IParameterTranslator Class Reference

Facilitates translation of material and texture map parameter values to their shaders representation. More...

#include <IParameterTranslator.h>

Inheritance diagram for IParameterTranslator:

Public Types
enum	ShaderParameterType {   ShaderParameterTypeUnknown = 0 , ShaderParameterTypeFloat , ShaderParameterTypeInt , ShaderParameterTypeBool ,   ShaderParameterTypeColor , ShaderParameterTypePoint2 , ShaderParameterTypePoint3 , ShaderParameterTypePoint4 ,   ShaderParameterTypeTexture , ShaderParameterTypeMatrix4 }
	Shader parameter types. More...
enum	SubMtlBaseType { SubMaterial , SubTexmap }
	The type of plug-in's "sub" slot. More...
Public Types inherited from BaseInterface
enum	LifetimeType { noRelease , immediateRelease , wantsRelease , serverControlled }

Public Member Functions
virtual Interface_ID	GetID ()
	Retrieves the interface id of IParameterTranslator. More...
virtual bool	GetParameterValue (const TimeValue t, const MCHAR *shaderParamName, void *value, ShaderParameterType type)=0
	Retrieves the plug-in's parameter value that corresponds to a given shader parameter. More...
virtual bool	GetShaderInputParameterName (SubMtlBaseType type, int subMtlBaseIndex, MSTR &shaderInputParamName)=0
	Retrieves the shader input parameter name for a given "sub" slot of the plug-in. More...
virtual bool	OnPreParameterTranslate ()=0
	One time setup before any parameter is translated. More...
Public Member Functions inherited from BaseInterface
virtual UtilExport	~BaseInterface ()
	Destructor. More...
UtilExport BaseInterface *	GetInterface (Interface_ID id)
virtual LifetimeType	LifetimeControl ()
virtual bool	RegisterNotifyCallback (InterfaceNotifyCallback *incb)
virtual void	UnRegisterNotifyCallback (InterfaceNotifyCallback *incb)
virtual BaseInterface *	AcquireInterface ()
virtual void	ReleaseInterface ()
virtual void	DeleteInterface ()
virtual BaseInterface *	CloneInterface (void *remapDir=NULL)
Public Member Functions inherited from InterfaceServer
virtual UtilExport	~InterfaceServer ()
	Destructor. More...
template<class InterfaceType >
InterfaceType *	GetTypedInterface ()

