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Change History

7.0 Changes

September 24, 2001

This is a list of the changes in the LightWave 7.0 release that affect the SDK. The changes include a new Layout tool class and two new globals, as well as extensive enhancement of many of the info globals defined in lwrender.h. Layout supports 51 new commands of its own plus another 46 that it now propagates to the various editors.

One change and one bug fix were made to the SDK for the LightWave 7.0B patch. These have been marked here with "[ B ]".

Structures associated with the ShaderHandler class and the Preview Functions and Item Info globals were changed, but the shader version number and the global name strings weren't incremented. In all cases, the changes involve members added to the ends of structures, so they have no effect on existing plug-ins. New plug-ins can use the Product Info global to verify that they're running in at least LightWave 7.0 before they use the new structure members.

lwcustobj.h

• LWCUSTOMOBJ_VERSION (CustomObjHandler) has been incremented.
• A quad function for drawing solid quad polygons has been added to LWCustomObjAccess.
• Quads can be image-mapped using new setTexture and setUVs functions. setTexture accepts a square image in GL_RGBA format, and setUVs sets the UV coordinates at the corners of a quad.
• The text function accepts a new justification argument, 0 for left, 1 for center, 2 for right.
• The color argument to setColor now takes a fourth array element for the color's alpha level.
• Since custom objects can draw semi-transparent primitives, viewPos and viewDir vectors have been added so that plug-ins can depth-sort their primitives.

lwdisplay.h

• The header now defines _WIN32_WINNT.

lwdisplce.h

• LWDISPLACEMENT_VERSION (DisplacementHandler) has been incremented because of changes to LWMeshInfo.

lwenvel.h

• LWCHANNELINFO_GLOBAL (Channel Info) has been incremented to "Channel Info 2".
• serverApply and serverRemove functions have been added to LWChannelInfo. Also added were serverFlags and serverInstance functions that return the flags and instance data of a channel handler.
• A new event code, LWCEVNT_VALUE, has been added to signal changes to channels.

lwlaytool.h

• This is a new header file containing the definition of a new plug-in class, LayoutTool.

lwmaster.h

• An LWEVNT_SELECT event code has been added (MasterHandler).

lwmeshes.h

• A polFlags function has been added to LWMeshInfo.
• pntVIDGet and pntVPIDGet functions have been added to LWMeshInfo. These are like pntVGet and pntVPGet, but they don't require a preceeding call to pntVSelect, making them more reliable when called from threaded code.
• Because of LWMeshInfo changes, LWOBJECTFUNCS_GLOBAL (Scene Objects) has been incremented to "Scene Objects 4".

lwmonitor.h

• A new global (Layout Monitor) has been created to provide a standard monitor for Layout. The server name is LWLMONFUNCS_GLOBAL.

lwpanel.h

• A new global (Context Menu) has been created to provide context menus in Panels. The server name is LWCONTEXTMENU_GLOBAL.
• LWPANELS_API_VERSION (Panels) has been incremented. Panels using the new PANF_NOBUTT flag will not have Continue or Cancel buttons. PANF_RESIZE panels can be resized.

lwpreview.h

• A setPreset function has been added to LWPreviewFuncs (Preview Functions).

