INFORMIX
Visionary User's Guide
Chapter 8: Adding Navigation Features to a Scene
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Adding Viewpoints to a Scene

 A viewpoint defines what part of a scene a viewer sees and at what zoom level. Viewpoint names are unique.

Viewpoints have three properties: x-coordinate, y-coordinate, and zoom level. The default viewpoint value for the x- and y-coordinates is 0.00, 0.00 inches, and the zoom level is 100%.

For example, suppose a scene presents a linear map depicting the world, and a second layer indicates factory locations. You could define viewpoints for each region of the world that would enable users to move quickly to the location and magnification for the region they are interested in. Figure 8-1 illustrates two viewpoints of the same scene.

Figure 8-1
Named Viewpoints

In addition to providing a navigation tool, named viewpoints can be the target of an event action. For example, you can specify the display of a particular viewpoint if a user double-clicks an object. For more information about event actions, see Chapter 9, "Adding Event Actions to a Scene."

Named viewpoints are a powerful navigation tool when you combine them with levels of detail, which display additional data as a viewer zooms in on a scene. For more information about levels of detail, see "Adding Levels of Detail".

You can insert a viewpoint either in design mode or in runtime mode.

To insert a viewpoint in design mode

    1. In design mode in the Scene Editor, choose Insert Viewpoint to display the Insert Viewpoint dialog box.

    2. Type a name for the viewpoint in the Viewpoint name text box.

    3. Type the location of the x-coordinate in the X location text box. The x-location is the number of inches offset to the right or left of the center of the display.

    4. Type the location of the y-coordinate in the Y location text box. The y-location is the number of inches offset from the right or left of the center of the display.

    5. Specify a zoom level in the Zoom level spin box.

    6. Click OK to apply your changes.

To insert a viewpoint in runtime mode

    1. In runtime mode in the Scene Editor, pan and zoom to the location and zoom level you want to use for the viewpoint.

    2. Choose Edit Save Viewpoint to display the Insert Viewpoint dialog box.

    3. Type the viewpoint name in the Viewpoint Name text box.

    4. Click OK to save the named viewpoint.



Visionary User's Guide, version 1.0
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