# Axes

VTKExamples/Cxx/GeometricObjects/Axes

### Description

This example shows how to position an AxesActor in 3D. Notice that position and orientation of the AxesActor is done with a user transform.

Seealso

DisplayCoordinateAxes.

### Code

Axes.cxx

    #include <vtkPolyDataMapper.h>
    #include <vtkActor.h>
    #include <vtkRenderWindow.h>
    #include <vtkRenderer.h>
    #include <vtkRenderWindowInteractor.h>
    #include <vtkPolyData.h>
    #include <vtkSphereSource.h>
    #include <vtkAxesActor.h>
    #include <vtkTransform.h>
    #include <vtkSmartPointer.h>

    int main (int, char*[])
    {
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkSphereSource> sphereSource =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkSphereSource>::New();
      sphereSource->SetCenter(0.0, 0.0, 0.0);
      sphereSource->SetRadius(0.5);

      //create a mapper
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkPolyDataMapper> sphereMapper =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkPolyDataMapper>::New();
      sphereMapper->SetInputConnection(sphereSource->GetOutputPort());

      // create an actor
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkActor> sphereActor =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkActor>::New();
      sphereActor->SetMapper(sphereMapper);

      // a renderer and render window
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderer> renderer =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderer>::New();
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindow> renderWindow =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindow>::New();
      renderWindow->AddRenderer(renderer);

      // an interactor
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindowInteractor> renderWindowInteractor =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindowInteractor>::New();
      renderWindowInteractor->SetRenderWindow(renderWindow);

      // add the actors to the scene
      renderer->AddActor(sphereActor);
      renderer->SetBackground(.1,.2,.3); // Background dark blue

      vtkSmartPointer<vtkTransform> transform =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkTransform>::New();
      transform->Translate(1.0, 0.0, 0.0);

      vtkSmartPointer<vtkAxesActor> axes =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkAxesActor>::New();

      // The axes are positioned with a user transform
      axes->SetUserTransform(transform);

      // properties of the axes labels can be set as follows
      // this sets the x axis label to red
      // axes->GetXAxisCaptionActor2D()->GetCaptionTextProperty()->SetColor(1,0,0);

      // the actual text of the axis label can be changed:
      // axes->SetXAxisLabelText("test");

      renderer->AddActor(axes);

      renderer->ResetCamera();
      renderWindow->Render();

      // begin mouse interaction
      renderWindowInteractor->Start();

      return EXIT_SUCCESS;
    }

### CMakeLists.txt

    cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8)

    PROJECT(Axes)

    find_package(VTK REQUIRED)
    include(${VTK_USE_FILE})

    add_executable(Axes MACOSX_BUNDLE Axes.cxx)

    target_link_libraries(Axes ${VTK_LIBRARIES})

### Download and Build Axes

Danger

The generation of tar files has not been ported to the new VTKExamples. Some tarballs may be missing or out-of-date.

Click here to download Axes and its CMakeLists.txt file. Once the tarball Axes.tar has been downloaded and extracted,

    cd Axes/build

If VTK is installed:

    cmake ..

If VTK is not installed but compiled on your system, you will need to specify the path to your VTK build:

    cmake -DVTK_DIR:PATH=/home/me/vtk_build ..

Build the project:

    make

and run it:

    ./Axes

WINDOWS USERS PLEASE NOTE: Be sure to add the VTK bin directory to your path. This will resolve the VTK dll's at run time.