29.1. What is DialogViz?

DialogViz is a C++ class library that extends Open Inventor. DialogViz allows you to construct a simple cross-platform user interface in order to query, interact with, and modify your Open Inventor scene graph.

[Important]

DialogViz does not require a separate license; it is unlocked by your Open Inventor license. The 2D and 3D modes are described in the section called “2D/3D Differences”.

[Important]

DialogViz replaces DialogMaster, which is an older (deprecated) set of classes for designing simple user interfaces. DialogViz is much more powerful and should be used for all new development.

DialogViz provides a set of basic components for handling the interactivity of your application. DialogViz has been designed to be portable across many different systems, including Unix, Linux, Windows, and Mac OS. This means you don’t need to know the specific details of the Graphical User Interface API of your system. For example, DialogViz uses the Motif library on Unix platforms and the Win32 API on Windows. In the following explanations, we will use the word widget to refer to the window handle of the Motif-based Unix and the Windows versions.

DialogViz can read a user-interface definition from one or more external files at run-time. These files are in standard Open Inventor format. This capability allows the user interface to be rapidly developed and easily modified.

DialogViz supports both a 2D mode and a 3D mode. In 2D mode, DialogViz builds native user-interface objects to instantiate the interface. This is most useful on a desktop display. In 3D mode, DialogViz builds 3D geometry to instantiate the user interface. This is most useful in an immersive display environment. A powerful feature of DialogViz is that the same interface definition can be used in 2D (desktop) and 3D (immersive) modes.