From wes@maui.lbl.gov (Wes Bethel)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Re: Need AVS filter
Message-ID: <1992Jun1.135015.24609@overload.lbl.gov>
Date: 1 Jun 92 13:50:15 GMT
References: <1992May29.183039.12523@news.larc.nasa.gov>
Sender: usenet@overload.lbl.gov
Reply-To: wes@maui.lbl.gov (Wes Bethel)
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
Lines: 19
Nntp-Posting-Host: maui.lbl.gov

In article <1992May29.183039.12523@news.larc.nasa.gov> wnc@sirius.larc.nasa.gov (Bill Cullifer) writes:
>I am trying to find out if it is possible to run a sun rasterfile produced
>via the drawing utility called touchup through some filter to get an input
>file that is readable by avs. I want to use the right type of data file so
>both a color display of the data and manipulation of the colormap is posible.


If it were me, what I would do is grab the module "read sunras" from
the IAC and modify it.  That module produces an AVS image, ie, 32bit or
no colormap.  This is apparently not suitable for your needs.  It
would be straightforward to hack that module so that it produces a scalar
field on one port, then a colormap on another (new) output port.
The assumption one makes in writing such a module is that the sun rasterfiles
read by this module always have colormaps.

Another alternative may be to use Khoros.  The VIFF file has as part of
its structure a map to which the underlying data is applied.  

wes


From CER4@psuvm.psu.edu
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: AVS POC
Message-ID: <92153.123027CER4@psuvm.psu.edu>
Date: 1 Jun 92 16:30:27 GMT
Organization: Penn State University
Lines: 6

I need to locate the AVS software.  Can anyone tell me a company
name, location and/or phone number?

Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Butch Rappe


From rcion@rw9.urc.tue.nl (Ion Barosan)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: DecAVS
Message-ID: <rcion.707499776@rw9.urc.tue.nl>
Date: 2 Jun 92 15:42:56 GMT
Sender: root@tuegate.tue.nl
Reply-To: rcion@urc.tue.nl
Lines: 18


Does anyone have some information over those problems :

1.What is the newest version for AVS available for Decstations ?

2.How fast works this version ( by example on Dec 5000) ?
  It is fast enough for real time visualization ?

3.It is possible to make video animation on Decstations, and what
  conditions are necessary ?

Thanks in advance .

-Ion Barosan.
-- 
internet: rcion@urc.tue.nl     | Ion Barosan           Room  RC 1.88
                                | Eindhoven University of  Technology
phone:    +31 (0)40 472154      | P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, NL


From strike@convex.com (Martin Streicher)
Date: Tue, 2 Jun 1992 16:45:13 GMT
Reply-To: strike@convex.com
Sender: usenet@news.eng.convex.com (news access account)
Organization: CONVEX Computer Corporation, Visualization Development
Summary: come to the meeting!
Nntp-Posting-Host: pixel.convex.com
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX ComputerCorp. The 
 opinions expressed are those of the user andnot necessarily those of CONVEX.
Lines: 44


The next Dallas/Fort Worth AVS Users Group meeting will be held
on Wednesday, June 3rd from 6:30-8:30pm at CONVEX Computer Corporation's
headquarters in Richardson, TX.  The meeting will be held in the
corporate auditorium (in Building C).


The tentative meeting agenda is:

	- Introduction - Buming Bian (5 minutes)

	- Getting your data into AVS (or How to write
		a reader module) - CONVEX Developer (20-25 minutes)

	- Expert AVS Q&A panel - CONVEX AVS Developers (25 minutes)

	- Demos, CONVEX work in progress, online training/usability
		testing - CONVEX AVS development group (until 8:30pm)


Everyone that participates in the online training and usability testing
session will get copies of the CONVEX AVS user and reference manuals, 
including a copy of the AVS Animator manual.


CONVEX's corporate headquarters are located at 3000 Waterview Parkway
(across Synergy Drive from the UTD campus). To get there, take Central Expy
to Campbell Road; take Campbell west to Floyd and turn right on Floyd.
Take Floyd to Synergy and turn left - CONVEX is on the right-side of the
road about half-a-mile. Turn right on Stewart, follow the curve to the
HR/Engineering entrance and park. The auditorium is the second building
from that end.


Hope to see you there.

Martin Streicher, Manager
Graphics and Visualization Software Development
Software Environments Product Department
CONVEX Computer Corporation 
Richardson, TX
email: strike@convex.com or uunet!convex!strike
phone: 214/497-4469



From baird@thor.pnl.gov (DB Baird)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Using Lat/Long Data
Message-ID: <1992Jun2.183433.11498@oracle.pnl.gov>
Date: 2 Jun 92 18:34:33 GMT
Article-I.D.: oracle.1992Jun2.183433.11498
Sender: news@oracle.pnl.gov
Reply-To: baird@thor.pnl.gov
Organization: Pacific Northwest Laboratories
Lines: 24

Well, I am new to this arena so I hope everything works out.  This is the problem:
I have been given a set of data on CD from NASA.  It is a set of the TOMS Ozone
data.  This is becoming quite a popular datase and I was wondering has anyone out 
there has used this data in conjunction with AVS. 

The problem is that the data is in a lat/long format.  What I am looking to do is read
the data in and convert it to x,y,z coordinates.  I want to be able to display the data
as a sphere with the ozone value color coded.

I would also like to be able to display the outline of the land masses on the sphere.

The reason I have decided to look around for help instead of plugging away at my
own module is that I have ten years worth of daily ozone data.  My first objective
is to be able to read in a given day, display it as a sphere with land masses, and
then give a little spin to the world.  I'll get fancy after this task is completed.

My email is

baird@thor.pnl.gov

but you could post any help to comp.graphics.avs for everyone to read.

thanks for the time
daryl 'bam bam' baird


From thune@afrodite.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Nils Thune)
Subject: data.h missing ?
Message-ID: <1992Jun2.185536.16872@alf.uib.no>
Sender: thune@afrodite (Nils Thune)
Organization: University of Bergen, Norway
Date: Tue, 2 Jun 92 18:55:36 GMT
Lines: 22

In the Developer's Guide on page A-30 the AVS function AVSdata_alloc is said to be protyped in <avs/data.h>.  I can't find this include file! Is it really missing ?

I'm running AVS 4.0 on an Iris Indigo Elean.


-- 



- Nils

--------------------------------
Nils Thune                      
Dept. of Science and Technology 
Christian Michelsen Research    
N-5036 Fantoft, Bergen, Norway  
Email: thune@cmi.no             
Phone: 05 574355                
Fax  : 05 574001                
--------------------------------




From larryg@avs.com (Larry Gelberg)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: AVS Hack o' the Day
Message-ID: <1992Jun2.204718.19414@ctr.columbia.edu>
Date: 2 Jun 92 20:47:18 GMT
Sender: news@ctr.columbia.edu (The Daily Lose)
Organization: Advanced Visual Systems Inc.
Lines: 88
X-Posted-From: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

Recently, it was asked, "How can I display an image and its contour in
the same window?"  There is an easy answer to this, but there are some
unexpected ramifications: 

The easy answer is: the Graph Viewer module has three visible input
ports.  The right most one is for 1D data, the middle one is for 2D
(contour plot) data, and the left-most one is background image data.
So, to display a (colorized) 2D scalar data set with it's contours,
you need to build a network like this:

	GENERATE COLORMAP     READ FIELD
		|_____     _______|
		     |     |      |
		    COLORIZER     |
			|__   ____|
			  |   |
                       GRAPH VIEWER

Now, we start getting to the interesting part...

Images have their origin in the upper left corner, and everything else
in AVS considers the origin to be in the lower left corner. In AVS3,
the above network will produce a picture with the image right side up
and the graph upside down relative to it. 

In AVS4, this problem was partially fixed by having the Graph Viewer
flip the image data so that they are both upside down. This can be
worked around with the following modification to the previous network:

	GENERATE COLORMAP	READ FIELD
		|                   |
		|                 MIRROR
		|_____     _________|
		     |     |        |
		    COLORIZER       |
			|__   ______|
			  |   |
                       GRAPH VIEWER

(remember, I said it was a hack!)

Ok, fine. Now, what do you do if the data is small relative to the
screen (say 20 x 20). If you tried the above network, you would get a
very small graph viewer window with a small plot inside it.  Some
folks have tried to work around this by using cascaded interpolate
modules to bump up the size of the colorized data set. But with AVS4,
there is an easier way:

Use the Image Viewer module, "Normalize" the image to be the size of
the Image Viewer window and output this to the Graph Viewer.  With the
MIRROR module in place, the new network looks like:


	GENERATE COLORMAP	READ FIELD
		|                   |
		|                 MIRROR
		|_____     _________|
		     |     |        |
		    COLORIZER       |
			|           |
		  IMAGE VIEWER      |
			|__   ______|
			  |   |
                       GRAPH VIEWER

Caution: if your data set is not square, you will need to resize the
Image Viewer's window to exactly fit the extent of the image.  This
can easily be done by calculating the size of the window to be a
multiple of the data set's dimensions and setting it with the
following CLI command:

image_set_view_size screen_x screen_y (x_dim*scale) (y_dim*scale)

To upsize a 20x30 data set 5 times, this might be:
	image_set_view_size 0 0 100 150

Ugly? Sure. Does it get the job done? Definitely!

Happy Hacking!

larryg


-- 
=== Larry Gelberg ============================ larryg@avs.com =======
      Advanced Visual Systems Inc. (AVS Inc.)
      300 Fifth Ave, Waltham, MA 02154
===== Tel: 617-890-4300 = Fax: 617-890-8287 =========================


From larryg@avs.com (Larry Gelberg)
Subject: Re: Using Lat/Long Data
Organization: Advanced Visual Systems Inc.
References: <1992Jun2.183433.11498@oracle.pnl.gov>
Message-ID: <1992Jun2.205529.19605@ctr.columbia.edu>
Sender: news@ctr.columbia.edu (The Daily Lose)
Date: Tue, 2 Jun 1992 20:55:29 GMT
X-Posted-From: sol.ctr.columbia.edu
Lines: 31

baird@thor.pnl.gov (DB Baird) writes:
: The problem is that the data is in a lat/long format.  What I am looking to do is read
: the data in and convert it to x,y,z coordinates.  I want to be able to display the data
: as a sphere with the ozone value color coded.
: 
: I would also like to be able to display the outline of the land masses on the sphere.
: 
: thanks for the time
: daryl 'bam bam' baird

The International AVS Center (avs.ncsc.org - 128.109.178.23) has two
things which might help you.  One is a module called 'sphere' (in the
FILTERS/Sphere directory) which maps 2D data into a sphereical
3D mesh.  The other is a set of GEOM files which describe world coastlines,
rivers, country borders, etc.

Between these two things, all it seems you need to do is figure out how
to read your data into a 2D field.  You can use the FILE DESCRIPTOR 
module if you have AVS4 or check out some of the example modules (like
read_image.c in /usr/avs/examples) if you have an earlier version.

