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NAME

       SoSeparator -

       The SoSeparator class is a state-preserving group node.

       Subgraphs parented by SoSeparator nodes will not affect the state, as
       they push and pop the traversal state before and after traversal of its
       children.

SYNOPSIS

       #include <Inventor/nodes/SoSeparator.h>

       Inherits SoGroup.

       Inherited by SoAnnotation, SoGeoSeparator, SoLocateHighlight,
       SoSelection, and SoShadowGroup.

   Public Types
       enum CacheEnabled { OFF, ON, AUTO }

   Public Member Functions
       SoSeparator (void)
       SoSeparator (const int nchildren)
       virtual void doAction (SoAction *action)
       virtual void GLRender (SoGLRenderAction *action)
       virtual void GLRenderBelowPath (SoGLRenderAction *action)
       virtual void GLRenderInPath (SoGLRenderAction *action)
       virtual void GLRenderOffPath (SoGLRenderAction *action)
       virtual void callback (SoCallbackAction *action)
       virtual void getBoundingBox (SoGetBoundingBoxAction *action)
       virtual void getMatrix (SoGetMatrixAction *action)
       virtual void handleEvent (SoHandleEventAction *action)
       virtual void rayPick (SoRayPickAction *action)
       virtual void search (SoSearchAction *action)
       virtual void getPrimitiveCount (SoGetPrimitiveCountAction *action)
       virtual void audioRender (SoAudioRenderAction *action)
       virtual void notify (SoNotList *nl)
       virtual SbBool affectsState (void) const

   Static Public Member Functions
       static void initClass (void)
       static void setNumRenderCaches (const int howmany)
       static int getNumRenderCaches (void)

   Public Attributes
       SoSFEnum renderCaching
       SoSFEnum boundingBoxCaching
       SoSFEnum renderCulling
       SoSFEnum pickCulling

   Protected Member Functions
       virtual ~SoSeparator ()
       virtual SbBool cullTest (SoState *state)
       virtual SbBool cullTest (SoGLRenderAction *action, int &cullresults)
       virtual SbBool readInstance (SoInput *in, unsigned short flags)

Detailed Description

       The SoSeparator class is a state-preserving group node.

       Subgraphs parented by SoSeparator nodes will not affect the state, as
       they push and pop the traversal state before and after traversal of its
       children.

       SoSeparator nodes also provides options for traversal optimalization
       through the use of caching.

       FILE FORMAT/DEFAULTS:

           Separator {
               renderCaching AUTO
               boundingBoxCaching AUTO
               renderCulling AUTO
               pickCulling AUTO
           }

       See also:
           SoTransformSeparator

Member Enumeration Documentation

   enum SoSeparator::CacheEnabled Enumeration of flags for the fields deciding
       which optimalizations to do in SoSeparator nodes. There are two types
       of settings available: caching policies or culling policies. See
       doumentation of fields.
       Enumerator:

       OFF    No caching.

       ON     Always try to cache state.

       AUTO   Use heuristics to try to figure out the optimal caching policy.

Constructor & Destructor Documentation

   SoSeparator::SoSeparator (void) Default constructor.
   SoSeparator::SoSeparator (const int nchildren) Constructor.
       The argument should be the approximate number of children which is
       expected to be inserted below this node. The number need not be exact,
       as it is only used as a hint for better memory resource allocation.

   SoSeparator::~SoSeparator () [protected, virtual] Destructor. Frees
       resources used to implement caches.

Member Function Documentation

   void SoSeparator::initClass (void) [static] Sets up initialization for data
       common to all instances of this class, like submitting necessary
       information to the Coin type system.
       Reimplemented from SoGroup.

       Reimplemented in SoShadowGroup, SoAnnotation, SoExtSelection,
       SoGeoSeparator, SoLocateHighlight, SoSelection, and SoWWWAnchor.

   void SoSeparator::doAction (SoAction * action) [virtual] This function
       performs the typical operation of a node for any action.
       Reimplemented from SoGroup.

   void SoSeparator::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 SoGroup.

       Reimplemented in SoAnnotation.

   void SoSeparator::GLRenderBelowPath (SoGLRenderAction * action) [virtual]
       SGI Open Inventor v2.1 obsoleted support for
       SoGLRenderAction::addMethod(). Instead, GLRender() might be called
       directly, and to optimize traversal, the SoSeparator node calls
       GLRenderBelowPath whenever the path code is BELOW_PATH or NO_PATH (path
       code is guaranteed not to change). To be compatible with SGIs Inventor
       (and thereby also TGS) we have chosen to follow their implementation
       in this respect.
       SoSeparator::GLRenderBelowPath() do not traverse its children using
       SoChildList::traverse(), but calls GLRenderBelowPath() directly for all
       its children.

       Reimplemented from SoNode.

       Reimplemented in SoShadowGroup, SoAnnotation, SoExtSelection,
       SoGeoSeparator, and SoLocateHighlight.

   void SoSeparator::GLRenderInPath (SoGLRenderAction * action) [virtual]
       Implements the SoAction::IN_PATH traversal method for the rendering
       action.
       Reimplemented from SoNode.

