This reference page is linked to from the following overview topics: Getting the Nodes that Reference an Object.

Detailed Description

Manages instances of objects, modifiers, transformation controllers Use this interface to work with object instances in a Max scene.

There are several criteria based on which two or more objects must be considered instances of each other. This interface abstracts the details of dealing with them and thus help client code focus on the specific tasks it needs to perform on object instances, rather than on the logic of finding them. Two or more objects are considered instances of each other if:

They are regular Max instances or references (their nodes reference the same DerivedObject)
Are part of the same style (this applies to Max objects resulted from importing a DWG drawing that contains style information. See IADTObjMgr for more information on styles.)
Represent instances of the same block (this applies to Max objects resulted from importing a DWG drawing that contains block instances. See IBlockMgr for more information on blocks.)

See also:: IADTObjMgr, IBlockMgr

#include <iInstanceMgr.h>

Inheritance diagram for IInstanceMgr:

[legend]

List of all members.

Public Member Functions
virtual unsigned long	GetInstances (INode &source, INodeTab &instances) const =0
	Retrieves instances and references of an object.
virtual unsigned long	SetMtlOnInstances (INode &source, Mtl *newMtl)=0
	Sets the provided material on all instances of a given object.
Automatic material propagation to instances of objects
When automatic material propagation to object instances is On, materials assigned to an object via all means (UI, maxscript, SDK) will be automatically propagated to all instances and references of that object. No user confirmation is be required. When Off, material assignments to an object won't get propagated to the object's instances and references. The material of an instance can be still propagated by calling the SetMtlOnInstances method. The initial value of automatic material propagation can be set through the AutomaticMtlPropagation setting, in the InstanceMgr section of the application's .ini file. When the application closes, the current value of this settings saved in the .ini file by the system.
virtual bool	GetAutoMtlPropagation () const =0
	Retrieves state of automatic material propagation flag.
virtual bool	SetAutoMtlPropagation (bool autoPropagate)=0
	Sets automatic material propagation flag.
Making instances unique
Methods for making base objects, derived objects, individual modifier and transform controllers of a given set of nodes unique.
virtual bool	CanMakeObjectsUnique (INodeTab &tabNodes) const =0
	Determines whether the given objects can be made unique.
virtual bool	MakeObjectsUnique (INodeTab &tabNodes, int iMultiNodeOption=INSTANCE_MGR_MAKE_UNIQUE_PROMPT) const =0
	Makes the given objects unique.
virtual bool	CanMakeModifiersUnique (INodeTab &tabNodes, Tab< ReferenceTarget * > &tabMods) const =0
	Determines whether the given modifiers can be made unique.
virtual bool	MakeModifiersUnique (INodeTab &tabNodes, Tab< ReferenceTarget * > &tabMods, int iMultiNodeOption=INSTANCE_MGR_MAKE_UNIQUE_PROMPT) const =0
	Makes the given modifiers unique.
virtual bool	CanMakeControllersUnique (INodeTab &tabNodes, Tab< ReferenceTarget * > &tabConts) const =0
	Determines whether the given transform controllers can be made unique.
virtual bool	MakeControllersUnique (INodeTab &tabNodes, Tab< ReferenceTarget * > &tabConts, int iMultiNodeOption=INSTANCE_MGR_MAKE_UNIQUE_PROMPT) const =0
	Makes the given transform controllers unique.
File IO
Methods for persisting the state of the instance manager.
virtual IOResult	Save (ISave *isave) const =0
	Saves instance manager state.
virtual IOResult	Load (ILoad *iload)=0
	Loads instance manager state.
Static Public Member Functions
static IInstanceMgr *	GetInstanceMgr ()
	Retrieves the single instance of the instance manager.

Member Function Documentation

virtual unsigned long GetInstances	(	INode &	source,
		INodeTab &	instances
	)		const `[pure virtual]`

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Retrieves instances and references of an object.

Instances of styles and blocks are collected only if IADTObjMgr and IBlockMgr interfaces are available.

Parameters:

[in]	source	The node of the object whose instances are to be retrieved. For an object with multiple instances, any of the nodes representing an instance can be specified here as a parameter.
[in,out]	instances	Collection of nodes representing the instances of source The collection is cleared before this method starts filling it in. The source node is also included in this collection since every object can be thought of as having at least one instance.