Additional Inherited Members
Static Public Member Functions inherited from MaxHeapOperators
static UtilExport void *	operator new (size_t size)
	Standard new operator used to allocate objects If there is insufficient memory, an exception will be thrown. More...
static UtilExport void *	operator new (size_t size, const std::nothrow_t &e)
	Standard new operator used to allocate objects if there is insufficient memory, NULL will be returned. More...
static UtilExport void *	operator new (size_t size, const char *filename, int line)
	New operator used to allocate objects that takes the filename and line number where the new was called If there is insufficient memory, an exception will be thrown. More...
static UtilExport void *	operator new (size_t size, int block_type, const char *filename, int line)
	New operator used to allocate objects that takes the type of memory, filename and line number where the new was called If there is insufficient memory, an exception will be thrown. More...
static UtilExport void *	operator new (size_t size, const std::nothrow_t &e, const char *filename, int line)
	New operator used to allocate objects that takes the filename and line number where the new was called If there is insufficient memory, NULL will be returned. More...
static UtilExport void *	operator new (size_t size, unsigned long flags)
	New operator used to allocate objects that takes extra flags to specify special operations If there is insufficient memory, an exception will be thrown. More...
static UtilExport void *	operator new (size_t size, const std::nothrow_t &e, unsigned long flags)
	New operator used to allocate objects that takes extra flags to specify special operations If there is insufficient memory, NULL will be returned. More...
static UtilExport void *	operator new[] (size_t size)
	New operator used to allocate arrays of objects If there is insufficient memory, an exception will be thrown. More...
static UtilExport void *	operator new[] (size_t size, const std::nothrow_t &e)
	New operator used to allocate arrays of objects If there is insufficient memory, NULL will be returned. More...
static UtilExport void *	operator new[] (size_t size, const char *filename, int line)
	New operator used to allocate arrays of objects If there is insufficient memory, an exception will be thrown. More...
static UtilExport void *	operator new[] (size_t size, int block_type, const char *filename, int line)
	New operator used to allocate arrays of objects. More...
static UtilExport void *	operator new[] (size_t size, const std::nothrow_t &e, const char *filename, int line)
	New operator used to allocate arrays of objects If there is insufficient memory, NULL will be returned. More...
static UtilExport void *	operator new[] (size_t size, unsigned long flags)
	New operator used to allocate arrays of objects If there is insufficient memory, an exception will be thrown. More...
static UtilExport void *	operator new[] (size_t size, const std::nothrow_t &e, unsigned long flags)
	New operator used to allocate arrays of objects If there is insufficient memory, NULL will be returned. More...
static UtilExport void	operator delete (void *ptr)
	Standard delete operator used to deallocate an object If the pointer is invalid, an exception will be thrown. More...
static UtilExport void	operator delete (void *ptr, const std::nothrow_t &e)
	Standard delete operator used to deallocate an object If the pointer is invalid, nothing will happen. More...
static UtilExport void	operator delete (void *ptr, const char *filename, int line)
	Delete operator used to deallocate an object that takes the filename and line number where the delete was called If the pointer is invalid, an exception will be thrown. More...
static UtilExport void	operator delete (void *ptr, int block_type, const char *filename, int line)
	Delete operator used to deallocate an object that takes the type of memory, filename and line number where the delete was called If the pointer is invalid, an exception will be thrown. More...
static UtilExport void	operator delete (void *ptr, const std::nothrow_t &e, const char *filename, int line)
	Delete operator used to deallocate an object that takes the filename and line number where the delete was called If the pointer is invalid, nothing will happen. More...
static UtilExport void	operator delete (void *ptr, unsigned long flags)
	Delete operator used to deallocate an object that takes extra flags to specify special operations If the pointer is invalid, an exception will be thrown. More...
static UtilExport void	operator delete (void *ptr, const std::nothrow_t &e, unsigned long flags)
	Delete operator used to deallocate an object that takes extra flags to specify special operations If the pointer is invalid, nothing will happen. More...
static UtilExport void	operator delete[] (void *ptr)
	Standard delete operator used to deallocate an array of objects If the pointer is invalid, an exception will be thrown. More...
static UtilExport void	operator delete[] (void *ptr, const std::nothrow_t &e)
	Standard delete operator used to deallocate an array of objects If the pointer is invalid, nothing will happen. More...
static UtilExport void	operator delete[] (void *ptr, const char *filename, int line)
	Delete operator used to deallocate an array of objects that takes the filename and line number where the delete was called If the pointer is invalid, an exception will be thrown. More...
static UtilExport void	operator delete[] (void *ptr, int block_type, const char *filename, int line)
	Delete operator used to deallocate an array of objects that takes the type of memory, filename and line number where the delete was called If the pointer is invalid, an exception will be thrown. More...
static UtilExport void	operator delete[] (void *ptr, const std::nothrow_t &e, const char *filename, int line)
	Delete operator used to deallocate an array of objects that takes the filename and line number where the delete was called If the pointer is invalid, nothing will happen. More...
static UtilExport void	operator delete[] (void *ptr, unsigned long flags)
	Delete operator used to deallocate an array of objects that takes extra flags to specify special operations If the pointer is invalid, an exception will be thrown. More...
static UtilExport void	operator delete[] (void *ptr, const std::nothrow_t &e, unsigned long flags)
	Delete operator used to deallocate an array of objects that takes extra flags to specify special operations If the pointer is invalid, an exception will be thrown. More...
static UtilExport void *	operator new (size_t size, void *placement_ptr)
	Placement new operator. More...
static UtilExport void	operator delete (void *ptr, void *placement_ptr)
	Placement delete operator. More...
static UtilExport void *	aligned_malloc (size_t size, size_t alignment)
	Allocates memory on a specified alignment boundary. More...
static UtilExport void *	aligned_realloc (void *ptr, size_t size, size_t alignment)
	Reallocates memory on a specified alignment boundary. More...
static UtilExport void	aligned_free (void *ptr)
	Frees a block of memory that was allocated with aligned_malloc/aligned_realloc. More...

Detailed Description

Facilitates translation of material and texture map parameter values to their shaders representation.

Materials and texture maps can use programmable shaders to describe their appearance when displayed in the Nitrous viewport and rendered with Quicksilver. Programmable shaders allow for a more realistic and complex visual appearance than ISimpleMaterial does. Note that 3ds Max 2012 only supports MetaSL shaders. See IShaderManager for more details.

The Nitrous graphics system handles automatic translation of Paramblock2 based material and texture map parameters given that their names and types match those of the shader. IParameterTranslator allows plug-ins to control this translation process. Nitrous queries the plug-in for the IParameterTranslator interface by passing IPARAMETER_TRANSLATOR_INTERFACE_ID to its overwrite of Animatable::GetInterface(Interface_ID), and uses it instead of its own automated translation. Nitrous automatically detects when a plug-in's parameters, reference structure or animatable structure changes, and will call the methods on this interface to re-translate the plug-in's parameters to the shader.

