Defining MODEL’s Volume (3D) Views

PML Customisation User Guide

Gadget Set : View Gadgets : Defining MODEL’s Volume (3D) Views

The 3D view gadget has three regions, namely the Drawing Area, the Status Line and the Borders.

The status line is below the picture and shows interactive feedback about the view parameters. For example:

The borders contain the view sliders, which allow adjustment of the viewing direction via the bearing and elevation angles.

The status line and the borders can be turned on or off using the view properties StatusLine and Borders.

The status line must be displayed to be able to display the borders.

Note:

If you want the picture to completely fill the view, then define the form with NoPadding and define the view with StatusLine off.

layout form !!MyForm . . .

...

 view .ModelAT . . .VOLUME

  height 20 width 40

  limits auto

  look east

  StatusLine on

 exit

...

exit

define method !!MyForm( )

 -- form constructor method

...

 -- Initialise 3D view gadget

 !this.model.borders = false

 !this.model.background( ‘darkslate’ )

 !this.model.shaded( true )

 !this.model.projection( ‘PERSPECTIVE’ )

 !this.model.radius( 100 )

 !this.model.range( 500.0 )

 !this.model.direction( !dir )

 !this.model.eyemode( .false. )

 !this.model.through( !thru )

 !this.model.walkthrough( true )

 !this.model.step( 25 )

...

endmethod

The area occupied by borders and status line is within the area the use specifies for the gadget.

To enable colour-shaded representation use the .shaded() method. By default a wireline representation .shaded(false) is used.

All aspects of the 3D view transformation may be specified:

To enable PERSPECTIVE mode use the .projection(‘PERSPECTIVE’) method. By default the projection is PARALLEL.

The view direction is controlled via the 3D view’s .direction member. This is a 3 element array of REAL, representing a direction vector in model space ( DEAST, DNORTH, DUP ). So to look east you would specify:

!dir[1] = 1.0

!dir[2] = 0.0

!dir[3] = 0.0

!this.model.direction = !dir

The 3D view gadget labels the view direction information in 'ENU' (East-West, North-South, Up-Down) format within the view status line and scroll borders, by default. The LABELSTYLE member allows you to specify either 'ENU' or 'XYZ' labelling. In the 'XYZ' scheme the form of the view direction display in the status line is x<bearing>y<elevation>z, where the bearing angle is in the range [-180, 180] and the elevation angle is in the range [-90, 90]. The corresponding scroll bars are labelled "-Y -X Y X -Y" and "-Z 0 Z".

The 3D view's bearing and elevation members can also be used to set the view direction (if the elevation is Up or Down then changing the bearing will have no effect on the view direction).

The centre of interest or through point of the 3D view is controlled via the .through member. This is a 3 element array of REAL, representing a position in model space (EAST, NORTH, UP).

!thru[1] = 1000.0

!thru[2] = 5600.5

!thru[3] = 500.0

!this.model.through = !thru

The .radius() method specifies the radius of the view in current units - an imaginary sphere around the through point.

The .range() method specifies how far away from the Through point you want the Eye point to be.

To enable WALKTHROUGH mode specify .walkthrough(true) together with the walking step size in current units using the .step() method.

For a full list of View Members and methods, refer to Software Customisation Reference Manual for further information.

Setting Aspects of the View Transformation by Syntax

The commands below allow aspects of the view transformation to be set using the old syntax:

edit view !!MyForm.Model VOLUME

followed by one of the following modifiers:


Modifier	Effect
ELEVATION EAST	Looks from the East.
LOOK EAST	Looks towards the East.
LOOK N45W75D	Looks towards specified direction.
LOOK THROUGH E10 N50 U85	Looks through specified point.
LOOK THROUGH /A1	Looks through named elements origin.
LOOK THROUGH ID @	Prompts for cursor pick on Through-point.
LOOK THROUGH ID VALV @	Prompts for cursor pick on Valve for through-point.
LOOK FROM E10 N50 U85	looks from specified point (defines eye position)
LOOK FROM /A1	Looks from named element (as eye position).
LOOK FROM ID @	Prompts for cursor pick on from-point.
LOOK FROM ID VALV @	Prompts for cursor-on Valve for from-point.
LOOK TOWARDS E10 N50 U85	Looks towards the given direction.
LOOK TOWARDS /A1	Looks towards named element .
ISOMETRIC 3	Looks in specified isometric direction.
PLAN	Looks down (default).

View Limits

Each volume view needs to know what region of the design model is to be displayed (the 3D view limits). The MODEL application has the notion of a current limits box. Unless you specify otherwise, the limits set for a new view gadget will default to the MODEL current limits box (as set by, say, the LIMITS or AUTOLIMITS commands in MODEL).

In addition, each volume view has an AUTO flag associated with it, which determines whether or not that view will be updated automatically whenever the MODEL current limits box is changed.

To define the view limits and the way in which they are to be updated, use the old syntax:

edit view !!MyForm.Model VOLUME 

followed by one of


Modifier	Effect
LIMITS AUTO	Display limits updated automatically to match current view limits (default).
LIMITS LOCAL	Display limits initially set to current view limits but not updated automatically.
LIMITS LOCAL N1000 E2500 U0 TO N3000 E5000 U2000	Display limits initially set to specified positions and not updated automatically.
LIMITS LOCAL /EQUI2 /EQUI4	Display limits initially set to enclose the specified elements and not updated automatically.

You can set the limits box for a view, subject to the current AUTO flag using the .limits() method:

-- limits brick set as array of REAL [E1, E2, N1, N2, U1, U2]

!brick[1] = 1000.0

...

!brick[6] = 1560.4

!this.model.limits( !brick )

In MODEL you may change the current limits box at any time by using one of the command formats

AUTOLIMITS N1000 E2500 U0 TO N3000 E5000 U2000

AUTOLIMITS /EQUI2 /EQUI4

Any volume views which have LIMITS AUTO set will be redrawn to match the new limits.

Mousemode

3D views have a mousemode member which can be set to Zoom, Pan, Rotate, or Walk

Saving and Restoring 3D Views

3D views have two methods which are used to save and restore up to four views, until you leave MODEL:

!!view.saveview( !n ) 

!!view.restoreview( !n )

Where  1 <= !n <= 4.