coin_manips(3)

💅 coin_manips — the Manipulator Classes 💅

okay bestie, sit down, hydrate, because we're talking about coin_manips in section 3 of the Coin manual and it's literally the moment ✨

Manipulators are objects you can swap back and forth into a scene graph at locations where you have an SoTransform node.

that's the whole vibe. that's the name. periodt.

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

🎀 Classes 🎀

here's the full roster, no skips, no cuts, every single one of them:

• SoClipPlaneManip — the class that's used to manipulate clip planes. yes, the clip plane manipulator. iconic behaviour.
• SoDirectionalLightManip — used to manipulate SoDirectionalLight nodes. it's giving light-source-glow-up.
• SoPointLightManip — used to manipulate point light nodes. tiny bulb, big energy.
• SoSpotLightManip — used to manipulate spot light nodes. main character spotlight, literally.
• SoTransformManip — used to manipulate transformations. the blueprint, the blueprint 💜
• SoCenterballManip — wraps an SoCenterballDragger for convenience. she's a wrapper, she's low effort, she slays.
• SoHandleBoxManip — wraps an SoHandleBoxDragger for manipulating a transformation. handles on handles fr fr.
• SoJackManip — wraps an SoJackDragger for convenience. cute name, serious job.
• SoTabBoxManip — wraps an SoTabBoxDragger. tabs + box = the whole aesthetic.
• SoTrackballManip — wraps an SoTrackballDragger for convenience. spin it, rotate it, obsessed.
• SoTransformBoxManip — wraps an SoTransformBoxDragger for convenience. box but make it transform.
• SoTransformerManip — wraps an SoTransformerDragger for convenience. the transformer of transformers, no cap.

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🌸 Detailed Description 🌸

okay so, deep breath, here's the lore:

Manipulators are objects you can swap back and forth into a scene graph at locations where you have an SoTransform node. that's it, that's the pitch, and it's genuinely genius.

They take the place of the SoTransform, continue to act like the SoTransform, but in addition give the user a 3D user interface, using draggers, for controlling the transform. so like… it's an SoTransform that also has a face. a whole interactive little guy. 🦋

When the user is done manipulating, the manipulator can swap itself back out, replacing itself with an SoTransform that represent the new transform value. she comes in, she does her job, she leaves you a plain old SoTransform as a souvenir. no drama, no baggage. that's healthy.

Manipulators is one of the concepts that really made Open Inventor stand out against the alternatives when it came out. like, the other libraries were NOT ready. not even close. ate and left no crumbs 👑

ngl, the "swap in, swap out" thing is the entire personality of this class family. don't overthink it — that's just how it works.

💜 See also 💜

• Dragger Classes

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🫶 Author 🫶

Generated automatically by Doxygen for Coin from the source code. (not a human, just a very diligent robot doing its little documentation chores 🧚)

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and that's the page bestie!! 💖 this one's from Version 4.0.10, dated Thu Jun 25 2026 00:00:00, and it lives in section 3 as coin_manips — so when you cite it, cite it right, because she earned it 😭✨