Let me know what problems/successes you have!

larryg


-- 
=== Larry Gelberg ============================ larryg@avs.com =======
      Advanced Visual Systems Inc. (AVS Inc.)
      300 Fifth Ave, Waltham, MA 02154
===== Tel: 617-890-4300 = Fax: 617-890-8287 =========================


From tam@wucs1.wustl.edu (Todd A Mirly)
Subject: WANTED:  AVS module list
Message-ID: <1992Jun2.205210.13485@wuecl.wustl.edu>
Sender: usenet@wuecl.wustl.edu (Usenet Administrator)
Nntp-Posting-Host: wucs1
Organization: Washington University, St. Louis Mo.
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 2 Jun 1992 20:52:10 GMT
Lines: 7

	I am looking for a list of AVS modules.  I would also be
interested in archive sites for AVS materials.


				Thanks

					Todd Mirly


From larryg@avs.com (Larry Gelberg)
Subject: Re: data.h missing ?
Organization: Advanced Visual Systems Inc.
References: <1992Jun2.185536.16872@alf.uib.no>
Message-ID: <1992Jun2.214132.20273@ctr.columbia.edu>
Sender: news@ctr.columbia.edu (The Daily Lose)
Date: Tue, 2 Jun 1992 21:41:32 GMT
X-Posted-From: sol.ctr.columbia.edu
Lines: 16

thune@afrodite.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Nils Thune) writes:
: In the Developer's Guide on page A-30 the AVS function 
: AVSdata_alloc is said to be protyped in <avs/data.h>.  
: I can't find this include file! Is it really missing ?

The documentation was wrong and has been corrected for the final
version.  The reference can actually be found in <avs/avs.h>.

Thanks for pointing this out!

larryg
-- 
=== Larry Gelberg ============================ larryg@avs.com =======
      Advanced Visual Systems Inc. (AVS Inc.)
      300 Fifth Ave, Waltham, MA 02154
===== Tel: 617-890-4300 = Fax: 617-890-8287 =========================


From schiano@vega.acs.uci.edu (Allen V. Schiano)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Re: Using Lat/Long Data
Message-ID: <2A2BF397.26272@noiro.acs.uci.edu>
Date: 2 Jun 92 22:17:59 GMT
References: <1992Jun2.183433.11498@oracle.pnl.gov>
Reply-To: schiano@vega.acs.uci.edu (Allen V. Schiano)
Organization: University of California, Irvine
Lines: 42
Nntp-Posting-Host: vega.acs.uci.edu

In article <1992Jun2.183433.11498@oracle.pnl.gov>, baird@thor.pnl.gov (DB Baird) writes:
|> Well, I am new to this arena so I hope everything works out.  This is the problem:
|> I have been given a set of data on CD from NASA.  It is a set of the TOMS Ozone
|> data.  This is becoming quite a popular datase and I was wondering has anyone out 
|> there has used this data in conjunction with AVS. 
|> 
|> The problem is that the data is in a lat/long format.  What I am looking to do is read
|> the data in and convert it to x,y,z coordinates.  I want to be able to display the data
|> as a sphere with the ozone value color coded.
|> 
|> I would also like to be able to display the outline of the land masses on the sphere.
|> 
|> The reason I have decided to look around for help instead of plugging away at my
|> own module is that I have ten years worth of daily ozone data.  My first objective
|> is to be able to read in a given day, display it as a sphere with land masses, and
|> then give a little spin to the world.  I'll get fancy after this task is completed.
|> 
|> My email is
|> 
|> baird@thor.pnl.gov
|> 
|> but you could post any help to comp.graphics.avs for everyone to read.
|> 
|> thanks for the time
|> daryl 'bam bam' baird


	Hi.  I just completed a very similar visualization for some users here 
at UCI.  I've never used TOMS type data but the conversion from lat/longitude
to x,y,z is rather trivial - it's just the conversion from spherical to Cartesian
with the addition of using latitude measured from the equator instead of the
pole (as is usual).

	As for a map of the continents, etc.  there is now a nice .geom of the
earth's coastlines, rivers, etc.  that resides at the AVS center in the Sample_data directory.  Try it.

Allen V. R. Schiano
Advanced Scientific Computing
Office of Academic Computing
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, Ca 92727
schiano@uci.edu


From tvv@ncsc.org (Terry Myerson)
Subject: SDSC image tools in a module
Message-ID: <Bp9wn3.Hxo@doppler.ncsc.org>
Sender: news@doppler.ncsc.org
Nntp-Posting-Host: doppler
Reply-To: tvv@ncsc.org 
Organization: North Carolina Supercomputing Center
Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1992 14:09:02 GMT


Hi folks -

There have been a number of requests for information about
the San Diego Image Tools modules : READ_ANY_IMAGE and 
WRITE_ANY_IMAGE which are on the International AVS Center
ftp site (128.109.178.23).  These modules allow for the
reading and writing of numerous image formats including :

eps     Encapsulated PostScript file,
gif     Compuserve Graphics image file,
hdf     Hierarchical Data File,
icon    Sun Icon and Cursor file,
iff     Sun TAAC Image File Format,
mpnt    Apple Macintosh MacPaint file,
pbm     Portable Bit Map file,
pcx     ZSoft IBM PC Paintbrush file,
pgm     Portable Gray Map file,
pic     PIXAR picture file,
pict    Apple Macintosh QuickDraw/PICT file,
pix     Alias image file,
pnm     Portable aNy Map file,
ppm     Portable Pixel Map file,
ps      PostScript file,
ras     Sun Rasterfile,
rgb     SGI RGB image file,
rla     Wavefront raster image file,
rle     Utah Run length encoded image file,
rpbm    Raw Portable Bit Map file,
rpgm    Raw Portable Gray Map file,
rpnm    Raw Portable aNy Map file,
rppm    Raw Portable Pixel Map file,
synu    Synu image file,
tiff    Tagged image file,
x       Stardent AVS X image file,
xbm     X11 bitmap file,
xwd     X Window System window dump image file.

These modules require the downloading of the SDSC image libraries
from sdsc.edu through anonymous ftp as well.  The SDSC image
tools are ported the IBM RS 6000, Sun, and DEC 5000 workstation
platforms as well as a few others.

Caution: A bug in the DEC and IBM libim.a library is preventing
         the READ_ANY_IMAGE from working on those two platforms.
         I am waiting for a reply from the authors.


Have fun with em,

terry

---
Terry Myerson
International AVS Center
North Carolina Supercomputing Center
avs@ncsc.org


From tvv@ncsc.org (Terry Myerson)
Subject: International AVS Center update
Message-ID: <Bp9wtC.I0A@doppler.ncsc.org>
Sender: news@doppler.ncsc.org
Nntp-Posting-Host: doppler
Reply-To: tvv@ncsc.org 
Organization: North Carolina Supercomputing Center
Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1992 14:12:48 GMT

Hi folks -

I just noticed a posting on where can i find modules,info,etc....
so I figure I should post our standard AVS_README file of info :

There are a few new things in it including the postscript module
catalog, newsgroup archive, user group information, and mailing
lists.

-terry

---
Terry Myerson
International AVS Center
North Carolina Supercomputing Center
avs@ncsc.org

		Welcome to the International AVS Center


YOU MUST DOWNLOAD AND READ THE AVS_LICENSE FILE BEFORE MAKING USE OF THIS
ANONYMOUS FTP SITE OR ANY OF THE INTERNATIONAL AVS CENTER EMAIL FACILITIES!

****************************************************************************

	  INTERNATIONAL AVS CENTER OPENED OCTOBER 1, 1991 AT NCSC

    
    The AVS Consortium announced the opening of the new International
AVS Center at North Carolina Supercomputing Center in Research Triangle
Park, North Carolina.  The AVS Consortium is made up of seven AVS vendors
who are funding and providing direction for the International AVS Center.
The seven vendors are Advanced Visual Systems Inc., CONVEX Computer 
Corporation, Digital Equipment Corporation, IBM, Hewlett Packard Company, 
Sun Microsystems, and Wavetracer, Inc.  

    Non-consortium vendors who have AVS ported to their platforms are 
Cray, Evans and Sutherland, Kubota Pacific Computer Inc., Set Technology 
Corporation, and SGI.  Many of these are still in beta and will be made 
available in the future.

    The full functionality of the International AVS Center was not
available until January 1, 1992.  The Center was opened in several phases.
Phase I, which opened first, provides for ftp and email access to modules and
is primarily for submission of modules from the AVS Users.  There are several
hundred modules currently available and more will be added daily.  There
is construction for the porting facilities currently underway.  Initially
modules are available for CONVEX, Digital Equipment Corporation, IBM, Sun
Microsystems, and the Stardent Titan P3G3 (through 12/31/91).  As the 
hardware goes online, more ports are becoming available.  Rather than 
delay AVS User access to sharable code until porting was completed, it was 
decided to let them have access to what was available and let them do their 
own porting as needed until porting was completed on all platforms.

****************************************************************************

	        	     QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

    If you ever have any questions,  please forward them to avs@ncsc.org.
The staff of the International AVS Center is here to support the AVS user
community as best we can.  

****************************************************************************

                              INTERNET NEWS GROUP

    AVS users should also be aware of the Internet news group 
comp.graphics.avs .  This news group provides a forum for general 
collaboration on all AVS topics between the entire AVS user community.

****************************************************************************

                                 AVS MAGAZINE

    The International AVS Center is publishing a quarterly magazine titled "AVS
Network News." This magazine discusses AVS related issues, has user articles, 
general information, etc.  These can be ordered from your AVS Vendor or by 
sending a check or money order to the Internation AVS Center.  The check should
be in the amount of $12.00 for an annual subscription, or $3.00 for a single 
issue.  Please add $0.75 per issue if outside of Continental USA.

        The International AVS Center
        PO Box 12889
        3021 Cornwallis Road
        RTP, NC 27709

****************************************************************************

                         INTERNATIONAL AVS USERS GROUP

     You can join the International AVS Users Group for a yearly fee of
$30.00 which includes subscription to the AVS magazine, the yearly AVS catalog
of modules ( user donated and commercial), a $50.00 reduction on attending the
yearly International AVS Users Group conference and have special rates for
additional services as they become available.  To join, send check or money
order for $30.00 ( add $5.00 if out of continental USA) to:

        The International AVS Center
        PO Box 12889
        3021 Cornwallis Road
        RTP, NC 27709

     The interim President of the AVS Users Group is Stephen Franklin
from the University of California at Irvine.  Stephen will be posting
notes to the AVS newsgroup comp.graphics.avs as well as provide guidance to
organizing local groups.  More information is forthcoming.

     There will be an additional fee for local user group memberships.

****************************************************************************

                   INTERNATIONAL AVS USERS GROUP CONFERENCE

    The 1st Annual International AVS Users Group Conference was held
February 11-13,1992 at the site of the International AVS Center : 
the North Carolina Supercomputing Center, Research Triangle Park, 
North Carolina.  The conference was titled : AVS '92 and is sponsored by the
AVS Consortium : AVS Incorporated, CONVEX Computer Corporation, Digital 
Equipment Corporation, Hewlett Packard Company, IBM, North Carolina 
Supercomputing Center, SET Technology, and Wavetracer, Inc.

Conference Overview :
	
        First International Users Group Conference
	          February 11 - 13, 1992

	Summary of events:

Keynote address:
	Attentive and Preattentive Processing in Visualization
	Richard Mark Friedhoff, Author of "Visualization:  The
	Second Computer Revolution"

Lectures:
	#1 - Fundamentals of Scientific Visualization by Jim
	Thomas, SIGGRAPH Chair, Battelle Pacific Labs

	#2 - Directions AVS Might Take:  A User Perspective by
	Richard Feldmann, NIH, Division of Computer Research
	and Technology.

