[Bf-committers] Node API

erana Owl 0wl256 at gmail.com
Thu Dec 29 23:45:53 CET 2011


FYI, you can use a 27-node or 21-node tree using node.depth changes for
traversal and Player Character in-tree movement.
The depth alterations are some of the smallest modifications possible in
such a tree
(e.g. an octree) and should be useful anyhow.

Greets,
Johan

2011/12/29 Lukas Tönne <lukas.toenne at googlemail.com>

> Hi,
>
> We have been talking about creating a usable node API, to allow
> external engines and plugins make use of the node editor. I have been
> working on a basic implementation of dynamically registered node types
> for the particle nodes system. This can be used as a basis for further
> work, by stripping away the new particles (should be easy and
> painless). Particle nodes need more work to be ready for trunk, but
> the general node API can go in as a separate project.
>
> Let me try to break down the whole idea into a set of goals and
> implementation notes:
>
> * Node types, tree types and socket types should be registered
> _dynamically_, i.e. they are registered/unregistered by subsystems
> and/or plugins at runtime.
>
>   We have a good example for this with python-defined menu and panel
> types for the UI. These use a C typeinfo struct, which contains all
> static information, in particular function pointers for dynamic
> dispatch ("virtual" functions). These types can be registered from
> python scripts, providing a simple way to extend the UI.
>   Node types can use the same RNA framework to allow node type
> definition from Python. However, all existing node subsystems use C or
> C++ language, so it would be nice to have an actual API for these too.
>   The Cycles render engine already uses C++ node class definitions,
> generated from the internal RNA information, to convert node data from
> the editor into the internal shader graph. At this point, however, the
> node types are still all defined as part of the blender core code,
> instead of being generated as part of the Cycles external system. It
> would be good to have a way of registering node implementations from
> C/C++ the way we can do in bpy.
>
> * Nodes need a way to store custom data
>
>   Beside the input parameters that are stored along node sockets,
> some nodes need a couple of additional variables. Sometimes these are
> pointers to scene data, sometimes constant settings, sometimes complex
> data for curves or mapping. This data is stored in the bNode->storage
> pointer and requires explicit code in readfile/writefile for correct
> .blend.
>   For dynamic node types there needs to be a way of storing such
> custom data without having to modify core C code. In the case of
> simple button values the ID property system would be sufficient as it
> is now. Nodes can store custom variables like objects or armature
> bones this way. But ID properties do not work for pointers and for
> complex data structs, like curves or color ramps. With links to shared
> data comes the need to do proper user counting and unlinking. Storing
> complex structs would require to either break them down into primitive
> (float/int/char) parts and store with existing data types, or to
> implement a general allocation/freeing mechanism as well as an API for
> reading/writing blend files.
>
> * Node typeinfo needs to be extended for subsystems
>
>   Each node system (shader, compositor, textures, particles, ...) has
> its own way of converting an editor node into a usable internal
> component. When node types are registered in a truly dynamic way,
> these subsystems also shouldn't have any static node type definitions.
> In turn, this means they need to extend the core API, so that
> user-defined node types can actually define their own execution code.
> For Cycles shader nodes this code could be written in C/C++ or as
> OpenCL/CUDA kernel code. Compositor nodes can use C++ or OpenCL as
> well. The details are up to the respective project maintainers.
>
>
> For overview, here's a list of things that imo should be in the node API:
> - subsystem/tree type (not necessarily the same!): what kind of node is
> this
> - basic info: type identifier, ui name & description, icon, node
> category ("class"/submenu)
> - input/output socket templates
> - custom data (see above), including RNA subclass definition
> - drawing code for custom data on the node or side bar details panel
> - update functions for various changes:
>  * node settings (buttons or custom data) have changed
>  * node has been linked/unlinked
>  * shared internal data changed (e.g. node group tree, render layers,
> texture)
> - error reports interface, for debugging purposes (including "syntax"
> errors from invalid links)
> - preview output
> - muting details: which inputs are passed on unchanged (optional, has
> default implementation)
>
> Let me know what you think.
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