[vtk-developers] Permission to replace vtkCellLocator with an improved version

[David Gobbi]

If I get permission to do the replacement, you have my word that I
will make sure that all tests pass before I commit the code, and that
I will swiftly respond to any concerns from Kitware or from any third
parties.

   David


On Tue, Jan 19, 2010 at 1:18 PM, Will Schroeder
<will.schroeder at kitware.com> wrote:
> To ask an obvious question, when the replacement is made, do all the tests
> pass? Particularly the widget tests?
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 19, 2010 at 1:47 PM, David Gobbi <david.gobbi at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Yes, that's pretty much it.  I mean to rename vtkSurfacePicker to
>> vtkCellPicker, overwriting the existing vtkCellPicker and replacing
>> it.
>>
>>   David
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jan 19, 2010 at 11:04 AM, Will Schroeder
>> <will.schroeder at kitware.com> wrote:
>> > David, just to make sure, please elaborate on "replace vtkCellPicker
>> > with
>> > vtkSurfacePicker". I think you mean you'll replace the guts of
>> > vtkCellPicker
>> > with your vtkSurfacePicker functionality... is this correct?
>> >
>> > On Tue, Jan 19, 2010 at 12:21 PM, David Gobbi <david.gobbi at gmail.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >>
>> >> HI All,
>> >>
>> >> Around seven weeks ago I added a new class to VTK called
>> >> vtkVolumePicker  (http://www.vtk.org/Wiki/VTK/Volume_Picking) that
>> >> improved volume picking.  This class also included several
>> >> improvements for polydata picking that I needed for my applications,
>> >> including the ability to use a vtkCellLocator to speed up the pick.
>> >>
>> >> Soon after adding this class to VTK, I split off a subclass called
>> >> vtkSurfacePicker
>> >> (http://www.vtk.org/doc/nightly/html/classvtkSurfacePicker.html) that
>> >> has 95% of the functionality of vtkVolumePicker, but doesn't depend on
>> >> the VolumeRendering kit.  This vtkSurfacePicker is, essentially, an
>> >> improved vtkCellPicker.  Compared to vtkCellPicker, here is a summary
>> >> of the most important improvements:
>> >>
>> >> - the ability to add a vtkCellLocator to accelerate the picking of
>> >> large data sets (it's rather shocking that vtkCellPicker cannot do
>> >> this)
>> >>
>> >> - much faster algorithms for picking volumes and images.. the
>> >> vtkCellPicker does a tedious search through all the cells in the
>> >> vtkImageData, but this new picker simply intersects the view ray with
>> >> the image data
>> >>
>> >> - specifying an "opacity isovalue" value for more useful volume
>> >> picking, i.e. it doesn't pick transparent regions, instead it picks
>> >> the visible volume surface
>> >>
>> >> - several methods for getting more information about what was picked,
>> >> including IJK coords for images, volumes, and textures
>> >>
>> >> - it acknowledges the existence of mapper clipping planes... the
>> >> vtkCellPicker ignores clipping planes so it will pick regions that
>> >> have been clipped away
>> >>
>> >> I would like to replace the vtkCellPicker with this new
>> >> vtkSurfacePicker class.  Since it provides a superset of vtkCellPicker
>> >> functionality and improved performance, the change should be
>> >> transparent to all users.  The only problem might be conflicts between
>> >> the new methods and third-party subclasses of vtkCellPicker.
>> >>
>> >> Any thoughts?  Should I have sent this email to the ARB list instead?
>> >>
>> >>   David
>> >> _______________________________________________
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>> >>
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>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > William J. Schroeder, PhD
>> > Kitware, Inc.
>> > 28 Corporate Drive
>> > Clifton Park, NY 12065
>> > will.schroeder at kitware.com
>> > http://www.kitware.com
>> > (518) 881-4902
>> >
>
>
>
> --
> William J. Schroeder, PhD
> Kitware, Inc.
> 28 Corporate Drive
> Clifton Park, NY 12065
> will.schroeder at kitware.com
> http://www.kitware.com
> (518) 881-4902
>