	#3 - Tips and Tricks with AVS and Areas that are not
	documented by Larry Gelberg, AVS Inc.

	#4 - The AVS Module Generator by Larry Gelberg, AVS Inc.

	#5 - Future Plans for AVS and the International AVS
	Center by Ray Idaszek, NCSC and Dave Kamins, AVS Inc.

	#6 - Wide Area Information Servers: A Supercomputer on
	Every Desk by Brewster Kahle, Thinking Machines.

	#7 - The AVS Data Viewer by Larry Gelberg, AVS, Inc.

	#8 - The GenTools Distributed Computational-Genetics
	Program Suite by Jesse Driver, University of Texas,
	CHPC, Balcones Research Center.

	#9 - Full Motion Video over ETHERNET in an AVS Environment
	by Dan Winkelstein, MCNC Communications Division.

	#10 - The AVS Animation Application in AVS 3.5 by Ham
	Lord, AVS Inc.

	#11 - Distributed Visualization by Rick Franklin and Wade
	Smith, CONVEX Computer Corporation.

	#12 - Video Production in AVS by John Sheehan, AVS Inc.

	#13 - Overview of Implementing AVS on a Massively
	Parallel Machine by Edward Zyszkowski, Wavetracer Inc.

	#14 - The AVS Geometry Viewer Using AVS 3.5 by Jeff 
	Vroom, AVS Inc.

	#15 - VBASE:  Vector Database in AVS by Dennis Colomb.

	#16 - Chaotic System Tools in AVS by Mike Neacsu, NCSC.

	#17 - The Visualization Revolution by Wes Bethal, 
	Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.

	#18 - Network Synamation:  An Integrated Environment for
	Distributed Computing by Meng H. Lean, Xerox Corporation,
	Webster Research Center.

Tutorials:

	#1 - Getting Started with AVS and Creating Networks

	#2 - Getting Started with the Geometry Viewer (AVS3.5)

	#3 - The Data Viewer

	#4 - The AVS Animation Application

	#5 - How to Write a Module in C using the Module Generator

Workshops:

	#1 - Chemistry using AVS by Richard Hedges, Polygen/MSI
	and Dave Kamins, AVS Inc.

	#2 - Visualizing Crystals with AVS by Don R. Jones, Erin
	N. Thornton, and Anthony Ness, Battelle Pacific Labs.

	#3 - Animation in AVS by Brian Kaplan, Indiana University
	and Ham Lord, AVS Inc.

	#4 - Imaging and GIS in AVS, Dennis Colomb.

	#5 - Crystal Viewer with AVS by Steve Bong, Crystal Imaging.

	#6 - Maple V Supporting AVS by Benton Leong, Waterloo Maple.

Panels:

	#1 - AVS as an Educational and Instructional Tool by Stephen
	Franklin, University of California, Irvine.

	#2 - AVS Developers and Porters Panel, led by David Bennett,
	International AVS Center and NCSC.

	#3 - Applications Panel led by Dennis Colomb.

	#4 - Virtual Reality by John Sheehan, AVS Inc.

	#5 - Distributed Computing Group led by Ray Idaszak, NCSC.

Videotapes:

	Videotapes of many of the presentations at AVS `92 will be
available from the International AVS Center after the final editing 
is completed.

****************************************************************************

                             GETTING MODULES

    There are currently two ways to obtain modules:

    	1.	Using standard ftp protocol.
	2.	Using the AVSemail request system

****************************************************************************

                              ANONYMOUS FTP

     The International AVS Center anonymous ftp site is located on the
Internet 
at 128.109.178.23 .  If a name server is running, the server can be located 
as avs.ncsc.org .  When connected to the avs server, login as anonymous and 
provide your email address as the password.


WHAT YOU WILL FIND WHEN YOU LOG IN TO THE AVS SITE:

     When you login you will get a banner message that will provide some
basic information.  If you type ls -CF, you will then see the following:

.login                  COMP.GRAPHICS.AVS/      WHAT_IS_AVS
AVS                     DATA/                   WHAT_IS_WAIS
AVS_CATALOG             FAQ                     bin/
AVS_CATALOG.dvi         FILTERS/                dev/
AVS_CATALOG.ps          MAPPERS/                etc/
AVS_FLATLINE            RENDERERS/              pub/
AVS_LICENSE             SAMPLE_DATA/            usr/
AVS_README              SUBMIT/
AVS_USER_REG            SUBMIT_RELEASE


     THE INTERNATIONAL AVS CENTER GIVES NO WARRANTY, EXPRESSED OR
IMPLIED, FOR ANY SOFTWARE AND/OR DOCUMENTATION PROVIDED, INCLUDING,
WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

     AVS is an Archie place holder.

     The AVS_CATALOG provides a complete listing of current module holdings 
at the International AVS Center.  Its general format is as follows:


Name        : animate_file    Version      : 1.000     Mod Number : 1135
Author      : Terry Myerson, International AVS Center (NCSC)
Submitted   : 02/24/92        Last Updated : 02/24/92  Language   : C
Ported to   : DEC Kubota IBM Sun Convex
Description : anim_fname is used to output a series of filenames for input
              into a reader module. The module inputs an integer and a
              filename base, and output a filename in the form "$base.%3d".
              This module is very useful for a series of files containing a
              time series of data.

     AVS_CATALOG, AVS_CATALOG.dvi, and AVS_CATALOG.ps are three versions
of the module catalog maintained at this site.  All three files are 
continuously updated as new modules are added to the ftp site.  The ASCII 
version of the module catalog (AVS_CATALOG) can be retrieved at any time 
by mailing any message to an automatic response script at avsemail@ncsc.org
The AVS_CATALOG.ps and AVS_CATALOG files should be printable on any standard
postscript printing device.  The AVS_CATALOG.dvi file requires a dvi2ps 
utility to be of any use, but provides a much more portable compact format 
for the postscript catalog for those who have this utility available.
NOTE: The AWAIS module, available in the DATA directory on the ftp site,
provides interactive browsing of the module catalog.

     AVS_FLATLINE provides the same information in a format suitable for
some database programs.  The general format for the AVS_FLATLINE file is 
as follows:

animate_file:data_input:anim_fname is used to output a series of filenames for 
input into a reader module. The module inputs an integer and a filename base, 
and output a filename in the form "$base.%3d". This module is very useful for 
a series of files containing a time series of data.:Terry Myerson:International
AVS Center (NCSC):16:C:02/24/92: Kubota Convex DEC IBM Sun:02/24/92:1:1135

     The AVS_LICENSE is a file that provides the conditions under which
modules may be obtained and your agreements to share code with others.  You
must agree to the terms in order to use the International AVS Center repository
and all that it contains.  Its purpose is to ensure the sharing of everything
that has been donated and prohibit misuse of code that has been so generously
donated by others.  If you need a "special" arrangement, you must have a
release in writing from the International AVS Center.  We will contact the
donors and obtain their approval for special cases.  

     You are reading the AVS_README file.

     If you know of anyone, whom does not have news access, they can
download the files in the COMP.GRAPHICS.AVS directory.  These files
are in the standard mailbox format so that anybody can peruse these
files using any mail utility with the -f command.

For example :

  Mail -f May_92

If a "message" in this mailbox is replied to, then a message is sent back
to the poster of the article - but it is not replied to the newsgroup.
The files will be stored in a separate mailbox for each month : May_92 June_92

     The SAMPLE_DATA directory is for data that has no associated
modules.  Many individuals have requested new or interesting sample data
and are also donating it.  It does not fit with the standard module
directories and so has its own directory.

     The FAQ, or Frequently Asked Questions file answers common 
questions about the International AVS Center and AVS in general.

     There are four main directories of modules: DATA, FILTERS, MAPPERS 
and RENDERERS.  These directories correspond to the four columns of modules 
within AVS.

     The SUBMIT directory is for module submissions.  This directory has
write permission and will be explained below in the submission section.
	
     The SUBMIT_RELEASE form is explained in more detail in the submission
section below.  Basically, we want you to agree to certain terms before 
making your submissions available to the public.  

     WHAT_IS_AVS is a several page overview of the AVS system.  
 
     WHAT_IS_WAIS is a several page overview of the Wide Area Information
Server system, and how you might want to use it to peruse through our
anonymous ftp site.

     Your first step, after reading this AVS_README file is to download
the AVS_LICENSE file and read it.  If you have any problem abiding by the
AVS Licensing Agreement, please send email to avs@ncsc.org or US mail to the
International AVS Center, po Box 12889, 3021 Cornwallis road, RTP, NC 27709.
We will try to deal with special circumstances as they arise on a one on one
basis.

USING STANDARD FTP PROTOCOL:

     There are only a few basic commands you will need to move around 
in the AVS directories and download or submit files.  Additional information
is available in your local man pages on ftp.  The first step is to "cd" to
the directory you are interested in such as "cd DATA".  You will receive a
message on how to proceed.  You should then "cd" to the module directory you
want such as "cd abekas".  You should change your settings as follows:  type 
"bin" at the prompt to change to binary mode; type "hash" at the prompt, this 
gives a # sign on your home device that shows you that things are working; type
"prompt" to get multiple files at one time.  There are only a few other 
commands that are general. You should know get and mget.  Typing "get
filename" 
at the prompt will download any one file.  Typing "mget filenames" (or with 
wildcards *,?,etc) will get you several files at one time.  If you did
not type 
the prompt command you will be asked yes/no for each file.  If you did type 
prompt you will not be prompted, ftp will just continue to download all files 
requested.  The reverse procedure is true when you want to submit
modules using 
the put and mput commands ( more on submission later).  
                                            
     In this directory, you will find all of the files for a module.
These include the source code, scripts, networks, helpfiles, and makefiles. 
The Makefiles are named make.platform ( i.e. make.Convex, make.DEC )

     There is another ftp option available for getting a module that
you may find easier.  Suppose you want the module read_tiff, which is
located in the subdirectory DATA/read_tiff.  If you do the following
sequence of steps, you will wind up with a tar file containing all of
read_tiff's files in it:

	ftp avs.ncsc.org
	use anonymous for the userid
	use your userid for the password
	cd DATA
	binary
	get read_tiff.tar
	bye

Then on your local machine, use "tar -xvf read_tiff.tar" to restore
the files from the archive.  This method may take a while due to
the potentially large size of the tar file.  If you use
"get read_tiff.tar.Z" instead, you will get a compressed version of
the tar file, which should come over significantly faster due to
the smaller size.  Then on your local machine, use 
"uncompress read_tiff.tar.Z", followed by "tar -xvf read_tiff.tar"
to restore the files.

****************************************************************************

                               EMAIL FACILITIES

    It was determined that there were many users who did not have ftp
protocol on their system.  For those individuals an email procedure has
been set up.  There are three email addresses associated with the International
AVS Center.  These are avs@ncsc.org for questions/module submission, 
avsemail@ncsc.org for an automated information request, and avsorder@ncsc.org 
for automated module requests.  avsorder and avsemail are both explained below.
                   
   Mailing to avsemail@ncsc.org will automatically retrieve a response which 
includes this AVS_README file and also a current module catalog.

