1. Sym Graph
2. Shared Node
3. Path
4. Descendants
5. Ascendants
6. Geometry
7. Primitives
8. Local Bound
9. Bound
10. Local Node Coordinates
11. Node Coordinates
12. Anchor Node
13. Anchor Coordinates
14. LOD
15. XRef
16. Dex

In this section, we give a short explanation of concepts commonly used in the CmSym API.

Sym Graph

A sym graph refers to a graph created by one or more SymNode(s).

Shared Node

A node that has multiple parents.

Path

A sequence of “.” separated node ids forming a way down the sym graph. For instance, in “a.b.c” node “a” is the parent of node “b” and the grandparent of node “c”.

Descendants

The descendants of a node refer to all nodes below that node. In other words, it refers to the node’s children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.

Ascendants

The ascendants of a node refer to all nodes above that node. In other words, it refers to the node’s parents, grandparents, great grandparents, etc.

Geometry

Refers to SymMesh, SymShape, and primitive components.

Primitives

Refers to SymBox, SymCylinder, SymCone, and SymSphere.

Local Bound

The bound of a node before the (potential) transform of the node has been applied. The local bound of a node includes the bound of its descendants.

Bound

The bound of the node after the (potential) transform of the node has been applied. The bound of a node includes the bound of its descendants.

Local Node Coordinates

Local node coordinates or just local coordinates refer to coordinates defined in the coordinate system for a node before the transform on the node has been applied.

Node Coordinates

Refers to coordinates defined in the coordinate system for a node after the transform on the node has been applied.

Anchor Node

The first node in the node sequence defined by a SymHandle.

Anchor Coordinates

Refers to node coordinates for the anchor node of a handle.

LOD

The further away an object is from the viewpoint the smaller it gets on screen making it harder to perceive details. This is something rendering applications can take advantage of in order to boost performance. This is generally achieved by switching between differently detailed representations of the same object. The different representations can be referred to as LODs (level of detail). The CmSym API uses a component called SymReps to define LODs and in what context they should be rendered.

XRef

Stands for external reference and refers to a file that is referred from a sym graph or from another file.

Dex

Dex, data exchange format, is a graphics file format API developed at Configura. One of the major benefits of Dex based file is that it allows us to read small parts of data at a time, opposed to reading a complete file at once. CmSym files are built on top of Dex meaning that all data in a CmSym file is streamed using the Dex API.