Rasterex APINPM Package/docs/current-architecture

Current Rasterex Architecture

Rasterex Canvas, Rasterex Engine, Rasterex Backend, and @rasterex/viewer: processing boundaries and customer data ownership.

Use This Page First

Use this page to establish the current product vocabulary before choosing an integration or interpreting an API reference. It prevents historical product names and legacy implementation patterns from being treated as current.

Current Product Stack

Rasterex Canvas is the embedded viewing and markup surface. Rasterex Engine processes documents server-side. Rasterex Backend provides the annotation and database service. Applications integrate through @rasterex/viewer or the documented PostMessage interface.

  • Rasterex Canvas: the embedded viewing and markup surface.
  • Rasterex Engine: server-side document processing.
  • Rasterex Backend: the annotation and database service.
  • `@rasterex/viewer`: the NPM SDK.
text
Host application → @rasterex/viewer → Rasterex Canvas
CAD document → Rasterex Engine → Rx2B → Rasterex Canvas
Annotations → Rasterex Backend → Customer-owned database
Current Product Stack

Data and Processing Boundaries

Customers host and own their database. Rasterex has no access to that database.

CAD files are processed server-side by the Rasterex Engine into Rasterex's own binary format (Rx2B), which Rasterex Canvas renders in the browser.

Rasterex supports 100+ file formats and has 40+ years of viewing technology.

  • Do not describe a customer database as Rasterex-hosted or Rasterex-accessible.
  • Do not present backend processing responsibilities as browser-side SDK behavior.

Integration Boundaries

NPM SDK Quick Start

Set up the current `@rasterex/viewer` package in a package-based application.

PostMessage Quick Start

Embed the Canvas viewing surface in an iframe and communicate through browser messages.

Package-based applications use the NPM SDK. Applications embedding the Canvas viewing surface in an iframe use browser messages. These integration modes have separate APIs and event contracts.

Use the documentation page for the selected integration mode. Do not infer an NPM SDK method from a browser-message command, or the reverse.

  • Choose the NPM SDK for package-based applications such as React, Next.js, Vue, Angular, Vite, and TypeScript applications.
  • Choose PostMessage only when the host embeds Canvas in an iframe and communicates through browser messages.
  • For an existing NPM project, preserve its installed @rasterex/viewer version and verify API shape against its declarations.

Safe Current Terminology

Use the same component names in documentation, diagrams, and AI guidance. Keep actual API identifiers, configuration keys, and installation paths unchanged.

Legacy Boundary

Rasterex Engine is part of the installed system. Separate legacy RxView360 viewer applications and their legacy installation paths are not the current customer installation path.

If legacy documentation appears to conflict with current documentation, the current documentation always takes precedence.