   Mailing to avsorder@ncsc.org will automatically retrieve module
source codes.
Since some mail handlers have restrictions on the maximum size of 
a mail message, the modules that are requested will arrive in several
messages - one message per file per module.  Some modules that could be 
requested may also not be deliverable by email because of the size of 
individual files in that module.  These cases will be noted in the return 
email you receive.  Phase II will offer you option of receiving these files 
or any others via tape.  Construction is currently underway of porting 
facilities and as soon as hardware is installed, we will update this notice 
and provide instructions on how to request modules, data, etc. via tape.

    Note that you will need to remove the mail header lines after saving the 
files from within your mail system.  The title for each of a module
file's mail message will be of the form <module name>/<file name>, in
order to facilitate easier saving of these files.

HOW TO ORDER:

1.      First, review the modules available in the AVS_CATALOG

2.      Decide which modules you want.  Add a pound sign (#)
	to the beginning of each module number and make sure it is
	on a separate line of its own for each module ordered.

3.      Submit the order form.  The #module_number and name ( the # 
	is necessary in front of each module ordered with no spaces, 
	as #1037 ).

4.	When your order is filled out send it to "avsorder@ncsc.org",
	it will be processed immediately.  DO NOT send orders to 
	avsemail@ncsc.org or avs@ncsc.org.


        SAMPLE ORDER FORM:

*******************************************************************************
        I would like to order the following modules:

#1005 ( these lines are the module numbers)
#1023 ( NOTE that each entry must be on a separate line, this is required)
#1029 
#1130
..............You may order as many modules as you like as long as each is
..............on a separate line.


Thanks
John Doe
Smurfville, USA  (Full name and address is not required, just requested)

*******************************************************************************

        WHAT THIS ORDER FORM DID FOR YOU:
        
The #numbers order modules 1005, 1023 1129 and 1130 from the module list.
Each number told the automatic ordering service what you wanted in addition 
to the module source code.  Everything is automatic.  If you did not receive 
what you ordered, send email to avs@ncsc.org and we will correct the problem 
quickly. 

*******************************************************************************

BATCH TAPE REQUESTS:

	There is a $5.00 dollar shipping and handling fee for tapes ( $10.00
for shipping out of country and no insurance).  If you send your own tape
this is the only cost incurred.  If you wish us to use one of our tapes we
will charge you cost plus 15% for our ordering, stocking, etc costs.  This 
is still less than retail and is designed only as a cost recovery.  We are
not responsible for items damaged in transit.  Exact costs for tapes and 
handling will be determined when hardware is delivered and set up.  We will
post information as soon as it becomes available

*******************************************************************************

HOW TO SUBMIT MODULES:

	Donating a module to the International AVS Center benefits 
the entire AVS user community by facilitating further use of AVS to 
visualize complex scientific phenomena.  Any module that is not 
donated may be rewritten elsewhere - wasting someone's 
valuble time - hindering further development of other module 
capabilities for everyone's benefit.  

	There are three ways to submit modules:

	1.	Standard ftp protocol
	2.	email ( no binaries)
	3.	Sending tapes to:	The International AVS Center
					P.O. Box 12889              
					3021 Cornwallis Road
					RTP, NC 27709  
	
	There is a SUBMIT_RELEASE file that can be found when you login. 
It has the terms you agree to by submitting a module to the International 
AVS Center.  It tells us that we have permission to share these modules 
and associated files with others and that there are no known viruses in 
the code.  This will ensure that the there are no other claims from 
universities, individuals, companies, etc.  If you cannot meet these 
conditions because of special circumstances ( e.g. government lab, etc.,
please email to avs@ncsc.org and we will make special arrangements on an      
individual basis).  
                                                                           
	Several individuals have said they would contribute, but from 
past experience they knew they would be bombarded with questions about the 
code and did not have the time to spend replying to these questions.  If 
you are in this situation, we will put a unique control number in the code 
and the International AVS Center will act as the only contact between you 
and the world.  Many of the questions will be fielded by the AVS staff, 
but if a question cannot be answered internally, you will only be contacted 
by the center and not hundreds of individuals.    
                                                                             

*******************************************************************************

STANDARD FTP SUBMISSION:


	 If you have arrived at this point it is assumed that you know the
ftp site name (avs.ncsc.org).  The IPnumber will be changing shortly as
we move to a larger server, so be prepared for this number to change in the
near future.  We will post it later.

        When you login you will get a banner message that will provide some
basic information.  You will then see the following:

.login                  COMP.GRAPHICS.AVS/      WHAT_IS_AVS
AVS                     DATA/                   WHAT_IS_WAIS
AVS_CATALOG             FAQ                     bin/
AVS_CATALOG.dvi         FILTERS/                dev/
AVS_CATALOG.ps          MAPPERS/                etc/
AVS_FLATLINE            RENDERERS/              pub/
AVS_LICENSE             SAMPLE_DATA/            usr/
AVS_README              SUBMIT/
AVS_USER_REG            SUBMIT_RELEASE


	Most of the files and directories have been explained above, except
the SUBMIT directory.  The SUBMIT directory is the only one that has write
permission.  In order to provide a minimum level of security to those who
donate modules, and try to make sure others do not accidentally copy over their
files, and to streamline the process of adding your module to the catalog,
we ask you to follow the following procedures.

	Please prepare your submission to conform to the following guidelines
as closely as you can:
	1.	all C source code should have a .c suffix
	2.	all FORTRAN source code should have a .f suffix
	3.	all C header files should have a .h suffix
	4.	all FORTRAN header files should have a .inc suffix
	5.	provide one file with a .txt suffix for each AVS
		module, in plain text format, which provides complete
		documentation for the module
	6.	provide a sample AVS network file, with a .net suffix
	7.	do not include assembly language code

	When you "cd" to the SUBMIT" directory, a banner message will appear
that will prompt you with instructions.  You will be asked to create a
directory using mkdir as in "mkdir myname".  This directory will be  invisible 
and entry into this directory can only be achieved by typing "cd myname".
When someone else logs in, they will see nothing, unless they know the name and
unique number identifier.  After you "cd" to your new directory you will
be able
to donate modules using standard ftp protocol.  Detailed information is 
available in the ftp man pages, but you will only need to know a few basic
commands such as bin, hash, prompt, put and mput. to donate your modules.

	You should create additional directories for each module using "mkdir".
If you are submitting multiple modules, please use "mkdir mynameN", where
N would be a unique number for each module being submitted.
You should type "bin" at the command line to change to binary format, then
type "hash" at the command line to show a # sign on your local machine that 
tells you things are working.  You should then type prompt if you have 
more than one file as this lets you download multiple files at one time
using mput without waiting for the prompt yes/no command.  Then type the
command "put myfile" or "mput myfiles" at the command line and they will
download to the new directory you have created.  We prefer and recommend
that all files submitted are only straight ASCII files, although if your 
files are in tar or tar.Z format, we will accept them.

	If you logout and wish to make a change, you must remember the 
unique name for the invisible directory you were given or else start all
over again.


*******************************************************************************

EMAIL SUBMISSION:

	We will accept email submissions to avs@ncsc.org, but ask you follow
these guidelines.

	Do not include any binaries.  If data files are large, put in uucp
format or provide a smaller data file with a note that larger files are 
available.  We will contact you to try to arrange obtaining these larger
files through other methods.  Please do not send data files over 200K.
Separate all files by a line of at least twenty (20) asterisk marks (*) so 
we can search for these easily.  

	Your first lines should describe the module, the platform it has
been ported to and special notes such as large data size, followed by *'s.


*******************************************************************************


BATCH TAPE SUBMISSION:

	To submit a module via tape, put it onto a tape
using "tar -cvf tapedrive filename[s]".  Label the tape with the
appropriate platform the module runs on (and the platform the tape
was made on, if different), and mail it to us at:

        The International AVS Center
        PO Box 12889
        3021 Cornwallis Road
        RTP, NC 27709

*******************************************************************************


A COPY OF THE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) FILE:


       ___________________________________________________________________
                                       FAQ
                        Frequently Asked Questions of the
                            International AVS Center
                      North Carolina Supercomputing Center
       ___________________________________________________________________

	Questions answered in this file :
	---------------------------------

1.	 What is the International AVS Center ?
2.	 Where is the International AVS Center ?
3.	 What is AVS ?
4.	 Where can I get more information on AVS ?
5.	 What are the system requirements to run AVS ?
6.	 How do I download modules from the International AVS Center,
	 or submit modules, or get a list of the currently available
	 modules ?
7.	 When I try to run AVS on a remote machine and display the output
	 on an X server, I get a message saying Client unauthorized to
	 connect to server. How do I fix this ?
8.	 Is there sample AVS data available ?
9.	 When I try to ftp to avs.ncsc.org, I get terminated before I get
	 connected. What am I doing wrong ?
10.	 What is the procedure to add a question to this FAQ file ?
11.	 Why should I submit a module to the International AVS Center ?
12.	 Where can I find more information on AVS in published
	 literature ?
13.	 What is WAIS and how can I use it at the International AVS Center ?

What is the International AVS Center:what_is_iac:
 ___________________________________________________________________ 

1.	 What is the International AVS Center ?

        The International AVS Center serves as a catalyst
for expanding the AVS user base and for increasing AVS
functionality by fostering discipline-specific module
development and new AVS uses.  Located at the North Carolina
Supercomputing Center, the worldwide clearinghouse collects,
ports, and distributes user-contributed, public-domain
modules and acts as liason between users and vendors.
The International AVS Center also publishes a quarterly
magazine called AVS Network News and a yearly module
catalog.  It also hosts the yearly International AVS
User Group conference and coordinates User Group activities.

        The AVS Consortium is made up of seven AVS vendors
who are funding and providing direction for the International
AVS Center.  The seven vendors are Advanced Visual Systems Inc.,
CONVEX Computer Corporation, Digital Equipment Corporation,
IBM, Hewlett Packard Company, Sun Microsystems, and Wavetracer, Inc.
Where is the International AVS Center:where_is_iac:
 ___________________________________________________________________ 

2.	 Where is the International AVS Center ?

        The International AVS Center is located at the
North Carolina Supercomputing Center.  The anonymous ftp
site for the center is located on the internet at avs.ncscs.org
with an IP address of 128.109.178.23 .  The main email alias
for the center is avs@ncsc.org .
What is AVS:what_is_avs:
 ___________________________________________________________________ 

3.	 What is AVS ?

        Using anonymous ftp to avs.ncsc.org, you can then
get the file What_is_AVS.  Take a look at this file
for a good summary of what AVS does.
Where can I get more information on AVS:where_info_avsinc:
 ___________________________________________________________________ 

4.	 Where can I get more information on AVS ?

        If this file and other files available via anonymous
ftp to avs.ncsc.org do not answer your questions, you can
send mail to avs@ncsc.org.  The International AVS Center
will do its best to help you out.  You also may want to
monitor and/or post articles to the Internet newsgroup
comp.graphics.avs, which has an ongoing dialog between
various AVS users.  Or you can contact AVS Inc. directly at:

        Advanced Visual Systems Inc.
        300 Fifth Ave.
        Waltham, MA  02154
        USA

        Tel: 617-890-4300
        Fax: 617-890-8287
What are the system requirements to run AVS:sys_req:
 ___________________________________________________________________ 

5.	 What are the system requirements to run AVS ?

Numerous people have requested AVS configuration information.
This information changes regularly and you should contact either
AVS Inc at 617-890-4300, your local vendor reps or AVS Inc reps
for additional information.

