You can not select more than 25 topics
Topics must start with a letter or number, can include dashes ('-') and can be up to 35 characters long.
505 lines
28 KiB
505 lines
28 KiB
3 years ago
|
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
|
||
|
|
<meta charset="utf-8">
|
||
|
|
<title>Debugging JavaScript</title>
|
||
|
|
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, user-scalable=no, minimum-scale=1.0, maximum-scale=1.0">
|
||
|
|
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image">
|
||
|
|
<meta name="twitter:site" content="@threejs">
|
||
|
|
<meta name="twitter:title" content="Three.js – Debugging JavaScript">
|
||
|
|
<meta property="og:image" content="https://threejs.org/files/share.png">
|
||
|
|
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="/files/favicon_white.ico" media="(prefers-color-scheme: dark)">
|
||
|
|
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="/files/favicon.ico" media="(prefers-color-scheme: light)">
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/manual/resources/lesson.css">
|
||
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/manual/resources/lang.css">
|
||
|
|
<!-- Import maps polyfill -->
|
||
|
|
<!-- Remove this when import maps will be widely supported -->
|
||
|
|
<script async src="https://unpkg.com/es-module-shims@1.3.6/dist/es-module-shims.js"></script>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<script type="importmap">
|
||
|
|
{
|
||
|
|
"imports": {
|
||
|
|
"three": "../../build/three.module.js"
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
</script>
|
||
|
|
</head>
|
||
|
|
<body>
|
||
|
|
<div class="container">
|
||
|
|
<div class="lesson-title">
|
||
|
|
<h1>Debugging JavaScript</h1>
|
||
|
|
</div>
|
||
|
|
<div class="lesson">
|
||
|
|
<div class="lesson-main">
|
||
|
|
<p>Most of this article is not directly about THREE.js but is
|
||
|
|
rather about debugging JavaScript in general. It seemed important in
|
||
|
|
that many people just starting with THREE.js are also just
|
||
|
|
starting with JavaScript so I hope this can help them more easily
|
||
|
|
solve any issues they run into.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>Debugging is a big topic and I probably can't begin to cover
|
||
|
|
everything there is to know but if you're new to JavaScript
|
||
|
|
then here's an attempt to give a few pointers. I strongly
|
||
|
|
suggest you take some time to learn them. They'll help you
|
||
|
|
enormously in your learning.</p>
|
||
|
|
<h2 id="learn-your-browser-s-developer-tools">Learn your Browser's Developer Tools</h2>
|
||
|
|
<p>All browsers have developer tools.
|
||
|
|
<a href="https://developers.google.com/web/tools/chrome-devtools/">Chrome</a>,
|
||
|
|
<a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Tools">Firefox</a>,
|
||
|
|
<a href="https://developer.apple.com/safari/tools/">Safari</a>,
|
||
|
|
<a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/devtools-guide">Edge</a>.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>In Chrome you can click the the <code class="notranslate" translate="no">⋮</code> icon, pick More Tools->Developer Tools
|
||
|
|
to get to the developer tools. A keyboard shortcut is also shown there.</p>
|
||
|
|
<div class="threejs_center"><img class="border" src="../resources/images/devtools-chrome.jpg" style="width: 789px;"></div>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p>In Firefox you click the <code class="notranslate" translate="no">☰</code> icon, pick "Web Developer", then pick
|
||
|
|
"Toggle Tools"</p>
|
||
|
|
<div class="threejs_center"><img class="border" src="../resources/images/devtools-firefox.jpg" style="width: 786px;"></div>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p>In Safari you first have to enable the Develop menu from the
|
||
|
|
Advanced Safari Preferences.</p>
|
||
|
|
<div class="threejs_center"><img class="border" src="../resources/images/devtools-enable-safari.jpg" style="width: 775px;"></div>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p>Then in the Develop menu you can pick "Show/Connect Web Inspector".</p>
|
||
|
|
<div class="threejs_center"><img class="border" src="../resources/images/devtools-safari.jpg" style="width: 777px;"></div>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p>With Chrome you can also <a href="https://developers.google.com/web/tools/chrome-devtools/remote-debugging/">use Chrome on your computer to debug webpages running on Chrome on your Android phone or tablet</a>.