       Reimplemented in SoShadowGroup, SoAnnotation, SoGeoSeparator, and
       SoLocateHighlight.

   void SoSeparator::GLRenderOffPath (SoGLRenderAction * action) [virtual]
       Implements the SoAction::OFF_PATH traversal method for the rendering
       action.
       Reimplemented from SoNode.

       Reimplemented in SoAnnotation.

   void SoSeparator::callback (SoCallbackAction * action) [virtual] Action
       method for SoCallbackAction.
       Simply updates the state according to how the node behaves for the
       render action, so the application programmer can use the
       SoCallbackAction for extracting information about the scene graph.

       Reimplemented from SoGroup.

       Reimplemented in SoGeoSeparator.

   void SoSeparator::getBoundingBox (SoGetBoundingBoxAction * action)
       [virtual] Action method for the SoGetBoundingBoxAction.
       Calculates bounding box and center coordinates for node and modifies
       the values of the action to encompass the bounding box for this node
       and to shift the center point for the scene more towards the one for
       this node.

       Nodes influencing how geometry nodes calculates their bounding box also
       overrides this method to change the relevant state variables.

       Reimplemented from SoGroup.

       Reimplemented in SoGeoSeparator.

   void SoSeparator::getMatrix (SoGetMatrixAction * action) [virtual] Action
       method for SoGetMatrixAction.
       Updates action by accumulating with the transformation matrix of this
       node (if any).

       Reimplemented from SoGroup.

       Reimplemented in SoGeoSeparator.

   void SoSeparator::handleEvent (SoHandleEventAction * action) [virtual]
       Action method for SoHandleEventAction.
       Inspects the event data from action, and processes it if it is
       something which this node should react to.

       Nodes influencing relevant state variables for how event handling is
       done also overrides this method.

       Reimplemented from SoGroup.

       Reimplemented in SoExtSelection, SoLocateHighlight, SoSelection, and
       SoWWWAnchor.

   void SoSeparator::rayPick (SoRayPickAction * action) [virtual] Action
       method for SoRayPickAction.
       Checks the ray specification of the action and tests for intersection
       with the data of the node.

       Nodes influencing relevant state variables for how picking is done also
       overrides this method.

       Reimplemented from SoNode.

       Reimplemented in SoGeoSeparator.

   void SoSeparator::search (SoSearchAction * action) [virtual] Action method
       for SoSearchAction.
       Compares the search criteria from the action to see if this node is a
       match. Searching is done by matching up all criteria set up in the
       SoSearchAction -- if any of the requested criteria is a miss, the
       search is not deemed successful for the node.

       See also:
           SoSearchAction

       Reimplemented from SoGroup.

   void SoSeparator::getPrimitiveCount (SoGetPrimitiveCountAction * action)
       [virtual] Action method for the SoGetPrimitiveCountAction.
       Calculates the number of triangle, line segment and point primitives
       for the node and adds these to the counters of the action.

       Nodes influencing how geometry nodes calculates their primitive count
       also overrides this method to change the relevant state variables.

       Reimplemented from SoGroup.

       Reimplemented in SoGeoSeparator.

   void SoSeparator::audioRender (SoAudioRenderAction * action) [virtual]
       Action method for SoAudioRenderAction.
       Does common processing for SoAudioRenderAction action instances.

       Reimplemented from SoGroup.

   void SoSeparator::notify (SoNotList * l) [virtual] Notifies all auditors
       for this instance when changes are made.
       Reimplemented from SoNode.

       Reimplemented in SoShadowGroup.

   void SoSeparator::setNumRenderCaches (const int howmany) [static] Set the
       maximum number of caches that SoSeparator nodes may allocate for render
       caching.
       This is a global value which will be used for all SoSeparator nodes,
       but the value indicate the maximum number per SoSeparator node.

       More caches might give better performance, but will use more memory.
       The built-in default value is 2.

       The value can also be changed globally by setting the host system’s
       environment variable IV_SEPARATOR_MAX_CACHES to the wanted number. This
       is primarily meant as an aid during debugging, to make it easy to turn
       off rendercaching completely (by setting ’IV_SEPARATOR_MAX_CACHES=0’)
       without having to change any application code.

   int SoSeparator::getNumRenderCaches (void) [static] Returns maximum number
       of caches SoSeparator nodes are allowed to use for render caching.
       See also:
           setNumRenderCaches()

   SbBool SoSeparator::affectsState (void) const [virtual] Returns TRUE if the
       node could have any effect on the state during traversal.
       If it returns FALSE, no data in the traversal-state will change from
       the pre-traversal state to the post-traversal state. The SoSeparator
       node will for instance return FALSE, as it pushes and pops the state
       before and after traversal of its children. All SoShape nodes will also
       return FALSE, as just pushing out geometry data to the rendering engine
       won’t affect the actual rendering state.

       The default method returns TRUE, on a ’better safe than sorry’
       philosophy.

       Reimplemented from SoNode.

   SbBool SoSeparator::cullTest (SoState * state) [protected, virtual]
       Internal method which do view frustum culling. For now, view frustum
       culling is performed if the renderCulling field is AUTO or ON, and the
       bounding box cache is valid.
       Returns TRUE if this separator is outside view frustum, FALSE if
       inside.

