You can draw 3D shapes in a JavaFX application using the Shape3D class. This class allows you construct three types of 3D shapes: box, cylinder, sphere as its direct subclasses.

However, according to the nature of a JavaFX application you are trying to create, you can also enhance the look of a 3D shape using the properties the Shape3D class provides. There are three such properties that can be applied on 3D shapes of a JavaFX application. They are listed as follows −

• Cull Face Property

• Drawing Modes Property

• Material Property

In this chapter, we will be learning about the Drawing Modes Property in JavaFX.

Drawing Modes Property

Drawing Modes is the property that belongs to the DrawMode enum type and it represents the type of drawing mode used to draw the current 3D shape. In JavaFX, you can choose two draw modes to draw a 3D shape, which are −

• Fill − This mode draws and fills a 2D shape (DrawMode.FILL).

• Line − This mode draws a 3D shape using lines (DrawMode.LINE).

By default, the drawing mode of a 3Dimensional shape is fill. But you can still choose the draw mode to draw a 3D shape using the method setDrawMode() as follows −

box.setDrawMode(DrawMode.FILL); 

Example

The following program is an example which demonstrates the LINE draw mode on a 3D box. Save this code in a file with the name BoxDrawModeLine.java.

import javafx.application.Application; 
import javafx.scene.Group; 
import javafx.scene.Scene;  
import javafx.scene.shape.Box; 
import javafx.scene.shape.DrawMode; 
import javafx.stage.Stage; 
         
public class BoxDrawModeLine extends Application { 
   @Override 
   public void start(Stage stage) { 
      //Drawing a Box 
      Box box1 = new Box(); 
      
      //Setting the properties of the Box 
      box1.setWidth(100.0); 
      box1.setHeight(100.0);   
      box1.setDepth(100.0); 
      
      //Setting the position of the box 
      box1.setTranslateX(200); 
      box1.setTranslateY(150); 
      box1.setTranslateZ(0);
      
      //Setting the drawing mode of the box 
      box1.setDrawMode(DrawMode.LINE);     
         
      //Creating a Group object   
      Group root = new Group(box1); 
         
      //Creating a scene object 
      Scene scene = new Scene(root, 300, 300);  
      
      //Setting title to the Stage 
      stage.setTitle("Drawing a Box"); 
         
      //Adding scene to the stage 
      stage.setScene(scene);
      
      //Displaying the contents of the stage 
      stage.show(); 
   }      
   public static void main(String args[]){ 
      launch(args); 
   } 
}

Compile and execute the saved java file from the command prompt using the following commands.

javac --module-path %PATH_TO_FX% --add-modules javafx.controls BoxDrawModeLine.java 
java --module-path %PATH_TO_FX% --add-modules javafx.controls BoxDrawModeLine

Output

On executing, the above program generates a JavaFX window displaying a box with draw mode LINE, as follows −

Example

Let us now see another example that shows the usage of FILL draw mode on a 3D shape. To show the difference of these modes properly, we will again apply this mode on a 3D box. Save this code in a file with the name BoxDrawModeFill.java.

import javafx.application.Application; 
import javafx.scene.Group; 
import javafx.scene.PerspectiveCamera; 
import javafx.scene.Scene;  
import javafx.scene.shape.Box; 
import javafx.scene.shape.DrawMode; 
import javafx.stage.Stage; 
         
public class BoxDrawModeFill extends Application { 
   @Override 
   public void start(Stage stage) { 
      //Drawing a Box 
      Box box1 = new Box(); 
      
      //Setting the properties of the Box 
      box1.setWidth(100.0); 
      box1.setHeight(100.0);   
      box1.setDepth(100.0); 
      
      //Setting the position of the box 
      box1.setTranslateX(200); 
      box1.setTranslateY(150); 
      box1.setTranslateZ(0);
      
      //Setting the drawing mode of the box 
      box1.setDrawMode(DrawMode.FILL); 
      
      //Creating a Group object   
      Group root = new Group(box1); 
         
      //Creating a scene object 
      Scene scene = new Scene(root, 600, 300); 
       
      //Setting camera 
      PerspectiveCamera camera = new PerspectiveCamera(false); 
      camera.setTranslateX(100); 
      camera.setTranslateY(50); 
      camera.setTranslateZ(0); 
      scene.setCamera(camera);  
      
      //Setting title to the Stage 
      stage.setTitle("Drawing a Box"); 
         
      //Adding scene to the stage 
      stage.setScene(scene);
      
      //Displaying the contents of the stage 
      stage.show(); 
   }      
   public static void main(String args[]){ 
      launch(args); 
   } 
}

Compile and execute the saved java file from the command prompt using the following commands.

javac --module-path %PATH_TO_FX% --add-modules javafx.controls BoxDrawModeFill.java 
java --module-path %PATH_TO_FX% --add-modules javafx.controls BoxDrawModeFill

Output

On executing, the above program generates a JavaFX window displaying a box with draw mode FILL, as follows −