Chapter 4. Tools

To change the taxonomy of the tree, a shoot a can be linked as a child of a shoot b. During this process the old parent of a is disconnected and the local transformation of a is adjusted to keep it in the same global position.

This function works with apical and lateral children, using different edge-types to connect a to b. Apical links are represented by successor edges and lateral links by branch edges.

4.1.1.1. Usage

To link a child using the toolbar, first select the parent and then the child.

icon	function	RGG call
	link as lateral child	makeLateralChild(newParent, child);
	link as apical child	makeApicalChild(newParent, child);
X	link as custom child	makeChild(newParen, child, edgeBit);

This translates the start of a given shoot on the axis of the parent shoot. It is possible to shift either to the top, center, bottom or on the closest possible point on the axis of the parent. The last option does choose the point base on the parent axis not on the parent it self, therefore it is possible that the child is afterwards not attached to the parent (if it is on a position of the axis higher than the length of the parent).

For lateral children an additional shift in the direction of the child is added with the length of the radius of the parent. This is done to attach the child to the surface of the parent rather then the center.

4.1.2.1. Usage

To shift using the toolbar select the shoot to shift

icon	function	RGG call
	shift to axis	jumpToParentAxis(shoot);
	shift to start	jumpToParentStart(shoot);
	shift to center	jumpToParentCenter(shoot);
	shift to end	jumpToParentEnd(shoot);

The path between a shoot a and a shoot b can be smoothed if the path between them is of only successors and a maximum length of 10 shoots.

The process is replacing all shoots between a and b with a single new shoot starting at the end of a and ending at the start of b. All lateral children of the replaced shoots are added as children to the new shoot.

If b is a direct child of a, a and b are replaced by a new shoot starting at the end of the parent of a and ending at the start of the parent of b. This is not supported for the root shoot as well as for tip-shoots (with no children).

4.1.3.1. Usage

To create a smooth path using the toolbar select first the a shoot, then the b shoot and then press the button.

icon	function	RGG call
	smooth	smooth(a,b);

A new shoot can be created between a shoot a and a shoot b ignoring any previous relation ship between them. The new shoot is a lateral child of a and replaces the old parent of b as the new apical parent. The new shoot start at the end of a and ends at the start of b.

4.1.4.1. Usage

To create a bridge using the toolbar select first the shoot a, then the shoot b and then press the button.

icon	function	RGG call
	bridge	bridge(a,b);

A shoot can be split into two shoots at a given ratio (0.0-1.0). All lateral children of the original shoot are distributed between the two new shoots based on their location on the axis of the original shoots, to ensure the closest possible connection.

4.1.5.1. Usage

To split a shoot with the toolbar, select it, then press the button and enter the ratio in the appearing dialog.

icon	function	RGG call
	split shoot	split(shoot, ratio);

This function replaces the diameter of a shoot with the average diameter of its parent and its successor. If only one of the two exists this diameter is used. If the parent connected as a branch (the node is a lateral child) the parent diameter is only considered half.

4.1.6.1. Usage

To fit the diameter of shoot using the toolbar, select the shoot and press the button.

icon	function	RGG call
	fit diameter	fitDiameter(shoot);

Set the local translation of a shoot to 0,0,0. Meaning to the end of the parent.

4.1.7.1. Usage

To move a shoot using the toolbar, select the shoot and press the button.

icon	function	RGG call
	move to 000	moveTo000(shoot);

Turn a shoot into a M turtle step(movement without drawing) to render it invisible and remove its volume and diameter without changing the trend or order of its children.

4.1.8.1. Usage

To turn a shoot into an M using the toolbar, select the shoot and press the button.

icon	function	RGG call
	toM	toM(shoot);

It it possible to either remove a shoot alone without effecting its children, or to remove the whole sub-tree below it. If the shoot is remove alone its children are added as children to its parent. The remove with sub-tree works identically to pressing the delete key on the keyboard.

To remove of shoot using the toolbar, select the shoot and press the button.

icon	function	RGG call
	remove	remove(shoot);
	removeAlone	removeAlone(shoot);