lwrender.h

• Due to an error, LWSCENEINFO_GLOBAL (Scene Info) was defined as "LW Scene Info 2" in the public version of lwrender.h released with LightWave 6.5B. It should have been "LW Scene Info 3". The correct definition has been restored in the LightWave 7.0 headers.
• Four functions (flags, lookAhead, goalStrength and stiffness) have been added to LWItemInfo (Item Info).
• LWOBJECTINFO_GLOBAL (Object Info) has been incremented to "LW Object Info 4".
• Eight new functions (boneSource, morphTarget, morphAmount, edgeOpts, edgeColor, subdivOrder, polygonSize and excluded) have been added to LWObjectInfo. The excluded function returns TRUE if the object has been excluded from the given light.
• The LWObjectInfo flags function returns new flags LWOBJF_UNAFFECT_BY_FOG, LWOBJF_MORPH_MTSE and LWOBJF_MORPH_SURFACES.
• LWBONEINFO_GLOBAL (Bone Info) has been incremented to "LW Bone Info 3".
• Four new functions (strength, falloff, jointComp and muscleFlex) have been added to LWBoneInfo.
• The LWBoneInfo flags function returns new flags LWBONEF_JOINT_COMP, LWBONEF_JOINT_COMP_PAR, LWBONEF_MUSCLE_FLEX and LWBONEF_MUSCLE_FLEX_PAR.
• LWLIGHTINFO_GLOBAL (Light Info) has been incremented to "LW Light Info 3".
• Eight new functions (falloff, projImage, shadMapSize, shadMapAngle, shadMapFuzz, quality, rawColor, intensity) have been added to LWLightInfo.
• The coneAngles function now includes a time argument (since the angles can be enveloped) and returns values in radians rather than degrees.
• A time argument has been added to the LWLightInfo range function.
• The LWLightInfo flags function returns new flags LWLFL_FIT_CONE and LWLFL_CACHE_SHAD_MAP.
• LWINTERFACEINFO_GLOBAL (Interface Info) has been incremented to "LW Interface Info 3".
• The LWInterfaceInfo itemColor function returns the color used to draw the item in the interface. The new boxThreshold field contains the bounding box threshold, and alertLevel contains LWALERT_BEGINNER, LWALERT_INTERMEDIATE or LWALERT_EXPERT.

lwshader.h

• replacement_percentage and replacement_color fields have been added to LWShaderAccess (ShaderHandler). Use these to set the surface color when your shader calculates lighting and you therefore don't want LightWave to overwrite your color.
• [ B ] reflectionBlur and refractionBlur. fields have been added to the shader access structure.

lwsurf.h

• Two new channel definitions for reflection and refraction blurring have been added (Surface Functions).

lwtool.h

• A text function and pxScale (pixel scale) field have been added to LWWireDrawAccess.

lwtxtr.h

• LWTEXTUREFUNCS_GLOBAL (Texture Functions) has been incremented to "Texture Functions 2", and four new functions have been added to LWTextureFuncs. texture returns a texture ID, given the ID of a texture layer. name, type and context return information about a texture.

lwvparm.h

• Due to an error, the public version of lwvparm.h (Variant Parameters) released with LightWave 6.5 and 6.5B contained an incorrect definition of the LWVParmFuncs getEnv function. This definition showed getEnv taking a single argument and returning a single envelope ID. The correct definition shows getEnv returning void. It writes up to three envelope IDs in an array passed as the second argument. This definition has been restored in the current header.

Commands: Layout

• The file written by SaveCommandList now includes Graph Editor, Image Editor and Surface Editor commands, and Layout now dispatches those commands to their respective components.
• The Refresh command now defers its work until the system is idle, for improved interactivity. A RefreshNow command has been added for cases in which synchronous updates are desired. The new Redraw and RedrawNow commands are similar except that they don't cause motions and geometry to be recomputed.
• The PluginOptions command has been replaced by MasterPlugins, to reflect the fact that the name of the panel it invokes has changed in the interface.
• Other new commands:

  RecentScenes           ItemActive             PolygonSize
  ReplaceObjectLayer     ItemLock               UnaffectedByFog
  SquashTool             ItemVisibility         BoneStrengthMultiply
  ShowTargetLines        ItemColor              BoneMinRange
  BoundingBoxThreshold   RadiosityType          BoneMaxRange
  VIPER                  RecentContentDirs      BoneJointComp
  Presets                AlertLevel             BoneJointCompParent
  EnableDeformations     AddButton              BoneJointCompAmounts
  MatchGoalOrientation   Generics               BoneMuscleFlex
  KeepGoalWithinReach    ClearAudio             BoneMuscleFlexParent
  LimitH                 LoadAudio              BoneMuscleFlexAmounts
  LimitP                 PlayAudio              LightQuality
  LimitB                 RayTraceTransparency   ShadowMapFuzziness
  HStiffness             LoadObjectLayer        ShadowMapFitCone
  PStiffness             MorphMTSE              ShadowMapAngle
  BStiffness             MorphSurfaces

Commands: Modeler

• The new setcontent command sets the content directory.

