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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