NAME

SoType — stores runtime type information

INHERITS FROM

SoType

SYNOPSIS

#include <Inventor/SoType.h>

Methods from class SoType:

static SoType fromName(SbName name)

SbName getName() const

SoType getParent() const

static SoType badType()

SbBool isBad() const

SbBool isDerivedFrom(SoType t) const

static int getAllDerivedFrom(SoType type, SoTypeList &list)

SbBool canCreateInstance() const

void * createInstance() const

int operator ==(const SoType t) const

int operator !=(const SoType t) const

int operator <(const SoType t) const

DESCRIPTION

The SoType class keeps track of runtime type information in Inventor. Each type is associated with a given name, so lookup is possible in either direction.

Many Inventor classes request a unique SoType when they are initialized. This type can then be used to find out the actual class of an instance when only its base class is known, or to obtain an instance of a particular class given its type or name.

Note that the names associated with types of Inventor classes do not contain the "So" prefix.

METHODS

static SoType fromName(SbName name)

Returns the type associated with the given name.

SbName getName() const

Returns the name associated with a type.

SoType getParent() const

Returns the type of the parent class.

static SoType badType()

Returns an always-illegal type. Useful for returning errors.

SbBool isBad() const

Returns TRUE if the type is a bad type.

SbBool isDerivedFrom(SoType t) const

Returns TRUE if the type is derived from type t.

static int getAllDerivedFrom(SoType type, SoTypeList &list)

Adds all types derived from the given type to the given type list. Returns the number of types added.

SbBool canCreateInstance() const

Some types are able to create instances; for example, most nodes and engines (those which are not abstract classes) can be created this way. This method returns TRUE if the type supports such creation.

void * createInstance() const

Creates and returns a pointer to an instance of the type. Returns NULL if an instance could not be created for some reason. The pointer is returned as a generic pointer, but can be cast to the appropriate type. For example:

SoCube *c = (SoCube *) SoCube::getClassTypeId().createInstance();

int operator ==(const SoType t) const

int operator !=(const SoType t) const

Returns TRUE if this type is the same as or not the same as the given type.

int operator <(const SoType t) const

Less-than comparison operator that can be used to sort types. This is pretty useless otherwise.

SEE ALSO

SoAction, SoBase, SoDetail, SoError, SoEvent, SoField