Sharing Models
You share a model as a link, not an attachment. The recipient opens the running machine in their browser without logging in, installing software or downloading a viewer. You set the recipient’s permissions when you create the link, and those permissions remain fixed.
The GLB contains everything the link needs: geometry, kinematics, component configuration and the name, author and licence you assigned. There is no sidecar file to send alongside.
Creating a share link
Section titled “Creating a share link”To share the open document, choose Share… from its card’s menu in the Projects panel. The dialog has four options. Before you upload, it shows the upload size limit, the storage quota and the available link lifetimes.
| Question | Options |
|---|---|
| Where the file lives | Upload to realvirtual — we host the file and hand back an opaque link. Use my own URL — you host it yourself on a CDN, a web server or a raw file link, and nothing is uploaded |
| Recipient’s view | View only (the default) or Commissioning — see below |
| Delete automatically | Never (the default), or after 7, 30 or 90 days |
| Allow downloading the GLB | Whether the recipient gets a download button for the file |
The file stores the name, author and optional SPDX licence and shows them to the recipient on an information card. Uploading to us requires a one-time sign-in by e-mail, without a password. This identifies who uploaded the file and lets you delete it from My shared links.
A shared link is unlisted, not private. Anyone who has it can open the model. The dialog explains this so you can decide whether the content is suitable for sharing by link.
What the recipient lands in
Section titled “What the recipient lands in”The Recipient’s view choice is stored in the link as &mode= and selects the workspace it opens in:
| Choice | The recipient gets |
|---|---|
| View only | The spectator workspace: the model and its running kinematics, nothing to author |
| Commissioning | Inspector, hierarchy, CONNECT and the signal tools — the surface an integrator needs |
Without that parameter, the link opens in the workspace the recipient’s browser last remembered. This is rarely suitable for a machine they have never seen.
The two link forms
Section titled “The two link forms”https://web.realvirtual.io/?glb=s:<id> # hosted by ushttps://web.realvirtual.io/?glb=https://host/pick-cell.glb # hosted by you?glb=s:<id>is a share we host. The link carries no storage address; it is resolved at load time. This allows revocation and expiry, but only limits access; it does not provide copy protection. The browser still has to load the file.?glb=<https URL>points at your own host. Nothing is uploaded, and no sign-in is needed. Onlyhttp/httpsare accepted;data:,blob:andfile:URLs are refused before any network request.
There is no content type in the link. A single component, an assembly and a whole plant are all a GLB and all open in the same viewer.
Live connections stay off until you allow them
Section titled “Live connections stay off until you allow them”A shared model starts untrusted unless you previously trusted the link and the file checksum still matches. Password-protected links also start trusted. While untrusted, signal binding to CONNECT and planner signal linking stay off. The local simulation keeps running so spectators can view it.
In the Commissioning workspace, a banner explains this state and offers Allow live connections. The confirmation explains that this connects somebody else’s model to your plant. Confirming reloads the page to apply the change and discards unsaved changes to the shared model.
- The decision is remembered for this link in your browser (
localStorage), under the share id (or the URL without its#fragment). The record also stores a SHA-256 checksum of the loaded file. If the file’s bytes change, the model returns to untrusted and asks again. Trust applies to the reviewed model, not just its address. - Withdrawing it uses Revoke live connections in the same banner. It removes exactly that one record and reloads. Other shared models are untouched.
- Writing is still CONNECT’s decision. Whether a value reaches a PLC is governed by the gateway’s write access / Allow web to PLC, not by this banner.
A password-protected share link is trusted for the current session only. Nothing is stored, and no Allow live connections or Revoke live connections button is shown.
Expiry and revoking a link
Section titled “Expiry and revoking a link”Links do not expire by default, so a link in an offer or documentation should still work in six months. A link stops working immediately when its deadline passes or you delete the share from My shared links. The viewer explains whether the link expired or its owner withdrew it, rather than showing a broken model.
Add to my library
Section titled “Add to my library”A shared link creates no draft, last-opened entry or project content on the recipient’s machine unless they explicitly save it. Choosing Add to my library on the information card saves a library entry for placing the shared model again later.
The bookmark stores the link, not the file. If the share expires or is deleted, the entry stays visible and marked as dead. Its name stays intact so the recipient can identify it when contacting the sender.
URL parameter reference
Section titled “URL parameter reference”A link can select a file, workspace or catalog through these parameters:
| Parameter | What it does |
|---|---|
?doc=<id> | Opens one document of the current project by its id — the form the address bar itself produces when you open a document |
?doc=new | Starts with a new, empty document. Combined with ?mode=editor, it creates a new asset in the current project (or in My Workspace). It opens the asset in the Editor and immediately displays the CAD import dialog: ?doc=new&mode=editor |
?glb=s:<id> or ?glb=<https URL> | Opens a shared model, in one of the two forms above |
?mode=<workspace> | Starts in a workspace mode — viewer, hmi, des, planner, commissioning or editor where the delivery has it |
?library=<url> | Attaches a catalog on top of the standard library. Repeatable |
They combine, so a prepared link is one address: the document, the workspace it opens in, and the catalogs to plan with.
When more than one document parameter is present, ?doc= wins over ?glb=. ?mode= is independent of them and always applies.
See also
Section titled “See also”- Documents — what a document carries and how projects are organised
- The interface — the workspace modes a
?mode=link can address - Library and catalogs — what
?library=attaches - Multiuser sessions — sharing a live session rather than a file