Connector Class |
Represents a location on an IConnectable object that another IConnectable
object can connect to, via a suitable Connector of its own.
When two Connectors are connected, their owning objects must be translated
in space so that the respective Connector Location points coincide.
Additionally, the orientation Normal may be used to align the two objects.
Inheritance HierarchyNamespace: Demo3D.Visuals
Assembly: Demo3D.Core (in Demo3D.Core.dll) Version: 19.00.00
SyntaxC#
public class Connector : IDisposable
The Connector type exposes the following members.
Properties| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
 | AlignmentStyle | Defines the manner in which objects align to each other when snapped together. |
| Allowed | List of connector Types that are allowed to connect with this connector. If empty then all connectors are allowed, as long as they are not named explicitly in the Disallowed list. |
| AllowsTransferIn | Indicates whether this connector allows inbound transfers, i.e., TransferDirection == In or InOut. |
| AllowsTransferOut | Indicates whether this connector allows outbound transfers, i.e., TransferDirection == Out or InOut. |
| AutoConfigure | If true, then the visual will reconfigure the connector to the built-in defaults upon reset. Set this to false if you have modified one of the built-in connectors (for example, "Start" on a conveyor). |
| AutoConnect | If true then connector will snap to other connectors with AutoConnect enabled when brought close together (see also SnapDistance) |
| BoundaryOffset | The horizontal offset perpendicular to the connector. |
| BoundingBox | |
| BoundingSphere | |
| Center | Mid-point between Start and End locations in the visual's space. |
| ConnectedTo | The first connector this connector is connected to, or null if no connected at all. |
| ConnectionWorldLocation | If connected then this is the effective location of the connection in world coordinates. |
| Connectors | All connectors that are connected to this one. |
| ControlPointEnabled | If true, then the control point will be shown to indicate location, name and orientation of this connector. |
| ControlPointSize | Size of the control point, when enabled. |
| Disallowed | List of connector Types that are not allowed to connect to this connector. If a Type appears in both Allowed and Disallowed, then Disallowed takes priority, and the Type is disallowed. |
| Document | |
| End | Location of end extent of the connector. The distance from Start to End defines the connector's width. |
| HeightOffset | The vertical offset perpendicular to the connector. |
| IsConnected | Is this connector connected to other connectors? |
| IsOptimized | |
| KeepInBounds | With AutoConnect=True, then the snapping action also allows the visual with the shortest connector (distance from Start to End) to slide along the length of the longer partner connector (on the other visual). The KeepInBounds property (of the longer connector) defines whether the longer connector will allow the shorter connector to extend its length beyond the length of the longer connector. |
| LayerIsVisible | |
| Length | Get the length of the connector. |
| MaxAllowedConnections | Optional limit to the number of connectors that this connector can connect to. This is int.MaxValue by default making it effectively unlimited. |
| Name | The name of the connector. |
| Normal | Direction of the connector. |
| Parent | The Visual that owns this connector. |
| ReparentOnConnect | When true, the owning visual will be reparented to the partner connector's owning visual. This is useful for creating components such as interchangeable robot end-effectors, which need to become part of the robot component when snapped into position. |
| SimulationTransferEnabled | When true, in Linear Physics, a virtual sensor and stop blade are added to the ongoing conveyor that this conveyor will merge into via this outgoing connector. This enables a simple level of overlap avoidance without adding in explicit sensors and stops by hand. |
| SimulationTransferMotorVisual | In Linear Physics, this indicates the motor visual to use for the transfer speed of loads. If not set then it defaults to conveyor that owns the connector. |
| SimulationTransferPadding | In Linear Physics, if SimulationTransferEnabled is true, this extends the sensor on the next conveyor back this distance. This allows the next conveyor to act as a main line and not block while a load is being transferred from this conveyor. This cannot be negative as that would cause loads to overlap. |
| SimulationTransferRotateAfterAngle | In Linear Physics, if the angle between two conveyors is less than this number then the load will transfer be in the same orientation it is in on the current conveyor. If the angle is greater than this number then the load will be rotated by 90 degrees. Set this to 180 to prevent loads rotating from their current orientation. The default is 80 degrees. |
| SimulationTransferSize | In Linear Physics, if not zero, this value overrides the width of the outgoing conveyor for the transfer zone size. |
| SnapDistance | Distance at which AutoConnect (if set to True) will come into effect. |
| SnapStyle | Defines the manner in which objects snap to each other when connecting. |
| Start | Location of start extent of the connector. The distance from Start to End defines the connector's width. |
| TextHeight | Height of the text label on the connector. |
