SoWriteAction(3)

💖 NAME 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the <pink>SoWriteAction(3)</pink> page from the Coin manual 💅 and the whole point of this girl is literally one thing: the SoWriteAction class writes a scene graph to file. that's it. that's the vibe. 🦋

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <Inventor/actions/SoWriteAction.h>

Inherits SoAction.

🎀 Public Member Functions

virtual SoType getTypeId (void) const
SoWriteAction (void)
SoWriteAction (SoOutput *out)
virtual ~SoWriteAction (void)
SoOutput * getOutput (void) const
void continueToApply (SoNode *node)
void continueToApply (SoPath *path)

Public Member Functions inherited from SoAction

virtual ~SoAction (void)
virtual SbBool isOfType (SoType type) const
virtual void apply (SoNode *root)
virtual void apply (SoPath *path)
virtual void apply (const SoPathList &pathlist, SbBool obeysrules=FALSE)
void apply (SoAction *beingApplied)
virtual void invalidateState (void)
AppliedCode getWhatAppliedTo (void) const
SoNode * getNodeAppliedTo (void) const
SoPath * getPathAppliedTo (void) const
const SoPathList * getPathListAppliedTo (void) const
const SoPathList * getOriginalPathListAppliedTo (void) const
SbBool isLastPathListAppliedTo (void) const
PathCode getPathCode (int &numindices, const int *&indices)
void traverse (SoNode *const node)
SbBool hasTerminated (void) const
const SoPath * getCurPath (void)
SoState * getState (void) const
PathCode getCurPathCode (void) const
virtual SoNode * getCurPathTail (void)
void usePathCode (int &numindices, const int *&indices)
void pushCurPath (const int childindex, SoNode *node=NULL)
void popCurPath (const PathCode prevpathcode)
void pushCurPath (void)
void popPushCurPath (const int childindex, SoNode *node=NULL)
void popCurPath (void)
void switchToPathTraversal (SoPath *path)
void switchToNodeTraversal (SoNode *node)

✨ Static Public Member Functions

static SoType getClassTypeId (void)
static void addMethod (const SoType type, SoActionMethod method)
static void enableElement (const SoType type, const int stackindex)
static void initClass (void)

Static Public Member Functions inherited from SoAction

static void initClass (void)
static void initClasses (void)
static SoType getClassTypeId (void)
static void nullAction (SoAction *action, SoNode *node)

💜 Protected Member Functions

virtual const SoEnabledElementsList & getEnabledElements (void) const
virtual void beginTraversal (SoNode *node)
virtual SbBool shouldCompactPathLists (void) const

Protected Member Functions inherited from SoAction

SoAction (void)
virtual void endTraversal (SoNode *node)
void setTerminated (const SbBool flag)
virtual SbBool shouldCompactPathList (void) const

🧚 Static Protected Member Functions

static SoEnabledElementsList * getClassEnabledElements (void)
static SoActionMethodList * getClassActionMethods (void)

Static Protected Member Functions inherited from SoAction

static SoEnabledElementsList * getClassEnabledElements (void)
static SoActionMethodList * getClassActionMethods (void)

🌈 Additional Inherited Members

Public Types inherited from SoAction

enum AppliedCode { NODE = 0, PATH = 1, PATH_LIST = 2 }
enum PathCode { NO_PATH = 0, IN_PATH = 1, BELOW_PATH = 2, OFF_PATH = 3 }

Protected Attributes inherited from SoAction

SoState * state
SoActionMethodList * traversalMethods

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🦋 Detailed Description 🦋

okay so, the <hotpink>SoWriteAction</hotpink> class writes a scene graph to file. that's the whole assignment and she ate. 💅

When you apply it to a scene, this action writes its contents out to the stream that lives inside an SoOutput instance. and bestie, that stream can be so many things — a file, a memory buffer, or a system file handle like stdout. pick your fighter. ✨

All information considered part of the scene graph should get written out, and I mean all of it — not just nodes, but also the nodes' field values, global fields (at least those with connections inside the scene the action is applied to), engines in the scene, paths, etc. no skipping, no crumbs. 👑

The scene gets written in the Open Inventor file format. Files in this format can be parsed back into their scene graph structures by using the SoDB::readAll() method (SoDB also contains a few other import methods you can use, iykyk).