CONVEX - Available now - CONVEX OSV9.1 or later release, CONVEX
OS Utilities 9.1 or later, CONVEX OS Internet Services V9.1 or
later, IEEE floating point hardware.  Requires approximately
90MB disk space, and a color display device networked to your
CONVEX system supporting X window System Version 11 Release 4
color server, which supports either a PSEUDOCOLOR or TRUECOLOR
visual type, or a Silicon Graphics workstation running IRIX 4.0
or a workstation or terminal with a PEX server.

DEC - Available now - DEC AVS V3.0 generates PEX V4.0 protocol
(when displaying to a PEX V4.0 cpable display server), and is
compatible with ULTRIX V4.2 which includes a PEX V4.0 server.
ULTRIX V4.2A includes a PEX V5.0 server.  For compatiblitiy with
that server, DEC AVS V3.0A has been released.  Note that
PEX V5.0 provides (two pass) transparency.  Also note that
the ULTRIX V4.2A distribution does include a PEX compatibility
kit which is essentially a PEX V4.0 server.  There is no support
for runing both PEX V4.0 and PEX V5.0 servers concurrently.  Only
one such server can be run at any one time.

Hewlett-Packard - Available now - HP 9000 series 700,
CRX graphics (call for information on other graphic configurations),
OS release 8.01 or later ( 'uname -r' to get OS level), Phigs runtime
will be required for systems using H/W rendering, 16 MB memory
minimum, 32 MB recommended, installation uses about 40 MB disk,
CRX will use the S/W renderer ( others will support H/W rendering
when appropriate), monochrome is not supported.

IBM - Available now - RS6000 workstations, models 3xx, 5xx or
7xx, 8-bit Color Graphics Display adapter, High Performance 3D
24-bit Color Graphics Processor with Z buffer option, GTO 3D 24-bit
Graphics adapter with Z buffer (a.k.a. Supergraphics Subsystem),
(call for information on other graphic configurations), AIX release
3.1.5 w/2006 patch tape and APAR#: a19758 (X server), use
command 'lslpp -h bos.obj' which should show release
03.01.0006.0008 as active, use command 'lsdev -C -c adapter' to see
graphics configuration, 16 MB memory minimum, 32 MB
recommended, installation uses about 40 MB disk, hardware
rendering is only on 24-bit Z buffered systems, specify SW
renderer on all systems without 24-bit Z buffering, AIX 3.1.5
X server is limited to 8-bit pseudocolor visuals, images are then dithered.

SUN - Available now - Sun SPARC workstations 1, 1+, 2 supporting
the sun4/sun4c applications architecture, 8-bit frame buffers (GX,
CG3, etc), GS and GT graphics after OpenWindows version 3 is
available from Sun ( first quarter 92), Sun OS 4.1.1 w/ 100299-01
patch or later, use command /usr/etc/showrev to get revision
levels, 8-bit frame buffers require OpenWindows version 2 with
X server installed, 16 MB minimum, 24 or 32 MB recommended,
installation uses about 38 MB disk, strongly recommend
increasing shared memory segment and swap space size per
release notes, 8-bit graphics boards ( GX, CG3, etc) always uses
S/W renderer, H/W rendering systems will use XGL graphics, S/W
render also available

Wavetracer - to provide users with logical and uniform access
to Wavetracer's three-dimensional and massively parallel Data
Transport Computer (DTC) and advanced software tools, AVS modules
are currently being ported to make use of the DTC.  The DTC
is a three dimensional, massively parallel computer.  It has
a 3D computing architecture, high data capacity and bandwidth,
high I/O bandwidth, ultra finegrained parallellism and low cost
of ownership.  It easily connects to a host UNIX workstation
via an industry-standard SCSI interface.  The processing
resources of the DTC are integrated into the host's software
and network environment by multiC, a powerful data-parallel
extension of ANSI C.
How do I download modules from the International AVS Center, or submit
modules, or get a list of the currently available modules:how_download:
 ___________________________________________________________________ 

6.	 How do I download modules from the International AVS Center,
	 or submit modules, or get a list of the currently available
	 modules ?

        There is an AVS_README file which should answer
these and many other questions for you.  To obtain a
copy of this file, there are two methods currently
available and a third method under development.  Mail
sent to avsemail@ncsc.org will automatically retrieve
a response which includes the AVS_README file and
also a current module catalog.  Or you can ftp to
avs.ncsc.org, login with anonymous as your userid and
your own userid as the password, and get the AVS_README
file and the AVS_CATALOG file from there.  For those users
without ftp capability, there is a tape ordering system
being developed at the International AVS Center.
When I try to run AVS on a remote machine and display the output on an X
server, I get a message saying Client unauthorized to connect to server.
How do I fix this:x_help:
 ___________________________________________________________________ 

7.	 When I try to run AVS on a remote machine and display the output
	 on an X server, I get a message saying Client unauthorized to
	 connect to server. How do I fix this ?

        The xhost command will let your server know its
OK for your remote machine to display there.  In the
file read in when you boot up X (for example, on a Titan
.xsession, on a Sun .xinitrc), add the line:

        xhost <Client1 machine name> <Client2 machine name> ...
Is there sample AVS data available:sample_data:
 ___________________________________________________________________ 

8.	 Is there sample AVS data available ?

        Using anonymous ftp to avs.ncsc.org, you can then
cd to AVS_SAMP_DATA.  This directory is for sample data that
has been donated without any modules.  No tests have been made
on this data, so use it at your own risk.  This is simply to
allow you to get your hands on a variety of different data types
for experimentation purposes.
When I try to ftp to avs.ncsc.org, I get terminated before I get
connected.  What am I doing wrong:ftp_help:
 ___________________________________________________________________ 

9.	 When I try to ftp to avs.ncsc.org, I get terminated before I get
	 connected. What am I doing wrong ?

        Possibly your host machine isn't a registered
internet site.  In such a case, the IP address can't be
mapped by our machine into a valid hostname.  Speak to the
person in charge of your network about making sure it is
correctly registered.
What is the procedure to add a question to this FAQ file:add_faq:
 ___________________________________________________________________ 

10.	 What is the procedure to add a question to this FAQ file ?

        Please submit your suggestion for this FAQ file via
email to avs@ncsc.org.  Your question and answer will quite possibly
show up in this file shortly thereafter.
Why should I submit a module to the International AVS Center:why_submit:
 ___________________________________________________________________ 

11.	 Why should I submit a module to the International AVS Center ?

        Donating a module to the International AVS Center benefits
the entire AVS user community by facilitating further use of AVS to
visualize complex scientific phenomena.  Any module that is not
donated may be rewritten elsewhere - wasting someone's
valuble time - hindering further development of other module
capabilities for everyone's benefit.
Where can I find more information on AVS in published literature:references:
 ___________________________________________________________________ 

12.	 Where can I find more information on AVS in published
	 literature ?

Here is a short (no doubt incomplete!) reference list:

Upson, Craig, Thomas Faulhaber, Jr., David Kamins, David Laidlaw,
David Schlegel, Jeffrey Vroom, Robert Gurwitz and Andries van Dam.
"The Application Visualization System:  A Computational Environment
for Scientific Visualization."  IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications
(July 1989), Vol.9, No.4, pp 30-42.

Currington, I., Coutant, M., "AVS - A Flexible Interactive Distributed
Environment for Scientific Visualisation Applications", Second
Eurographics Workshop on Visualization in Scientific Computing, April,
1991

VandeWettering, "The Application Visualization System - AVS 2.0",
PIXEL, July/August, 1990

Garrity, M., "Raytracing Irregular Volume Data", San Diego Workshop
on Volume Visualization, Dec, 1990

Gelberg, L., Kamins, D., Vroom, J., "VEX: A Volume Exploratorium",
Chapel Hill Workshop on Volume Visualization, May 1989

Gelberg, L., et al, "Visualization Techniques for Structured and
Unstructured Scientific Data", Course Notes, SIGGRAPH '90 Course
"State of the Art in Data Visualization"

Mathias, C., "Visualization Techniques Augment Research into Structure
of Adenovirus", Scientific Computing & Automation, April, 1991

Parker, D., Lin, Y., "The Application Visualization System for Finite
Element Analysis", Banff Conference on FEA, May, 1990

Upson, C., "Scientific Visualization Environments for the
Computational Sciences", Proceedings of the 34th IEEE Computer Society
International Conference - Spring, 1989

Craig Upson, "Tools for Creating Visions," UNIX REVIEW,
Vol.8, No.8, pp. 39-47.

Calvert, Brian "Interactive Analysis of Multidimensional Data", Masters Thesis
University of Illinois Department of Computer Science, 1991.
What is WAIS and how can I use it at the International AVS Center:what_is_wais
 ___________________________________________________________________ 

13.	 What is WAIS and how can I use it at the International AVS Center ?

There is now a WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers) server running
at the International AVS Center.  WAIS allows a user to ask
a question to a server, which provides a ranked list of documents
that may help answer that question.  The user can then peruse
through the documents that seem useful.  

All of the .txt files for AVS modules freely available on the 
International AVS Center's anonymous ftp site have been indexed, 
as well as informational files such as AVS_README and FAQ.  
WAIS should prove more and more useful as the AVS module repository
becomes larger.  It provides a convienient interface to large amounts
of data.

For a more thorough discussion of WAIS and how you can use it
to peruse the files at the International AVS Center, please check 
the file WHAT_IS_WAIS on avs.ncsc.org.
*******************************************************************************


From thune@afrodite.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Nils Thune)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: LUI functions
Message-ID: <1992Jun3.141749.4314@alf.uib.no>
Date: 3 Jun 92 14:17:49 GMT
Sender: thune@afrodite (Nils Thune)
Organization: University of Bergen, Norway
Lines: 16

In the track2d module there's a lot of LUI_... function calls. Where can I find the manual pages for these functions ?
-- 



- Nils

--------------------------------
Nils Thune                      
Dept. of Science and Technology 
Christian Michelsen Research    
N-5036 Fantoft, Bergen, Norway  
Email: thune@cmi.no             
Phone: 05 574355                
Fax  : 05 574001                
--------------------------------


From baird@thor.pnl.gov (DB Baird)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: thanks for the start
Message-ID: <1992Jun3.152849.27697@oracle.pnl.gov>
Date: 3 Jun 92 15:28:49 GMT
Article-I.D.: oracle.1992Jun3.152849.27697
Sender: news@oracle.pnl.gov
Reply-To: baird@thor.pnl.gov
Organization: Pacific Northwest Laboratories
Lines: 7

I would like to thank everyone for the quick reply.  I went out and got the Sphere module and the .geom files of the world features.  They both seem to fit the bill.  I now have to write a field discriptor to read my data in.  My next concern is to verify
that my lat/long data is over laid correctly on the .geom files.  I have to wait till my users manual finds its way back to my office to write field discriptor.

This looks like something good might come of this!

daryl 'bam bam' baird
baird@thor.pnl.gov


From loyr@nova.cs.rpi.edu (Raymond Loy)
Subject: AVS4 enhancements to UCD
Message-ID: <#lfwpm-@rpi.edu>
Nntp-Posting-Host: nova.cs.rpi.edu
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY
Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1992 16:32:06 GMT
Lines: 16


According to the AVS 4 Overview:

>Numerous new modules are available with AVS4.  Also, many existing
>modules have been significantly enhanced.  Particularly notable are the
>performance and functionality enhancements made to the UCD module set.