|
||
|
|
Similarly with Safari you can
|
||
|
|
<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=safari+remote+debugging+ios">use your computer to debug webpages running on Safari on iPhones and iPads</a>.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>I'm most familiar with Chrome so this guide will be using Chrome
|
||
|
|
as an example when referring to tools but most browsers have similar
|
||
|
|
features so it should be easy to apply anything here to all browsers.</p>
|
||
|
|
<h2 id="turn-off-the-cache">Turn off the cache</h2>
|
||
|
|
<p>Browsers try to reuse data they've already downloaded. This is great
|
||
|
|
for users so if you visit a website a second time many of the files
|
||
|
|
used to display the site will not have be downloaded again.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>On the other hand this can be bad for web development. You change
|
||
|
|
a file on your computer, reload the page, and you don't see the changes
|
||
|
|
because the browser uses the version it got last time.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>One solution during web development is to turn off the cache. This
|
||
|
|
way the browser will always get the newest versions of your files.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>First pick settings from the corner menu</p>
|
||
|
|
<div class="threejs_center"><img class="border" src="../resources/images/devtools-chrome-settings.jpg" style="width: 778px"></div>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p>Then pick "Disable Cache (while DevTools is open)".</p>
|
||
|
|
<div class="threejs_center"><img class="border" src="../resources/images/devtools-chrome-disable-cache.jpg" style="width: 779px"></div>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<h2 id="use-the-javascript-console">Use the JavaScript console</h2>
|
||
|
|
<p>Inside all devtools is a <em>console</em>. It shows warnings and error messages.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p><strong> READ THE MESSAGES!! </strong></p>
|
||
|
|
<p>Typically there should be only 1 or 2 messages.</p>
|
||
|
|
<div class="threejs_center"><img class="border" src="../resources/images/devtools-no-errors.jpg" style="width: 779px"></div>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p>If you see any others <strong>READ THEM</strong>. For example:</p>
|
||
|
|
<div class="threejs_center"><img class="border" src="../resources/images/devtools-errors.jpg" style="width: 779px"></div>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p>I mis-spelled "three" as "threee"</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>You can also print your own info to the console with with <code class="notranslate" translate="no">console.log</code> as in</p>
|
||
|
|
<pre class="prettyprint showlinemods notranslate lang-js" translate="no">console.log(someObject.position.x, someObject.position.y, someObject.position.z);
|
||
|
|
</pre>
|
||
|
|
<p>Even cooler, if you log an object you can inspect it. For example if we log
|
||
|
|
the root scene object from <a href="load-gltf.html">the gLTF article</a></p>
|
||
|
|
<pre class="prettyprint showlinemods notranslate lang-js" translate="no"> {
|
||
|
|
const gltfLoader = new GLTFLoader();
|
||
|
|
gltfLoader.load('resources/models/cartoon_lowpoly_small_city_free_pack/scene.gltf', (gltf) => {
|
||
|
|
const root = gltf.scene;
|
||
|
|
scene.add(root);
|
||
|
|
+ console.log(root);
|
||
|
|
</pre>
|
||
|
|
<p>Then we can expand that object in the JavaScript console</p>
|
||
|
|
<div class="threejs_center"><img class="border" src="../resources/images/devtools-console-object.gif"></div>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p>You can also use <code class="notranslate" translate="no">console.error</code> which reports the message in red
|
||
|
|
in includes a stack trace.</p>
|
||
|
|
<h2 id="put-data-on-screen">Put data on screen</h2>
|
||
|
|
<p>Another obvious but often overlooked way is to add <code class="notranslate" translate="no"><div></code> or <code class="notranslate" translate="no"><pre></code> tags
|
||
|
|
and put data in them.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>The most obvious way is to make some HTML elements</p>
|
||
|
|
<pre class="prettyprint showlinemods notranslate lang-html" translate="no"><canvas id="c"></canvas>
|
||
|
|
+<div id="debug">
|
||
|
|
+ <div>x:<span id="x"></span></div>
|
||
|
|
+ <div>y:<span id="y"></span></div>
|
||
|
|
+ <div>z:<span id="z"></span></div>
|
||
|
|
+</div>
|
||
|
|
</pre>
|
||
|
|
<p>Style them so they stay on top of the canvas. (assuming your canvas
|
||
|
|
fills the page)</p>
|
||
|
|
<pre class="prettyprint showlinemods notranslate lang-html" translate="no"><style>
|
||
|
|
#debug {
|
||
|
|
position: absolute;
