Class SoCenterballDragger

All Implemented Interfaces:
SafeDisposable

public class SoCenterballDragger extends SoDragger
Striped ball you rotate and re-center by dragging with the mouse. SoCenterballDragger is a composite dragger. Its shape is a sphere defined by three intersecting circles. Where the circles intersect (at the ends of the x, y and z axes) there are sets of small green crosshairs. Dragging a pair of crosshairs translates the entire centerball within the plane of the crosshairs. The interface of the sphere and circles is just like SoTrackballDragger. Dragging a circle rotates about a constrained axis and dragging the areas between them rotates the sphere freely about the center. An invisible but pickable sphere initiates the free-rotation dragging.

When you drag the crosshairs, the center field is updated; there is no translation field. Dragging other parts of the centerball updates the rotation field. As with all draggers, if you change the fields the dragger moves in response.

The draggers used for the crosshair parts are SoTranslate2Draggers, so pressing the <Shift> key allows you to constrain motion to slide along either the local x axis or y axis of that crosshair. The direction is determined by your initial mouse gesture after pressing the key. Releasing the key removes the constraint.

Remember: This is not an SoTransform! If you want to move other objects with this dragger, you can either:

  • Use an SoCenterballManip, which is subclassed from SoTransform. The manipulator creates one of these draggers and uses it as the interface to edit the manipulator's fields. (See the SoCenterballManip reference page.)
  • Use field-to-field connections to connect the fields of this dragger to those of any SoTransformation node.

You can change the parts in any instance of this dragger using setPart(). The default part geometries are defined as resources for this SoCenterballDragger class. They are detailed in the Dragger Resources section of the online reference page for this class. You can make your program use different default resources for the parts by copying the file $OIVHOME/data/draggerDefaults/centerballDragger.iv into your own directory, editing the file, and then setting the environment variable SO_DRAGGER_DIR to be a path to that directory.

This dragger has both a default and a WYSIWYG version:

    Default Dragger WYSIWYG Dragger

See SoDragger for more information about using and customizing draggers, including code examples, using draggers in an immersive VR environment and using WYSIWYG draggers.

File format/default:

CenterballDragger {

    boundingBoxCaching AUTO
    renderCulling AUTO
    pickCulling AUTO
    isActive false
    rotation 0 0 1 0
    center 0 0 0
    callbackList NULL
    translateToCenter MatrixTransform {
    matrix
    1 0 0 0
    0 1 0 0
    0 0 1 0
    0 0 0 1
    }
    surroundScale NULL
    antiSquish AntiSquish {
    sizing LONGEST_DIAGONAL
    }
    lightModel LightModel {
    model PHONG
    }
    XAxis <centerballXAxis resource>
    YAxis <centerballYAxis resource>
    ZAxis <centerballZAxis resource>
    rotator RotateSphericalDragger {
    }
    YRotator RotateCylindricalDragger {
    }
    ZCenterChanger Translate2Dragger {
    }
    ZRotator RotateCylindricalDragger {
    }
    YCenterChanger Translate2Dragger {
    }
    XCenterChanger Translate2Dragger {
    }
    XRotator RotateCylindricalDragger {
    }
    rotator.rotator <centerballRotator resource>
    rotator.rotatorActive <centerballRotatorActive resource>
    XRotator.rotator <centerballStripe resource>
    YRotator.rotator <centerballStripe resource>
    ZRotator.rotator <centerballStripe resource>
    XRotator.rotatorActive <centerballStripeActive resource>
    YRotator.rotatorActive <centerballStripeActive resource>
    ZRotator.rotatorActive <centerballStripeActive resource>
    XCenterChanger.translator <centerballCenterChanger resource>
    YCenterChanger.translator <centerballCenterChanger resource>
    ZCenterChanger.translator <centerballCenterChanger resource>
    XCenterChanger.translatorActive <centerballCenterChangerActive resource>
    YCenterChanger.translatorActive <centerballCenterChangerActive resource>
    ZCenterChanger.translatorActive <centerballCenterChangerActive resource>
    XCenterChanger.xAxisFeedback <centerballCenterXAxisFeedback resource>
    YCenterChanger.xAxisFeedback <centerballCenterXAxisFeedback resource>
    ZCenterChanger.xAxisFeedback <centerballCenterXAxisFeedback resource>
    XCenterChanger.yAxisFeedback <centerballCenterYAxisFeedback resource>
    YCenterChanger.yAxisFeedback <centerballCenterYAxisFeedback resource>
    ZCenterChanger.yAxisFeedback <centerballCenterYAxisFeedback resource>
}

DRAGGER RESOURCES

    Resource: centerballRotator
    Part: rotator.rotator
    Appearance: Invisible but pickable sphere
    Description: When picked, initiates free rotation about the center point. Slightly smaller radius than the stripes, so you must pick between the stripes to use it.

