The Object Explorer in GroIMP allows users to manage and import external objects into their projects. When the panel is opened, a menu titled Object becomes visible. Under this menu, navigating to /new/insert File opens a file dialog for selecting an object file.

Upon selecting a file, a prompt appears asking how the file should be added. The available options are:

Add the file:

  The selected file is copied into an objects folder within the GSZ or the project directory. This ensures that the file becomes part of the project and remains available even if the project is moved to a different location.

Link the file:

  Only the file path is stored, which is useful for workflows where the file is maintained or updated externally—such as by another software tool or project. This method depends on the continued availability of the external file at its original path.

Embed the file:

  The file is read and its content is directly added to the internal meta graph of the GroIMP project. This approach makes the object independent of its original format or location. However, embedding large files may impact simulation performance.

i think the following is not right here: Once the object is loaded, it can be referenced in the RGG using the Reference() function. This creates a node representing the 3D structure without importing the entire graph of the original object. For example, the following code creates three identical trees in a row: protected void init () [ Axiom =⇒ for(int i=0; i<3; i++)( Translate(0,1,0) [ Reference(“cherry_new.dtd”) ] ); ] It is also possible to access the internal graph structure of a referenced object programmatically: { Reference ref = new Reference(“cherry_new.dtd”); Node refRoot = ref.resolveNode(); }