Tabulated Faceted Toroid
A tabulated object is based upon coordinates defined in a file. The file must reside in the <objects>\Tabulated Objects folder (see " Folders " ) and end in the extension TOB. The coordinates represent the starting and ending points of facets. A figure of rotation is generated by replicating a specified number of facets over some angular range. The axis of rotation is an axis parallel to the local Y axis offset by a specified radius. If the radius is set to zero, then a surface with cylindrical symmetry is generated instead of a torus.
The TOB file format is two columns of data separated by either one or more spaces or one or more tab characters. A sample TOB file might look like this:
1.5 3.5 2.2 4.5 3.0 5.5 3.0 6.0
The first number of each pair is the local Y coordinate. This value may be negative, zero, or positive. The second value is the local Z coordinate. Each pair of values after the first pair represent a "zone". If there are 6 pairs of numbers, then there are 5 zones to the object. There is a maximum of 246 zones per object. Multiple objects may be used if more zones are required.
OpticStudio will generate facets which approximate a smooth surface for each zone. The facets can cover any fraction of a full circle, defined by a start and stop angle. To make a full figure of revolution, the start angle should be set to -180.0 degrees, and the stop angle to 180.0 degrees. Both angles must have an absolute value less than or equal to 180.0 degrees.
The number of facets generated over this angular range can be specified independently for each zone; so there may be 40 facets in the first zone, 80 in the second, 50 in the third, etc.
The parameters used to define the object are:
| Parameter # | Description | Face Name | Face # |
| 1 | A scale factor. All vertices in the TOB file are multiplied by this parameter. | All Faces | 0 |
| 2 | Radius of rotation. If positive, then the axis of rotation is in the positive local Z direction, parallel to the local Y axis, in the YZ plane. If negative, then the axis of rotation is in the negative local Z direction, parallel to the local Y axis, in the YZ plane. If zero, then a cylinder results. In the special case of zero radius, the number of facets parameters are ignored (since a single facet perfectly models a flat plane) and the start and stop angle are interpreted as start and stop x coordinate in lens units. | All Faces | 0 |
| 3 | Start angle. The angle in degrees to begin the rotation of the TOB defined coordinates, unless the radius of rotation is zero; in this case the start angle defines the starting x coordinate in lens units. | All Faces | 0 |
| 4 | Stop angle. The angle in degrees to end the rotation of the TOB defined coordinates, unless the radius of rotation is zero; in this case the stop angle defines the stopping x coordinate in lens units. | All Faces | 0 |
| 5 | Zone 1 facets. The number of facets between the start and stop angles for the first zone. | All Faces | 0 |
| 4+n | Zone n facets. The number of facets between the start and stop angles for the nth zone. Face Numbers: All faces Face 0. | All Faces | 0 |
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