NAME

       SoFile — node that reads children from a named file

INHERITS FROM

       SoBase > SoFieldContainer > SoNode > SoFile

SYNOPSIS

       #include <Inventor/nodes/SoFile.h>

          Fields from class SoFile:

     SoSFString          name

          Methods from class SoFile:

                         SoFile()
     SoGroup *           copyChildren() const
     static SoType       getClassTypeId()

          Methods from class SoNode:

     void                setOverride(SbBool state)
     SbBool              isOverride() const
     SoNode *            copy(SbBool copyConnections = FALSE) const
     virtual SbBool      affectsState() const
     static SoNode *     getByName(const SbName &name)
     static int          getByName(const SbName &name, SoNodeList &list)

          Methods from class SoFieldContainer:

     void                setToDefaults()
     SbBool              hasDefaultValues() const
     SbBool              fieldsAreEqual(const SoFieldContainer *fc) const
     void                copyFieldValues(const SoFieldContainer *fc, SbBool copyConnections = FALSE)
     SbBool              set(const char *fieldDataString)
     void                get(SbString &fieldDataString)
     virtual int         getFields(SoFieldList &resultList) const
     virtual SoField *   getField(const SbName &fieldName) const
     SbBool              getFieldName(const SoField *field, SbName &fieldName) const
     SbBool              isNotifyEnabled() const
     SbBool              enableNotify(SbBool flag)

          Methods from class SoBase:

     void                ref()
     void                unref() const
     void                unrefNoDelete() const
     void                touch()
     virtual SoType      getTypeId() const
     SbBool              isOfType(SoType type) const
     virtual void        setName(const SbName &name)
     virtual SbName      getName() const

DESCRIPTION

       This  node  represents  a  subgraph that was read from a named input file. When an SoFile node is written
       out, just the field containing the name of the file is written; no children  are  written  out.  When  an
       SoFile  is encountered during reading, reading continues from the named file, and all nodes read from the
       file are added as hidden children of the file node.

       Whenever the name field changes, any existing children are removed and the contents of the  new  file  is
       read  in.  The  file node remembers what directory the last file was read from and will read the new file
       from the same directory after checking the standard list of directories (see SoInput), assuming the field
       isn't set to an absolute path name.

       The children of an SoFile node are hidden; there is no way of accessing or editing them. If you  wish  to
       edit  the  contents of an SoFile node, you can modify the contents of the named file and then "touch" the
       name field (see SoField). Alternatively, you can use the copyChildren() method  to get a editable copy of
       the file node's children. Note that this does not affect the original file on disk, however.

FIELDS

     SoSFString          name
          Name of file from which to read children.

METHODS

                         SoFile()
          Creates a file node with default settings.

     SoGroup *           copyChildren() const
          Returns a new SoGroup containing copies of all of the file node's children.

     static SoType       getClassTypeId()
          Returns type identifier for this class.

ACTION BEHAVIOR

       SoGLRenderAction, SoCallbackAction, SoGetBoundingBoxAction, SoGetMatrixAction, SoHandleEventAction
          Traverses its children just as SoGroup does.

     SoRayPickAction
          Traverses its hidden children, but, if intersections are found, generates paths that end at the SoFile
          node.

     SoWriteAction
          Writes just the name field and no children.

FILE FORMAT/DEFAULTS

       File {
          name  "<Undefined file>"
     }

SEE ALSO

       SoInput, SoPath

                                                                                                   SoFile(3IV)()