WIP (broken): Refactor components

entt-question.md

@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+I have some "composite" objects that I'm not sure how best to map into an ECS. Each composite object has multiple "parts" with various properties. But the parts of a given composite object are intrinsically linked: they transform together and use the same buffers during rendering.
+
+Note that I'm still pretty early in adopting `entt` for this project, so I'm not particularly tied to any of the architecture here. The only constraint is that, for optimization reasons, I need each composite object to get _one_ buffer on GPU, and each part owns some interval within its parent's buffer. This nested scheme seems the most straightforward way to do that.
+
+---
+
+My first attempt has only one entity for each composite object, with a `Parts` component that holds an `std::vector<Part>`. 
+
+Rendering code looks something like this. In reality I save the draw commands in a separate component and re-use those on each frame.
+
+```c++
+auto view = registry.view<Parts>();
+
+for (auto [entity, parts]: view.each()) {
+  std::vector<Command> commands;
+
+  for (auto part: parts.parts) {
+    // assemble draw command
+    commands.emplace_back(...);
+  }
+
+  // bind buffers for entity
+  // issue draw command
+}
+```
+
+However it seems appropriate to give each part its own entity. My attempt for this was to switch to `std::vector<entt::entity>` where each entity has a `Part` as a component.
+
+Rendering code then looks like:
+
+```c++
+auto view = registry.view<Parts>();
+
+for (auto [entity, parts]: view.each()) {
+  std::vector<Command> commands;
+
+  for (auto part_entity: parts.parts) {
+    auto &part = registry.get<Part>(part_entity);
+    // assemble draw command
+    commands.emplace_back(...);
+  }
+
+  // bind buffers for entity
+  // issue draw command with shared buffer
+}
+```
+
+---
+
+In my last attempt, I invert this so each `Part` holds only parent entity. The `Parts` component is removed. I can then use a `view<Part>` directly, but it's trickier to organize the draw calls since they must be grouped by the parent entity itself.
+
+```c++
+auto view = registry.view<Part>();
+
+for (auto [entity, part]: view.each()) {
+  // assemble draw command
+  auto &commands = registry.get<Commands>(part.parent);
+  commands.emplace_back(...);
+}
+
+for (auto [entity, commands]: view
+for (auto [entity, commands]: commands) {
+   // bind buffers for entity
+   auto &commands = registry.get<Commands>(entity);
+   // issue draw commands
+}
+```
+
+---
+
+Is there any more sensible approach to this kind of many-to-one entity composition? Or some way to declare _multiple_ `Part` components on the same entity? It seems like I almost need some group-by kind of operation, but I don't see such on the registry/view docs.

vis/src/components.hpp

@@ -18,54 +18,44 @@
 #include <shaders.hpp>
 
 namespace vis {
+    using Color = Eigen::Vector<float, 3>;
+
     template<int R_, int D_, int G_>
     struct Structure {
         static constexpr auto Rank = R_;
         static constexpr auto Dim = D_;
         static constexpr auto Grade = G_;
 
-        using Affine = Eigen::Transform<float, Dim, Eigen::Affine>;
+        using AffineDf = Eigen::Transform<float, Dim, Eigen::Affine>;
 
         using VectorRf = Eigen::Vector<float, Rank>;
-        using MatrixRXf = Eigen::Matrix<float, Rank, Eigen::Dynamic>;
-        using VectorDf = Eigen::Vector<float, Dim>;
-        using MatrixDXf = Eigen::Matrix<float, Dim, Eigen::Dynamic>;
-        using VectorGf = Eigen::Vector<float, Grade>;
-        using MatrixGXf = Eigen::Matrix<float, Grade, Eigen::Dynamic>;
-
-        using ArrayRui = Eigen::Array<GLuint, Rank, 1>;
-        using ArrayRXui = Eigen::Array<GLuint, Rank, Eigen::Dynamic>;
-        using ArrayDui = Eigen::Array<GLuint, Dim, 1>;
-        using ArrayDXui = Eigen::Array<GLuint, Dim, Eigen::Dynamic>;
-        using ArrayGui = Eigen::Array<GLuint, Grade, 1>;
-        using ArrayGXui = Eigen::Array<GLuint, Grade, Eigen::Dynamic>;
-
-        using Color = Eigen::Vector<float, 3>;  // todo global typedef
 
