SoVertexProperty Class Reference
[Properties]

Vertex property node. More...

#include <Inventor/nodes/SoVertexProperty.h>

Inheritance diagram for SoVertexProperty:

Classes
class	ValidityBits
	Helper structure used to return status of various vertex properties A bit set to true mean the attribute is valid.
Public Types
enum	Binding { OVERALL = SbVertexAttributeBinding::OVERALL, PER_PART = SbVertexAttributeBinding::PER_PART, PER_PART_INDEXED = SbVertexAttributeBinding::PER_PART_INDEXED, PER_FACE = SbVertexAttributeBinding::PER_FACE, PER_FACE_INDEXED = SbVertexAttributeBinding::PER_FACE_INDEXED, PER_VERTEX = SbVertexAttributeBinding::PER_VERTEX, PER_VERTEX_INDEXED = SbVertexAttributeBinding::PER_VERTEX_INDEXED }
Public Member Functions
virtual SoType	getTypeId () const
	SoVertexProperty ()
virtual void	setOverride (const SbBool state)
virtual SbBool	isOverride () const
Static Public Member Functions
static SoType	getClassTypeId ()
Public Attributes
SoMFVec3f	vertex
SoMFVec2f	texCoord
SoMFVec3f	texCoord3
SoSFBool	forceSending
SoMFVec3f	normal
SoMFVec3f	tangent
SoSFEnum	normalBinding
SoSFEnum	tangentBinding
SoMFUInt32	orderedRGBA
SoSFEnum	materialBinding

Detailed Description

Vertex property node.

This property node is be used to efficiently specify coordinates, normals, tangents, texture coordinates, colors, transparency values, material binding, normal and tangent binding for vertex-based shapes, i.e., shapes derived from SoVertexShape.

An SoVertexProperty node can be used as a child of a group node in a scene graph, in which case the properties it specifies are inherited by subsequent shape nodes in the graph. It can also be directly referenced using the vertexProperty field of a vertex-based shape, bypassing scene graph inheritance. Direct referencing is the recommended practice.

When directly referenced by a VertexProperty field of a vertex-based shape, the SoVertexProperty node is the most efficient way of specifying vertex-based shapes. Use of the directly referenced SoVertexProperty node results in significantly faster scene rendering than scene graph inheritance of vertex properties, provided all required vertex properties are specified in the SoVertexProperty node.

Because the class SoVertexProperty is derived from SoNode, a vertex property node can be inserted as a child node in a scene graph. When inserted as a node in a scene graph, the SoVertexProperty node is traversed as any other property node and the properties it specifies are inherited by subsequent shape nodes in the scene graph. It specifies the current material, normal and tangent bindings, and can be used to specify the current 3D coordinates, the current normals, the current tangents, the current texture coordinates, the current diffuse colors, and the current transparencies.

All multiple-valued fields in the SoVertexProperty node are optional. If a field is not present (i.e. if it has 0 values), then shapes that require the missing information are required to obtain it from the current traversal state. However, developers are cautioned that, for optimal performance, the vertex property node should be referenced as the VertexProperty field of an SoVertexShape, and should specify in its fields all values required to render that shape.

Fields:

The various fields in a vertex property node can be used in place of corresponding fields in other property nodes, as follows:

The vertex field contains 3D coordinates, as in the point field of an SoCoordinate3 node.
The normal field contains normal vectors, as in the vector field of the SoNormal node.
Normal vectors are used (for example) to compute the effect of lighting on the shape when lighting is enabled.
The tangent field contains tangent vectors.
When not using any custom shader, tangents are used by line shapes to compute the effect of lighting on the shape when lighting is enabled. See SoLineSet and SoIndexedLineSet for more details.
The orderedRGBA field contains packed color+transparency values.
Colors are specified in the hexadecimal format 0xrrggbbaa , where rr is the red value (between 00 and 0xFF hex), gg is the green value (between 00 and 0xFF hex), bb is the blue value (between 00 and 0xFF hex), aa is the alpha value (between 00 = transparent and 0xFF = opaque). Packed colors use less memory than SoMaterial colors and can be sent directly to the GPU. A packed color value can be queried from an SbColor or SbColorRGBA object using the getPackedValue() method. The packed colors are equivalent to an SoPackedColor node, and provide values for both diffuse color and transparency.
The texCoord and texCoord3 fields contain texture coordinates, as in the point field of the SoTextureCoordinate2 and SoTextureCoordinate3 nodes.

: If one of these nodes appears higher in the scene graph and setOverride(true) was called on that node, those values are used instead of the corresponding field of the vertex property node.
Note: Calling setIgnored(true) on the fields of this node has no effect on its behavior.

Color:

: If setOverride() was called on an SoMaterial node higher in the scene graph and either the diffuseColor field or the transparency field is not ignored (setIgnored()), then the color and transparency values from the SoMaterial node are used instead of the values in the SoVertexProperty. It is not currently possible to override just the color or just the transparency.

Transparency:

: The default transparency algorithm is NO_SORT. To get a nice appearance for transparent objects you must change this to another value, for example, OPAQUE_FIRST or SORTED_PIXEL, using the setTransparencyType method in the viewer or renderAction class. See SoGLRenderAction for a discussion of transparency algorithms and rendering order.

Material binding:

: The materialBinding field replaces the value field of the SoMaterialBinding node. The materialBinding field in a directly referenced SoVertexProperty node has no effect unless there is a nonempty orderedRGBA field, in which case the material binding specifies the assignment of diffuse colors and alpha values to the shape.

Normal binding:

: The normalBinding field replaces the value field of the SoNormalBinding node. The normalBinding field of a directly referenced SoVertexProperty node has no effect unless there is a nonempty normal field, in which case the normal binding specifies the assignment of normal vectors to the shape.

Tangent binding:

: The tangentBinding field of a directly referenced SoVertexProperty node has no effect unless there is a nonempty tangent field, in which case the tangent binding specifies the assignment of tangent vectors to the shape.

FILE FORMAT/DEFAULT

vertex	[ ]
normal	[ ]
tangent	[ ]
texCoord	[ ]
texCoord3	[ ]
orderedRGBA	[ ]
materialBinding	OVERALL
normalBinding	PER_VERTEX_INDEXED
tangentBinding	PER_VERTEX_INDEXED
forceSending	FALSE

ACTION BEHAVIOR

SoNormalBindingElement

SoMaterialElement

SoMaterialBindingElement

SoTextureCoordinateElement

SoTangentElement

SoTangentBindingElement

SoGetBoundingBoxAction
When traversed in a scene graph, sets coordinates in current traversal state. If not traversed, has no effect on current traversal state associated with action. Sets: SoCoordinateElement

Member Enumeration Documentation

enum SoVertexProperty::Binding

Binding.

Note: The meaning of some binding values depends on the shape class. For example, PER_FACE and PER_PART are the same for some shapes.

Enumerator:

OVERALL	Whole object has same material/normal/tangent.
PER_PART	One material/normal/tangent for each part of object.
PER_PART_INDEXED	One material/normal/tangent for each part, indexed.
PER_FACE	One material/normal/tangent for each face of object.
PER_FACE_INDEXED	One material/normal/tangent for each face, indexed.
PER_VERTEX	One material/normal/tangent for each vertex of object.
PER_VERTEX_INDEXED	One material/normal/tangent for each vertex, indexed.