ATTRIBUTES

Attributes are used to store information complementing an object’s geometric shape. Different attribute types can store different data that can be used to identify objects, define data of an application subject area, and transfer data between different applications during import and export.

Attributes can be stored in any object that is a inheritor of the MbAttributeContainer class.

Attributes comprise the next families:

  1. Simple attributes. These attributes include attribute types that contain object’s ID data, visual properties and physical characteristics.

  2. Generalized attributes. These attributes are used to store data in one of the standard types, for example, integer, real number, string, point, vector, pointer. Applications can use these attributes to exchange specific information.

  3. Linking attributes. These attributes are used to link a geometric core object to an abstract data container, whose set of data, format and semantic value can not be described by other attribute types.

  4. Directive attributes. These attributes determine the purpose of the object or the actions that need to be performed with it. For example, the «subtraction» attribute implies that some solid can be subtracted from another solid.

  5. Product attributes. These attributes are used to store general information about the product.

  6. Custom attributes.

  7. External attributes.

An example of using a custom attribute is in the test_sample_attributes.cpp file, supplied with the test application code in the C3D kernel distribution.