We're still on AVS3 here, and we're trying to decide if we should
upgrade to AVS4.  Could someone who has AVS4 describe the UCD
module enhancements?  I'm especially interested in enhancements to deal
with cell-oriented data.


Thank you.
Ray


From madhatta@athena.mit.edu (Thomas S Yates)
Subject: Re: DecAVS
Message-ID: <1992Jun3.170046.11993@athena.mit.edu>
Sender: madhatta@teaparty.mit.edu <The Mad Hatter>
Nntp-Posting-Host: e40-008-13.mit.edu
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
References: <rcion.707499776@rw9.urc.tue.nl>
Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1992 17:00:46 GMT
Lines: 41

In article <rcion.707499776@rw9.urc.tue.nl> rcion@urc.tue.nl writes:
>
>Does anyone have some information over those problems :
>
>1.What is the newest version for AVS available for Decstations ?
>
>2.How fast works this version ( by example on Dec 5000) ?
>  It is fast enough for real time visualization ?
>
>3.It is possible to make video animation on Decstations, and what
>  conditions are necessary ?
>

we have AVS running on three DECs, a 5000/125PXG, a 5000/200PX and a
5000/240PX (yes, i shall be swapping the video boards round once all else
is happy).  it's AVS 3.0, and works pretty well on the machines.  on the
125 and the 200 it's fast enough for real time work, there are problems with
the 240 so cannot comment there.  it is possible to make video animation,
we have been assured by DEC, they can do a little card that allows direct
video making which they originally priced us at about $2000 but since we
decided we didn't want it i can't comment on how real it is.

they claim AVS4 will be shipping by the end of the year.

the data sets we work with are gridded data 132x132x40 or thereabouts,
voctor and scalar data.  AVS occasionally dies for no apparent reason but
not often enough to really grieve us.  it eats swap space like no bugger's
business so allow for a large internal disc, plus the X server clogs from
not releasing once-allocated memory so you have to shut the server down
every so often.

hope some of this is useful, feel free to mail me with any further
questions.

tom

--
 ---------Coming to you from the keyboard of Tom Yates, The Mad Hatter---------
|Physical Oceanography Group, EAPS Dept., Room 54-1420, MIT, Cambridge, MA02139|
|          email: madhatta@plume.mit.edu  | 'phone: +1 617 - 253 1291          |
|                       DoD#0135 | 1986 FJ1200 | MAG#65061                     |


From enxing@btlnck.enet.dec.com (Hugh Enxing)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Re: DecAVS
Message-ID: <7008@shodha.enet.dec.com>
Date: 3 Jun 92 18:04:48 GMT
References: <rcion.707499776@rw9.urc.tue.nl> <1992Jun3.170046.11993@athena.mit.edu>
Sender: news@shodha.enet.dec.com
Reply-To: enxing@btlnck.enet.dec.com (Hugh Enxing)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Lines: 13

In article <1992Jun3.170046.11993@athena.mit.edu>, madhatta@athena.mit.edu (Thomas S Yates) writes:
|> 
|> they claim AVS4 will be shipping by the end of the year.
|> 

No, it will be shipping by early July.

Hugh Enxing
Digital Equipment Corporation
110 Spit Brook Road
Nashua, NH   03062
(603)881-0939
enxing@dssdev.enet.dec.com


From tvv@doppler.ncsc.org (Terry Myerson)
Subject: new module at IAC
Message-ID: <BpAFM6.M45@doppler.ncsc.org>
Organization: North Carolina Supercomputing Center
Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1992 20:58:54 GMT

NAME
	compute shade - combined colorizer/compute gradient/gradient shade module

AUTHORS
	Robert Mazaika, Larry Gelberg - Advanced Visual Systems Inc.

SUMMARY
	Name	compute shade
	Type	Filter
	Inputs	input - 	field 3D 1-vector byte REQUIRED
		colormap - 	colormap (OPTIONAL)
		xform - 	field 2D 1-vector float (OPTIONAL)

	Outputs	output - 	field 3D 4-vector byte

	Parameters
	Name		Type	Default  Min     Max
	ambient		dial	 0.10	 0.00	 1.00
	diffuse		dial	 0.80	 0.00	 1.00
	specular	dial	 0.00	 0.00	 1.00
	gloss		dial	20.00	 0.00	50.00
	lt theta	dial	 0.00	 0.00	 1.00
	lt off_ctr	dial	 0.00	-90.00	90.00

DESCRIPTION

This module combines the functions of the colorizer, compute gradient,
and gradient shade modules into a single, memory efficient module.
These modules are used primarily to make shaded, ray-traced images.
The problem is that they are highly inefficient in terms of memory
allocation:

	colorizer takes in a 1 byte per voxel and outputs 4 bytes per voxel
	compute gradient takes in 1 byte per voxel and outputs 12 (3 floats)
	gradient shade outputs 4 bytes per voxel

These three modules produce 20 bytes for every input data set byte.
It is for this reason that some people have experienced problems
trying to render ray castings of large data sets - the tracing code is
pretty computationally efficient - it's just that most of the system
resources go to swapping data, rather than computing the image.

The COMPUTE SHADE module does gradient computation, colorizing, and
shading on a per slice basis.  All in all, it takes less time than
running the original three modules in sequence.  However, it does take
longer than running only gradient shade alone.

Therefore, it is most useful for extremely large data sets (> 100 *
100 * 100 voxels)  which would normally choke a system's memory rather
than small data sets.

INPUTS
input - field 3D 1-vector byte - the input data set to be shaded

colormap - optional - leave it out, and the image is grey scale with a
linear opacity map

xform - field 2D 1-vector float - optional - a 4x4 transformation
matrix which normally comes from either DISPLAY TRACKER (upstream
data) or EULER TRANSFORMATION.  Leave this out, and the light source
comes from the (object's) positive Z direction.

PARAMETERS
The way in which all the following parameters determine the coloring
of an object is described below.

     ambient
          The contribution of ambient (uniform background) lighting to the
          color.  When this is set to 0.0, all surfaces facing away from
          the light source are black. When this is set to 1.0, surfaces
          appear in their own colors, with no shading information present.

     diffuse
          The contribution of diffuse (directional) lighting to the color.

     specular
          The contribution of specular lighting to the color.

     gloss
          The sharpness of the specular highlight. The larger this value,
          the smaller and sharper the specular highlights.

     lt off-ctr
          The angle between the light source and the positive Z axis (which
          comes out of the screen at a right angle).

     lt theta
          The angle between (1) the projection of the light source on the
          X-Y plane and (2) the positive Y axis. This value measures how
          much an off-center light source "swings around" the Z-axis.

          With lt theta = 0.0 and lt off-ctr = 0.0, the light source is
          coming straight from the eye perpendicular to the data. A
          positive off-ctr value moves the light source "up" (in the
          positive Y direction); a negative value moves it "down".

     The equation for calculating the intensity of light reflected by a
     spot of surface is:

          Intensity = Ia*Ka + Il*Kd*cos(phi) + Il*Ks*cos**e(alpha)

OUTPUTS
output - field 3D 4-vector byte - each voxel becomes a colorized,
shaded voxel suitable for feeding into TRACER.

EXAMPLE NETWORK 1:
This is the fastest way of generating an image:

	GENERATE COLORMAP 	READ VOLUME
	        |_______     _______|
			|   |
		     COMPUTE SHADE
			  |
		        TRACER
			  |
		   DISPLAY TRACKER
		
EXAMPLE NETWORK 2:
This is a good network for making a ray-traced animation where the
volume rotates, and the light source stays fixed relative to the eye.
The ANIMATED FLOAT module controls one of the axis parameters for 
EULER TRANSFORMATION (this gives you the rotation).  The IMAGE VIEWER
Action menu is used to store up the frames for cycling through (making
a flipbook animation).

	         GENERATE COLORMAP 	READ VOLUME
ANIMATED FLOAT	          |                   |
      |			  |   ________________|
EULER TRANSFORMATION	  |   |
      |________________	  |   |
      |               |	  |   |
      |		     COMPUTE SHADE
      |________________	  |
		      |   |
		      TRACER
			|
		   IMAGE VIEWER

This may take a while for large data sets since for every angle, the
COMPUTE SHADE module will refire.  To avoid this, disconnect the EULER
TRANSFORMATION module from COMPUTE SHADE.  The disadvantage now is
that the light source stays fixed relative to the object, not the eye.
		
SEE ALSO
-- 
Terry Myerson
International AVS Center
North Carolina Supercomputing Center
avs@ncsc.org


From elessar@physics.unc.edu (Shawn Mehan)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Re: DecAVS
Message-ID: <1992Jun4.005137.23389@samba.oit.unc.edu>
Date: 4 Jun 92 00:51:37 GMT
References: <rcion.707499776@rw9.urc.tue.nl> <1992Jun3.170046.11993@athena.mit.edu>
Sender: elessar@ncsc.org
Followup-To: Latest Version AVS for DEC
Distribution: comp.graphics.avs
Organization: North Carolina Supercomputing Center
Lines: 12
Nntp-Posting-Host: augustus.physics.unc.edu

I don't allocate the software, I just use it, but my
DEC 5000 is running AVS4. All our machines are running
AVS4, 'cept the CONVEX and we supposedly got that
on tape a couple of days ago. Maybe we are special
since we are the International Center....maybe not.

-disclaimer I do not represent official ncsc dogma....
******************** !-> ;-) 8<) :-)  ***********************
Name: Shawn Ray Mehan         email: elessar@ncsc.org
Office: NCSC 111              School: UNC, Phillips 210 
Phone: (919) 248 - 9209       School phone: (919) 962 - 2078
Advisor: Dr. Charles Evans, UNC School email:elessar@physics.unc.edu


From mark@ecurb.cs.monash.edu.au (Mark Goodwin)
Subject: Re: DecAVS
Message-ID: <mark.707615686@bruce.cs.monash.edu.au>
Sender: news@bruce.cs.monash.edu.au (USENET News System)
Organization: Computer Science, Monash University, Australia
References: <rcion.707499776@rw9.urc.tue.nl> <1992Jun3.170046.11993@athena.mit.edu>
Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1992 23:54:46 GMT
Lines: 16

madhatta@athena.mit.edu (Thomas S Yates) writes:

>the data sets we work with are gridded data 132x132x40 or thereabouts,
>voctor and scalar data.  AVS occasionally dies for no apparent reason but
>not often enough to really grieve us.  it eats swap space like no bugger's
>business so allow for a large internal disc, plus the X server clogs from
>not releasing once-allocated memory so you have to shut the server down
>every so often.

We found that AVS dies a horrible death when the root file system is full
(because it needs to create lots of sockets in /tmp).