|
||
|
|
left: 1em;
|
||
|
|
top: 1em;
|
||
|
|
padding: 1em;
|
||
|
|
background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8);
|
||
|
|
color: white;
|
||
|
|
font-family: monospace;
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
</style>
|
||
|
|
</pre>
|
||
|
|
<p>And then looking the elements up and setting their content.</p>
|
||
|
|
<pre class="prettyprint showlinemods notranslate lang-js" translate="no">// at init time
|
||
|
|
const xElem = document.querySelector('#x');
|
||
|
|
const yElem = document.querySelector('#y');
|
||
|
|
const zElem = document.querySelector('#z');
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
// at render or update time
|
||
|
|
xElem.textContent = someObject.position.x.toFixed(3);
|
||
|
|
yElem.textContent = someObject.position.y.toFixed(3);
|
||
|
|
zElem.textContent = someObject.position.z.toFixed(3);
|
||
|
|
</pre>
|
||
|
|
<p>This is more useful for real time values</p>
|
||
|
|
<p></p><div translate="no" class="threejs_example_container notranslate">
|
||
|
|
<div><iframe class="threejs_example notranslate" translate="no" style=" " src="/manual/examples/resources/editor.html?url=/manual/examples/debug-js-html-elements.html"></iframe></div>
|
||
|
|
<a class="threejs_center" href="/manual/examples/debug-js-html-elements.html" target="_blank">click here to open in a separate window</a>
|
||
|
|
</div>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p></p>
|
||
|
|
<p>Another way to put data on the screen is to make a clearing logger.
|
||
|
|
I just made that term up but lots of games I've worked on have used this solution. The idea
|
||
|
|
is you have a buffer that displays messages for only one frame.
|
||
|
|
Any part of your code that wants to display data calls some function
|
||
|
|
to add data to that buffer every frame. This is much less work
|
||
|
|
than making an element per piece of data above.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>For example let's change the HTML from above to just this</p>
|
||
|
|
<pre class="prettyprint showlinemods notranslate lang-html" translate="no"><canvas id="c"></canvas>
|
||
|
|
<div id="debug">
|
||
|
|
<pre></pre>
|
||
|
|
</div>
|
||
|
|
</pre>
|
||
|
|
<p>And let's make simple class to manage this <em>clear back buffer</em>.</p>
|
||
|
|
<pre class="prettyprint showlinemods notranslate lang-js" translate="no">class ClearingLogger {
|
||
|
|
constructor(elem) {
|
||
|
|
this.elem = elem;
|
||
|
|
this.lines = [];
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
log(...args) {
|
||
|
|
this.lines.push([...args].join(' '));
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
render() {
|
||
|
|
this.elem.textContent = this.lines.join('\n');
|
||
|
|
this.lines = [];
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
</pre>
|
||
|
|
<p>Then let's make a simple example that every time we click the mouse makes a mesh
|
||
|
|
that moves in a random direction for 2 seconds. We'll start with one of the
|
||
|
|
examples from the article on <a href="responsive.html">making things responsive</a></p>
|
||
|
|
<p>Here's the code that adds a new <a href="/docs/#api/en/objects/Mesh"><code class="notranslate" translate="no">Mesh</code></a> every time we click the mouse</p>
|
||
|
|
<pre class="prettyprint showlinemods notranslate lang-js" translate="no">const geometry = new THREE.SphereGeometry();
|
||
|
|
const material = new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial({color: 'red'});
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
const things = [];
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
function rand(min, max) {
|
||
|
|
if (max === undefined) {
|
||
|
|
max = min;
|
||
|
|
min = 0;
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
return Math.random() * (max - min) + min;
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
function createThing() {
|
||
|
|
const mesh = new THREE.Mesh(geometry, material);
|
||
|
|
scene.add(mesh);
|
||
|
|
things.push({
|
||
|
|
mesh,
|
||
|
|
timer: 2,
|
||
|
|
velocity: new THREE.Vector3(rand(-5, 5), rand(-5, 5), rand(-5, 5)),
|
||
|
|
});
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
canvas.addEventListener('click', createThing);
|
||
|
|
</pre>
|
||
|
|
<p>And here's the code that moves the meshes we created, logs them,
|
||
|
|
and removes them when their timer has run out</p>
|
||
|
|
<pre class="prettyprint showlinemods notranslate lang-js" translate="no">const logger = new ClearingLogger(document.querySelector('#debug pre'));
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
let then = 0;
|
||
|
|
function render(now) {
|
||
|
|
now *= 0.001; // convert to seconds
|
||
|
|
const deltaTime = now - then;
|
||
|
|
then = now;
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
...