Commands: Common

• New (or newly available) Graph Editor commands include:

  GE_OpenWindow         GE_DeleteSelKeys        GE_MoveKeys
  GE_SetWindowPos       GE_ReduceKeys           GE_CreateExpression
  GE_SetWindowSize      GE_LockKeys             GE_AttachExpression
  GE_ApplyServer        GE_CopySelKeys          GE_AttachExpressionID
  GE_RemoveServer       GE_PasteKeys            GE_SetGroup
  GE_GetLayoutSel       GE_LeaveFootprints      GE_SetEnv
  GE_SelectAllCurves    GE_PickupFootprints     GE_SetEnvID
  GE_FilterSelection    GE_BacktrackFootprints  GE_LoadExpressions
  GE_BakeCurves         GE_CopyTimeslice        GE_SaveExpressions
  GE_SnapKeysToFrames   GE_PasteTimeslice       GE_ClearBin
  GE_SelectAllKeys      GE_MatchFootprintAtFrame

• The newly available Image Editor commands are:

  IE_OpenWindow
  IE_SetClipTable
  IE_SetWindowPos

• The surface system supports a new Surf_SetBakerImage command.

Miscellaneous

• When the user changes the item order, plug-ins are now notified of the new IDs only after the item data have actually been rearranged. Globals that take item IDs as arguments should now behave correctly when called from within a handler's changeID callback.
• In LWSN, master plug-ins now receive a LoadScene command event at the end of scene loading. Since the issuing of commands is not supported in LWSN, the LWMasterAccess structure contains dummy functions in this situation.
• Attempts by plug-ins to trace rays during Wireframe or Quickshade renders were causing crashes. This has been fixed (the ray tracing functions now always return -1 in those modes).
• The Directory Info global now returns the correct result for "Content" in Modeler.
• Low and high angles are now returned by the Item Info limits function even if the corresponding limits are turned off.
• A condition that could cause mesh info queries to fail after an object is cleared from the scene has been fixed.
• All enabled environment plug-ins are now evaluated (although this can be a waste of time since each one will overwrite the results of the previous one).
• The PreviousItem and NextItem commands now skip over locked items.
• When Adaptive Sampling is on and Antialiasing is off, the minSamplesPerPixel from the Scene Info global is now zero, since some pixels may be totally skipped.
• The Item Info controller function now returns correct values.
• Button names specified by generic plug-ins are now used if present.
• The envelope commands are now safe to use when there is no current item.
• Object serial numbers are now computed during rather than after cloning so that plug-ins can get the final object names as they are created.
• Since they may draw semi-transparent primitives, custom objects are now processed after all other 3D elements (including the grid).
• [ B ] During scene file loading, newline characters after plug-in server names were not being read before the plug-ins loaded their data. This has been fixed.

6.5B Changes

May 8, 2001

This is a list of the changes in the LightWave 6.5B patch that affect the SDK. As with previous changes, these in most cases won't require you to rewrite or recompile your existing code.

Structures associated with the CustomObjHandler class and the Particle Services, Object Info and Interface Info globals were changed, but the custom object version number and the global name strings weren't incremented. This was discovered too close to the release of 6.5B to be remedied. In all cases, the changes involve members added to the ends of structures, so they have no effect on existing plug-ins. New plug-ins that need to distinguish between the old and new structures can use the program build numbers returned by the Product Info global.

lwcustobj.h

• A text function was added to LWCustomObjAccess (Custom Objects).
• Added LWVIEW_SCHEMA to the codes for the view field of the LWCustomObjAccess structure.
• Added LWCOF_SCHEMA_OK to the flags that can be returned from the LWCustomObjHandler flags callback

lwhost.h

• Added preprocessor symbols for some of the file type strings used with the File Type and Directory Info globals.

lwmaster.h

• Added LWEVNT_TIME to the event codes that can be passed to the Master class event callback. This event notice is sent whenever the frame slider is moved, which includes playing the scene, but not playing back a preview.

lwmath.h

• Bracketed MIN, MAX and ABS macros within preprocessor conditionals so that they won't conflict with versions of the macros that might be defined elsewhere.

lwmeshes.h

• Incremented LWOBJECTFUNCS_GLOBAL (Scene Objects) to "Scene Objects 3"
• Added userName and refName functions to the LWObjectFuncs structure. These return, respectively, the name of the object as seen by the user, and an unambiguous internal name for the object that can be used to refer to it in commands.

lwpanel.h

• Added LWValPointer to the data types in the LWValue union used by Panels. Besides being more type-friendly, this change is in anticipation of 64-bit operating systems on which ints and pointers may not be the same size.
• LWValPointer used in the definitions of the CON_PAN, CON_PANFUN and CON_SETEVENT macros.

