SoSeparator(3IV)

NAME
     SoSeparator - group node that saves and restores traversal state

INHERITS FROM
     SoBase > SoFieldContainer > SoNode > SoGroup > SoSeparator

SYNOPSIS
     #include <Inventor/nodes/SoSeparator.h>

     enum CacheEnabled {
          SoSeparator::OFF    Never build a cache
          SoSeparator::ON     Always try to build a cache
          SoSeparator::AUTO   Decide whether to cache based on some heuristic
     }

          Fields from class SoSeparator:

     SoSFEnum            renderCaching
     SoSFEnum            boundingBoxCaching
     SoSFEnum            renderCulling
     SoSFEnum            pickCulling

          Methods from class SoSeparator:

                         SoSeparator()
                         SoSeparator(int nChildren)
     static void         setNumRenderCaches(int howMany)
     static int          getNumRenderCaches()
     static SoType       getClassTypeId()

          Methods from class SoGroup:

     void                addChild(SoNode *child)
     void                insertChild(SoNode *child, int newChildIndex)
     SoNode *            getChild(int index) const
     int                 findChild(const SoNode *child) const
     int                 getNumChildren() const
     void                removeChild(int index)
     void                removeChild(SoNode *child)
     void                removeAllChildren()
     void                replaceChild(int index, SoNode *newChild)
     void                replaceChild(SoNode *oldChild, SoNode *newChild)

          Methods from class SoNode:

     void                setOverride(SbBool state)
     SbBool              isOverride() const
     SoNode *            copy(SbBool copyConnections = FALSE) const
     virtual SbBool      affectsState() const
     static SoNode *     getByName(const SbName &name)
     static int          getByName(const SbName &name, SoNodeList &list)

          Methods from class SoFieldContainer:

     void                setToDefaults()
     SbBool              hasDefaultValues() const
     SbBool              fieldsAreEqual(const SoFieldContainer *fc) const
     void                copyFieldValues(const SoFieldContainer *fc, SbBool
                              copyConnections = FALSE)
     SbBool              set(const char *fieldDataString)
     void                get(SbString &fieldDataString)
     virtual int         getFields(SoFieldList &resultList) const
     virtual SoField *   getField(const SbName &fieldName) const
     SbBool              getFieldName(const SoField *field, SbName &fieldName)
                              const
     SbBool              isNotifyEnabled() const
     SbBool              enableNotify(SbBool flag)

          Methods from class SoBase:

     void                ref()
     void                unref() const
     void                unrefNoDelete() const
     void                touch()
     virtual SoType      getTypeId() const
     SbBool              isOfType(SoType type) const
     virtual void        setName(const SbName &name)
     virtual SbName      getName() const


DESCRIPTION
     This group node performs a push (save) of the traversal state before
     traversing its children and a pop (restore) after traversing them. This
     isolates the separator's children from the rest of the scene graph. A
     separator can include lights, cameras, coordinates, normals, bindings,
     and all other properties. Separators are relatively inexpensive, so they
     can be used freely within scenes.

     The SoSeparator node provides caching of state during rendering and
     bounding box computation. This feature can be enabled by setting the
     renderCaching and boundingBoxCaching fields. By default, these are set to
     AUTO, which means that Inventor decides whether to build a cache based on
     internal heuristics.

     Separators can also perform culling during rendering and picking. Culling
     skips over traversal of the separator's children if they are not going to
     be rendered or picked, based on the comparison of the separator's
     bounding box with the current view volume. Culling is controlled by the
     renderCulling and pickCulling fields. These are also set to AUTO by
     default; however, render culling can be expensive (and can interfere with
     render caching), so the AUTO heuristics leave it disabled unless
     specified otherwise.

FIELDS
     SoSFEnum            renderCaching
          Whether to cache during rendering traversal.

     SoSFEnum            boundingBoxCaching
          Whether to cache during bounding box traversal.

     SoSFEnum            renderCulling
          Whether to cull during rendering traversal.

     SoSFEnum            pickCulling
          Whether to cull during picking traversal.


METHODS
                         SoSeparator()
          Creates a separator node with default settings.

                         SoSeparator(int nChildren)
          Constructor that takes approximate number of children.

     static void         setNumRenderCaches(int howMany)
          By default, each separator node maintains 2 render caches. (This is
          to allow two different representations, such as filled and wire-
          frame, to both be cached.) The setNumRenderCaches() method  sets the
          number of render caches each separator will have. Each render cache
          uses memory, so increasing this number may increase the memory
          requirements of the application. This method affects only separators
          that are created after it is called, not separators that were
          created before. Setting the number of caches to 0 turns off render
          caching globally from then on.

     static int          getNumRenderCaches()
          Returns the current number of render caches.

     static SoType       getClassTypeId()
          Returns type identifier for this class.


ACTION BEHAVIOR
     SoGLRenderAction, SoCallbackAction, SoGetBoundingBoxAction,
     SoGetMatrixAction, SoHandleEventAction, SoRayPickAction, SoSearchAction
          Saves the current traversal state, traverses all children, and
          restores the previous traversal state.


FILE FORMAT/DEFAULTS
     Separator {
          renderCaching       AUTO
          boundingBoxCaching  AUTO
          renderCulling       AUTO
          pickCulling         AUTO
     }

SEE ALSO
     SoSelection, SoTransformSeparator