[Bf-python] ThinMesh

[Stephen Swaney]

On Sun, May 08, 2005 at 02:56:04PM +1000, Campbell Barton wrote:
> 
> > 
> Is what your hinting at- late initialization? This has been suggested 
> and is probably the best option. it also could fit seamlesly into the 
> current framework.
> len(mesh.faces), len(mesh.verts), mash.mode, mesh.name ... etc. should 
> be able to be accsessed without initializing the vertex/face data.
> Ot might also be worth seperating the vert/face initialization so they 
> can be initialized seperately.

Lazy initialization is a strategy for postponing expensive operations.
It could be applied to the existing NMesh implementation with good
benefit.

What I am talking about is better described as a proxy for the Blender
Mesh data structure.  One of the principles for building fast
applications is to never move or copy data needlessly.

Our prototypical BPy_Camera is a good example of this.  It simply holds
a pointer into the existing Blender Camera struct.  Other bpy types do
the same, sometimes with the possible addition of a little state data.

Now that we have more experience with python types and operators - see
the Mathutils module for example - we should be able to make a
ThinMesh module that uses blender data without copying it.

This would give a performance boost for people with a fondness for
huge meshes.

-- 
Stephen Swaney			
sswaney at centurytel.net