# SoOutput Class Reference
[General classes]

`#include <Inventor/SoOutput.h>`

List of all members.

## Detailed Description

The SoOutput class is an abstraction of an output stream.

SoOutput offers the ability to write basic types to a file or a memory buffer in either ASCII or binary format.

See also:
  SoInput

## Public Types

enum | Stage { COUNT_REFS, WRITE }
enum | Annotations { ADDRESSES = 0x01, REF_COUNTS = 0x02 }

## Public Member Functions

| SoOutput (void)
| SoOutput (SoOutput *dictOut)
virtual | ~SoOutput ()
virtual void | setFilePointer (FILE *newFP)
virtual FILE * | getFilePointer (void) const
virtual SbBool | openFile (const char *const fileName)
virtual void | closeFile (void)
SbBool | setCompression (const SbName &compmethod, const float level=0.5f)
virtual void | setBuffer (void *bufPointer, size_t initSize, SoOutputReallocCB *reallocFunc, int32_t offset=0)
virtual SbBool | getBuffer (void *&bufPointer, size_t &nBytes) const
virtual size_t | getBufferSize (void) const
virtual void | resetBuffer (void)
virtual void | setBinary (const SbBool flag)
virtual SbBool | isBinary (void) const
virtual void | setHeaderString (const SbString &str)
virtual void | resetHeaderString (void)
virtual void | setFloatPrecision (const int precision)
void | setStage (Stage stage)
Stage | getStage (void) const
void | incrementIndent (const int levels=1)
void | decrementIndent (const int levels=1)
virtual void | write (const char c)
virtual void | write (const char *s)
virtual void | write (const SbString &s)
virtual void | write (const SbName &n)
virtual void | write (const int i)
virtual void | write (const unsigned int i)
virtual void | write (const short s)
virtual void | write (const unsigned short s)
virtual void | write (const float f)
virtual void | write (const double d)
virtual void | writeBinaryArray (const unsigned char *c, const int length)
virtual void | writeBinaryArray (const int32_t *const l, const int length)
virtual void | writeBinaryArray (const float *const f, const int length)
virtual void | writeBinaryArray (const double *const d, const int length)
virtual void | indent (void)
virtual void | reset (void)
void | setCompact (SbBool flag)
SbBool | isCompact (void) const
void | setAnnotation (uint32_t bits)
uint32_t | getAnnotation (void)
int | addReference (const SoBase *base)
int | findReference (const SoBase *base) const
void | setReference (const SoBase *base, int refid)
void | addDEFNode (SbName name)
SbBool | lookupDEFNode (SbName name)
void | removeDEFNode (SbName name)
void | pushProto (SoProto *proto)
SoProto * | getCurrentProto (void) const
void | popProto (void)
void | addRoute (SoFieldContainer *from, const SbName &fromfield, SoFieldContainer *to, const SbName &tofield)
void | resolveRoutes (void)

## Static Public Member Functions

const SbName * | getAvailableCompressionMethods (unsigned int &num)
SbString | getDefaultASCIIHeader (void)
SbString | getDefaultBinaryHeader (void)

## Protected Member Functions

SbBool | isToBuffer (void) const
size_t | bytesInBuf (void) const
SbBool | makeRoomInBuf (size_t nBytes)
void | convertShort (short s, char *to)
void | convertInt32 (int32_t l, char *to)
void | convertFloat (float f, char *to)
void | convertDouble (double d, char *to)
void | convertShortArray (short *from, char *to, int len)
void | convertInt32Array (int32_t *from, char *to, int len)
void | convertFloatArray (float *from, char *to, int len)
void | convertDoubleArray (double *from, char *to, int len)

## Static Protected Member Functions

SbString | padHeader (const SbString &inString)

## Protected Attributes

SbBool | wroteHeader

## Friends

class | SoBase

## Member Enumeration Documentation

enum SoOutput::Stage

Enumerates the possible stages of a write operation (writing needs to be done in mutiple passes).

See also:
  setStage(), getStage()

Enumeration values:

  COUNT_REFS | Not writing, just counting the internal references in the scene graph.
  WRITE | Signifies that actual data export should take place during this pass.

enum SoOutput::Annotations

Values from this enum is used for debugging purposes to annotate the output from a write operation.

