File Structure Summary

This file is a summary of the way a VRML scene should be arranged. It lists the valid grouping nodes, root-level nodes, and children nodes, amongst other useful bits and pieces.

VRML97 File Header

The header (i.e. the first line) for a VRML97 file is as follows:

#VRML V2.0 utf8

Any succeeding line with a # at the start is seen as a comment and ignored.

VRML97 MIME Types

The MIME types for VRML are:

x-world/x-vrml
model/vrml

The first is old, and new applications should assume the second one.

Grouping Nodes

The following nodes are grouping nodes, which means that they can contain other nodes in their children field.

• Anchor
• Billboard
• Collision
• Group
• LOD
• Switch
• Transform

Child Nodes

The following nodes are legal child nodes, which means that they do not need to be contained within anything else, but can be contained within grouping nodes. Therefore, they can go either at the root of the scene graph or further down, contained within one of the grouping nodes described earlier.

• Anchor
• Background
• Billboard
• Collision
• ColorInterpolator
• CoordinateInterpolator
• CylinderSensor
• DirectionalLight
• Fog
• Group
• Inline
• LOD
• NavigationInfo
• NormalInterpolator
• OrientationInterpolator
• PlaneSensor
• PointLight
• PositionInterpolator
• ProximitySensor
• ScalarInterpolator
• Script
• Shape
• Sound
• SpotLight
• SphereSensor
• Switch
• TimeSensor
• TouchSensor
• Transform
• Viewpoint
• VisibilitySensor
• WorldInfo
• Child nodes redefined with PROTO

Bindable Nodes

The following nodes are bindable.

• Background
• Fog
• NavigationInfo
• Viewpoint

Geometry Nodes

The following nodes are geometry nodes, and can only be contained inside a Shapes geometry field.

• Box
• Cone
• Cylinder
• ElevationGrid
• Extrusion
• IndexedFaceSet
• IndexedLineSet
• PointSet
• Sphere
• Text

Special Nodes

The following are special nodes, and can only be contained within certain fields in certain nodes.

Node	Parent	Field
Appearance	Shape	appearance
AudioClip	Sound	source
Color	ElevationGrid IndexedFaceSet IndexedLineSet	color color color
Coordinate	IndexedFaceSet IndexedLineSet PointSet	coord coord coord
FontStyle	Text	fontStyle
ImageTexture	Appearance	texture
Material	Appearance	material
MovieTexture	Appearance Sound	texture source
Normal	ElevationGrid IndexedFaceSet	normal normal
PixelTexture	Appearance	texture
TextureCoordinate	ElevationGrid IndexedFaceSet	texCoord texCoord
TextureTransform	Appearance	textureTransform