Mark Goodwin,
Monash Uni. Comp. Sci.
A U S T R A L I A


From stearman@mr4dec.enet.dec.com (Susan Stearman)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Re: DecAVS
Message-ID: <1992Jun3.190247.15251@ryn.mro4.dec.com>
Date: 4 Jun 92 02:03:08 GMT
References: <rcion.707499776@rw9.urc.tue.nl>
Sender: news@ryn.mro4.dec.com (USENET News System)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Lines: 43


In article <rcion.707499776@rw9.urc.tue.nl>, rcion@rw9.urc.tue.nl (Ion Barosan) writes...
> 
>Does anyone have some information over those problems :
> 
>1.What is the newest version for AVS available for Decstations ?
> 

	DEC AVS V4.0 is planned to ship in July

>2.How fast works this version ( by example on Dec 5000) ?
>  It is fast enough for real time visualization ?
> 

	We have several customers using DEC AVS for real time work and
	seem to be pleased with the performance

>3.It is possible to make video animation on Decstations, and what
>  conditions are necessary ?
> 

	The folks at MIT's Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences Dept
	have written an AVS module to drive the Folsom Research scan
	converter.  They run their simulations overnight to video and each
	morning can view the new video tape!

	I believe they have submitted this module to the Int. AVS Center

>Thanks in advance .
> 

	You're welcome,
	_Susan 

>-Ion Barosan.
>-- 
>internet: rcion@urc.tue.nl     | Ion Barosan           Room  RC 1.88
>                                | Eindhoven University of  Technology
>phone:    +31 (0)40 472154      | P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, NL
Susan Stearman
stearman@mr4dec.enet.dec.com
Visualization Applications Marketing
Digital Equipment Corp.


From baird@thor.pnl.gov (DB Baird)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Re: Using Lat/Long Data
Message-ID: <1992Jun4.154005.21014@oracle.pnl.gov>
Date: 4 Jun 92 15:40:05 GMT
Article-I.D.: oracle.1992Jun4.154005.21014
References: <1992Jun2.205529.19605@ctr.columbia.edu>
Sender: news@oracle.pnl.gov
Reply-To: baird@thor.pnl.gov
Organization: Pacific Northwest Laboratory
Lines: 19

It is me again, Mr. lat/long.  Things are going quite well.  I have written a little C routine that reads in my data sets.  I still have to wrap it in a module.  The Sphere
module seems to be going a good job, but I seek more enlightenment on the subject.  I was going to mail D.Le Corre directly , but information might be good for all.  Here is what I need to know.

This is how my data is set up:

Longitudes:  288 bins centered on 179.375 W to 179.375 E  (1.25 degree steps)
Latitudes :  180 bins centered on  89.5   S to  89.5   N  (1.00 degree steps)

As I understand things, which is limited at best, if I say my field type is rectilinear
then my coordinates become lat/long values.  What I have done is have my LAT values go from -89.5 to 89.5 and LONG values go from -179.375 to 179.375.  Does this match up with the Sphere module or do you let LONG values go from 0 to 360 or something else??

How will this map line up with the world .geom files?
Is there some translation that I need to do on my own?

Thanks for your time.  Please feel free to email me directly if you don't wish
to post.

daryl 'bam bam' baird
baird@thor.pnl.gov


From peters@convex.com (James Peters)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Why rectilinear fields?
Message-ID: <1992Jun04.171200.7682@convex.com>
Date: 4 Jun 92 17:12:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: convex.1992Jun04.171200.7682
Sender: usenet@convex.com (news access account)
Organization: CONVEX Computer Corporation, Richardson, Tx., USA
Lines: 9
Nntp-Posting-Host: mikey.convex.com
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.

hello all,

why do rectilinear fields exist and who actually uses them?

this question was debated last night at our dallas area avs user
group and no satifactory answer could be given. 

regards,
james, peters@convex.com


From xrcjd@mudpuppy.gsfc.nasa.gov (Charles J. Divine)
Subject: Re: Why rectilinear fields?
Message-ID: <1992Jun4.181409.24680@nsisrv.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Sender: usenet@nsisrv.gsfc.nasa.gov (Usenet)
Nntp-Posting-Host: mudpuppy.gsfc.nasa.gov
Organization: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD
References: <1992Jun04.171200.7682@convex.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Jun 1992 18:14:09 GMT
Lines: 17

In article <1992Jun04.171200.7682@convex.com> peters@convex.com (James Peters) writes:
>hello all,
>
>why do rectilinear fields exist and who actually uses them?

Much data is collected in this manner.  Why?  Conceivably the answer goes
back to well before computer days when simple XY graphs were used to 
analyze data.  I know I did a great deal of that kind of work as a physics
undergraduate (back in the days before college students had routine access
to computers).

Who uses such data today?  I see many scientists here at Goddard and elsewhere
using data organized in such fashion.


-- 
Chuck Divine


From stgprao@xing.unocal.com (Richard Ottolini)
Subject: Re: Why rectilinear fields?
Message-ID: <1992Jun4.182442.27932@unocal.com>
Originator: stgprao@xing
Sender: news@unocal.com (Unocal USENET News)
Organization: Unocal Corporation
References: <1992Jun04.171200.7682@convex.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Jun 1992 18:24:42 GMT
Lines: 13

In article <1992Jun04.171200.7682@convex.com> peters@convex.com (James Peters) writes:
>hello all,
>
>why do rectilinear fields exist and who actually uses them?

(1) They are an intermediate step in terms of coding between evenly
sampled arrays and full curvilinear arrays.

(2) There is an application in seismology (though I haven't used it yet).
A full 2-D array may recorded with uneven sampling in x and z (geophones
are placed unevenly in x; depths depended a velocity(z)).
One woul only need to specify coordinate spacing along the two axes instead
of every sample point.


From srinivas@lgc.com (Manapragada Srinivas)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Re: Why rectilinear fields?
Message-ID: <1992Jun5.000500.14957@lgc.com>
Date: 5 Jun 92 00:05:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: lgc.1992Jun5.000500.14957
References: <1992Jun04.171200.7682@convex.com>
Sender: usenet@lgc.com
Organization: Landmark Graphics Corporation
Lines: 17
Nntp-Posting-Host: zuni.lgc.com

Uses of Rectilinear fields:

I deal with large 3D data sets, from which I extract surfaces and render them.
Often the area of interest is a small region within the data set, so I decimate
the data by factors of 2 sometimes even higher, around this region, ofcourse
a irregular field might serve my purpose but then the size of coordinate array
becomes too large, the rectilinear fields are the only workable solution in
this case. This preserves the overall nature of data without any loss at the
actual region of interest. Though, apart from this I have never used the
rectilinear data of dimensions >= 2 for any other purpose. 1D rectilinear
fields are very useful and I use them when constructing graphs.

Srinivas R. Manapragada
G&M Group
Landmark/LGC
--
Yonder, beyond the event horizon!


From tvv@doppler.ncsc.org (Terry Myerson)
Subject: READ ANY IMAGE ported to DEC and IBM
Message-ID: <BpCoDD.CE5@doppler.ncsc.org>
Organization: North Carolina Supercomputing Center
Date: Fri, 5 Jun 1992 02:03:13 GMT

Hi folks -

The modules READ_ANY_IMAGE which allows you to read in just about
any image type ( based on the SDSC image tools ) now works on the
IBM RS 6000 and DEC 5000.  The previous version which 133 people
have had a bug in the TagTableQDirect call - there was actually
a bug in the documentation that incorrectly stated the function
prototype.

This module will work on the Sun DEC and IBM workstations.

There is a corresponding WRITE_ANY_IMAGE module.

Enjoy -

terry

---
Terry Myerson
International AVS Center
avs@ncsc.org
-- 
Terry Myerson
International AVS Center
North Carolina Supercomputing Center
avs@ncsc.org


From thorpe@doppler.ncsc.org (Steve Thorpe)
Subject: cloud/weather modeling
Message-ID: <BpDKtt.2ny@doppler.ncsc.org>
Summary: looking for collaborators
Organization: North Carolina Supercomputing Center
Date: Fri, 5 Jun 1992 13:44:17 GMT

Hi Folks,

Is there anyone that would be interested in collaborating
with Janet?  Thanks!

-Steve
----------------------------------------------------------------
   Steve Thorpe, Application Visualization System Specialist
International AVS Center, North Carolina Supercomputing Center
PO Box 12889   3021 Cornwallis Rd, RTP, NC 27709   avs@ncsc.org
----------------------------------------------------------------
>User: jljensen@crdec6.apgea.army.mil
>Submission Date: Fri May  1 16:29:44 EDT 1992
>Keywords:
>Problem Status: resolved
>Problem # 483 :
>
>Anybody out there doing cloud/weather modeling?
>Or know of anyone doing this type of work?
>My group is searching for some expertise in this arena.
>Form of collaboration is negotiable.
>
>Thanks,
>Janet Jensen
>e-mail:   jljensen@crdec6.apgea.army.mil
>phone:    (410) 671-5836/5561




From John Stanley <stanley@oce.orst.edu>
Subject: CFV: sci.image.processing
Message-ID: <1992Jun4.194343.1592@uunet.uu.net>
Followup-To: poster
Sender: tale@uunet.uu.net (David C Lawrence)
Reply-To: mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu
Organization: oce.orst.edu
Date: Thu, 4 Jun 1992 19:43:43 GMT
Lines: 130

NAME:    sci.image.processing

STATUS:  Unmoderated

One line description for the List of Active Newsgroups:

sci.image.processing	Scientific image processing and analysis

CHARTER: 

sci.image.processing provides a forum for discussion of the scientific
uses of image processing and analysis.  Discussions of algorithms
and application programs are appropriate, with emphasis on solving real
world image processing problems.  Discussions of computer graphics,
visualization, output, window systems, communications, etc. are not
appropriate.  Posting of images is strongly discouraged.  Images should
be posted to alt.binaries.pictures.misc, or made available for FTP.

This group will take a broad definition of the term image processing.
Most topics related to the formation and analysis of images
are appropriate so long as a more focused newsgroup does not exist.  
This presently excludes topics such as computer vision (comp.ai.vision)
and image compression per se (comp.compression), but not topics such
as image detectors or calibration of imaging equipment.  Obviously, 
topics such as the impact of lossy image compression on image processing 
algorithms or the use of AI to analyze scientific images are not excluded.

One purpose is to develop and maintain Frequently Asked Question (FAQ)
articles on the subject.  Another is to provide a forum where 
experimentalists learn about image processing algorithms while computer 
scientists hear about the uses to which generic algorithms are put, or 
the requirements of  a specific application.  Both will discuss what can
and cannot be done to improve image quality before and during processing.

The "IEEE Transactions on Image Processing" gives a list of topics 
which they consider appropriate for that journal.  Some of those 
topics are also appropriate here:

Image Processing
  Coding                           Filtering           Enhancement
  Restoration                      Segmentation       
  Multiresolution Processing       Multispectral Processing  
  Image Representation             Image Analysis
  Interpolation and Spatial Transformations
  Motion Detection and Estimation  Image Sequence Processing
  Video Signal Processing          Noise Modeling
  Architectures and Software
Computed Imaging
  Acoustic Imaging                 Radar Imaging        Tomography
  Magnetic Resonance Imaging       Geophysical and Seismic Imaging
	 Radio Astronomy                	  Speckle Imaging
	 Computer Holography              	Confocal Microscopy
 	Electron Microscopy              	X-ray Crystallography
	 Coded-Aperture Imaging           	Real-Aperture Arrays


RATIONALE:

While some existing newsgroups carry traffic related to image processing,
there are many aspects to scientific imaging and no newsgroup addresses
more than a few of them.  Image processing is usually carried out by 
software, but many questions appropriate to this group have little or 
nothing to do with software.

