IBM Visualization Data Explorer User's Reference

ClipPlane

Category

Rendering

Function

Prepares an object for clipping by a plane.

Syntax

clipped = ClipPlane(object, point, normal);

Inputs

Name	Type	Default	Description
object	object	none	object to be clipped
point	vector	center of object	a point on the clipping plane
normal	vector	[0 0 1]	perpendicular to the clipping plane

Outputs

Name	Type	Description
clipped	object	object marked for clipping

Functional Details

This module constructs an object so that it can be clipped by an infinite plane. Data Explorer renders only the portion of the object that lies on the side opposite that pointed to by normal (see below).

object	is the object to be clipped.
point ,	specifies a point in the clipping plane. This specification, together with normal, defines the clipping plane. The default is the center of the object to be clipped.
normal	specifies a normal to the clipping plane. This normal projects to the side of the plane that is to be clipped. All parts of the specified object that lie on the opposite side are retained.

Notes:

1. The specified object must be of a kind for which a bounding box can be constructed. Otherwise an error results. In general, bounding boxes can be constructed for all geometric objects, but not for, say, captions.

2. All translucent objects in the scene should be clipped by the same object. In addition, objects can be clipped by only one clipping plane or one clipping box.

3. The effect of ClipPlane occurs during rendering, and its use does not affect the behavior of modules upstream from the renderer. For example, ShowBox will draw a box around the unclipped object.

Components

All input components are propagated to the output.

Example Visual Program

UsingClipPlane.net

See Also

 ClipBox

[Data Explorer Home Page | Contact Data Explorer | Same document on Data Explorer Home Page ]