vtkMapper - abstract class specifies interface to map data to graphics primitives
vtkMapper is an abstract class to specify interface between data and
graphics primitives. Subclasses of vtkMapper map data through a
lookuptable and control the creation of rendering primitives that
interface to the graphics library. The mapping can be controlled by
supplying a lookup table and specifying a scalar range to map data
through.
There are several important control mechanisms affecting the behavior of
this object. The ScalarVisibility flag controls whether scalar data (if
any) controls the color of the associated actor(s) that refer to the
mapper. The ScalarMode ivar is used to determine whether scalar point data
or cell data is used to color the object. By default, point data scalars
are used unless there are none, in which cell scalars are used. Or you can
explicitly control whether to use point or cell scalar data. Finally, the
mapping of scalars through the lookup table varies depending on the
setting of the ColorMode flag. See the documentation for the appropriate
methods for an explanation.
Another important feature of this class is whether to use immediate mode
rendering (ImmediateModeRenderingOn) or display list rendering
(ImmediateModeRenderingOff). If display lists are used, a data structure
is constructed (generally in the rendering library) which can then be
rapidly traversed and rendered by the rendering library. The disadvantage
of display lists is that they require additionally memory which may affect
the perfomance of the system.