---
title: "User Interaction in WebGL (updated)"
author: "Duncan Murdoch"
date: "`r format(Sys.time(), '%B %d, %Y')`"
output:
markdown::html_format:
options:
toc: true
rmarkdown::html_vignette:
toc: true
fig_width: 5
fig_height: 5
vignette: >
%\VignetteIndexEntry{User Interaction in WebGL (updated)}
%\VignetteEngine{knitr::knitr}
%\VignetteDepends{crosstalk}
---
```{r setup, echo=FALSE, results="asis"}
source("setup.R")
setupKnitr(autoprint = FALSE)
set.seed(123)
```
## Introduction
This document describes how to embed `rgl` scenes in HTML documents
and use embedded Javascript to
control a WebGL display in an HTML document. For more
general information about `rgl`, see [rgl Overview](rgl.html).
We assume that the HTML document is produced from R markdown
source using `knitr` or `rmarkdown`. This format mixes
text with Markdown markup with chunks of R code. There
is a limited amount of discussion of other methods.
There are two ways to embed an `rgl` scene in the document.
The newest one is recommended: call `r linkfn("setupKnitr")`
with argument `autoprint = TRUE`
early in the document. This will set things up to be
quite similar to the way standard 2D graphics are included
by `knitr`, i.e. it will detect the fact that you've
drawn something, and just include it automatically.
If `autoprint = FALSE` is used or no call is made to
`setupKnitr()`, an explicit call to `r linkfn("rglwidget")` will
produce a "widget" which can
be embedded into your document by printing it. This document
uses that method.
Older methods (e.g. `writeWebGL` or various hooks) that were
used before `rgl` version
0.102.0 are no longer supported.
## Browser support
Most browsers now support WebGL, but in some browsers it may be disabled by
default. See https://get.webgl.org for help on a number of
different browsers.
## Examples
We start with a simple plot of the iris data. We
insert a code chunk and call the `r linkfn("rglwidget")`
function with optional argument `elementId`. This allows later
Javascript code to refer to the image. We also
save the object ids from the plot, so that they
can be manipulated later. (The first example in [Controls](#controls) uses tags instead of saving the ids.)
```{r elementId}
library(rgl)
plotids <- with(iris, plot3d(Sepal.Length, Sepal.Width, Petal.Length,
type="s", col=as.numeric(Species)))
rglwidget(elementId = "plot3drgl")
```
Next we insert a button to toggle the display of the data.
```{r}
toggleWidget(sceneId = "plot3drgl", ids = plotids["data"], label = "Data")
```
The `sceneId` is the same as the `elementId` we used
in `rglwidget()`, the `ids` are the object ids of the
objects that we'd like to toggle, and the `label` is the
label shown on the button. To find the names in the
`plotids` variable, apply `names()` or `unclass()`:
```{r}
names(plotids)
unclass(plotids)
```
## Using `magrittr` or base pipes
It can be error-prone to set the `elementId` in the
`rglwidget()` to match the `sceneId` in the `toggleWidget()` (or `playwidget()`, described below).
In the usual case where both are intended to appear
together, [`magrittr`](https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=magrittr)-style pipes can be used quite flexibly:
the first argument of the control widget accepts
the result of `rglwidget()` (or other control widgets),
and the `controllers` argument of `rglwidget()` accepts
control widgets. In R 4.1.0, the new base pipe
operator `|>` should be usable in the same way.
For example,
```{r Pipes}
rglwidget() %>%
toggleWidget(ids = plotids["data"], label = "Data")
```
If you have R 4.1.0 or greater, this should do the same:
```{r eval=FALSE}
rglwidget() |>
toggleWidget(ids = plotids["data"], label = "Data")
```
You can swap the order of button and scene; use the `magrittr` dot (or the `=>` syntax in base pipes)
to pass the `toggleWidget` to `rglwidget` in the `controllers` argument:
```{r "Control before widget"}
toggleWidget(NA, ids = plotids["data"], label = "Data") %>%
rglwidget(controllers = .)