Enumeration values:

  ADDRESSES | Annotate output with pointer address information.
  REF_COUNTS | Annotate output with reference counts of the objects written.

## Constructor & Destructor Documentation

SoOutput::SoOutput | ( | void |  | ) |

The default constructor makes an SoOutput instance which will write to the standard output.

See also:
  setFilePointer(), openFile(), setBuffer()

SoOutput::SoOutput | ( | SoOutput * | dictOut | ) |

| Constructs an SoOutput which has a copy of the reference SbDict instance from dictOut.

SoOutput::~SoOutput | ( | void |  | ) | `[virtual]`

| Destructor.

## Member Function Documentation

void SoOutput::setFilePointer | ( | FILE * | newFP | ) | `[virtual]`

Set up a new file pointer which we will write to.

Important note: do not use this method when the Coin library has been compiled as an MSWindows DLL, as passing FILE* instances back or forth to DLLs is dangerous and will most likely cause a crash. This is an intrinsic limitation for MSWindows DLLs.

See also:
  openFile(), setBuffer(), getFilePointer()

FILE * SoOutput::getFilePointer | ( | void |  | ) | const`[virtual]`

Returns the current filepointer. If we're writing to a memory buffer, `NULL` is returned.

Important note: do not use this method when the Coin library has been compiled as an MSWindows DLL, as passing FILE* instances back or forth to DLLs is dangerous and will most likely cause a crash. This is an intrinsic limitation for MSWindows DLLs.

See also:
  setFilePointer()

SbBool SoOutput::openFile | ( | const char *const | fileName | ) | `[virtual]`

Opens a file for writing. If the file can not be opened or is not writeable, FALSE will be returned.

Files opened by this method will automatically be closed if the user supplies another filepointer, another filename for writing, or if the SoOutput instance is deleted.

See also:
  setFilePointer(), setBuffer(), closeFile()

void SoOutput::closeFile | ( | void |  | ) | `[virtual]`

Closes the currently opened file, but only if the file was passed to SoOutput through the openFile() method.

See also:
  openFile()

SbBool SoOutput::setCompression | ( | const SbName & | compmethod,
|  | const float | level = 0.5f
| ) |

Sets the compression method and level used when writing the file. compmethod is the compression library/method to use when compressing. level is the compression level, where 0.0 means no compression and 1.0 means maximum compression.

Currently BZIP2, GZIP are the only compression methods supported, and you have to compile Coin with zlib and bzip2-support to enable them.

Supply compmethod = NONE or level = 0.0 if you want to disable compression. The compression is disabled by default.

Please note that it's not possible to compress when writing to a memory buffer.

This method will return TRUE if the compression method selected is available. If it's not available, FALSE will be returned and compression is disabled.

See also:
  getAvailableCompressionMethods()

Since:
  Coin 2.1

const SbName * SoOutput::getAvailableCompressionMethods | ( | unsigned int & | num | ) | `[static]`

Returns the array of available compression methods. The number of elements in the array will be stored in num.

See also:
  setCompression()

Since:
  Coin 2.1

void SoOutput::setBuffer | ( | void * | bufPointer,
|  | size_t | initSize,
|  | SoOutputReallocCB * | reallocFunc,
|  | int32_t | offset = 0
| ) | `[virtual]`

Sets up a memory buffer of size initSize for writing. Writing will start at bufPointer + offset.

If the buffer is filled up, reallocFunc is called to get more memory. If reallocFunc returns NULL, further writing is disabled.

Important note: remember that the resultant memory buffer after write operations have completed may reside somewhere else in memory than on bufPointer if reallocFunc is set. It is a good idea to make it a habit to always use getBuffer() to retrieve the memory buffer pointer after write operations.

