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Updating Program Data in VirtualLab Fusion

🎬 Overview

VirtualLab Fusion relies on a comprehensive set of program data to enable its full functionality. This data includes:

  • Catalogs – The backbone of the Optical Digital Twin Hub. They contain system building blocks (materials, surfaces, coatings, etc.) as well as catalogs for sources, components, and detectors. Keeping these catalogs updated ensures you have access to the latest entries within the Optical Digital Twin Hub.

  • Manual and Documentation – Local access to user guides and technical documentation.

  • Programming Support – External DLLs that support users in developing customized solutions (e.g. custom snippets, detectors, or sources). An update is not essential for basic operation but recommended if you actively develop custom extensions.

  • Additional Resources – Supplementary assets such as predefined tree configurations for optical setups, and themes for layouting and coloring the VirtualLab Fusion user interface.

Keeping your program data up to date is important to benefit from all latest developments – including new Digital Twins. However, an older version of the program data does not prevent VirtualLab Fusion from functioning correctly.

This tutorial covers three update methods:

  1. Automatic update – The standard, recommended approach when an Internet connection is available
  2. Enforced update – Forcing a fresh download of all program data, even if the system believes it is current
  3. Manual update – For computers with no Internet connection or when automatic updates fail due to network issues

📌 Recommendation: The catalogs are the backbone of the Optical Digital Twin Hub. To benefit from the latest Digital Twins, we recommend keeping your program data up to date – especially the catalogs.

🚀 Step-by-Step Tutorial

Step 1: Automatic Update (Standard Method)

When a new version of the program data becomes available online, VirtualLab Fusion will notify you at startup. The notification appears in the Main Window.

To perform an automatic update:

  1. Launch VirtualLab Fusion
  2. If a notification about new program data appears, proceed with the update:
    • Navigate to the Help tab in the ribbon
    • Click Update Program Data
  3. VirtualLab Fusion will:
    • Connect to the update server
    • Download new program data from the Internet
    • Automatically store the data in the correct local folder
  4. Wait for the download and installation to complete

Monitoring the update process:

The Message tab provides detailed logging of the entire update process, including:

  • Progress indicators for each download

  • Confirmation of successful installation

  • Any errors encountered (with suggested solutions)

Once the update completes, you can immediately use the updated program data. No restart is required in most cases, though a restart is recommended if you encounter any unexpected behavior.

Help tab with Update Program Data button highlighted
Access Update Program Data from the Help tab
Message tab showing update progress and status messages
Message tab showing update progress and status messages

Step 2: Enforced Update (Force Refresh)

In some situations, you may want to force a complete refresh of all program data – for example, if you suspect corrupted local files. The enforced update option downloads the entire program data set again, regardless of whether your local version appears current. This option also provides a more detailed logging including all extracted files and where they are stored.

To enforce an update:

  1. Navigate to the Help tab in the ribbon
  2. Click Diagnosis & Cleanup
  3. In the dialog that opens, locate and click the button Enforce Update of Program Data
  4. VirtualLab Fusion will download the complete program data package from the Internet and overwrite the existing local data
  5. Monitor the Message tab for progress and completion status

This method is useful when:

  • The automatic update appears stuck or incomplete

  • You experience errors related to missing or corrupted catalog entries

  • You want to ensure a clean baseline after troubleshooting

Diagnosis & Clean up dialog with Enforce Update button
Enforce Update option in Diagnosis & Clean up
Detailed logging after enforcing update of program data
Detailed logging after enforcing update of program data

Step 3: Manual Update (Offline / No Internet Connection)

If the computer running VirtualLab Fusion has no Internet connection, or if the automatic update repeatedly fails due to network issues (slow connection, firewall restrictions, proxy servers), you can perform the update manually using a computer that does have Internet access.

⚠️ Important: Before starting the manual update, close all VirtualLab Fusion instances completely to ensure no files are locked or in use.

Prerequisites

  • A computer with Internet access (any operating system)
  • Sufficient storage space for the downloaded zip files
  • Access to the target computer's user folder structure (e.g., via USB drive or network share)

Step 3.1: Download the Program Data Packages

On the computer with Internet access, download the required zip files. The download links are version-specific – ensure you download the packages matching your VirtualLab Fusion version.

For VirtualLab Fusion 2026.1 (current version):

Package Name Description
changes.txt Logfile for changes of the program data
Optical Setup Trees.zip Predefined tree structures for optical setups
Themes.zip UI themes for the VirtualLab Fusion user interface
Programming Support.zip External DLLs for custom extensions and snippet development
Catalogs.zip Catalogs of system building blocks and Digital Twin definitions
Manuals.zip User manual and documentation

📌 Note: changes.txt is a plain text file and does not need to be unpacked. Simply copy it to the target folder along with the zip files.

Step 3.2: Locate the Target Folder on the Offline Computer

On the computer where VirtualLab Fusion is installed, navigate to the following folder:

C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\Wyrowski Photonics GmbH\VirtualLab Fusion\2026.1

Important notes:

  • [UserName] must be replaced with the actual Windows username of the account that runs VirtualLab Fusion

  • AppData is a hidden folder by default. To access it:

    • Press Windows + R, type %localappdata%\Wyrowski Photonics GmbH\VirtualLab Fusion\2026.1, and press Enter, OR

    • In File Explorer, type %localappdata%\Wyrowski Photonics GmbH\VirtualLab Fusion\2026.1 directly into the address bar

  • The version number in the path (e.g., 2026.1) must match the version of your VirtualLab Fusion installation

Step 3.3: Unpack and Install the Program Data

  1. Transfer the downloaded zip files to the offline computer (e.g., via USB drive)
  2. Unpack each zip file directly into the target folder
    • Ensure that the folder structure inside each zip file is preserved during extraction
    • If prompted about overwriting existing files, select "Yes to All" (this ensures all files are updated)
  3. Verify that the extracted contents are now present in the target folder

Step 3.4: Restart VirtualLab Fusion

  1. Close VirtualLab Fusion completely if it is running (it should already be closed from the warning above)
  2. Restart VirtualLab Fusion
  3. Verify that the program data is up to date:
    • Check the Catalogs in the Digital Twin Hub – they should reflect the latest available entries
    • Optionally, open the Message tab to see if any data loading errors occur (none should appear with a successful manual update)

✅ Success indicator: After restarting, you should be able to access all Digital Twins.

Logging with error message during update of program data due to slow iInternet connection
Logging with error message during update of program data due to slow Internet connection
File Explorer showing the VirtualLab Fusion program data folder
Target folder for manual update (version-specific)

Last updated: April 20, 2026 Tags: program updates catalogs manual automatic VirtualLab Fusion