Re: [www-vrml] [xVRML] new screen snapshots and the future

[Miriam English <miriam@werple.net.au>]

Hi Jeff,

Regarding PROTOs, you might like to consider this:

One of the problems with VRML (I still haven't come to grips with X3D yet, so can't comment on it) is the fact that events are implied in all nodes except Scripts. This means that if you want to send events in or out of PROTOs you are forced to use Scripts in there to mediate. This is not too bad (though clumsy) if the events are rare like mouse clicks or similar, but if the PROTO has to send or receive large streams of data (like time from a TimeSensor or position from a ProximitySensor) then having to pipe everything through a Script makes large, complex worlds almost impossible.

This problem can be eliminated by making events explicit in the nodes that send or receive them. This also has the side-effect of clarifying code tremendously and eliminating one of VRML's most bizarre features, ROUTEs.

For instance (I'll write this in classic VRML form as it is simplest to read):
Group{
	children[
		TouchSensor {isActive TO lite.on}
		}
		Shape {
			appearance Appearance {
				material Material {
					diffuseColor 0.8 0.8 0.8
				}
			}
			geometry Sphere {}
		}
	]
}

DEF lite DirectionalLight {
	on FALSE
	color 1 0 0
	direction -1 0 0
}

Best wishes,

	- Miriam


Jeff Sonstein wrote:
> 1) screen snapshots
>
> I have posted some new screen snapshots of xVRML 
> in action within the Carina viewer application
> at the xVRML SourceForge site
>
>   http://sourceforge.net/projects/xvrml/
>   [click on "screenshots" in the menu at the top]
>
> please note that we are in the middle of arm-wrestling
> over what the first version of PROTO 
> should look like within xVRML...
> I will be releasing a draft version of the proposal
> to the list within the next couple of days...
> feedback will be very welcome
>
> the next release of the Carina browser
> will have sufficient functionality
> that I will be able to use it for at least
> the "statics" part of an "Intro to VR" class 
> starting in about a week...
> rah! rah! Dave Huffman rocks!
>
> jeffs
>
> --
> Jeff Sonstein
> Assistant Professor
> Department of Information Technology
> Rochester Institute of Technology
> --------------------------------------------
> [RIT]            http://www.it.rit.edu/~jxs/
> [Personal]     http://ariadne.iz.net/~jeffs/
> [PGP] http://ariadne.iz.net/~jeffs/jeffs.asc
> [Project]                  http://xvrml.net/
> --------------------------------------------
> There are no bugs
> there are just undocumented features
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> for list subscription/unsubscription,
> go to http://www.web3d.org/cgi-bin/public_list_signup/lwgate/listsavail.html

--
---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=------
A life! Cool! Where can I download one of those from?
---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=------
http://werple.net.au/~miriam
My live Journal page http://www.livejournal.com/users/miriam_e/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
for list subscription/unsubscription,
go to http://www.web3d.org/cgi-bin/public_list_signup/lwgate/listsavail.html