In article <9=XNONfHim9haARAc396blnM8yDn@4ax.com>, Glen Berry 
<7no### [at] ezwvcom> wrote:

> Perhaps the parser could scan for such interactive features first, and
> let the user know that they need to watch the screen to add input to
> the scene data. If no interactive features were found in the scene
> files, then the parser could even issue a statement to that effect,
> and proceed to render the scene while you went out for the weekend.

There is still the problem of having to wait for the dialog/prompt to 
pop up while the scene is parsing. I have had scenes that took 45 
minutes to parse.


> It should also be possible to "remember" the values entered during the
> last rendering of an interactive scene file, and use them for
> "default" values when queried by the current interactive rendering.
> Let's say you have ten seconds to change the default value, or the
> scene continues parsing with the default value. Hitting the "return"
> key would simply accept the default value as-is, and avoid the ten
> second delay. In order to store the previous query values, POV's
> text-file output capabilities can be put to use in a method similar to
> Nathan's use of an external file for storing photon or radiosity data
> for subsequent renders.

This is getting too interface-dependant. I would rather not have 
language features depend on the interfaces of different platforms.
And what about automatic rendering? If POV is being controlled through 
something like a web page, this kind of feature would have to be removed 
or heavily modified.

It is simple enough to make an include file with the variables you want 
to use so you don't have to remember the names, or you can put them in 
the main file and just use comments well. And this doesn't have the 
complications of a user prompt.

-- 
Chris Huff
e-mail: chr### [at] yahoocom
Web page: http://chrishuff.dhs.org/

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