```
or using R 4.1.0 or later,
```{r eval=FALSE}
toggleWidget(NA, ids = plotids["data"], label = "Data") |>
w => rglwidget(controllers = w)
```
## Controls
We have seen how to change the contents of the plot using `r indexfns("toggleWidget")`. We can do
more elaborate displays.
For example, we can redo the previous plot, but with the
three species as separate "spheres" objects and buttons to
toggle them:
```{r "Toggle subsets"}
clear3d() # Remove the earlier display
with(subset(iris, Species == "setosa"),
spheres3d(Sepal.Length, Sepal.Width, Petal.Length,
col=as.numeric(Species),
radius = 0.211,
tag = "setosa"))
with(subset(iris, Species == "versicolor"),
spheres3d(Sepal.Length, Sepal.Width, Petal.Length,
col=as.numeric(Species),
radius = 0.211,
tag = "versicolor"))
with(subset(iris, Species == "virginica"),
spheres3d(Sepal.Length, Sepal.Width, Petal.Length,
col=as.numeric(Species),
radius = 0.211,
tag = "virginica"))
aspect3d(1,1,1)
decorate3d(tag = "axes")
rglwidget() %>%
toggleWidget(tags = "setosa") %>%
toggleWidget(tags = "versicolor") %>%
toggleWidget(tags = "virginica") %>%
toggleWidget(tags = "axes") %>%
asRow(last = 4)
```
Since we skipped the `label` argument, the buttons are
labelled with the values of the tags. The `asRow` function is discussed `r linkfn("asRow", "below")`.
`toggleWidget()` is actually a convenient wrapper for
two functions: `r indexfns("playwidget")` and `r indexfns("subsetControl")`. `playwidget()` adds
the button to the web page (and can also add sliders,
do animations, etc.), while `subsetControl()` chooses
a subset of objects to display.
### `subsetControl`
For a more general example, we could use a slider to
select several subsets of the data in the iris display.
For example,
```{r Slider}
rglwidget() %>%
playwidget(start = 0, stop = 3, interval = 1,
subsetControl(1, subsets = list(
Setosa = tagged3d("setosa"),
Versicolor = tagged3d("versicolor"),
Virginica = tagged3d("virginica"),
All = tagged3d(c("setosa", "versicolor", "virginica"))
)))
```
There are several other "control" functions.
### `par3dinterpControl`
`r indexfns("par3dinterpControl")` approximates the result of `r linkfn("par3dinterp")`.
For example, the following code (similar to the `r linkfn("play3d")`
example) rotates the scene in a complex way.
```{r "par3dinterpControl()"}
M <- r3dDefaults$userMatrix
fn <- par3dinterp(time = (0:2)*0.75, userMatrix = list(M,
rotate3d(M, pi/2, 1, 0, 0),
rotate3d(M, pi/2, 0, 1, 0)) )
rglwidget() %>%
playwidget(par3dinterpControl(fn, 0, 3, steps=15),
step = 0.01, loop = TRUE, rate = 0.5)
```
Some things to note: The generated Javascript slider has 300 increments,
so that motion appears smooth. However, storing 300 `userMatrix` values
would take up a lot of space, so we use interpolation
in the Javascript code. However, the Javascript code can only do
linear interpolation, not the more complex spline-based SO(3)
interpolation done by `r linkfn("par3dinterp")`. Because of this,
we need to output 15 steps from `r linkfn("par3dinterpControl")`
so that the distortions of linear interpolation are not visible.
### `propertyControl`
`r indexfns("propertyControl")` is a more general function to set
the value of properties of the scene. Currently most
properties are supported, but use does require knowledge
of the internal implementation.
### `clipplaneControl`
`r indexfns("clipplaneControl")` allows the user to control
the location of a clipping plane by moving a slider.