         // todo cache and recompute cells/points on frame (only if changed) in a system.
 
         tc::Group group;
         VectorRf root;
 
-        Affine transform = Affine::Identity();
+        AffineDf transform = AffineDf::Identity();
 
+        explicit Structure(tc::Group const &group, VectorRf root) :
+            group(group), root(root), transform(AffineDf::Identity()) {
+        }
+    };
+
+    template<typename Str_>
     struct Part {
+        using Str = Str_;
+
+        entt::entity parent;
+
         GLuint first;
         GLuint count;
         Color color = Color::Ones();
         bool enabled = true;
     };
 
-        std::vector<entt::entity> parts{};
+    struct Command {
-
+        unsigned int count, instanceCount, first, baseInstance;
-        explicit Structure(
-            tc::Group group,
-            VectorRf root
-        ) :
-            group(group),
-            root(root),
-            transform(Affine::Identity()) {
-        }
     };
 
     template<typename Str_>
@@ -81,10 +71,6 @@ namespace vis {
             Eigen::Vector4f translation;
         };
 
-        struct Command {
-            unsigned int count, instanceCount, first, baseInstance;
-        };
-
         cgl::Buffer<VectorDf> vertices;
         cgl::Buffer<Color> colors;
         cgl::Buffer<ArrayGui> indices;

vis/src/systems.hpp

@@ -21,39 +21,42 @@
 namespace vis {
     template<typename Str>
     void upload_structure(entt::registry &registry) {
+        {
+            auto parts = registry.view<Part<Str>>();
+            registry.destroy(parts.begin(), parts.end());
+        }
+
         auto view = registry.view<Str, VBOs<Str>>();
 
         for (auto [entity, structure, vbos]: view.each()) {
             Points points(structure.group, structure.root);
             Hull<Str::Grade> hull(structure.group);
 
-            registry.destroy(structure.parts.begin(), structure.parts.end());
+            auto &&vertices = points.verts.colwise();
-            structure.parts.clear();
+            auto &&indices = hull.inds.colwise();
+
+            vbos.vertices.put(vertices.begin(), vertices.end());
+            vbos.indices.put(indices.begin(), indices.end());
 
             for (const auto &tiling: hull.tilings) {
                 auto part_entity = registry.create();
-                registry.emplace<typename Str::Part>(
+                registry.emplace<Part<Str>>(
                     part_entity,
+                    entity,
                     tiling.first,
                     tiling.count
                 );
-                structure.parts.push_back(part_entity);
             }
-
-            vbos.vertices.put(
-                points.verts.colwise().begin(),
-                points.verts.colwise().end()
-            );
-            vbos.indices.put(
-                hull.inds.colwise().begin(),
-                hull.inds.colwise().end()
-            );
         }
     }
 
     template<typename Str>
     void upload_uniforms(entt::registry &registry) {
-        auto view = registry.view<Str, VBOs<Str>>();
+        auto view = registry.view<Part<Str>>();
+
+        for (auto [entity, part]: view.each()) {
+            auto &vbos = registry.get<VBOs<Str>>(part.parent);
+        }
 
         for (auto [entity, structure, vbos]: view.each()) {
             std::vector<typename Str::Color> colors;
@@ -73,6 +76,11 @@ namespace vis {
 
     template<typename Str>
     void upload_commands(entt::registry &registry) {
+        auto view = registry.view<Part<Str>>();
+        for (auto [entity, part]: view.each()) {
+            Command comm(part.count, 1, part.first, )
+        }
+
         auto view = registry.view<Str, VBOs<Str>>();
 
         for (auto [entity, structure, vbos]: view.each()) {