Here's a complete, stand-alone usage example which shows how to write a scene graph to a memory buffer:

      #include <Inventor/SoDB.h>
      #include <Inventor/actions/SoWriteAction.h>
      #include <Inventor/nodes/SoCone.h>
      #include <Inventor/nodes/SoSeparator.h>

      static char * buffer;
      static size_t buffer_size = 0;

      static void *
      buffer_realloc(void * bufptr, size_t size)
      {
        buffer = (char *)realloc(bufptr, size);
        buffer_size = size;
        return buffer;
      }

      static SbString
      buffer_writeaction(SoNode * root)
      {
        SoOutput out;
        buffer = (char *)malloc(1024);
        buffer_size = 1024;
        out.setBuffer(buffer, buffer_size, buffer_realloc);

        SoWriteAction wa(&out);
        wa.apply(root);

        SbString s(buffer);
        free(buffer);
        return s;
      }

      int
      main(int argc, char ** argv)
      {
        SoDB::init();

        SoSeparator * root = new SoSeparator;
        root->ref();

        root->addChild(new SoCone);

        SbString s = buffer_writeaction(root);
        (void)fprintf(stdout, "%s\n", s.getString());

        root->unref();
        return 0;
      }

See also:
  getBuffer(), getBufferSize(), resetBuffer()

SbBool SoOutput::getBuffer | ( | void *& | bufPointer,
|  | size_t & | nBytes
| ) | const`[virtual]`

Returns the current buffer in bufPointer and the current write position of the buffer in nBytes. If we're writing into a file and not a memory buffer, FALSE is returned and the other return values will be undefined.

See also:
  getBufferSize()

size_t SoOutput::getBufferSize | ( | void |  | ) | const`[virtual]`

Returns total size of memory buffer.

See also:
  getBuffer()

void SoOutput::resetBuffer | ( | void |  | ) | `[virtual]`

| Reset the memory buffer write pointer back to the beginning of the buffer.

void SoOutput::setBinary | ( | const SbBool | flag | ) | `[virtual]`

Set whether or not to write the output as a binary stream.

See also:
  isBinary()

SbBool SoOutput::isBinary | ( | void |  | ) | const`[virtual]`

Returns a flag which indicates whether or not we're writing the output as a binary stream.

See also:
  setBinary()

void SoOutput::setHeaderString | ( | const SbString & | str | ) | `[virtual]`

Set the output file header string.

See also:
  resetHeaderString(), getDefaultASCIIHeader(), getDefaultBinaryHeader()

void SoOutput::resetHeaderString | ( | void |  | ) | `[virtual]`

Reset the header string to the default one.

See also:
  setHeaderString(), getDefaultASCIIHeader(), getDefaultBinaryHeader()

void SoOutput::setFloatPrecision | ( | const int | precision | ) | `[virtual]`

| Set the precision used when writing floating point numbers to ASCII files. precision should be between 0 and 8. The double precision will be set to precision * 2.

void SoOutput::setStage | ( | Stage | stage | ) |

Sets an indicator on the current stage. This is necessary to do as writing has to be done in multiple stages to account for the export of references/connections within the scene graphs.

This method is basically just used from within SoWriteAction, and should usually not be of interest to the application programmer. Do not use it unless you really know what you are doing.

See also:
  getStage()

SoOutput::Stage SoOutput::getStage | ( | void |  | ) | const

Returns an indicator on the current write stage. Writing is done in two passes, one to count and check connections, one to do the actual ascii or binary export of data.

You should not need to use this method, as it is meant for internal purposes in Coin.

See also:
  setStage()

void SoOutput::incrementIndent | ( | const int | levels = 1 | ) |

Increase indentation level in the file.

See also:
  decrementIndent(), indent()

void SoOutput::decrementIndent | ( | const int | levels = 1 | ) |

Decrease indentation level in the file.

See also:
  incrementIndent(), indent()

void SoOutput::write | ( | const char | c | ) | `[virtual]`

| Write the character in c. For binary write, the character plus 3 padding zero characters will be written.

void SoOutput::write | ( | const char * | s | ) | `[virtual]`

| Write the character string pointed to by s. For binary write, a 4-byte MSB-ordered integer with the string length, plus the string plus padding zero characters to get on a 4-byte boundary (if necessary) will be written.

void SoOutput::write | ( | const SbString & | s | ) | `[virtual]`

| Write the character string in s. The string will be written with apostrophes. Cast SbString to char * to write without apostrophes. If we are supposed to write in binary format, no apostrophes will be added, and writing will be done in the exact same manner as with SoOutput::write(const char * s).

void SoOutput::write | ( | const SbName & | n | ) | `[virtual]`

| Write the character string in n. The name will be enclosed by apostrophes. If you want to write an SbName instance without the apostrophes, cast the argument to a char *. If we are supposed to write in binary format, no apostrophes will be added, and writing will be done in the exact same manner as with SoOutput::write(const char * s).