    Resource: centerballRotatorActive
    Part: rotator.rotatorActive
    Appearance: Invisible sphere
    Description: Displayed during unconstrained 3D rotation instead of centerballRotator.

    Resource: centerballStripe
    Parts: XRotator.rotator<BR> YRotator.rotator<BR> ZRotator.rotator
    Appearance: White circle aligned with rotation axis.
    Description: When picked, initiates constrained rotation. Each rotator rotates locally about its Y axis. The centerball contains private transform parts that orient the draggers along three different axes.

    Resource: centerballStripeActive
    Parts: XRotator.rotatorActive<BR> YRotator.rotatorActive<BR> ZRotator.rotatorActive
    Appearance: White circle aligned with the rotation axis.
    Description: Displayed during constrained rotation instead of the rotator part. The centerball orients the draggers along three different axes.

    Resource: centerballCenterChanger
    Parts: XCenterChanger.translator<BR> YCenterChanger.translator<BR> ZCenterChanger.translator
    Appearance: Two sets of small green crosshairs, one located at each intersection of axis and ball.
    Description: When picked, initiates 2D translation of ball through space. Edits the center field, which becomes center for subsequent rotations. Each translator works locally in its X-Y plane. The centerball containsprivate transform parts that place the draggers along three different axes.

    Resource: centerballCenterChangerActive
    Parts: XCenterChanger.translatorActive<BR> YCenterChanger.translatorActive<BR> ZCenterChanger.translatorActive
    Appearance: Yellow version of centerballCenterChanger.
    Description: Displayed during 2D translation instead of regular translator part. The centerball places the draggers along three different axes.

    Resource: centerballCenterXAxisFeedback
    Parts: XCenterChanger.xAxisFeedback<BR> YCenterChanger.xAxisFeedback<BR> ZCenterChanger.xAxisFeedback
    Appearance: Double-headed purple arrows, one located at each intersection of axis and ball. Located atop X axis of crosshair.
    Description: Only shown if dragger is moving and the axis is a permitted direction of motion. When pressing <shift>, motion is constrained, and this is displayed only if the primary motion is in the X direction of the child dragger's local space. The centerball places the draggers along three different axes; so not all of these parts aligns with the X axis in centerball space.

    Resource: centerballCenterYAxisFeedback
    Parts: XCenterChanger.yAxisFeedback<BR> YCenterChanger.yAxisFeedback<BR> ZCenterChanger.yAxisFeedback
    Appearance: Double-headed purple arrows, one located at each intersection of axis and ball. Located atop Y axis of crosshair.
    Description: Only shown if dragger is moving and the axis is a permitted direction of motion. When pressing <shift>, motion is constrained, and this is displayed only if the primary motion is in the Y direction of the child dragger's local space. The centerball places the draggers along three different axes; so not all of these parts aligns with the Y axis in centerball space.

    Resource: centerballXAxis
    Part: XAxis
    Appearance: Thin yellow line connecting left and right crosshairs.
    Description: Feedback shown alone during rotation about X axis; displayed with centerballYAxis and centerballZAxis while center is dragged.

    Resource: centerballYAxis
    Part: YAxis
    Appearance: Thin yellow line connecting lower and upper crosshairs.
    Description: Feedback shown alone during rotation about Y axis; displayed with centerballXAxis and centerballZAxis while center is dragged.

    Resource: centerballZAxis
    Part: ZAxis
    Appearance: Thin yellow line connecting near and far crosshairs.
    Description: Feedback shown alone during rotation about Z axis; displayed with centerballXAxis and centerballYAxis while center is dragged.

CATALOG PARTS

All Parts

    Part NamePart TypeDefault TypeNULL Default
    callbackList NodeKitListPart yes
    translateToCenter MatrixTransform yes
    surroundScale SurroundScale yes
    antiSquish AntiSquish no
    lightModel LightModel yes
    XAxis Separator yes
    YAxis Separator yes
    ZAxis Separator yes
    rotator RotateSphericalDragger yes
    YRotator RotateCylindricalDragger yes
    ZCenterChanger Translate2Dragger yes
    ZRotator RotateCylindricalDragger yes
    YCenterChanger Translate2Dragger yes
    XCenterChanger Translate2Dragger yes
    XRotator RotateCylindricalDragger yes

Extra Information for List Parts from Above Table

    Part NameContainer TypePossible Types
    callbackList Separator Callback, EventCallback

See Also:
  • Field Details

    • rotation

      public final SoSFRotation rotation
      Orientation of the centerball dragger.
    • center

      public final SoSFVec3f center
      Center of rotation and scale of the centerball dragger.
  • Constructor Details

    • SoCenterballDragger

      public SoCenterballDragger()
      Constructor.
  • Method Details