Section 7.2.1
Include Files

The language allows include files to be specified by placing the line

#include "filename.inc"

at any point in the input file. The filename may be specified by any valid string expression but it usually is a literal string enclosed in double quotes. It may be up to 40 characters long (or your computer's limit), including the two double-quote characters.

The include file is read in as if it were inserted at that point in the file. Using include is the same as actually cutting and pasting the entire contents of this file into your scene.

Include files may be nested. You may have at most 10 nested include files. There is no limit on un-nested include files.

Generally, include files have data for scenes but are not scenes in themselves. By convention scene files end in .pov and include files end with .inc.

It is legal to specify drive and directory information in the file specification however it is discouraged because it makes scene files less portable between various platforms.

It is typical to put standard include files in a special sub-directory. POV-Ray can only read files in the current directory or one referenced by the Library_Path option (See section "Library Paths").

Section 7.2.2
Declare

Identifiers may be declared and later referenced to make scene files more readable and to parametrize scenes so that changing a single declaration changes many values. There are several built-in identifiers which POV-Ray declares for you. See section "Built-in Identifiers" for details.

Section 7.2.2.1
Declaring identifiers

An identifier is declared as follows.

#declare IDENTIFIER = ITEM

Where IDENTIFIER is the name of the identifier up to 40 characters long and ITEM is any of the following

float, vector, color or string expressions objects (all kinds) texture, pigment, normal, finish or halo color_map, pigment_map, slope_map, normal_map camera, light_source atmosphere fog rainbow sky_sphere transform

Here are some examples.

#declare Rows = 5 #declare Count = Count+1 #declare Here = <1,2,3> #declare White = rgb <1,1,1> #declare Cyan = color blue 1.0 green 1.0 #declare Font_Name = "ariel.ttf" #declare Ring = torus {5,1} #declare Checks = pigment { checker White, Cyan } object{ Rod scale y*5 } // not "cylinder { Rod }" object { Ring pigment { Checks scale 0.5 } transform Skew }

Declarations, like most language directives, can appear anywhere in the file - even within other statements. For example:

#declare Here=<1,2,3> #declare Count=0 // initialize Count union { object { Rod translate Here*Count } #declare Count=Count+1 // re-declare inside union object { Rod translate Here*Count } #declare Count=Count+1 // re-declare inside union object { Rod translate Here*Count } }

As this example shows, you can re-declare an identifier and may use previously declared values in that re-declaration. However if you attempt to re-declare an identifier as anything other than its original type, it will generate a warning message.

Declarations may be nested inside each other within limits. In the example in the previous section you could declare the entire union as a object. However for technical reasons you may not use any language directive inside the declaration of floats, vectors or color expressions.

Section 7.2.3
Default Directive

POV-Ray creates a default texture when it begins processing. You may change those defaults as described below. Every time you specify a texture statement, POV-Ray creates a copy of the default texture. Anything you put in the texture statement overrides the default settings. If you attach a pigment, normal or finish to an object without any texture statement then POV-Ray checks to see if a texture has already been attached. If it has a texture then the pigment, normal or finish will modify the existing texture. If no texture has yet been attached to the object then the default texture is copied and the pigment, normal or finish will modify that texture.

You may change the default texture, pigment, normal or finish using the language directive #default as follows:

#default { texture { pigment {...} normal {...} finish {...} } }

Or you may change just part of it like this:

#default { pigment {...} }

This still changes the pigment of the default texture. At any time there is only one default texture made from the default pigment, normal and finish. The example above does not make a separate default for pigments alone. Note that the special textures tiles and material_map or a texture with a texture_map may not be used as defaults.

You may change the defaults several times throughout a scene as you wish. Subsequent #default statements begin with the defaults that were in effect at the time. If you wish to reset to the original POV-Ray defaults then you should first save them as follows:

//At top of file #declare Original_Default = texture {}

later after changing defaults you may restore it with...

#default {texture {Original_Default}}

If you do not specify a texture for an object then the default texture is attached when the object appears in the scene. It is not attached when an object is declared. For example:

#declare My_Object = sphere{ <0,0,0>, 1 } // Default texture not applied object { My_Object } // Default texture added here

You may force a default texture to be added by using an empty texture statement as follows:

#declare My_Thing = sphere { <0,0,0>, 1 texture {} } // Default texture applied

The original POV-Ray defaults for all items are given throughout the documentation under each appropriate section.