lwprtcl.h

• The LWPSB_ENB buffer (Particle Services) now encodes three states (LWPST_DEAD, LWPST_ALIVE, LWPST_LIMBO) instead of two (on/off).
• Added LWPSB_CAGE (collision age) buffer containing the time since the last collision.
• Added remParticle function to LWPSysFuncs.

lwrender.h

• Incremented LWSCENEINFO_GLOBAL (Scene Info) to "LW Scene Info 3".
• Added numThreads to LWSceneInfo.
• Added LWROPT_PARTICLEBLUR option for the LWSceneInfo renderOpts function.
• Added patchLevel and metaballRes functions to LWObjectInfo (Object Info).
• Added LWLFL_NO_OPENGL to the flags for LWLightInfo (Light Info).
• Incremented LWCAMERAINFO_GLOBAL (Camera Info) to "LW Camera Info 2".
• Added flags, resolution, pixelAspect, separation, regionLimits, maskLimits and maskColor functions to LWCameraInfo.
• Added LWCAMF_STEREO, LWCAMF_LIMITED_REGION and LWCAMF_MASK camera info flags.
• Added itemVis function and displayFlags and generalFlags fields to the LWInterfaceInfo (Interface Info) structure.

lwserver.h

• Added LANGID_KOREAN definition.

lwtxtr.h

• Added itemName to LWTxtrParamDesc (Texture Functions)

lwxpanel.h

• Added XPTAG_NULL define, which replaces NULL in the Xp macros for XPanels.

Commands: Layout

• The arguments to the new AddPosition, AddRotation and AddScale are relative rather than absolute. These are useful for multiple selections and should also improve the reusability of scripts generated by macro recorders.
• An EditServer command has been added which opens a plug-in's interface. The syntax is the same as the RemoveServer command, with class name and index arguments. If the index isn't specified, the last plug-in in the list is used, making it easy for a script to add a plug-in and immediately open its interface without having to know its index.
• The AutoConfirm command now recognizes an argument value of -1, which will automatically respond negatively to all Yes/No or OK/Cancel dialogs.
• The AddEnvelope and RemoveEnvelope commands now operate on all three parts of a color envelope as a unit (".R", ".G", and ".B" suffixes are ignored).
• Other new commands:

  ShadowExclusion        GradientBackdrop      ParentInPlace
  NoiseReduction         ZenithColor           FractionalFrames
  RadiosityIntensity     SkyColor              PolygonEdgeFlags
  CausticIntensity       GroundColor           BoneFalloffType
  VolumetricRadiosity    NadirColor            ShadowMapSize
  DynamicUpdate

Commands: Modeler

• The new meshedit command allows plug-ins to execute MeshDataEdit class plug-ins.

Commands: Common

• The Surf_SetSurf command was using the display name rather than the filename to identify objects. This has been corrected.