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
logger.log('fps:', (1 / deltaTime).toFixed(1));
|
||
|
|
logger.log('num things:', things.length);
|
||
|
|
for (let i = 0; i < things.length;) {
|
||
|
|
const thing = things[i];
|
||
|
|
const mesh = thing.mesh;
|
||
|
|
const pos = mesh.position;
|
||
|
|
logger.log(
|
||
|
|
'timer:', thing.timer.toFixed(3),
|
||
|
|
'pos:', pos.x.toFixed(3), pos.y.toFixed(3), pos.z.toFixed(3));
|
||
|
|
thing.timer -= deltaTime;
|
||
|
|
if (thing.timer <= 0) {
|
||
|
|
// remove this thing. Note we don't advance `i`
|
||
|
|
things.splice(i, 1);
|
||
|
|
scene.remove(mesh);
|
||
|
|
} else {
|
||
|
|
mesh.position.addScaledVector(thing.velocity, deltaTime);
|
||
|
|
++i;
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
renderer.render(scene, camera);
|
||
|
|
logger.render();
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
requestAnimationFrame(render);
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
</pre>
|
||
|
|
<p>Now click the mouse a bunch in the example below</p>
|
||
|
|
<p></p><div translate="no" class="threejs_example_container notranslate">
|
||
|
|
<div><iframe class="threejs_example notranslate" translate="no" style=" " src="/manual/examples/resources/editor.html?url=/manual/examples/debug-js-clearing-logger.html"></iframe></div>
|
||
|
|
<a class="threejs_center" href="/manual/examples/debug-js-clearing-logger.html" target="_blank">click here to open in a separate window</a>
|
||
|
|
</div>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p></p>
|
||
|
|
<h2 id="query-parameters">Query Parameters</h2>
|
||
|
|
<p>Another thing to remember is that webpages can have data passed
|
||
|
|
into them either via query parameters or the anchor, sometimes called
|
||
|
|
the search and the hash.</p>
|
||
|
|
<pre class="prettyprint showlinemods notranslate notranslate" translate="no">https://domain/path/?query#anchor
|
||
|
|
</pre><p>You can use this to make features optional or pass in parameters.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>For example let's take the previous example and make it so
|
||
|
|
the debug stuff only shows up if we put <code class="notranslate" translate="no">?debug=true</code> in the URL.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>First we need some code to parse the query string</p>
|
||
|
|
<pre class="prettyprint showlinemods notranslate lang-js" translate="no">/**
|
||
|
|
* Returns the query parameters as a key/value object.
|
||
|
|
* Example: If the query parameters are
|
||
|
|
*
|
||
|
|
* abc=123&def=456&name=gman
|
||
|
|
*
|
||
|
|
* Then `getQuery()` will return an object like
|
||
|
|
*
|
||
|
|
* {
|
||
|
|
* abc: '123',
|
||
|
|
* def: '456',
|
||
|
|
* name: 'gman',
|
||
|
|
* }
|
||
|
|
*/
|
||
|
|
function getQuery() {
|
||
|
|
return Object.fromEntries(new URLSearchParams(window.location.search).entries());
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
</pre>
|
||
|
|
<p>Then we might make the debug element not show by default</p>
|
||
|
|
<pre class="prettyprint showlinemods notranslate lang-html" translate="no"><canvas id="c"></canvas>
|
||
|
|
+<div id="debug" style="display: none;">
|
||
|
|
<pre></pre>
|
||
|
|
</div>
|
||
|
|
</pre>
|
||
|
|
<p>Then in the code we read the params and choose to un-hide the
|
||
|
|
debug info if and only if <code class="notranslate" translate="no">?debug=true</code> is passed in</p>
|
||
|
|
<pre class="prettyprint showlinemods notranslate lang-js" translate="no">const query = getQuery();
|
||
|
|
const debug = query.debug === 'true';
|
||
|
|
const logger = debug
|
||
|
|
? new ClearingLogger(document.querySelector('#debug pre'))
|
||
|
|
: new DummyLogger();
|
||
|
|
if (debug) {
|
||
|
|
document.querySelector('#debug').style.display = '';
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
</pre>
|
||
|
|
<p>We also made a <code class="notranslate" translate="no">DummyLogger</code> that does nothing and chose to use it if <code class="notranslate" translate="no">?debug=true</code> has not been passed in.</p>
|
||
|
|
<pre class="prettyprint showlinemods notranslate lang-js" translate="no">class DummyLogger {
|
||
|
|
log() {}
|
||
|
|
render() {}
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
</pre>
|
||
|
|
<p>You can see if we use this url:</p>
|
||
|
|
<p><a target="_blank" href="../examples/debug-js-params.html">debug-js-params.html</a></p>
|
||
|
|
<p>there is no debug info but if we use this url:</p>
|
||
|
|
<p><a target="_blank" href="../examples/debug-js-params.html?debug=true">debug-js-params.html?debug=true</a></p>
|
||
|
|
<p>there is debug info.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>Multiple parameters can be passed in by separating with '&' as in <code class="notranslate" translate="no">somepage.html?someparam=somevalue&someotherparam=someothervalue</code>.