| TransferDirection | Used by the Transfer protocol (as implemented in many QuickStart components) to define in which direction this connector allows transfers to take place. A value of "In" means that the component receive loads on this connector. A value of "Out" means that the component will deliver loads on this connector. A value of "InOut" means the component will receive and deliver loads on this component. A value of "None" means that the component will neither receive nor deliver loads on this connector. For example, "Start" connectors usually have this property set to "In"; "End" connectors usually have it set to "Out"; "Left" and "Right" connectors might have it set to "InOut"; connectors that are used for snapping end-effectors (for example) would have it set to "None", since they are not used for transferring loads. The component will consider the TransferDirection of the partner connector to find the effective TransferDirection; for example, if this connector is set to "In", then the other connector must be set to "Out" or "InOut" for a transfer to be possible. |
| Type | Optional type value that allows the connector to be identified in the Allowed and Disallowed properties of other connectors |
| WorldCenter | Get the center of the connector in world coordinates |
| WorldEnd | Get the end of the connector in world coordinates. |
| WorldMatrix | |
| WorldNormal | The world normal of the connector. |
| WorldStart | Get the start of the connector in world coordinates. |
Methods| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
 | AlignConnectors | Align the parent of this connector to be in line with the connector it is connected to. Modify the transform of the parent of this connector to align to the Normal of the ConnectedTo connector. This doesn't do a centerSnap on the connectors and the alignment algorithm is Alignment.Closest. |
| AlignConnectors(ConnectorAlignment) | Align the parent of this connector to be in line with the connector it is connected to. Modify the transform of the parent of this connector to align to the Normal of the ConnectedTo connector. This doesn't do a centerSnap on the connectors. |
| AlignConnectors(ConnectorAlignment, Boolean) | Align the parent of this connector to be in line with the connector it is connected to. Modify the transform of the parent of this connector to align to the Normal of the ConnectedTo connector. |
| AngularDistanceFrom | Find distance between the world normals as the difference between their world-Y rotations, snapped to 5 degree increments |
| CanConnectTo | Indicate if the two Connectors may actually be connected. This allows connectors for different purposes. The GUI may use this to provide visual feedback when the user drags an object near to another object. |
 | Closest | Find the closest connectors between two IConnectable objects (normally Visuals). |
| Connect(IConnectable, String, IConnectable, String, ConnectorAlignment, Boolean) | Connect two named connectors together with parameters determining whether and how the connectables (Visuals) should move when aligned. |
| Connect(IConnectable, String, IConnectable, String, Boolean, Boolean) | Connect two named connectors together with parameters determining whether and how the connectables (Visuals) should move when aligned. |
| Connect(IConnectable, String, IConnectable, String, ConnectorAlignment, Boolean, Boolean) | Connect two named connectors together with parameters determining whether and how the connectables (Visuals) should move when aligned. |
| Connect(IConnectable, String, IConnectable, String, Boolean, Boolean, Boolean) | Connect two named connectors together with parameters determining whether and how the connectables (Visuals) should move when aligned. |
| ConnectTo(Connector, ConnectorAlignment) | Connect this and another connector together. |
| ConnectTo(Connector, Boolean) | Connect two objects together. The method must take care of the placement and orientation of the respective visual objects. |
| ConnectTo(Connector, Boolean, Boolean) | Connect two objects together. The method must take care of the placement and orientation of the respective visual objects. |
| ConnectTo(Connector, ConnectorAlignment, Boolean, Boolean) | Connect this and another connector together. |
| ConnectTo(Connector, Boolean, Boolean, Boolean) | Connect two objects together. The method must take care of the placement and orientation of the respective visual objects. |
| ConnectTo(Connector, ConnectorAlignment, Boolean, Boolean, Action) | Connect this and another connector together (Only usable from C# scripting, not JScript). |
| CreateManagedAspectT | |
| Disconnect | Disconnect a named connector. |
| DisconnectAll | Disconnect all connectors |
| DisconnectFrom | Disconnect two objects from each other. The orientation is left the same after disconnection. |
| Dispose | Releases all resources used by the Connector |
| DistanceFrom | Calculates the distance of the centers of this connector to the extents (start->end) of another connector. |
| FindAspectsT | |
| FindManagedAspectsT | |
| IsConnectedTo(Connector) | Is this connector connected to the other connector. |
| IsConnectedTo(Visual) | Is this connector connected to the other visual via one of its connectors. |
| ObjectToWorldMatrix | |
| ToString |
Connected "name:visual" string.
(Overrides ObjectToString) |
| ToVisualLocation | The center of the connector as a VisualLocation. |
| WorldToObjectMatrix |
Events| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
 | AfterDisconnectedListeners | Called just after this connector is disconnected from. |
| ConnectedListeners | Called when this connector is connected to. |
| DisconnectedListeners | Called just before this connector is disconnected from. |
| Disposed |
Fields| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
 | ConnectorCreated | |
| ConnectorDestroyed |
See Also