Miscellaneous

• The mesh info pntBasePos and pntOtherPos functions obtained from the Object Info global now provide better information for frozen meshes. The revised pntBasePos returns the same point positions that Layout uses for object coordinate texture mapping. These are completely undeformed positions in the case of regular polygons and subpatches, and positions at freezing time for metaballs and partigons. pntOtherPos now returns the actual world coordinates used by Layout. The new behavior of these functions should remove the need to use "helper" displacement plug-ins to gather vertex positions.
• An Alert Level popup has been added to the General Options panel. At the Intermediate and Advanced levels, messages displayed using the message global's info, warn and error functions may appear in the status line rather than in separate dialog windows.
• The changeID handler callback is now called when all lights or all cameras are cleared at once.
• The illuminate raytracing function was returning 0 if the position was partially shadowed, which can happen when the light is a linear or area light. The return value is now 1.0 in such cases, and the partial shadowing is accounted for in the returned color.
• The source member of the LWVolumeAccess structure is now set to the camera ID for directly viewed volumetrics, to the light ID for shadow rays, and to LWITEM_NULL for other types of rays.
• The Z buffer given to image filters no longer has unfilled holes when unenhanced antialiasing is used with adaptive sampling and without motion blur or depth of field.
• Previously, if an object replacement plug-in tried to replace an object that had been cloned with an object of the same filename, the change was ignored, since two objects with the same name weren't allowed to have different geometry. This has been fixed by freeing and replacing all instances of the object in such cases, just as manual object replacement does.
• Objects loaded by object import plug-ins no longer cause a crash when the scene is later saved.
• Custom object plug-ins were unable to draw points unless one of the other drawing functions had been called first. This has been fixed.
• Custom objects using the LWCSYS_ICON mode are no longer affected by object scaling.
• When the Item Info param function was called during a custom object plug-in's evaluate function, and FSPE was turned on, the interactive (non-keyframed) position of the item being queried could be forgotten. This has been fixed (but it's generally more efficient for plug-ins to call param during their newTime functions).
• When an object is cloned, the clones are now named earlier in the copying process so that custom object and displacement plug-ins can look up the names from inside their create functions.
• The viewports are now updated whenever a custom object, displacement or item motion plug-in is added, edited, or removed.
• Keyframe shifting and scaling now work by looping through all members of the envelope group of each affected item, including envelopes added by plug-ins.
• Manual operation of the envelope (E) button for color settings is now properly recorded in the command history.
• Item selections made by clicking in the viewports or the Scene Editor or by using the current item popups are now recorded in the command history so that master plug-ins are notified when these selection changes occur.
• Master plug-ins whose flags functions return LWMAST_LAYOUT are no longer cleared with the scene.
• The MeshEditOp pntVMap function no longer crashes when passed polygons created during the same mesh edit.
• The MeshEditOp polygon creation functions no longer crash when passed null vertex pointers. They instead return an error.

6.5 Changes

November 4, 2000

This is a list of the changes in the LightWave 6.5 patch that affect the SDK. In most cases, the changes won't require you to rewrite or recompile your existing code. The most significant exception is for variant parameters, which have been updated to support parameters modulated by textures.

lwenvel.h

• Definitions of variant parameters have been moved to a new header, lwvparm.h.

lwfilter.h

• New buffers (LWBUF_REFL_RED, LWBUF_REFL_GREEN and LWBUF_REFL_BLUE) have been added to the list of buffers available to image filters and pixel filters. These contain the RGB levels for reflections calculated by raytracing and environment mapping.

lwimage.h

• LWIMAGELIST_GLOBAL (Image List) has been incremented to "LW Image List 3".
• Added LWImageList functions: hasAlpha, alpha, alphaSpot, evaluate.

lwio.h

• Added File I/O type LWIO_BINARY_IFF. This type supports 4-byte chunk sizes for block reading and writing of IFF files.

lwmeshedt.h

• LWMESHEDIT_VERSION (MeshDataEdit) has been incremented to 4.
• Added MeshEditOp functions pointVPGet, pointVEval, pntVPMap. These are for per-polygon vertex mapping.
• The second argument to initUV is now float * rather than float[2] so that initUV can be used to initialize per-polygon UVs.

lwmeshes.h

• Added vertex map types for color vmaps: LWVMAP_RGB and LWVMAP_RGBA.
• Added LWMeshInfo function pntVPGet for per-polygon vertex mapping.

lwobjimp.h

• LWOBJECTIMPORT_VERSION (ObjectLoader) has been incremented to 3.
• Added LWObjectImport function vmapPDV for per-polygon vertex mapping.
• The second argument to pivot and the third argument to vmapVal are now const.

lwrender.h

• New illuminate special item types LWITEM_RADIOSITY and LWITEM_CAUSTICS allow callers of illuminate to get information about global illumination at a spot.
• LWOBJECTINFO_GLOBAL (Object Info) has been incremented to "LW Object Info 3".
• The texture IDs of the displacement and clip maps of each object can now be obtained using the new dispMap and clipMap Object Info functions.
• LWINTERFACEINFO_GLOBAL (Interface Info) has been incremented to "LW Interface Info 2"
• New Interface Info function schemaPos returns the positions of items in schematic viewports. (Use the new SchematicPosition command to set them.)
• New Interface Info field dynaUpdate contains Layout's Dynamic Update setting, which can be LWDYNUP_OFF, LWDYNUP_DELAYED or LWDYNUP_INTERACTIVE.
• Added a Time Info global that returns the frame and time for the image currently being rendered.

lwserver.h

• ServerUserName has been replaced by ServerTagInfo, which among other things allows plug-ins to specify how they should be added to LightWave's menu system.

lwshelf.h

• New LWShelfFuncs function addNamedPreset.