The following code snippet illustrates how a material plug-in may implement IParameterTranslator:

_include <./graphics/IParameterTranslator.h>
// A material plug-in that has a shader and needs to control the parameter translation process
class MyMtlPlugin : public MtlBase, public MaxSDK::Graphics::IParameterTranslator {
    // Parameter block definition omitted for brevity
public:
    virtual bool GetParameterValue(
    const TimeValue t, 
    const MCHAR* shaderParamName, 
    void* value, 
    MaxSDK::Graphics::IParameterTranslator::ShaderParameterType shaderParamType) {
        if (_tcscmp(_M("myFloatShaderParam"), shaderParamName) == 0) {
            DbgAssert(ShaderParameterTypeFloat == shaderParamType);
            float floatParam = // Get float parameter value from parameter block
             *(float*)value = floatParam;
            return true;
        }
        else if (_tcscmp(_M("myIntShaderParam"), shaderParamName) == 0) {
            DbgAssert(ShaderParameterTypeInt == shaderParamType);
             *(int*)value = 1; // the value of this parameter is constant
            return true;
        }
        // etc
        DbgAssert(false && _M("Unexpected shader parameter"));
        return false;
    }
    virtual bool GetShaderInputParameterName(
        MaxSDK::Graphics::IParameterTranslator::SubMtlBaseType shaderType, 
        int subMtlBaseIndex, 
        MSTR& shaderParamName) {
            if (shaderType == SubTexmap && 1 == subMtlBaseIndex) {
                shaderParamName = // name of input shader parameter corresponding to sub texture map slot 1
                return true;
            }
            return false;
        }
    virtual bool OnPreParameterTranslate() { 
        // Nothing to pre-process or initialize 
        return true; 
    };
}

Member Enumeration Documentation

ShaderParameterType

enum ShaderParameterType

Shader parameter types.

Enumerator
ShaderParameterTypeUnknown	unknown parameter type
ShaderParameterTypeFloat	float type
ShaderParameterTypeInt	int type
ShaderParameterTypeBool	BOOL type.
ShaderParameterTypeColor	AColor type.
ShaderParameterTypePoint2	Point2 type.
ShaderParameterTypePoint3	Point3 type.
ShaderParameterTypePoint4	Point4 type.
ShaderParameterTypeTexture	MSTR type.
ShaderParameterTypeMatrix4	matrix44 type

        {
            ShaderParameterTypeUnknown = 0,
            ShaderParameterTypeFloat,      
            ShaderParameterTypeInt,        
            ShaderParameterTypeBool,       
            ShaderParameterTypeColor,      
            ShaderParameterTypePoint2,     
            ShaderParameterTypePoint3,     
            ShaderParameterTypePoint4,     
            ShaderParameterTypeTexture,    
            ShaderParameterTypeMatrix4,    
        };

SubMtlBaseType

enum SubMtlBaseType

The type of plug-in's "sub" slot.

Enumerator
SubMaterial	sub material type
SubTexmap	sub texmap type

        {
            SubMaterial, 
            SubTexmap,   
        };

Member Function Documentation

GetID()

virtual Interface_ID GetID ( )

inlinevirtual

Retrieves the interface id of IParameterTranslator.

Reimplemented from BaseInterface.

{ return IPARAMETER_TRANSLATOR_INTERFACE_ID; }

GetParameterValue()

virtual bool GetParameterValue ( const TimeValue  t, const MCHAR *  shaderParamName, void *  value, ShaderParameterType  type  )

pure virtual

Retrieves the plug-in's parameter value that corresponds to a given shader parameter.

Parameters

[in]	t	The time at which to retrieve the plug-in's parameter value
[in]	shaderParamName	The name of the shader parameter. The name is not case sensitive.
[out]	value	Pointer to a data structure that will store the plug-in's parameter value. This parameter will need to be cast to one of the supported types - see ShaderParameterType
[in]	type	The type of the shader parameter

Returns

Returns true if the plug-in parameter value was retrieved successfully, false otherwise.

GetShaderInputParameterName()

virtual bool GetShaderInputParameterName ( SubMtlBaseType  type, int  subMtlBaseIndex, MSTR &  shaderInputParamName  )

pure virtual

Retrieves the shader input parameter name for a given "sub" slot of the plug-in.

The plug-in need to "compute" the name of the input shader parameter that corresponds to a given "sub" slot identified by its slot index and type. Nitrous will connect the shader corresponding to material or texture map at that "sub" slot with the shader input parameter that has the name this method generates.

Parameters

[in]	type	The type of plug-in's "sub" slot
[in]	subMtlBaseIndex	The index of the "sub" slot within the plug-ins list of slots
[out]	shaderInputParamName	The shader input parameter name

Returns

true if the shader name was successfully generated, false otherwise.

OnPreParameterTranslate()

virtual bool OnPreParameterTranslate ( )

pure virtual

One time setup before any parameter is translated.

Called once before the parameter list is parsed. This could be used to make sure all parameters are valid before being translated.

Returns

If it returns false, the translation does not take place.