The VRML 97 Execution Model

The key to understanding how to do funky stuff in VRML, is to really understand the event model. Without events, VRML is just another static bunch of geometry. Over time, this model has changed quite significantly. I've been heavily involved in this process so I have a unique outlook on many things. The idea of this page is to both update my current ramblings from various books and to also present my views and interpretation of what the event model is.

Background

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away there was VRML 1.0. This came from SGI's Open Inventor and was turned into a static scene geometry format. OI had an animation capability through the use of engines. These were removed for VRML 1.0.

Following much discussion, animation capabilities were discussed for VRML 1.1 (something that never eventuated). These were basically canned animation involving time and interpolation. 1.1 died and 2.0 was born that involved a much more complex model. Part of this new capability included the ability to include executable content, and the Script node was born.

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