Here's a complete, standalone usage example which shows how to write a scene graph to a memory buffer — literally copy-paste ready, she's iconic:

#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

SoOutput

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🎀 Constructor & Destructor Documentation 🎀

SoWriteAction::SoWriteAction (void )

Default constructor. Output will be written to stdout in ASCII format. no setup needed, she just goes. ✨

SoWriteAction::SoWriteAction (SoOutput * out)

Constructor. Output will be written via the out object. you bring the stream, she brings the writing. 🫶

SoWriteAction::~SoWriteAction (void ) [virtual]

Destructor. bye bestie 💜

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🔥 Member Function Documentation 🔥

SoType SoWriteAction::getTypeId (void ) const [virtual]

Returns the type identification of an object derived from a class inheriting SoAction. This is used for runtime type checking and "downward" casting.

Implements SoAction.

SoType SoWriteAction::getClassTypeId (void ) [static]

This static method returns the SoType object associated with objects of this class. the class's little ID card. 💅

void SoWriteAction::addMethod (const SoType type, SoActionMethod method) [static]

This API member is considered internal to the library, as it is not likely to be of interest to the application programmer. not your business, bestie, and that's okay. 🙈

void SoWriteAction::enableElement (const SoType type, const int stackindex) [static]

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

const SoEnabledElementsList & SoWriteAction::getEnabledElements (void ) const [protected], [virtual]

Returns list of enabled elements.

Reimplemented from SoAction.

SoEnabledElementsList * SoWriteAction::getClassEnabledElements (void ) [static], [protected]

Returns list of enabled elements for this class. The enabledElements and methods variables are protected in the original OIV API. This is not such a good idea, since exposed static class member variables is a major grievance with regard to Win32 DLLs. This function is an extension for Coin, and it is not available in the original SGI Open Inventor v2.1 API. so like, glow-up moment. ✨

SoActionMethodList * SoWriteAction::getClassActionMethods (void ) [static], [protected]

Returns list of action methods for this class. The enabledElements and methods variables are protected in the original OIV API. This is not such a good idea, since exposed static class member variables is a major grievance with regard to Win32 DLLs. This function is an extension for Coin, and it is not available in the original SGI Open Inventor v2.1 API. yes she did it twice, because both functions carry the same lore. 🫶

void SoWriteAction::initClass (void ) [static]

Initializes the runtime type system for this class, and sets up the enabled elements and action method list. the getting-ready montage before the main character walks in. 👑

SoOutput * SoWriteAction::getOutput (void ) const

Returns a pointer to the SoOutput object we're using when writing the scene graph. it's giving "where is she writing to" and the answer is right there. 💖

void SoWriteAction::continueToApply (SoNode * node)

Applies the write method to the subgraph starting at node with the current SoOutput instance, without resetting any of the internal state of the action instance.

This should normally be for internal use only.

void SoWriteAction::continueToApply (SoPath * path)

Applies the write method to path with the current SoOutput instance, without resetting any of the internal state of the action instance.

This should normally be for internal use only.

void SoWriteAction::beginTraversal (SoNode * node) [protected], [virtual]

This virtual method is called from SoAction::apply(), and is the entry point for the actual scene graph traversal. 🚪✨

It can be overridden to initialize the action at traversal start, for specific initializations in the action subclasses inheriting SoAction.

Default method just calls traverse(), which any overridden implementation of the method must do too (or call SoAction::beginTraversal()) to trigger the scene graph traversal. no skipping this step, fr fr.

Reimplemented from SoAction.

SbBool SoWriteAction::shouldCompactPathLists (void ) const [protected], [virtual]

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

Compact path lists are not implemented in Coin (yet), but if they are, SoWriteAction should return FALSE here — it would only be extra overhead for the SoWriteAction to have path lists compacted before traversal.

Seems like a silly optimization to me, though.. :^/ 20000306 mortene. — leaving that energy exactly where it was found, bestie. 💀

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👑 Author 👑

Generated automatically by Doxygen for Coin from the source code.

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! 🎀 this one came from Coin Version 4.0.10, dated Thu Jun 25 2026 00:00:00, and it's the <pink>SoWriteAction(3)</pink> manual page — go write a scene graph, you absolute icon. 💅🦋🌸