|
||
|
|
Using parameters like this we can pass in all kinds of options. Maybe <code class="notranslate" translate="no">speed=0.01</code> to slow down our app for making it easier to understand something or <code class="notranslate" translate="no">showHelpers=true</code> for whether or not to add helpers
|
||
|
|
that show the lights, shadow, or camera frustum seen in other lessons.</p>
|
||
|
|
<h2 id="learn-to-use-the-debugger">Learn to use the Debugger</h2>
|
||
|
|
<p>Every browser has a debugger where you can pause your program
|
||
|
|
step through line by line and inspect all the variables.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>Teaching you how to use a debugger is too big a topic for this
|
||
|
|
article but here's a few links</p>
|
||
|
|
<ul>
|
||
|
|
<li><a href="https://developers.google.com/web/tools/chrome-devtools/javascript/">Get Started with Debugging JavaScript in Chrome DevTools</a></li>
|
||
|
|
<li><a href="https://javascript.info/debugging-chrome">Debugging in Chrome</a></li>
|
||
|
|
<li><a href="https://hackernoon.com/tips-and-tricks-for-debugging-in-chrome-developer-tools-458ade27c7ab">Tips and Tricks for Debugging in Chrome Developer Tools</a></li>
|
||
|
|
</ul>
|
||
|
|
<h2 id="check-for-nan-in-the-debugger-or-elsewhere">Check for <code class="notranslate" translate="no">NaN</code> in the debugger or elsewhere</h2>
|
||
|
|
<p><code class="notranslate" translate="no">NaN</code> is short for Not A Number. It's what JavaScript will assign
|
||
|
|
as a value when you do something that doesn't make sense mathwise.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>As a simple example</p>
|
||
|
|
<div class="threejs_center"><img class="border" src="../resources/images/nan-banana.png" style="width: 180px;"></div>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p>Often when I'm making something and nothing appears on the screen
|
||
|
|
I'll check some values and if I see <code class="notranslate" translate="no">NaN</code> I will instantly have a
|
||
|
|
place to start looking.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>As an example when I first started making the path for the
|
||
|
|
<a href="load-gltf.html">article about loading gLTF files</a> I made
|
||
|
|
a curve using the <a href="/docs/#api/en/extras/curves/SplineCurve"><code class="notranslate" translate="no">SplineCurve</code></a> class which makes a 2D curve.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>I then used that curve to move the cars like this</p>
|
||
|
|
<pre class="prettyprint showlinemods notranslate lang-js" translate="no">curve.getPointAt(zeroToOnePointOnCurve, car.position);
|
||
|
|
</pre>
|
||
|
|
<p>Internally <code class="notranslate" translate="no">curve.getPointAt</code> calls the <code class="notranslate" translate="no">set</code> function
|
||
|
|
on the object passed as the second argument. In this case that
|
||
|
|
second argument is <code class="notranslate" translate="no">car.position</code> which is a <a href="/docs/#api/en/math/Vector3"><code class="notranslate" translate="no">Vector3</code></a>. <a href="/docs/#api/en/math/Vector3"><code class="notranslate" translate="no">Vector3</code></a>'s
|
||
|
|
<code class="notranslate" translate="no">set</code> function requires 3 arguments, x, y, and z but <a href="/docs/#api/en/extras/curves/SplineCurve"><code class="notranslate" translate="no">SplineCurve</code></a> is a 2D curve
|
||
|
|
and so it calls <code class="notranslate" translate="no">car.position.set</code> with just x and y.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>The result is that <code class="notranslate" translate="no">car.position.set</code> sets x to x, y to y, and z to <code class="notranslate" translate="no">undefined</code>.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>A quick glance in the debugger looking at the car's <code class="notranslate" translate="no">matrixWorld</code>