Section 7.2.4
Version Directive

While many language changes have been made for POV-Ray 3.0, all of version 2.0 syntax and most of version 1.0 syntax still works. Whenever possible we try to maintain backwards compatibility. One feature introduced in 2.0 that was incompatible with any 1.0 scene files is the parsing of float expressions. Setting +MV1.0 command line switch or the Version=1.0 INI option turns off expression parsing as well as many warning messages so that nearly all 1.0 files will still work. The changes between 2.0 and 3.0 are not as extensive. Setting Version=2.0 is only necessary to eliminate some warning messages. Naturally the default setting for this option is Version=3.0.

The #version language directive is used to change modes within scene files. This switch or INI options only affects the initial setting.

Together with the built-in version identifier the #version directive allows you to save and restore the previous values of this compatibility setting. For example suppose mystuff.inc is in version 1.0 format. At the top of the file you could put:

#declare Temp_Vers = version // Save previous value #version 1.0 // Change to 1.0 mode ... // Version 1.0 stuff goes here ... #version Temp_Vers // Restore previous version

Previous versions of POV-Ray would not allow you to change versions inside an object or declaration but that restriction has been lifted for POV-Ray 3.0.

Future versions of POV-Ray may not continue to maintain full backward compatibility even with the #version directive. We strongly encourage you to phase in 3.0 syntax as much as possible.

Section 7.2.5
Conditional Directives

POV-Ray 3.0 allows a variety of new language directives to implement conditional parsing of various sections of your scene file. This is especially useful in describing the motion for animations but it has other uses as well. Also available is a #while loop directive. You may nest conditional directives 200 levels deep.

Section 7.2.5.1
IF ELSE Directives

The simplest conditional directive is a traditional #if directive. It is of the form...

#if (COND) // This section is // parsed if COND is true #else // This section is // parsed if COND is false #end // End of conditional part

where (COND) is a float expression that evaluates to a boolean value. A value of 0.0 is false and any non-zero value is true. Note that extremely small values of about 1e-10 are considered zero in case of round off errors. The parentheses around the condition are required. The #else directive is optional. The #end directive is required.

Section 7.2.5.2
IFDEF Directives

The #ifdef directive is similar to the #if directive however it is used to determine if an identifier has been previously declared. After the #ifdef directive instead of a boolean expression you put a lone identifier enclosed in parentheses. For example:

#ifdef (User_Thing) // This section is parsed if the // identifier "User_Thing" was // previously declared object{User_Thing} // invoke identifier #else // This section is parsed if the // identifier "User_Thing" was not // previously declared box{<0,0,0>,<1,1,1>} // use a default #end // End of conditional part

The #else directive is optional. The #end directive is required.

Section 7.2.5.3
IFNDEF Directives

The #ifndef directive is similar to the #ifdef directive however it is used to determine if the given identifier isn't declared yet. For example:

#ifndef (User_Thing) // This section is parsed if the // identifier "User_Thing" was not // previously declared box{<0,0,0>,<1,1,1>} // use a default #else // This section is parsed if the // identifier "User_Thing" was // previously declared object{User_Thing} // invoke identifier #end // End of conditional part

The #else directive is optional. The #end directive is required.

Section 7.2.5.4
SWITCH CASE and RANGE Directives

A more powerful conditional is the #switch directive. The syntax is as follows...

#switch (VALUE) #case (TEST_1) // This section is parsed if VALUE=TEST_1 #break //First case ends #case (TEST_2) // This section is parsed if VALUE=TEST_2 #break //Second case ends #range (LOW_1,HIGH_1) // This section is parsed if (VALUE>=LOW_1)&(VALUE<=HIGH_1) #break //Third case ends #range (LOW_2,HIGH_2) // This section is parsed if (VALUE>=LOW_2)&(VALUE<=HIGH_2) #break //Fourth case ends #else // This section is parsed if no other case or // range is true. #end // End of conditional part

The float expression VALUE following the #switch directive is evaluated and compared to the values in the #case or #range directives. When using #case, it is followed by a float expression TEST_1 in parentheses. It is compared to the VALUE. As usual in POV-Ray, float comparisons are considered equal if their difference is under 1e-10. If the values are equal, parsing continues normally until a #break, #else or #end directive is reached. If the comparison fails POV-Ray skips until another #case or #range is found.