Returns:: The number of instances found. There's always at least 1 instance found

virtual unsigned long SetMtlOnInstances	(	INode &	source,
		Mtl *	newMtl
	)		`[pure virtual]`

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Sets the provided material on all instances of a given object.

Parameters:

[in]	source	The node of the object whose instances should be set up with the specified material. For an object with multiple instances, any of the nodes representing an instance can be specified as this parameter.
[in]	newMtl	The material to be set. If NULL, all instances of the source object will have their materials removed.

Returns:: The number of instances found.

virtual bool GetAutoMtlPropagation ( ) const [pure virtual]

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Retrieves state of automatic material propagation flag.

Returns:: true if automatic material propagation is On, false otherwise.

virtual bool SetAutoMtlPropagation ( bool autoPropagate ) [pure virtual]

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Sets automatic material propagation flag.

Parameters:

[in] autoPropagate pass true to turn On automatic material propagation, false otherwise.

Returns:: The previous state of the automatic material propagation flag.

virtual bool CanMakeObjectsUnique ( INodeTab & tabNodes ) const [pure virtual]

Search for all occurrences

Determines whether the given objects can be made unique.

Parameters:

[in] tabNodes The nodes representing the objects to be made unique.

Returns:: true if at least one object can be made unique.

virtual bool MakeObjectsUnique	(	INodeTab &	tabNodes,
		int	iMultiNodeOption = `INSTANCE_MGR_MAKE_UNIQUE_PROMPT`
	)		const `[pure virtual]`

Search for all occurrences

Makes the given objects unique.

Parameters:

[in]	tabNodes	The nodes representing the objects to be made unique.
[in]	iMultiNodeOption	Specifies the method to use when making objects unique.

Returns:: true if at least one object was made unique

virtual bool CanMakeModifiersUnique	(	INodeTab &	tabNodes,
		Tab< ReferenceTarget * > &	tabMods
	)		const `[pure virtual]`

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Determines whether the given modifiers can be made unique.

Parameters:

[in]	tabNodes	The nodes the modifiers are being applied to.
[in]	tabMods	The modifiers to be made unique.

Returns:: true if at least one modifier can be made unique.

virtual bool MakeModifiersUnique	(	INodeTab &	tabNodes,
		Tab< ReferenceTarget * > &	tabMods,
		int	iMultiNodeOption = `INSTANCE_MGR_MAKE_UNIQUE_PROMPT`
	)		const `[pure virtual]`

Search for all occurrences

Makes the given modifiers unique.

Parameters:

[in]	tabNodes	The nodes the modifiers are applied to.
[in]	tabMods	The modifiers to be made unique.
[in]	iMultiNodeOption	Specifies the method to use when making modifiers unique.

Returns:: true if at least one modifier was made unique

virtual bool CanMakeControllersUnique	(	INodeTab &	tabNodes,
		Tab< ReferenceTarget * > &	tabConts
	)		const `[pure virtual]`

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Determines whether the given transform controllers can be made unique.

Parameters:

[in]	tabNodes	The nodes the controller are applied to.
[in]	tabConts	The controllers to be made unique.

Returns:: true if at least one controller can be made unique.

virtual bool MakeControllersUnique	(	INodeTab &	tabNodes,
		Tab< ReferenceTarget * > &	tabConts,
		int	iMultiNodeOption = `INSTANCE_MGR_MAKE_UNIQUE_PROMPT`
	)		const `[pure virtual]`

Search for all occurrences

Makes the given transform controllers unique.

Parameters:

[in]	tabNodes	The nodes the controllers are applied to.
[in]	tabConts	The controllers to be made unique.
[in]	iMultiNodeOption	Specifies the method to use when making controllers unique.

Returns:: true if at least one controller was made unique

virtual IOResult Save ( ISave * isave ) const [pure virtual]

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Saves instance manager state.

This method is called by the system.

virtual IOResult Load ( ILoad * iload ) [pure virtual]

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Loads instance manager state.

This method is called by the system.

static IInstanceMgr* GetInstanceMgr ( ) [inline, static]

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Retrieves the single instance of the instance manager.

                                                {
            return static_cast<IInstanceMgr*>(GetCOREInterface(INSTANCE_MGR_INTERFACE));
        }

IInstanceMgr Class Reference

Detailed Description

Public Member Functions

Static Public Member Functions

Member Function Documentation