void SoOutput::write | ( | const int | i | ) | `[virtual]`

| Write i as a character string, or as an architecture independent binary pattern if the setBinary() flag is activated.

void SoOutput::write | ( | const unsigned int | i | ) | `[virtual]`

| Write i as a character string, or as an architecture independent binary pattern if the setBinary() flag is activated.

void SoOutput::write | ( | const short | s | ) | `[virtual]`

| Write s as a character string, or as an architecture independent binary pattern if the setBinary() flag is activated.

void SoOutput::write | ( | const unsigned short | s | ) | `[virtual]`

| Write s as a character string, or as an architecture independent binary pattern if the setBinary() flag is activated. If we're writing in ASCII format, the value will be written in base 16 (hexadecimal).

void SoOutput::write | ( | const float | f | ) | `[virtual]`

| Write f as a character string.

void SoOutput::write | ( | const double | d | ) | `[virtual]`

| Write d as a character string.

void SoOutput::writeBinaryArray | ( | const unsigned char * | constc,
|  | const int | length
| ) | `[virtual]`

| Write the given number of bytes to either a file or a memory buffer in binary format.

void SoOutput::writeBinaryArray | ( | const int32_t *const | l,
|  | const int | length
| ) | `[virtual]`

| Write an length array of int32_t values in binary format.

void SoOutput::writeBinaryArray | ( | const float *const | f,
|  | const int | length
| ) | `[virtual]`

| Write an array of float values in binary format.

void SoOutput::writeBinaryArray | ( | const double *const | d,
|  | const int | length
| ) | `[virtual]`

| Write an array of double values in binary format.

void SoOutput::indent | ( | void |  | ) | `[virtual]`

Call this method after writing a newline to a file to indent the next line to the correct position.

See also:
  incrementIndent(), decrementIndent()

void SoOutput::reset | ( | void |  | ) | `[virtual]`

| Reset all value and make ready for using another filepointer or buffer.

void SoOutput::setCompact | ( | SbBool | flag | ) |

| Set up the output to be more compact than with the default write routines.

SbBool SoOutput::isCompact | ( | void |  | ) | const

| Returns whether or not the write routines tries to compact the data when writing it (i.e. using less whitespace, etc). Note that "compact" in this sense does not mean "bitwise compression", as it could easily be mistaken for.

void SoOutput::setAnnotation | ( | uint32_t | bits | ) |

| Set up annotation of different aspects of the output data. This is not useful for much else than debugging purposes, I s'pose.

uint32_t SoOutput::getAnnotation | ( | void |  | ) |

| Returns the current annotation debug bitflag settings.

SbString SoOutput::getDefaultASCIIHeader | ( | void |  | ) | `[static]`

Return the default header string written to ASCII files.

See also:
  setHeaderString(), resetHeaderString(), getDefaultBinaryHeader()

SbString SoOutput::getDefaultBinaryHeader | ( | void |  | ) | `[static]`

Return the default header string written to binary files.

See also:
  setHeaderString(), resetHeaderString(), getDefaultASCIIHeader()

int SoOutput::addReference | ( | const SoBase * | base | ) |

| Makes a unique id for base and adds a mapping into our dictionary.

int SoOutput::findReference | ( | const SoBase * | base | ) | const

| Returns the unique identifier for base or -1 if not found.

void SoOutput::setReference | ( | const SoBase * | base,
|  | int | refid
| ) |

| Sets the reference for base manually.

void SoOutput::addDEFNode | ( | SbName | name | ) |

| Adds name to the set of currently DEF'ed node names so far in the output process.

SbBool SoOutput::lookupDEFNode | ( | SbName | name | ) |

| Checks whether name is already DEF'ed at this point in the output process. Returns TRUE if name is DEF'ed.

void SoOutput::removeDEFNode | ( | SbName | name | ) |

| Removes name from the set of DEF'ed node names. Used after the last reference to a DEF'ed node if we want to reuse the DEF at a later point in the file.

void SoOutput::pushProto | ( | SoProto * | proto | ) |

This API member is considered internal to the library, as it is not likely to be of interest to the application programmer.

This function is an extension for Coin, and it is not available in the original SGI Open Inventor v2.1 API.