### `vertexControl`
Less general than `r linkfn("propertyControl")` is
`r indexfns("vertexControl")`. This function sets attributes
of individual vertices in a scene. For example, to set the
x-coordinate of the closest point in the setosa group, and modify
its colour from black to white,
```{r "vertexControl()"}
setosavals <- subset(iris, Species == "setosa")
which <- which.min(setosavals$Sepal.Width)
init <- setosavals$Sepal.Length[which]
rglwidget() %>%
playwidget(
vertexControl(values = matrix(c(init, 0, 0, 0,
8, 1, 1, 1),
nrow = 2, byrow = TRUE),
attributes = c("x", "red", "green", "blue"),
vertices = which, tag = "setosa"),
step = 0.01)
```
### `ageControl`
A related function is `r indexfns("ageControl")`, though it uses
a very different specification of the attributes.
It is used when the slider controls the "age" of the scene,
and attributes of vertices change with their age.
To illustrate we will
show a point moving along a curve. We
give two `ageControl` calls in a list; the first
one controls the colour of the trail, the second controls
the position of the point:
```{r "ageControl()"}
time <- 0:500
xyz <- cbind(cos(time/20), sin(time/10), time)
lineid <- plot3d(xyz, type="l", col = "black")["data"]
sphereid <- spheres3d(xyz[1, , drop=FALSE], radius = 8, col = "red")
rglwidget() %>%
playwidget(list(
ageControl(births = time, ages = c(0, 0, 50),
colors = c("gray", "red", "gray"), objids = lineid),
ageControl(births = 0, ages = time,
vertices = xyz, objids = sphereid)),
start = 0, stop = max(time) + 20, rate = 50,
components = c("Reverse", "Play", "Slower", "Faster",
"Reset", "Slider", "Label"),
loop = TRUE)
```
### `rglMouse`
While not exactly a control in the sense of the other
functions in this section, the `r indexfns("rglMouse")`
function is used to add an HTML control to a display
to allow the user to select the mouse mode.
For example, the display below initially allows selection
of particular points, but the mouse mode may be changed
to let the user rotate the display for a another
view of the scene.
```{r crosstalk,eval = requireNamespace("crosstalk", quietly=TRUE)}
# This example requires the crosstalk package
# We skip it if crosstalk is not available.
ids <- with(iris, plot3d(Sepal.Length, Sepal.Width, Petal.Length,
type="s", col=as.numeric(Species)))
par3d(mouseMode = "selecting")
rglwidget(shared = rglShared(ids["data"])) %>%
rglMouse()
```
The `rglShared()` call used here is described `r linkfn("rglShared", "below")`.
## Layout of the display
Many `rgl` displays will contain several elements: one or more
`rgl` scenes and controls. Internally `rgl` uses
the `combineWidgets` function from the
[`manipulateWidget`](https://github.com/rte-antares-rpackage/manipulateWidget)
package.
The `rgl` package provides 3 convenience functions for arranging
displays. We have already met the first: the `magrittr` pipe, `%>%`.
When the display is constructed as a
single object using pipes, the objects in the pipeline
will be arranged in a single column.
The second convenience function is `r indexfns("asRow")`. This takes
as input a list of objects or a `combineWidgets` object (perhaps
the result of a pipe), and rearranges (some of) them into a
horizontal row. As in the `r linkfn("toggleWidget", "toggleWidget example")`,
the `last` argument can be used to limit the actions of `asRow` to the
specified number of components. (If `last = 0`, all objects are stacked: this can be useful if some of them are not from the `rgl`
package, so piping doesn't work for them.)
Finally, `r indexfns("getWidgetId")` can be used to extract the
HTML element ID from an HTML widget. This is useful when combining
widgets that are not all elements of the same pipe, as in the
`crosstalk` example below.
If these convenience functions are not sufficient, you can call
`r linkfn("combineWidgets", text = "manipulateWidget::combineWidgets", pkg = "manipulateWidget")` or
other functions from `manipulateWidget` for more flexibility in
the display arrangements.
## Integration with `crosstalk`
The [`crosstalk`](https://rstudio.github.io/crosstalk/) package allows
widgets to communicate with each other. Currently it supports selection
and filtering of observations.
`rgl` can send, receive and display these messages. An `rgl` display
may have several subscenes, each displaying different datasets. Each object in the
scene is potentially a shared dataset in the `crosstalk` sense.