|
||
|
|
showed a bunch of <code class="notranslate" translate="no">NaN</code> values.</p>
|
||
|
|
<div class="threejs_center"><img class="border" src="../resources/images/debugging-nan.gif" style="width: 476px;"></div>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p>Seeing the matrix had <code class="notranslate" translate="no">NaN</code>s in it suggested something like <code class="notranslate" translate="no">position</code>,
|
||
|
|
<code class="notranslate" translate="no">rotation</code>, <code class="notranslate" translate="no">scale</code> or some other function that affects that matrix had bad
|
||
|
|
data. Working backward from their it was easy to track down the issue.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>In top of <code class="notranslate" translate="no">NaN</code> there's also <code class="notranslate" translate="no">Infinity</code> which is a similar sign there
|
||
|
|
is a math bug somewhere.</p>
|
||
|
|
<h2 id="look-in-the-code-">Look In the Code!</h2>
|
||
|
|
<p>THREE.js is Open Source. Don't be afraid to look inside the code!
|
||
|
|
You can look inside on <a href="https://github.com/mrdoob/three.js">github</a>.
|
||
|
|
You can also look inside by stepping into functions in the debugger.</p>
|
||
|
|
<h2 id="put-requestanimationframe-at-bottom-of-your-render-function-">Put <code class="notranslate" translate="no">requestAnimationFrame</code> at bottom of your render function.</h2>
|
||
|
|
<p>I see this pattern often</p>
|
||
|
|
<pre class="prettyprint showlinemods notranslate lang-js" translate="no">function render() {
|
||
|
|
requestAnimationFrame(render);
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
// -- do stuff --
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
renderer.render(scene, camera);
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
requestAnimationFrame(render);
|
||
|
|
</pre>
|
||
|
|
<p>I'd suggest that putting the call to <code class="notranslate" translate="no">requestAnimationFrame</code> at
|
||
|
|
the bottom as in</p>
|
||
|
|
<pre class="prettyprint showlinemods notranslate lang-js" translate="no">function render() {
|
||
|
|
// -- do stuff --
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
renderer.render(scene, camera);
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
requestAnimationFrame(render);
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
requestAnimationFrame(render);
|
||
|
|
</pre>
|
||
|
|
<p>The biggest reason is it means your code will stop if you have an error. Putting
|
||
|
|
<code class="notranslate" translate="no">requestAnimationFrame</code> at the top means your code will keep running even if you
|
||
|
|
have an error since you already requested another frame. IMO it's better to find
|
||
|
|
those errors than to ignore them. They could easily be the reason something is
|
||
|
|
not appearing as you expect it to but unless your code stops you might not even
|
||
|
|
notice.</p>
|
||
|
|
<h2 id="check-your-units-">Check your units!</h2>
|
||
|
|
<p>This basically means knowing for example when to use degrees vs
|
||
|
|
when to use radians. It's unfortunate that THREE.js does not
|
||
|
|
consistently use the same units everywhere. Off the top of my head
|
||
|
|
the camera's field of view is in degrees. All other angles are in
|
||
|
|
radians.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>The other place to look out is your world unit size. Until
|
||
|
|
recently 3D apps could choose any unit size they wanted. One app might choose
|
||
|
|
1 unit = 1cm. Another might choose 1 unit = 1 foot. It's actually still
|
||
|
|
true that you can chose any units you want for certain applications.