lwsurf.h

• LWSURFACEFUNCS_GLOBAL (Surface Functions) incremented to "Surface Functions 2".
• Added surface channel SURF_VCOL for color vertex maps.
• Added Surface Functions routines getColorVMap and setColorVMap.

lwtexture.h

• LWTEXTURE_VERSION (ProceduralTextureHandler) has been incremented to 5.
• Texture class plug-ins can now return RGBA levels, in support of which added LWTextureAccess field txRGBA[4], LWTextureHandler flag LWTEXF_SELF_COLOR and LWTextureAccess flag LWTXEF_COLOR.

lwtxtr.h

• New LWTxtrParamDesc flag LWGF_AUTOSIZE for gradient textures that can automatically adjust their min and max.

lwtxtred.h

• LWTXTREDFUNCS_GLOBAL (Texture Editor) has been incremented to "Texture Editor 2".
• New callback type LW_GradAutoSizeFunc for gradient autosizing.
• New Texture Editor functions for supporting multiselection (selectAdd, selectRem, selectClr, selectFirst, selectNext) and automatic ranges for gradient textures (setGradientAutoSize).

lwvparm.h

• New header (variant parameters were formerly defined in lwenvel.h).
• Added LWVPDT texture data types.
• Added arguments (texture context, event callback, plug-in name and userdata) to the LWVParmFuncs create function.
• Added a micropolygon argument to getVal for texture evaluation.
• New functions getState, setState, editTex, initMP, getEnv and getTex. getState and setState replace the hasEnv and setEnvState functions, which have been removed. The new functions support textures in addition to envelopes.

lwxpanel.h

• Added XpENABLE hint (XPanels).

Commands: Layout

• SaveSceneCopy and SaveObjectCopy save a copy of the scene or the object in a file with a new name without affecting the current name in Layout.
• PreviousSibling and NextSibling allow easy navigation among a set of items that share the same parent.
• AddEnvelope and RemoveEnvelope allow plug-ins and scripts to "press the E button" for a Layout parameter. Each command takes a channel name as its argument (the same names that appear when channels are expanded in the Scene Editor).
• By passing AutoConfirm an argument greater than zero, plug-ins and scripts can use this command to automatically respond affirmatively to all confirmation requesters before commands are issued to clear items, etc. This feature should be used with care, and it should be turned off by passing it a zero before control is returned to the user.
• EditPlugins opens the new dialog for displaying, adding, and deleting servers.
• SaveObject and SaveTransformed now accept a filename argument.
• CommandInput now accepts a command argument.
• MaskPosition allows plug-ins and scripts to set exact pixel values for the left, top, width, and height of the camera mask. One potential use is to create scene files for portions of a frame which can be rendered separately and then perfectly recombined by summing the resulting images (assuming the mask color is black).
• SchematicPosition sets the X and Y of the current item's schematic node. This and the schemaPos function added to the Interface Info global allow plug-ins to arrange items in Schematic viewports.
• Antialiasing takes an argument from 0 to 4, as in scene files.
• Other new commands:

  TopView              CacheRadiosity           RayTraceShadows
  BottomView           CacheCaustics            RayTraceReflection
  BackView             EnableVolumetricLights   RayTraceRefraction
  FrontView            RadiosityTolerance       MorphTarget
  RightView            EnhancedAA               IncludeLight
  LeftView             FogType                  ExcludeLight
  SchematicView        FogMinDistance           PolygonEdgeColor
  CenterItem           FogMaxDistance           CacheShadowMap
  FitAll               FogMinAmount             MaskColor
  FitSelected          FogMaxAmount             LightIntensityTool
  ShowSafeAreas        FogColor                 EnableVIPER
  ShowFieldChart       AddPartigon
  

Commands: Modeler

• The revert command reloads an existing object file.