If you use the #range directive it is followed by two float expressions LOW_1 and HIGH_1 which are enclosed in parentheses and separated by a comma. If the switch VALUE is in the range specified then parsing continues normally until a #break, #else or #end directive is reached. If the VALUE is outside the range the comparison fails and POV-Ray skips until another #case or #range is found.

If no #case or #range succeeds the #else section is parsed. The #else directive is optional. If no #else is specified and no match succeeds then parsing resumes after the #end directive.

There may be any number of #case or #range directives in any order you want. If a segment evaluates true but no #break is specified, the parsing will fall through to the next #case or #range and will continue until a #break, #else or #end. Hitting a #break while parsing a successful section causes an immediate jump to the #end without processing subsequent sections, even if a subsequent condition would also have been satisfied.

Section 7.2.5.5
WHILE Directive

The #while directive is a looping feature that makes it easy to place multiple objects in a pattern or other uses. The #while directive is followed by a float expression that evaluates to a boolean value. A value of 0.0 is false and any non-zero value is true. Note that extremely small values of about 1e-10 are considered zero in case of round off errors. The parentheses around the expression are required. If the condition is true parsing continues normally until an #end directive is reached. At the end, POV-Ray loops back to the #while directive and the condition is re-evaluated. Looping continues until the condition fails. When it fails, parsing continues after the #end directive. For example:

#declare Count=0 #while (Count < 5) object{MyObject translate x*3*Count} #declare Count=Count+1 #end

This example places five copies of MyObject in a row spaced three units apart in the x-direction.

Section 7.2.6
User Message Directives

With the addition of conditional and loop directives, the POV-Ray language has the potential to be more like an actual programming language. This means that it will be necessary to have some way to see what is going on when trying to debug loops and conditionals. To fulfill this need we have added the ability to print text messages to the screen. You have a choice of five different text streams to use including the ability to generate a fatal error if you find it necessary. Limited formatting is available for strings output by this method.

Section 7.2.6.1
Text Message Streams

The syntax for a text message is any of the following:

#debug STRING #error STRING #render STRING #statistics STRING #warning STRING

Where STRING is any valid string of text including string identifiers or functions which return strings. For example:

#switch (clock*360) #range (0,180) #render "Clock in 0 to 180 range\n" #break #range (180,360) #render "Clock in 180 to 360 range\n" #break #else #warning "Clock outside expected range\n" #warning concat("Value is:",str(clock*360,5,0),"\n") #end

There are seven distinct text streams that POV-Ray uses for output. You may output only to five of them. On some versions of POV-Ray, each stream is designated by a particular color. Text from these streams are displayed whenever it is appropriate so there is often an intermixing of the text. The distinction is only important if you choose to turn some of the streams off or to direct some of the streams to text files. On some systems you may be able to review the streams separately in their own scroll-back buffer. See "Console Text Output" for details on re-directing the streams to a text file.

Here is a description of how POV-Ray uses each stream. You may use them for whatever purpose you want except note that use of the #error stream causes a fatal error after the text is displayed.

DEBUG: This stream displays debugging messages. It was primarily designed for developers but this and other streams may also be used by the user to display messages from within their scene files.

FATAL: This stream displays fatal error messages. After displaying this text, POV-Ray will terminate. When the error is a scene parsing error, you may be shown several lines of scene text that leads up to the error.

RENDER: This stream displays information about what options you have specified to render the scene. It includes feedback on all of the major options such as scene name, resolution, animation settings, anti-aliasing and others.

STATISTICS: This stream displays statistics after a frame is rendered. It includes information about the number of rays traced, the length of time of the processing and other information.

WARNING: This stream displays warning messages during the parsing of scene files and other warnings. Despite the warning, POV-Ray can continue to render the scene.

The BANNER and STATUS streams can not be accessed by the user.

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