|
||
|
|
That said, THREE.js assumes 1 unit = 1 meter. This is important for
|
||
|
|
things like physically based rendering which uses meters to compute
|
||
|
|
lighting effects. It's also important for AR and VR which need to
|
||
|
|
deal with real world units like where your phone is or where the VR
|
||
|
|
controllers are.</p>
|
||
|
|
<h2 id="making-a-minimal-complete-verifiable-example-for-stack-overflow">Making a <em>Minimal, Complete, Verifiable, Example</em> for Stack Overflow</h2>
|
||
|
|
<p>If you decide to ask a question about THREE.js it's almost always
|
||
|
|
required for you to provide an MCVE which stands for Minimal, Complete,
|
||
|
|
Verifiable, Example.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>The <strong>Minimal</strong> part is important. Let's say you where having an issue with the
|
||
|
|
path movement in the last example of the <a href="load-gltf.html">loading a gLTF
|
||
|
|
article</a>. That example has many parts. Listing them out
|
||
|
|
it has</p>
|
||
|
|
<ol>
|
||
|
|
<li>A bunch of HTML</li>
|
||
|
|
<li>Some CSS</li>
|
||
|
|
<li>Lights</li>
|
||
|
|
<li>Shadows</li>
|
||
|
|
<li>lil-gui code to manipulate shadows</li>
|
||
|
|
<li>Code to load a .GLTF file</li>
|
||
|
|
<li>Code to resize the canvas.</li>
|
||
|
|
<li>Code to move the cars along paths</li>
|
||
|
|
</ol>
|
||
|
|
<p>That's pretty huge. If your question is only about the path following part you
|
||
|
|
can remove most of the HTML as you only need a <code class="notranslate" translate="no"><canvas></code> and a <code class="notranslate" translate="no"><script></code> tag
|
||
|
|
for THREE.js. You can remove the CSS and the resizing code. You can remove .GLTF
|
||
|
|
code because you only care about the path. You can remove the lights and the
|
||
|
|
shadows by using a <a href="/docs/#api/en/materials/MeshBasicMaterial"><code class="notranslate" translate="no">MeshBasicMaterial</code></a>. You can certainly remove the lil-gui
|
||
|
|
code. The code makes a ground plane with a texture. It would be easier to use a
|
||
|
|
<a href="/docs/#api/en/helpers/GridHelper"><code class="notranslate" translate="no">GridHelper</code></a>. Finally if our question is about moving things on a path we could
|
||
|
|
just use cubes on the path instead of loaded car models.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>Here's a more minimal example taking all the above into account. It
|
||
|
|
shrunk from 271 lines to 135. We might consider shrinking it even
|
||
|
|
more by simplifying our path. Maybe a path with 3 or 4 points would
|
||
|
|
work just as well as our path with 21 points.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p></p><div translate="no" class="threejs_example_container notranslate">
|
||
|
|
<div><iframe class="threejs_example notranslate" translate="no" style=" " src="/manual/examples/resources/editor.html?url=/manual/examples/debugging-mcve.html"></iframe></div>
|
||
|
|
<a class="threejs_center" href="/manual/examples/debugging-mcve.html" target="_blank">click here to open in a separate window</a>
|
||
|
|
</div>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p></p>
|
||
|
|
<p>I kept the <code class="notranslate" translate="no">OrbitController</code> just because it's useful for others
|
||
|
|
to move the camera and figure out what's going on but depending
|
||
|
|
on your issue you might be able to remove that as well.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>The best thing about making an MCVE is we'll often solve our own
|
||
|
|
problem. The process of removing everything that's not needed and
|
||
|
|
making the smallest example we can that reproduces the issue more
|
||
|
|
often than not leads us to our bug.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>On top of that it's respectful of all the people's time who you are
|
||
|
|
asking to look at your code on Stack Overflow. By making the minimal
|
||
|
|
example you make it much easier for them to help you. You'll also
|
||
|
|
learn in the process.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>Also important, when you go to Stack Overflow to post your question <strong>put your
|
||
|
|
code <a href="https://stackoverflow.blog/2014/09/16/introducing-runnable-javascript-css-and-html-code-snippets/">in a snippet</a>.</strong>
|
||
|
|
Of course you are welcome to use JSFiddle or Codepen or similar site to test out
|
||
|
|
your MCVE but once you actually get to posting your question on Stack Overflow
|
||
|
|
you're required to put the code to reproduce your issue <strong>in the question itself</strong>.
|
||
|
|
By making a snippet you satisfy that requirement.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>Also note all the live examples on this site should run as snippets.
