Trigger ray cast tests consecutively - qt3d

Question

Following this answer, I'm doing consecutive ray casts:
m_rayCaster = new Qt3DRender::QRayCaster(m_scene->rootEntity());
m_rayCaster->setRunMode(Qt3DRender::QAbstractRayCaster::SingleShot);
m_scene->rootEntity()->addComponent(m_rayCaster);
I have these slots to handle whether and when next consecutive ray cast test should be done:
QObject::connect(m_rayCaster, &Qt3DRender::QRayCaster::hitsChanged, this, &RayCastHandler::handleRayCasterHits);
QObject::connect(m_rayCaster, &Qt3DCore::QNode::enabledChanged, this, &RayCastHandler::handleRayCasterEnabledChange);
QObject::connect(this, &RayCastHandler::isPreviousTestDoneChanged, this, &RayCastHandler::handleIsPreviousTestDoneChange);
QObject::connect(this, &RayCastHandler::isNextTestRequiredChanged, this, &RayCastHandler::handleIsNextTestRequiredChange);
The slots set the conditions and check them:
void RayCastHandler::handleRayCasterHits(const Qt3DRender::QAbstractRayCaster::Hits hits)
{
analyzeHits(hits);
bool required = isNextTestRequired(/* according to m_testCounter, m_testsTotal, ... */);
emit isNextTestRequiredChanged(required);
emit isPreviousTestDoneChanged(true);
return;
}
void RayCastHandler::handleRayCasterEnabledChange(const bool enabled)
{
m_isRayCasterEnabled = enabled;
triggerNextTestIfAllConditionsAreTrue();
return;
}
void RayCastHandler::handleIsPreviousTestDoneChange(const bool done)
{
m_isPreviousTestDone = done;
triggerNextTestIfAllConditionsAreTrue();
return;
}
void RayCastHandler::handleIsNextTestRequiredChange(const bool required)
{
m_isNextTestRequired = required;
if (!m_isNextTestRequired)
emit rayCastResultsChanged(m_collisions);
triggerNextTestIfAllConditionsAreTrue();
return;
}
The code which checks if next ray cast test is required:
bool RayCastHandler::isNextTestRequired(int &testCounter, const int &testsTotal)
{
testCounter++;
if (testCounter >= testsTotal) {
return false;
}
return true;
}
And finally, the function which checks all the conditions to trigger next ray cast test is:
bool RayCastHandler::triggerNextTestIfAllConditionsAreTrue()
{
if (m_isPreviousTestDone && m_isNextTestRequired && m_isRayCasterEnabled) {
triggerTest(/* Will trigger next ray cast test */);
m_isPreviousTestDone = false;
m_isNextTestRequired = false;
m_isRayCasterEnabled = false;
}
}
The code works fine, but after casting a few consecutive rays, it stops.
By logging to console, I observe that the m_rayCaster looks to be enabled/disabled randomly. I mean sometimes after finishing a ray cast test, it disables itself, and sometimes it enables itself! I wonder if anybody can introduce a reference on Qt3DRender::QRayCaster enabling/disabling logic. I looked at its source code a bit, I wonder which section of source code might help me to figure out.

Answer 1

Just wanted to share my observations:
I simplified the code by keeping only two signal-slot connections:
QObject::connect(m_rayCaster, &Qt3DRender::QRayCaster::hitsChanged, this, &RayCastHandler::handleRayCasterHits);
QObject::connect(m_rayCaster, &Qt3DCore::QNode::enabledChanged, this, &RayCastHandler::handleRayCasterEnabledChange);
One slot analyzes the hits of ray-caster:
void RayCastHandler::handleRayCasterHits(const Qt3DRender::QAbstractRayCaster::Hits hits)
{
analyzeHits( ... , hits);
return;
}
The other slot runs the next consecutive ray-cast test, if ray-caster has disabled itself:
void RayCastHandler::handleRayCasterEnabledChange(const bool enabled)
{
// When the component disables itself, it is ready for the next ray-cast test
if (!enabled) {
bool required = isNextTestRequired( ... );
if (required)
triggerTest( ... );
else
// Send final ray-cast results by a signal, if next test is NOT needed
emit rayCastResultsChanged( ... );
}
return;
}
The above code works as long as I trigger ray-cast tests with a time-delay. Sometimes I have to increase the above delay time to make it work. But at least it works. Although it is painful since it is NOT reliable:
void RayCastHandler::triggerTest( ... )
{
...
// 1 millisecond delay time
QTimer::singleShot(1, [rayCaster, origin, direction, length](){rayCaster->trigger(origin, direction, length);});
...
}
However, if I use no delay time, at some point, the ray caster stops unexpectedly, without sending any signal containing hit results, and ray caster stays enabled forever. Looks like ray-caster gets stuck:
void RayCastHandler::triggerTest( ... )
{
...
// No delay
rayCaster->trigger(origin, direction, length);
...
}