Shape Node

The shape node is one of the most commonly used nodes in VRML. A shape node is used to define any kind of object in VRML. The following code creates a generic Box with generic appearance:


Shape {
	appearance Appearance {}
	geometry Box {}
}

Another commonly used feature is the DEF and the USE statement. DEF allows the programmer to reuse commonly used pieces of code. For instance, in the world a designer is creating, all objects will appear with the same diffuse color and shininess. The designer writes the following code segment: 

material DEF object_color Material {
	DiffuseColor .7 .7 .7
	Shininess .5
}

The designer can than resuse this code with the USE statement. The following uses the the above code: 

Shape {
	appearance Appearance {
		Material USE object_color
	}
	geometry Box {}
}