|
||
|
|
Just copy the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript parts to their respective
|
||
|
|
parts of the <a href="https://stackoverflow.blog/2014/09/16/introducing-runnable-javascript-css-and-html-code-snippets/">snippet editor</a>.
|
||
|
|
Just remember to try to remove the parts that are not relevant to
|
||
|
|
your issue and try to make your code the minimal amount needed.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>Follow these suggestions and you're far more likely to get help
|
||
|
|
with your issue.</p>
|
||
|
|
<h2 id="use-a-meshbasicmaterial-">Use a <a href="/docs/#api/en/materials/MeshBasicMaterial"><code class="notranslate" translate="no">MeshBasicMaterial</code></a></h2>
|
||
|
|
<p>Because the <a href="/docs/#api/en/materials/MeshBasicMaterial"><code class="notranslate" translate="no">MeshBasicMaterial</code></a> uses no lights this is one way to
|
||
|
|
remove reasons something might not be showing up. If your objects
|
||
|
|
show up using <a href="/docs/#api/en/materials/MeshBasicMaterial"><code class="notranslate" translate="no">MeshBasicMaterial</code></a> but not with whatever materials
|
||
|
|
you were using then you know the issue is likely with the materials
|
||
|
|
or the lights and not some other part of the code.</p>
|
||
|
|
<h2 id="check-your-near-and-far-settings-for-your-camera">Check your <code class="notranslate" translate="no">near</code> and <code class="notranslate" translate="no">far</code> settings for your camera</h2>
|
||
|
|
<p>A <a href="/docs/#api/en/cameras/PerspectiveCamera"><code class="notranslate" translate="no">PerspectiveCamera</code></a> has <code class="notranslate" translate="no">near</code> and <code class="notranslate" translate="no">far</code> settings which are covered in the
|
||
|
|
<a href="cameras.html">article on cameras</a>. Make sure they are set to fit the
|
||
|
|
space that contains your objects. Maybe even just <strong>temporarily</strong> set them to
|
||
|
|
something large like <code class="notranslate" translate="no">near</code> = 0.001 and <code class="notranslate" translate="no">far</code> = 1000000. You will likely run
|
||
|
|
into depth resolution issues but you'll at least be able to see your objects
|
||
|
|
provided they are in front of the camera.</p>
|
||
|
|
<h2 id="check-your-scene-is-in-front-of-the-camera">Check your scene is in front of the camera</h2>
|
||
|
|
<p>Sometimes things don't appear because they are not in front of the camera. If
|
||
|
|
your camera is not controllable try adding camera control like the
|
||
|
|
<code class="notranslate" translate="no">OrbitController</code> so you can look around and find your scene. Or, try framing
|
||
|
|
the scene using code which is covered in <a href="load-obj.html">this article</a>.
|
||
|
|
That code finds the size of part of the scene and then moves the camera and
|
||
|
|
adjusts the <code class="notranslate" translate="no">near</code> and <code class="notranslate" translate="no">far</code> settings to make it visible. You can then look in
|
||
|
|
the debugger or add some <code class="notranslate" translate="no">console.log</code> messages to print the size and center of
|
||
|
|
the scene.</p>
|
||
|
|
<h2 id="put-something-in-front-of-the-camera">Put something in front of the camera</h2>
|
||
|
|
<p>This is just another way of saying if all else fails start with
|
||
|
|
something that works and then slowly add stuff back in. If you get
|
||
|
|
a screen with nothing on it then try putting something directly in
|
||
|
|
front of the camera. Make a sphere or box, give it a simple material
|
||
|
|
like the <a href="/docs/#api/en/materials/MeshBasicMaterial"><code class="notranslate" translate="no">MeshBasicMaterial</code></a> and make sure you can get that on the screen.
|
||
|
|
Then start adding things back a little at time and testing. Eventually
|
||
|
|
you'll either reproduce your bug or you'll find it on the way.</p>
|
||
|
|
<hr>
|
||
|
|
<p>These were a few tips for debugging JavaScript. Let's also go
|
||
|
|
over <a href="debugging-glsl.html">some tips for debugging GLSL</a>.</p>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
</div>
|
||
|
|
</div>
|
||
|
|
</div>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<script src="/manual/resources/prettify.js"></script>
|
||
|
|
<script src="/manual/resources/lesson.js"></script>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
</body></html>
|