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Subject: -17- What are the new features in Open Inventor 2.1?
Date: 09 Jan 1996 00:00:01 PST
New Features for Open Inventor 2.1 are:
New and Updated_Documentation
Inventor 2.1 includes a new book, the Open Inventor 2.1 Porting
and Performance Tips.
New File Version
The file version has been updated to 2.1
DSO Directories and Versions
To avoid problems with incompatible code, the places Inventor
searches for Dynamic Shared Objects (DSO) implementing new
nodes has been changed. For details please read the release
notes of Inventor 2.1.
VRML File Supported
The SoDB read methods now also read files with the VRML 1.0
header.
User-Defined File Headers
The SoDB class now includes methods for registering your own
file headers.
SoOutput::setFloatPrecision()
You can now specify a precision to use when writing out
floating point numbers.
SoDB::readAll() Supports Paths
The SoDB::readAll() method now supports reading objects of type
SoNode or SoPath.
New Nodes
Inventor 2.1 now supports the following new nodes. For deatils,
please read the release notes of Inventor 2.1.
SoVertexProperty
SoLOD
SoLocateHighlight
SoWWWAnchor
SoWWWInline
SoAsciiText
SoFontStyle
New Fields
Inventor 2.1 now supports the following new fields. For
details, please read the release notes of Inventor 2.1
specifically regarding: fields and isA.
SoGLRenderAction Render Abort Callback Changes
The render abort callback of the SoGLRenderAction no longer
returns a simple Boolean value. Instead, it returns an abort
code that is one of: CONTINUE, ABORT, PRUNE, or DELAY.
CONTINUE is the same as returning FALSE in previous releases,
and ABORT is the same as TRUE.
New Manipulator for 3D Transformations
A new manipulator, SoTransformerManip, has been added to the
set of Inventor manipulators.
OpenGL Texture Object Extension
Open Inventor 2.1 makes use of the OpenGL extension for texture
objects. Consequently, on systems where this OpenGL extension
is available, you will see improved texture mapping
performance.
Additional Texture File Formats
The Inventor 2.1 SoTexture2 node now supports GIF and JPEG
image files. The JPEG files are read using the fifth public
release of the Independent JPEG's group free JPEG software.
Picking vs. Viewing
When in picking mode in any of the viewers, you can now
temporarily switch to viewing mode by pressing the key. Note
also that the manipulators now use the key as the modifier key,
instead of the key.
Disabling the Viewer Cursor
The application can now set the cursor in the viewer windows
directly, if it first disables the viewer cursor using
SoXtViewer::setCursorEnabled().
Targets for Copy and Paste
The SoXtClipboard supports the following new data targets for
copy and paste:
INVENTOR_2_1
INVENTOR_2_1_FILE
VRML_1_0
VRML_1_0_FILE
INVENTOR_2_0
INVENTOR_2_0_FILE
The targets INVENTOR and INVENTOR_FILE are supported for
backwards compatibility. They are equivalent to INVENTOR_2_0
and INVENTOR_2_0_FILE.
File Downgrade Utility
A new utility program, /usr/sbin/ivdowngrade, takes an Inventor
file and converts it to Inventor version 2.0 or 1.0.
Program for Converting Files to Use SoVertexProperty
This release includes sample source code for a utility program,
ivAddVP, to help convert Inventor files into 2.1 files that use
the vertexProperty field for the vertex- based shapes.
Program for Optimizing Scene Graphs
This release includes a new utility program, /usr/sbin/ivfix
that restructures Inventor scene graphs for improved rendering
performance. (The ivquicken utility program is no longer
supported.) Note that ivfix makes significant changes to the
structure of your scene graph.
Program for Analyzing Rendering Performance
This release includes sample source code for a utility program,
ivperf, for analyzing rendering performance. See Open Inventor
2.1 Porting and Peformance Tips for more information on using
ivperf
Up: SGI inventor Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Next: -18- How hard is it to port from IRIS Inventor to Open Inventor?
Previous: -16- What Silicon Graphics platforms support Open Inventor?