but I have not checked).

Carsten Arnholm

Ah, indeed ASCII vs binary. After attempting to read a STL file a long time ago, I assumed they would all be binary.

So I'll fiddle around with admesh as per the hint from mondo.

mondo wrote

Maybe a clue here? https://github.com/openscad/openscad/issues/1555

And there are already open issues considering this point, so no need to add more.

Thanks Carsten and mondo!

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On 02.04.21 17:24, Adje wrote:
> And there are already open issues considering this point, so
> no need to add more.

There is nothing to consider, both GUI and command line allow
to export both now.

For compatibility the command line export continues defaulting
to ASCII so not to break peoples automations that might rely
on that fact.

GUI defaults to binary now as we considered this should have
a minimal risk of breaking things, you can still revert to
ASCII via Preferences if you need to.

Command line --export-format supports "stl" = using the default
which is ASCII or force a specific format using either "binstl"
or "asciistl". Just run openscad --help as a reminder of allowed
values.

ciao,
  Torsten.
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Thank you Torsten for the additional pointers. Issue 1555 was some time ago, so great that it's addressed.

The manual page still has the old openscad --help output, so that threw me off there.

And those preferences... Once somebody tells you where to look, you can find it. As you saw from my original question, I had no idea that was what I was looking for.

tp3 wrote

On 02.04.21 17:24, Adje wrote:
> And there are already open issues considering this point, so
> no need to add more.

There is nothing to consider, both GUI and command line allow
to export both now.

For compatibility the command line export continues defaulting
to ASCII so not to break peoples automations that might rely
on that fact.

GUI defaults to binary now as we considered this should have
a minimal risk of breaking things, you can still revert to
ASCII via Preferences if you need to.

Command line --export-format supports "stl" = using the default
which is ASCII or force a specific format using either "binstl"
or "asciistl". Just run openscad --help as a reminder of allowed
values.

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