Poly Info

Similar to the Output tab’s settings, these settings are also primarily designed to be referenced by XPresso/scripts and used to execute actions. This tab’s settings can also be used to determine the cursor’s position over a tagged obect to, for example, be modify it at point level, which even makes it possible to set up simple custom tools using XPresso/scripts (one example would be that each point over which the cursor is positioned while pressing LMB will be moved 10 cm along the X axis).

Note: The object must be a polygonal object (Primitives and Generators cannot be used)! Note also that the evaluation/output of this data is CPU-intensive and objects with very high polygon counts can even bog down a computer completely.

Calculate Polygon Info

Contrary to the other settings, this and the next setting can be defined by the user. Since outputting the polygon information requires CPU power, this option should be disabled if not needed.

Live Update During Drag

After an object has been clicked with the LMB remaining pressed, polygon values will be output to the Poly Info settings. This option can be disabled if you do not require continuous information output regarding these values.

Hit

If the cursor encounters a polygon, a TRUE value will be output (the tweak process can begin at a distance of several pixels from the object where no polygon is encountered).

Hit Point [XYZ ]

This setting outputs the cursor location on the object in global coordinates. Since OpenGL values are used, these values will not be absolutely precise.

Polygon Index [-2147483648..1000000000]
Edge Index [-2147483648..1000000000]
Point Index [-2147483648..1000000000]

Points, edges and polygons are numbered internally in ascending order starting from 0 (this is shown in the Structure Manager for points and polygons). These settings output the numbers for elements over which the cursor lies (or of the nearest element). These index numbers can, for example, be output to the ports of point or polygon nodes.

This only works if the cursor actually encounters a polygon, i.e., if Hit is TRUE in a boolean sense.

Selection Tag

If selections from a tagged object have been saved to a Set Selection tag, the tag over which the cursor lies will be displayed in this field. What can be done using this function can be seen in the following example above or under Dynamic Proxies.

Selection Tag Index [-2147483648..2147483647]

All Selection tags are numbered internally in ascending order. The number of the tag over which the cursor lies will be output. If the cursor does not lie over a selection, a value of -1 will be output.