Plugin: tSXGetMaterial

[Fenerit]

Hi! I'm ready with a beta version of this workaround on matIDs. Few remarks. I do not like when the plugins' windows opens always in the same screen place, nor I like to write within the registry, so I've implemented basic read/write .INI file. In tS 6.6 the call for the path is:

{
string file = tsxGetTSDir(e_tsxPATH_WORKDIR);
file += "\\tsx\\plugindir\\plugin.ini"
return (file);
}

Whichever plugs unzipped along its folder inside the "tsx" directory will write/read the .INI.

Somebody could tell me please whether tS7.x has the same API directive and what is the main plugin folder? The API should to handle the hard drive, at the least. I'm asking for because this tiny mismatch (if any) is cause of malfunctions.

[borgcone]

... I made this new plugin as a SDK re-learning.

Somebody could tell me please whether tS7.x has the same API directive ...

Do you mean the Model side (i.e. tS6.6)? If so, I think that you can know from tsxAPI66.doc and header files in the tS66 SDK whether there are the same API functions you need are or not .

... and what is the main plugin folder?

It's tS\tsx folder under the installed path (if my understanding is right). In case that you installed tS7.61 just under C:\, the main plugin folder for Model side is;
C:\trueSpace761\tS\tsx\

Your plugin simulates "Inspect tool" fairly faithfully (with many detailed parameters ). If I may add, the setting for "Material light emission" (a lamp icon in the tS6.6 top bar of "Material editor") seems to be missing. The tsxMaterialGetEmission() and e_tsxLT_OBJECT (a member of enum tsxLIGHT_TYPE) were added for it at tS6.0.

I also have ever tried similar things using my plugin, but the plan fell through because I was not able to break through the wall for a tS with localization (My tS5.1 Japanese version includes many Japanese words as parameter name).

For your information, using my plugin, you can execute almost all tSX API functions of tS4-tS6 from user Python scripts. It may help you to make your tSx mockup without repeating to build C/C++ programs and to place it to tsx folder. As a result, you should be able to concentrate to "trial and error" or to develop logic.

Re: Primitive tsxPython (ptsxpy), another Python interpreter plugin for tS series
The above post by me is an example script for material setting (see next of a robot). The script only creates several simple objects and paints a material to each of them, but is doing other many things like; to get the DLL directory, to search for the default texture map file "CALIGARI.JPG", to search for a shader by name using tsxShaderGetInternalName(), to check tS versions, to allocate/read/write memory area for C/C++ structs/variables for tSX API functions, etc.

(If you try to execute the script downloaded from the page above, get the plugin from "Return to ptsxpy" button in top of the page).

[Fenerit]

Hallo Borgcone; thanks for your feedback and to point me at your scripts. I will dig into your work surely! About the tsxMaterialGetEmission issue, I acknowledge that missing but I do not think is implemented correctly. Doesn't work at all for me. Maybe are just me who is unable to code that, but lights says that the structure is still material, not light. e_tsxLT_OBJECT is returned as structure material not light data type in debug mode.
tsxGetLightType does't return anything through it.

[Fenerit]

As suggested by Emmanuel, this plugin would be an extended version of the plugins above.

GUIDE:
- The list window;
The main visualizer. Single click will select matID or face of the polyhedron, depends on which "list" button is pressed.

- Filter matIDs;
This option filter out duplicate matIDs entry (faces doesn't have duplicates). Multiface polyhedrons sharing the same material returns the same IDs
Useful for a quick inspection. Press 'Face list' button to switch in list mode.
Enable the 'Inspect material' option, press 'matIDs list' or 'Face list' end click on entries to inspect the material."

- matIDs list;
Get the faces matIDs of the polyhedron. New polhys or "all-painted" polyhs always have faces with IDs zero (see below).

- Face list;
Get the list of polyhs' faces.

- Inspect material;
The main manager. Get the material for multi-material polyhedrons. See below.

- Paint mode;
This option enable painting in both modes: matIDs and faces. This option will paint face one by one.
For painting multi-selected faces use 'Edit Tool' option: select faces with the tools, assign material and press 'Paint selection'.

NOTE:
When faces have all matID#0 just one face will be painted indefinitely.
Switch to 'Face list' for painting faces, face zero also. Once all faces have the material assigned then can be painted in both mode.
Selected faces will have the thin line of selection on screen. Then refresh matIDs list to show the face materials IDs assigned.
This option and 'Inspect material' are mutually excluding in order to assign materials through the Material Editor. In this way
a material can be copied and applyed elsewhere.

- "Paint all";
Will apply materials on the whole polyhs.

KNOW LIMITATION:
- This version doesn't return material emission settings.

Please, take a look at the "readme.txt" inside the pack for installation. There are two version: 53_66 and 76. They have different plugin's path.

REMOVED BY ME: SEE THE RELEVANT PLUGIN THREAD

[borgcone]

... About the tsxMaterialGetEmission issue ... Doesn't work at all for me. ... tsxGetLightType does't return anything through it.

KNOW LIMITATION:
- This version doesn't return material emission settings.

I've just tried to get the emission. In case where "Use material light" in the Material Editor is OFF, as you wrote, the emission information doesn't seem to come from the object. In case of ON in the Material Editor , tsxMaterialGetEmission() seems to work for an object's material and returns a non-zero pointer to a tsxLIGHT, moreover tsxLightGetType() returns 9 (i.e. e_tsxLT_OBJECT).

I can't say for certain because I didn't thoroughly examine around the shader parameters etc., but as far as I know, there is no way to set the "Use material light" using the Model side tsxAPI, so we seem not to be able to get the emission state stably from the material of objects using the Model side tsxAPI (as you wrote).

[Fenerit]

I wish thanks you for having found time to play with that and confirm my suspects.

[borgcone]

A question still remains; Why can the tS's "Inspect tool" extract the emission state from an object while tsxAPI cannot do? Hard-coded in tS?

Since then, I compared two memory areas pointed by the tsxMATERIAL* of an object with emission between the "Use material light" On and Off in order to find the flag indicating the emission state. The spec of the struct for tsxMATERIAL is not opened. I found a string "ObjectLight" near the area pointed by (void *)( (void *)( ( (tsxMATERIAL*)materialptr ) + 2 ) + 10 ), but was not able to find the value 0x09 (e_tsxLT_OBJECT) nor the flag interlocked with the "Use material light".

Well, such "undocumented" is common occurrence for tsxAPI and it should be a trivial matter for many tS users.