Miscellaneous

• When items are moved, rotated, or scaled, using either the mouse or the numeric fields, the appropriate position, rotation, or scale commands are now added to the command history, which in turn generates events for master plug-ins.
• The newTime callbacks of shaders, volumetrics, and pixel filters are now called only after all geometry has been finalized. This fixes a problem that occurs when plug-ins of one of those classes depend on the results of displacement plug-ins.
• There can now be any number of custom object plug-ins per object, and they are added using a server pane rather than a popup.
• RGB and alpha image savers are now recorded in scene files by name rather than by index, preventing problems caused by different machines having different saver lists. Image saver indices in existing scene files will continue to work as before.
• When the newTime functions of shaders, environment plug-ins, volumetric plug-ins and lights, pixel filters, custom object and displacement plug-ins are called, inverse kinematics have already been computed. Therefore, the Item Info param function now simply returns existing vectors in such cases (assuming the time argument matches the current time), allowing those plug-ins to properly account for IK.
• When a subpatch object is being deformed and its Subdivision Order is later than the deformation, the interior patch points are no longer deformed. In particular, the evaluate functions of displacement plug-ins will no longer be called for the patch points.
  

6.0B Changes

May 11, 2000

This is a list of the changes in the LightWave 6.0B patch that affect the SDK. In most cases, the changes are additions to global services that won't affect the operation of existing code. In some cases, however, you will have to recompile, and in a few, it may be necessary to rewrite a small amount of your code that was written prior to the release of the patch.

lwenvel.h

• Added server function to the Channel Info global.

lwfilter.h

• Added LWBUF_MOTION_X and LWBUF_MOTION_Y for vector blur feature. The buffers will be filled in with the image coordinate movement at each pixel during the time the shutter was open. For example, if part of an object has moved 11 pixels right and 6 pixels down since the previous frame, and the blur length is 50%, the motion buffers will contain 5.5 and 3.0 in that part of the frame. Camera motion is also taken into account. This information can be used by filters to perform a Photoshop-style vector motion blur.

lwgeneric.h

• Generic plug-ins are now first activated with a version number of 4. If that doesn't work, the saveScene function is replaced with one that saves old format scenes, and version numbers 3, 2, and 1 are tried.

lwhost.h

• Added new dialog types to Message Functions global, incremented the service name. (3/23)
• The new Locale Info global has been implemented (but the old Language ID global is still supported as well).

lwimage.h

• Added sceneLoad and sceneSave to Image List global, now "Image List 2".
• Changed LWImageID to LWPixmapID in Image Utility functions.

lwmaster.h

• Added LWMAST_LAYOUT type for masters that survive scene clearing.

lwmodeler.h

• mode and vmap functions added to the state query global, incremented the service name.

lwpanel.h

• fixed PAN_SETDATA, PAN_SETDRAW, PAN_SETKEYS; touched up PAN_SETH, MOVE_PAN; added PAN_SETW.

lwpreview.h

• Changed close to accept void arg.

lwprtcl.h

• New API.
• Removed obsolete functions setDraw, setMesh, remParticle.

lwrender.h

• Only items matching the current edit mode are now eligible to have their LWITEMF_SELECTED bit set by the Interface Info itemFlags function.
• Added LWIP_PIVOT_ROT to let plug-ins get pivot rotation.
• If the Item Info param function is called while the user is dragging items in a viewport and the time argument matches the current time, the function can now return temporary, non-keyframed data. One benefit of this change is that expressions can react to interactively moved items even if Auto Key is turned off.
• changed flag name to LWOBJF_UNSEEN_BY_CAMERA.
• A server function has been added to the Item Info global. It takes an item ID, a class name, and an index (which starts with one, as in the tag functions). The return value is the name of whatever server is applied in the specified "slot" (or NULL if there isn't one). Naturally the ID is ignored for classes like volumetrics, filters, etc.
• Added flags and fog to Object Info.
• Corrected "LW Comp Info" to "LW Compositing Info".
• Added renderCamera to LWSceneInfo structure.
• Added type, color, and squeeze to LWBackdropInfo structure.
• A function to get the ID of the camera used for rendering has been added to the Scene Info global. It accepts a time argument in order to be ready for automated camera switching in the future.
• Added serverFlags and controller to Item Info.
• The first frame, last frame, and step size used by the frame slider and by Layout previews can now be obtained through the Interface Info global.
• The vectors returned by the Item Info param function now take pivot rotation into account.
• Attempts by plug-ins to look up information about their items while in the process of being created due to cloning should no longer fail.

lwshader.h

• Added polygonID to LWShaderAccess.
• Added vertsWPos to LWShaderAccess.

lwshelf.h

• New API.
• Removed closed notification function typedef.
• Removed closed notification from shelf subscription.
• Added isOpen.

lwsurf.h

• The byName function now has an additional object name argument. If the object name is set to NULL, the function will return all the surfaces that share the same name, behaving as before.

