trusty (3) SoDirectionalLight.3.gz

NAME

       SoDirectionalLight -

       The SoDirectionalLight class is a node type for specifying directional light sources.

       A directional light source provides a model of light sources which are at infinite distance from the
       geometry it illuminates, thereby having no set position and consisting of an infinite volume of parallel
       rays.

SYNOPSIS

       #include <Inventor/nodes/SoDirectionalLight.h>

       Inherits SoLight.

       Inherited by SoDirectionalLightManip, and SoShadowDirectionalLight.

   Public Member Functions
       virtual SoType getTypeId (void) const
           Returns the type identification of an object derived from a class inheriting SoBase. This is used for
           run-time type checking and 'downward' casting.
       SoDirectionalLight (void)
       virtual void GLRender (SoGLRenderAction *action)

   Static Public Member Functions
       static SoType getClassTypeId (void)
       static void initClass (void)

   Public Attributes
       SoSFVec3f direction

   Protected Member Functions
       virtual const SoFieldData * getFieldData (void) const
       virtual ~SoDirectionalLight ()

   Static Protected Member Functions
       static const SoFieldData ** getFieldDataPtr (void)

   Additional Inherited Members

Detailed Description

       The SoDirectionalLight class is a node type for specifying directional light sources.

       A directional light source provides a model of light sources which are at infinite distance from the
       geometry it illuminates, thereby having no set position and consisting of an infinite volume of parallel
       rays.

       This is of course a simplified model of far-away light sources, as 'infinite distance' is impossible.

       The sun shining on objects on earth is a good example of something which can be modeled rather well for
       the most common purposes with a directional light source.

       See also documentation of parent class for important information regarding light sources in general.

       FILE FORMAT/DEFAULTS:

       DirectionalLight {
           on TRUE
           intensity 1
           color 1 1 1
           direction 0 0 -1
       }

       A common thing to do with an SoDirectionalLight is to connect it to a camera, so it works in the style of
       a head light to that camera. This can easily be accomplished by linking an SoRotation::rotation field,
       influencing the light, to the SoCamera::orientation field. Here is a complete example iv-file
       demonstrating the technique:

       #Inventor V2.1 ascii

       DEF mycam PerspectiveCamera { }

       TransformSeparator {
          SoRotation { rotation = USE mycam.orientation }
          DirectionalLight { direction 0 0 -1 }
       }

       Cube { }

       (The SoTransformSeparator is included to keep the effect of the SoRotation node within a scope where it
       will only influence the light, and not the geometry following the light in the scene graph.)

Constructor & Destructor Documentation

   SoDirectionalLight::SoDirectionalLight (void)
       Constructor.

   SoDirectionalLight::~SoDirectionalLight () [protected],  [virtual]
       Destructor.

Member Function Documentation

   SoType SoDirectionalLight::getTypeId (void) const [virtual]
       Returns the type identification of an object derived from a class inheriting SoBase. This is used for
       run-time type checking and 'downward' casting. Usage example:

       void foo(SoNode * node)
       {
         if (node->getTypeId() == SoFile::getClassTypeId()) {
           SoFile * filenode = (SoFile *)node;  // safe downward cast, knows the type
         }
       }

       For application programmers wanting to extend the library with new nodes, engines, nodekits, draggers or
       others: this method needs to be overridden in all subclasses. This is typically done as part of setting
       up the full type system for extension classes, which is usually accomplished by using the pre-defined
       macros available through for instance Inventor/nodes/SoSubNode.h (SO_NODE_INIT_CLASS and
       SO_NODE_CONSTRUCTOR for node classes), Inventor/engines/SoSubEngine.h (for engine classes) and so on.

       For more information on writing Coin extensions, see the class documentation of the toplevel superclasses
       for the various class groups.

       Reimplemented from SoLight.

       Reimplemented in SoDirectionalLightManip, and SoShadowDirectionalLight.

   const SoFieldData * SoDirectionalLight::getFieldData (void) const [protected],  [virtual]
       Returns a pointer to the class-wide field data storage object for this instance. If no fields are
       present, returns NULL.

       Reimplemented from SoLight.

       Reimplemented in SoDirectionalLightManip, and SoShadowDirectionalLight.

   void SoDirectionalLight::GLRender (SoGLRenderAction *action) [virtual]
       Action method for the SoGLRenderAction.

       This is called during rendering traversals. Nodes influencing the rendering state in any way or who wants
       to throw geometry primitives at OpenGL overrides this method.

       Reimplemented from SoNode.

       Reimplemented in SoDirectionalLightManip, and SoShadowDirectionalLight.

Member Data Documentation

   SoSFVec3f SoDirectionalLight::direction
       The direction of the light source. Defaults to pointing along the negative z-axis.

Author

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