SOTYPE(3iv)

💖 NAME 💖

SoType — bestie, this thing literally stores runtime type information. that's the whole job. iconic.

🌸 INHERITS FROM 🌸

SoType

(yes she's her own parent situation, no cap — it just says SoType, and we respect that 💅)

✨ 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 🦋

okay so the SoType class keeps track of runtime type information in Inventor. every type is linked to a given name, which means you can look stuff up in either direction — name → type, or type → name. two-way street, main character energy 🫶

a bunch of Inventor classes ask for their own unique SoType when they get initialized. and then that type is like… your little key 🔑 you can use it to find out the actual class of an instance when all you know is its base class, OR to get yourself an instance of a particular class if you've got its type or its name.

heads up bestie: the names associated with types of Inventor classes do not contain the "So" prefix. so don't go looking for it, it's not there 💀

🎀 METHODS 🎀

• static SoType fromName(SbName name) — hands you back the type that's associated with the given name. name in, type out. slay.
• SbName getName() const — the reverse vibe: returns the name that's associated with a type.
• SoType getParent() const — returns the type of the parent class. family tree reveal 🌳
• static SoType badType() — returns an always-illegal type. lowkey useful for returning errors, like "this is nothing, don't come for me".
• SbBool isBad() const — returns TRUE if the type is a bad type. vibe check on the type, fr fr.
• SbBool isDerivedFrom(SoType t) const — returns TRUE if the type is derived from type t. lineage check ✨
• static int getAllDerivedFrom(SoType type, SoTypeList &list) — adds every type derived from the given type into the given type list, then returns the number of types it added. so you get the whole squad plus a headcount 🫶
• SbBool canCreateInstance() const — some types are actually able to create instances; for example, most nodes and engines (the ones that are not abstract classes) can be created this way. this method returns TRUE if the type supports that kind of creation.
• void * createInstance() const — creates and returns a pointer to an instance of the type. returns NULL if an instance couldn't be created for some reason 😭 the pointer comes back as a generic pointer, but you can cast it to whatever the appropriate type is. for example:

SoCube *c = (SoCube *) SoCube::getClassTypeId().createInstance();

is a convoluted way of creating a new instance of an SoCube. the way that this is the most extra route possible and it still works 💅

• int operator ==(const SoType t) const
• int operator !=(const SoType t) const

both of these return TRUE if this type is the same as — or not the same as — the given type. matching fits and mismatches, no in-between.

• int operator <(const SoType t) const — a less-than comparison operator that you can use to sort types. otherwise it's pretty useless, ngl. sorting queen behavior only 👑

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

SoAction, SoBase, SoDetail, SoError, SoEvent, SoField

and that's the whole page, bestie!! 🧚 this was SoType(3IV) — that's the manual name, and the footer is just SoType(3IV)() with, like, no version and no date, it's giving mystery and we love that for it. go forth and type-check responsibly ✨💖🎀