SoType(3IV)

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();

  is a convoluted way of creating a new instance of an SoCube.

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