ARCH 481: 3D Modeling and Rendering, University of Washington, Department of Architecture

Glossary

Instructor: Brian Johnson, Autumn Quarter, 2014

Attribute

DEFINITION
A quality associated with a geometric primitive in an object graphic database.

EXPLANATION
Geometric and non-geometric variations on a primitive. Common examples of attributes include

line weight (width)
line style (dotted, dashed, solid, etc.)
line color
polygon fill pattern
layer name/number

OPERATION
A natural way to increase the efficiency of program code by collapsing the range of shapes which may be drawn into categories involving primitives and variations on the primitive. Thus, line primitives may be modified by a variety of attributes, as indicated above.

Usually the software provides a mechanism to set the attribute value for future primitive instances (i.e., to set the defaults), and a means of editing the attributes without editing the primitive's fundamental geometry (end-points, etc.).

Last updated: May, 2014
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