   SbBool SoSeparator::cullTest (SoGLRenderAction * action, int & cullresults)
       [protected, virtual] This is an internal Open Inventor method. Weve
       implemented view frustum culling in a different manner. Let us know if
       you need this function, and well consider implementing it.
   SbBool SoSeparator::readInstance (SoInput * in, unsigned short flags)
       [protected, virtual] This method is mainly intended for internal use
       during file import operations.
       It reads a definition of an instance from the input stream in. The
       input stream state points to the start of a serialized / persistant
       representation of an instance of this class type.

       TRUE or FALSE is returned, depending on if the instantiation and
       configuration of the new object of this class type went ok or not. The
       import process should be robust and handle corrupted input streams by
       returning FALSE.

       flags is used internally during binary import when reading user
       extension nodes, group nodes or engines.

       Reimplemented from SoGroup.

Member Data Documentation

   SoSFEnum SoSeparator::renderCaching Policy for caching of rendering
       instructions for faster execution. This will typically use the OpenGL
       displaylist mechanism.
       Default value is SoSeparator::AUTO.

       If you know that some parts of your scene will never change, rendering
       might happen faster if you explicitly set this field to
       SoSeparator::ON. If you on the other hand know that parts of the scene
       will change a lot (like for every redraw), it will be beneficial to set
       this field to SoSeparator::OFF for the top-level separator node of this
       (sub)graph.

       Usually the default setting of AUTO will handle any scene very well.
       The advantages that can be had from setting SoSeparator::renderCaching
       to ON are:

       · If you positively know that the geometry under the SoSeparator is
         static, you get the cache set up right away.
       Otherwise, the code in Coin will do a bit of testing and decide by some
       heuristics whether or not to enable it. That will make the rendering be
       a tiny bit slower right after start-up than with renderCaching set to
       ON.
       (The slow-down should hardly be noticable, though, so we don’t advice
       application programmers to do this.)

       · For many of the shape nodes that can contain many basic primitives,
         like e.g. SoFaceSet, SoIndexedFaceSet, SoLineSet, etc etc, there is
         an internal threshold for how many primitives a node can contain
         before we don’t do caching when SoSeparator::renderCaching is set to
         AUTO.
       The reason we do this is because OpenGL renderlists can potentially
       suck up a lot of memory resources on the graphics card.
       But if you know that it will be advantageous on your particular
       platform, you can override this by setting SoSeparator::renderCaching
       equal to ON.
       (We don’t advice application programmers to do this either. A better
       solution in these cases would simply be to get in touch with SIM and
       describe the platform and the problem, and we could integrate a proper
       fix into Coin.)
       There are good reasons for setting renderCaching to OFF, like when you
       know the geometry will be changing a lot. Still, Coin should work
       fairly well without even this optimization. (If renderCaching is AUTO
       over a sub-graph with changing geometry or other cache smashing nodes,
       the caching heuristics will stop the SoSeparator node from trying to
       make caches -- at least after a few tries has been made and failed.)
       The short story about how auto-caching works is as follows:
       · For vertex-based shapes with fewer than 100 triangles and where the
         geometry is detected to be fairly static, caching is enabled.

       · For shapes with more than 1000 trangles, it is disabled, to avoid
         spending too much of the on-board graphics card’s memory resources.

       · For shapes with between 100 and 1000 shapes, displaylist caching will
         be turned on if our heuristics decides that the geometry can be
         considered static.

       The maximum threshold (of 1000) is higher when doing remote rendering
       (as when rendering from one X11-based system to another).
       Disabling the displaylist caching takes precedence over enabling, so if
       you have an SoSeparator with a shape with more than 1000 triangles and
       a shape with fewer than 100 triangles, caching will be disabled for the
       SoSeparator.
       It’s possible to tune the limits using some environment variables:
       · COIN_AUTOCACHE_LOCAL_MIN can be used to change the enable-caching
         limit, while COIN_AUTOCACHE_LOCAL_MAX controls the disable-caching
         limit.

       · The corresponding variables for remote rendering are
         COIN_AUTOCACHE_REMOTE_MIN and COIN_AUTOCACHE_REMOTE_MAX.

   SoSFEnum SoSeparator::boundingBoxCaching Policy for caching bounding box
       calculations. Default value is SoSeparator::AUTO.
       See also documentation for SoSeparator::renderCaching.
   SoSFEnum SoSeparator::renderCulling Policy for doing viewport culling
       during rendering traversals. Default value is SoSeparator::AUTO.
       When the render culling is turned off for Coin, it will be left to be
       done for the underlying immediate mode rendering library. This will
       often be faster than doing culling from within Coin, so be careful to
       monitor the change in execution speed if setting this field to
       SoSeparator::ON.
       See also documentation for SoSeparator::renderCaching.
   SoSFEnum SoSeparator::pickCulling Policy for doing viewport culling during
       pick traversals. Default value is SoSeparator::AUTO.
       See documentation for SoSeparator::renderCulling.

Author

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