A SHOVE in the right direction for begin

Cranz Gregory ([email protected])
Fri, 13 Oct 1995 16:39:59 -0400


Reb Matrix wrote:

" Pardon the dumb question, but for putting links to my .wrl files
in my homepage, clearly HREF ain't right. What all do I write?"

& also wrote:

" Paul was nice enough to take the time to send me the following
code in response to my question about how to "paste" an image (from a
.bmp or other image file) onto one side of a cube in my .wrl file. Since
I am just getting started with VRML, I don't understand much of what's
here, and I don't know where to find the reserence material. Could someone
explain, for example, what Coordinate3 is? Is it a user-defined variable?
What about ShapeHints, what is this? Any help would be much appreciated."

While I am also on the learning curve & am by no means a guru I can ofser you
this bit of direction which will do something better than answer your
questions directly, it will empower you to find them yourself:

The VRML FAQ doc (Virtual Reality Modeling Language Frequently Asked
Questions document) may be found at:

http://www.oki.com/vrml/VRML_FAQ.html

Also, a truly wonderful resource for learning VRML is available at most major
bookstores (gasp...you mean a real live book, that I have to pay $$ for &
everything? shudder to think...) & that is:

VRML Browsing & Building Cyberspace by: Mark Pesce
ISBN: 1-56205-498-8
$40.00 USA

& you even get a CD-ROM compatible with SGI's, Macs & PC's. Unlike most
computer related books today it's actually very well written.

And in fact I had no part in writing it, I bought it at the local Borders &
it was so new that they didn't even have it listed in their computers yet.
It's well thumbed by now.

& to further your particular quest for knowledge by indirectly answering your
question:

ShapeHints : page 363-364

& as for creating links, use the WWWAnchor node. Remember that everything
contained in the node will become s mot link so be careful what you
encapsulate.

Mark's example from The Book is:

WWWAnchor {
name "http://www.w3.org/"
Sphere {
radius 10
}
}
Wherein the sphere is a defined object that when clicked on will take you to
the URL above.

Simple enough?

I am no VRML guru...yet. But sharing what knowledge you have is a good
thing. I have had my questions answered promptly & accurately & I probably
would still be trying to figure out what to do with .gz files if someone else
hadn't pushed me in the right direction.

Hopefully I have contributed something you find useful.

- Gregory Cranz
[email protected]


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