The linking depends on the `r indexfns("rglShared")` function. Calling `rglShared(id)`,
where `id` is the `rgl` id value for an object in the current scene,
creates a shared data object containing the coordinates of the vertices of
the `rgl` object. This object is passed to `r linkfn("rglwidget")` in the `shared`
argument. It can also be passed to other widgets that accept shared data,
linking the two displays.
If a shared data object has been created in some other way, it can be linked to
a particular `rgl` `id` value by copying its `key` and `group` properties
as shown in the example below.
```{r "rglShared()",eval=requireNamespace("crosstalk", quietly = TRUE)}
# This example requires the crosstalk package.
# We skip it if crosstalk is not available.
library(crosstalk)
sd <- SharedData$new(mtcars)
ids <- plot3d(sd$origData(), col = mtcars$cyl, type = "s")
# Copy the key and group from existing shared data
rglsd <- rglShared(ids["data"], key = sd$key(), group = sd$groupName())
rglwidget(shared = rglsd) %>%
asRow("Mouse mode: ", rglMouse(getWidgetId(.)),
"Subset: ", filter_checkbox("cylinderselector",
"Cylinders", sd, ~ cyl, inline = TRUE),
last = 4, colsize = c(1,2,1,2), height = 60)
```
If multiple objects in the `rgl` scene need to be considered
as shared data, you can pass the results of several `rglShared()`
calls in a list, i.e. `rglwidget(shared = <list>)`. The key
values will be assumed to be shared across datasets; if this is
not wanted, use a prefix or some other means to make sure they
differ between objects.
If the same `rgl` id is used in more than one `rglShared()` object,
it will respond to messages from all of them. This may lead to
undesirable behaviour as one message cancels the previous one.
## Low level controls
We repeat the initial plot from this document:
```{r plot3d2}
plotids <- with(iris, plot3d(Sepal.Length, Sepal.Width, Petal.Length,
type="s", col=as.numeric(Species)))
subid <- currentSubscene3d()
rglwidget(elementId="plot3drgl2")
```
We might like a button on the web page to cause a change to the
display, e.g. a rotation of the plot. First we add buttons, with
the "onclick" event set to a function described below:
<button type="button" onclick="rotate(10)">Forward</button>
<button type="button" onclick="rotate(-10)">Backward</button>
which produces these buttons:
<button type="button" onclick="rotate(10)">Forward</button>
<button type="button" onclick="rotate(-10)">Backward</button>
We stored the subscene number that is currently active in
`subid` in the code chunk above, and use it as `r rinline("subid")`
in the script below. `knitr` substitutes the value
when it processes the document.
The `rotate()` function uses the Javascript function `document.getElementById` to retrieve the `<div>` component
of the web page containing the scene. It will have a
component named `rglinstance` which contains information about the scene that we can modify:
<script type="text/javascript">
var rotate = function(angle) {
var rgl = document.getElementById("plot3drgl2").rglinstance;
rgl.getObj(`r rinline("subid",
script=TRUE)`).par3d.userMatrix.rotate(angle, 0,1,0);
rgl.drawScene();
};
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
var rotate = function(angle) {
var rgl = document.getElementById("plot3drgl2").rglinstance;
rgl.getObj(`r subid`).par3d.userMatrix.rotate(angle, 0,1,0);
rgl.drawScene();
};
</script>
If we had used `webGL=TRUE` in the chunk header,
the `knitr` WebGL support would create a global object with a name of the form `<chunkname>rgl`. For example, if the code chunk
was named `plot3d2`, the object
would be called `plot3d2rgl`, and this code would work:
<script type="text/javascript">
var rotate = function(angle) {
plot3d2rgl.getObj(`r rinline("subid",
script=TRUE)`).par3d.userMatrix.rotate(angle, 0,1,0);
plot3d2rgl.drawScene();
};
</script>
## Index
The following functions are described in this document:<br>
```{r echo=FALSE, results="asis"}
writeIndex(cols = 5)
```