lwtxtr.h

• layerEnvGrp renamed layerEnvGroup.
• Input parameter type defines added.
• polygonID added to LWMicropol structure.
• setParam and getParam functions added.
• Added evaluateUV, which sets the UV values given the 3D position of the point in world and local coordinates, plus the world and local dominant axis. This does the coordinate transfromation and projection from 3D to 2D.
• Added new tags to set and get images and vmaps.
• Added vertsWPos to LWMicropol.
• Added setEnvGroup and envGroup functions.
• Added layerType function.
• Added tags for getting and setting opacity, reference object, repeat options, pixel blending, AA, AA strength.

lwtxtred.h

• setParam and getParam functions removed (put into lwtxtr.h).
• Added refresh, which refreshes the editor if some parameters have been changed without user interaction. The clientID should be NULL if trying to update surface textures (= default client). That's what texture guide is doing.
• Added currentLayer, which gets the currently selected layer in the texture editor. If client is NULL, uses surface's texture editor.

lwvolume.h

• Removed adaptive flag.
• The flags function of each volumetric plug-in is now called to determine whether to include it in reflection, refraction, or shadow computations.
• The LWVEF_RAYTRACE bit in the LWVolumeAccess structure is now set when evaluating volumetric plug-ins for a ray.

lwxpanel.h

• Added focus event code.
• Added refresh codes.
• Added XpXREQCFG, XpBORDER, XpDLGTYPE hints.

Commands: Layout

• The usage string for the AddPlugins command now shows that it accepts a filename argument.
• The AddToSelection and RemoveFromSelection commands have been added to allow plug-ins and scripts to create and manage multiple selections. They accept a hexadecimal item ID as an argument, and the usual selection rules apply (for example, if only one item of the current type is selected, it can't be deselected).
• Other new commands include SubdivisionOrder and ResolutionMultiplier, which work just like the identically named scene file lines.
• A RemoveServer command has been added. Like ApplyServer, it takes a class name argument, but it differs in that it takes an index rather than a server name (in case there are multiple instances of the same server). Consistent with the Item Info server function, these indices count from one. Item-specific plug-ins like motion and displacement handlers are removed from the current item.

Commands: Modeler

• The SaveCommandList command in Layout has been duplicated in Modeler.
• A new batch command maketesball2 has been added which takes the new segments parameter for tesselated spheres. The old maketesball command still works using the old level parameter. The segments parameter directly sets the number of segments along the the edges between the 12 polyhedral vertices. Power of two segment values are equivalent to the old level values: 1 = level 0, 2 = level 1, 4 = level 2, 8 = level 3, 16 = level 4, 32 = level 5, etc.
• A new maketext2 batch command has been added which accepts alignment settings. It also takes fonts as zero-based indices, fixing a long lived bug.
• Added more arguments to the bevel batch command to bring it more in line with the options of the Bevel tool.
• There are new plug-in commands for selecting the current object and for setting the vmap for the current morph, texture or weight map.

Commands: Surfaces

• The Surf_SetSurf command now has an additional object name argument. This specifies in which object library the surface should be set (there can be multiple surfaces with the same name in different objects).
• Surf_RemoveShader command now works this way: Removes all shaders that use the specified name, and if name is NULL, removes all shaders.

Commands: Envelopes

• Added Env_ApplyServer <classname> <servername>.
• Added Env_RemoveServer <clasname> <index>.

Sample Code

• modlib: Added object name argument to mgGetSurfacesByName in surface.c.
• rapts: Changed layerEnvGrp to layerEnvGroup.

Miscellaneous

• A new Plug-in Options panel has been added. It contains the controls for generic and master plug-ins that used to be on the General Options panel, as well as an Add Plug-ins button and some UI ranch space for the masters.
• There is now a dedicated options button which calls ServerInterface for the current animation saver. This is intended to be the official way to edit compression settings, etc. Saver plug-ins whose interfaces are in their load or open functions should be rewritten.
• The DirectoryType config file entry for images is now used as the default location for image loading, replacing the ImagesDirectory line. Several other old config file lines have also been discontinued in favor of new DirectoryType entries.
• Envelopes for displacement and clip map channels are now added to the envelope groups of the objects they belong to. This makes them appear in the right place in the Graph Editor hierarchy.