Since:
  Coin 2.0

SoProto * SoOutput::getCurrentProto | ( | void |  | ) | const

This API member is considered internal to the library, as it is not likely to be of interest to the application programmer.

This function is an extension for Coin, and it is not available in the original SGI Open Inventor v2.1 API.

Since:
  Coin 2.0

void SoOutput::popProto | ( | void |  | ) |

This API member is considered internal to the library, as it is not likely to be of interest to the application programmer.

This function is an extension for Coin, and it is not available in the original SGI Open Inventor v2.1 API.

Since:
  Coin 2.0

void SoOutput::addRoute | ( | SoFieldContainer * | from,
|  | const SbName & | fromfield,
|  | SoFieldContainer * | to,
|  | const SbName & | tofield
| ) |

This API member is considered internal to the library, as it is not likely to be of interest to the application programmer.

This function is an extension for Coin, and it is not available in the original SGI Open Inventor v2.1 API.

Since:
  Coin 2.0

void SoOutput::resolveRoutes | ( | void |  | ) |

This API member is considered internal to the library, as it is not likely to be of interest to the application programmer.

This function is an extension for Coin, and it is not available in the original SGI Open Inventor v2.1 API.

Since:
  Coin 2.0

SbBool SoOutput::isToBuffer | ( | void |  | ) | const`[protected]`

| Returns TRUE of we're set up to write to a memory buffer.

size_t SoOutput::bytesInBuf | ( | void |  | ) | const`[protected]`

| Returns current write position. Note that for memory buffer writing, this includes the offset from SoOutput::setBuffer(), if any.

SbBool SoOutput::makeRoomInBuf | ( | size_t | bytes | ) | `[protected]`

| Check that the current memory buffer has enough space to contain the given number of bytes needed for the next write operation. Returns FALSE if there's not enough space left, otherwise TRUE. Note that there will automatically be made an attempt at allocating more memory if the realloction callback function argument of setBuffer() was not NULL.

void SoOutput::convertShort | ( | short | s,
|  | char * | to
| ) | `[protected]`

Convert the short integer in s to most-significant-byte first format and put the resulting bytes sequentially at to.

See also:
  SoInput::convertShort()

void SoOutput::convertInt32 | ( | int32_t | l,
|  | char * | to
| ) | `[protected]`

Convert the 32-bit integer in l to most-significant-byte first format and put the resulting bytes sequentially at to.

See also:
  SoInput::convertInt32()

void SoOutput::convertFloat | ( | float | f,
|  | char * | to
| ) | `[protected]`

Convert the single-precision floating point number in f to most-significant-byte first format and put the resulting bytes sequentially at to.

See also:
  SoInput::convertFloat()

void SoOutput::convertDouble | ( | double | d,
|  | char * | to
| ) | `[protected]`

Convert the double-precision floating point number in d to most-significant-byte first format and put the resulting bytes sequentially at to.

See also:
  SoInput::convertDouble()

void SoOutput::convertShortArray | ( | short * | from,
|  | char * | to,
|  | int | len
| ) | `[protected]`

| Convert len short integer values from the array at from into the array at to from native host format to network independent format (i.e. most significant byte first).

void SoOutput::convertInt32Array | ( | int32_t * | from,
|  | char * | to,
|  | int | len
| ) | `[protected]`

| Convert len 32-bit integer values from the array at from into the array at to from native host format to network independent format (i.e. most significant byte first).

void SoOutput::convertFloatArray | ( | float * | from,
|  | char * | to,
|  | int | len
| ) | `[protected]`

| Convert len single-precision floating point values from the array at from into the array at to from native host format to network independent format (i.e. most significant byte first).

void SoOutput::convertDoubleArray | ( | double * | from,
|  | char * | to,
|  | int | len
| ) | `[protected]`

| Convert len double-precision floating point values from the array at from into the array at to from native host format to network independent format (i.e. most significant byte first).

SbString SoOutput::padHeader | ( | const SbString & | inString | ) | `[static, protected]`

| Pads the header we're writing so it contains the correct amount of bytes for the alignment of the following binary writes.

## Member Data Documentation

SbBool SoOutput::wroteHeader`[protected]`

| Indicates whether or not the file format header has been written out. As long as this is FALSE, the header will be written once upon the first invocation of any write method in the class.

The documentation for this class was generated from the following files:

- SoOutput.h
- SoOutput.cpp