By placing the group in the sci.* hierarchy, it should be clear to
new users that the the group is not limited to software or algorithms.
This placement also allows for the future discussion of a sci.image.* 
hierarchy with minimal upheaval.

An unmoderated group is needed to permit rapid responses to queries.
A focused, medium noise group is needed in order to attract and retain 
the readership which is essential to obtaining knowledgeable answers.

VOTING INSTRUCTIONS:

Do not post your vote, it will not be counted. The reply-to address of
this posting should point to the correct place, but double check your
mail before sending to make sure.

To cast a vote, send mail to

   "mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu"

with ONE of the following strings (you don't need the quotes)

   "vote sci.image.processing yes"
   "vote sci.image.processing no"

on a line by itself in the subject field or body of the message, where

"yes" means that you DO     want sci.image.processing created.
"no"  means that you DO NOT want sci.image.processing created.

* The deadline is 11:59:59 PM Tue 30-Jun-1992, EDT (GMT - 4).
* The mail server will reply within two hours confirming your vote.
  If no confirmation is received (allowing for normal E-mail round
  trip time), you may inquire at postmaster@pit-manager.mit.edu to 
  verify that the vote was received.
* If your mail message contains a signature, then be sure to put the
  string "quit" before it to prevent the mail server from being confused.
* DO NOT mail votes to John Stanley <stanley@oce.orst.edu>
* DO NOT mail votes to jik@mit.edu.
* DO NOT include any message in your vote (it won't be read).
* Offically, the vote is being run by John Stanley <stanley@oce.orst.edu>
  However, the collection and automation of the vote taking process is
  kindly being performed by Jonathan Kamens (jik@mit.edu).

Note: due to limitations on the length of Newsgroups: lines in news
software, this CFV is being posted three times. The first posting will
be to the groups shown in the header of this posting, which will include
news.announce.newgroups and news.groups.

As soon as the CFV appears in news.announce.newsgroups, it will be posted
to the following additional groups:

     sci.astro,   sci.bio,    sci.math,   sci.med,   sci.research,
     sci.space,   sci.geo.geology,        sci.geo.meteorology, 
     sci.geo.fluids,          comp.infosystems.gis,  bionet.general,
     comp.graphics.avs,       comp.soft-sys.khoros

In addition, the CFV will be posted indivudually to the following moderated
groups:

  bionet.announce		biosci-announce-moderator@genbank.bio.net
  bionet.biology.computational	comp-bio-moderator@genbank.bio.net
  comp.ai.vision		vision-list@ads.com
  comp.graphics.research	graphics@scri1.scri.fsu.edu

This division is solely to bypass the limitations of line length in some
versions of news software.


From kevin@settech.settech.com (Kevin P. Meagher)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Set Technology
Date: Fri, 5 Jun 92 15:04:22 MDT
Organization: Set Technology Corporation
Message-ID: <0105001B.fkmxvb@settech.settech.com>
Reply-To: kevin@settech.settech.com (Kevin P. Meagher)
Distribution: world
X-Mailer: uAccess - Mac Release: 1.5
Lines: 12

In response to the questions about AVS availability, Set Technology
is currently shipping AVS 4.0 for our Intel 80486 systems.  Please
contact:

Set Technology
6595 Odell Place Suite G
Boulder, Colorado  80301
(303) 530-4009

Kevin Meagher

-------------------------------------
uunet!settech


From vachha@cisa.cis.uab.edu (Rustom (Yuppy) Vachha)
Subject: Monochrome to color
Message-ID: <1992Jun5.225222.16619@cis.uab.edu>
Originator: vachha@cisa
Sender: root@cis.uab.edu (Bruce Williams)
Organization: University of Alabama at Birmingham
Date: Fri, 5 Jun 1992 22:52:22 GMT
Lines: 13

Dear Netters:

I have recently been introduced to avs and find it real interesting.
I have an image file that contains 72 images of the ferret (animal) heart.
These images are monochrome. I want to COLORIZE them depending on the 
INTENSITY of the gray level. i.e. I want low intensities to be`
blue while high intensities to be say red.
How do I colorize my monochrome .x images so that I can colormap them to my 
specific needs?

Any pointers in this direction will be highly appreciated.
Thanks in advance
-Rustom Vachha


From woody@bdrc.bd.com (Woody Muller)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Re: DecAVS
Message-ID: <9560@bdrc.bdrc.bd.com>
Date: 5 Jun 92 18:17:55 GMT
References: <rcion.707499776@rw9.urc.tue.nl> <1992Jun3.170046.11993@athena.mit.edu> <7008@shodha.enet.dec.com>
Organization: Becton Dickinson Rsrch Cntr, RTP, NC
Lines: 14

I have heard from a reliable source that DEC AVS4 may ship without the
animation application, and that the application might not be available
on DECstations at all.  My attempts to find out more have been met with
smokescreens from both DEC and AVS.

I have no problem paying more money for it.  I saw it running in Beta
test at the International AVS Conference.  Can anybody shed any light
on this apparent contractual altercation between DEC and AVS Inc?

Woodster
-- 
--
woody@bdrc.bd.com
Disclaimer: I speak for myself only, and not for Becton Dickinson & Company.


From thorpe@doppler.ncsc.org (Steve Thorpe)
Subject: IAC Update
Message-ID: <BpFKLn.BvI@doppler.ncsc.org>
Summary: International AVS Center highlights
Keywords: modules, WAIS, comp.graphics.avs
Organization: North Carolina Supercomputing Center
Date: Sat, 6 Jun 1992 15:34:35 GMT

Hi AVSers,

The International AVS Center now has over 250 modules available on
our anonymous ftp site for you to make use of.  These can be obtained
via anonymous ftp to avs.ncsc.org.  Please see the file AVS_README at
that address for more information on the ftp site and the International
AVS Center, or send any message to avsemail@avs.ncsc.org for an automated
reply.

With so many modules available, it can be difficult to find the modules
you need to solve your particular problem.  To help you wade through
our ftp site, there is a Wide Area Information Server running.  WAIS
allows you to ask an English language query of the server, and a ranked
list of relevent documents is returned.  You can then retrieve the documents
that seem appropriate.

There are two WAIS indexes, or databases, that are available for your use.
One is an index of all of the .txt files that go along with the modules at
the ftp site, and other text files at the IAC.  The second index has just
been created - it is an archive of all of the postings to comp.graphics.avs
starting with May 1992 postings.

To get started with WAIS, please check out the WAIS client module on the
ftp site called awais.  This is an AVS module that will allow you to 
peruse through a wide variety of WAIS sources on the Internet, including
the International AVS Center's.

The remainder of this posting consists of highlights of recent contributions
to the ftp site, followed by a more detailed description of WAIS and how
it might help you.  Enjoy!

-Steve
----------------------------------------------------------------
   Steve Thorpe, Application Visualization System Specialist
International AVS Center, North Carolina Supercomputing Center
PO Box 12889   3021 Cornwallis Rd, RTP, NC 27709   avs@ncsc.org
----------------------------------------------------------------

Some of the modules added to the ftp site over the last week or so are:

Name        : compute_shade   Version      : 1.000     Mod Number : 1282
Author      : Robert Mazaika and Larry Gelberg, Advanced Visual Systems
Submitted   : 06/03/92        Last Updated : 06/03/92  Language   : C
Ported to   : Sun Kubota
Description : This module combines the functions of the colorizer,
              compute gradient, and gradient shade modules into a
              single, memory efficient module. These modules are used
              primarily to make shaded, ray-traced images. The problem
              is that they are highly inefficient in terms of memory
              allocation colorizer takes in a 1 byte per voxel and outputs
              4 bytes per voxel compute gradient takes in 1 byte per voxel
              and outputs 12 (3 floats) gradient shade outputs 4 bytes per
              voxel These three modules produce 20 bytes for every input
              data set byte. It is for this reason that some people have
              experienced problems trying to render ray castings of
              large data sets - the tracing code is pretty
              computationally efficient - it's just that most of the
              system resources go to swapping data, rather than
              computing the image. The COMPUTE SHADE module does
              gradient computation, colorizing, and shading on a per
              slice basis. All in all, it takes less time than running the
              original three modules in sequence. However, it does take
              longer than running only gradient shade alone.

Name        : Read_DXF        Version      : 1.000     Mod Number : 1281
Author      : John Sheehan, Advanced Visual Systems
Submitted   : 06/02/92        Last Updated : 06/02/92  Language   : C
Ported to   : DEC Kubota Convex
Description : Read DXF is a utility module for converting 2D and 3D DXF
              files into an AVS Geometry Data Type. If level information
              is available in the DXF file, Read DXF will use this to create
              separate objects. DXF is the file type for autoCAD output.
              Supported Entities LINE POLYLINE 3DFACE BLOCK LEVEL Read
              DXF can be easily modified to handle more primitives, ie.
              points, arcs, & circles. All of the DXF header information
              is overlooked. If Read DXF encounters a primitive it
              doesn't understand it dumps out a geometry of what it had
              generated to that point, plus a message with the code number
              , the command to interpret, and the current layer name.

Name        : loop_objects    Version      : 1.000     Mod Number : 1278
Author      : Phil McDonald, NOAA/ERL/Forecast Systems Laboratory
Submitted   : 05/29/92        Last Updated : 05/29/92  Language   : C
Ported to   : Kubota
Description : Loop objects is a coroutine module that provides a mild form
              of animation by providing the capability of looping a
              series of geometry objects. The result is that all of the
              controls (object, camera, and light transforms, etc.)
              that are available through the render geometry module
              remain available before, during, and after looping. The
              objects to be looped may be single objects or several
              objects grouped under a parent object. As each object (or
              family) is received, loop objects makes a note of it and
              creates a parent for it named "loop_objx", where x is the
              index of the object in the series. The entire series is given
              the parent "loop_objects". Animation is accomplished by
              altering the visibilities of the objects so that only one is
              visible at a time.

Name        : Life_WT         Version      : 1.000     Mod Number : 1280
Author      : Steve Thorpe, International AVS Center
Submitted   : 06/02/92        Last Updated : 06/02/92  Language   : multiC
Ported to   : Wavetracer IBM
Description : Life_WT is an implementation of the "Life" problem. This is
              an algorithm where "neighbors", or cells, propagate or
              die, based on the proximity of other living neighbors. In
              this case, a living neighbor is represented by a processor
              in the massively parrallel Wavetracer being "turned on".
              The thoughts behind the algorithm are If there are too many
              neighbors, a cell will die due to overcrowding. If there are
              too few neighbors, a cell will die due to lack of resources.
              The user is able to control the number of processors in the X
              direction, the number of processors in the Y direction, the
              number of generations to compute, and the number of
              generations to compute between outputs of an image. A
              oneshot parameter, "Go for it!!" is supplied to begin the
              execution of the module. Life_WT is written in multiC, a
              fully compatible extension of the ANSI C programming
              language. It was developed using a Data Transport Computer
              from Wavetracer, Inc.


There is now a WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers) server running
at the International AVS Center.  WAIS allows a user to ask
a question to a server, which provides a ranked list of documents
that may help answer that question.  The user can then peruse
through the documents that seem useful.  

All of the .txt files for AVS modules freely available on the 
International AVS Center's anonymous ftp site have been indexed, 
as well as informational files such as AVS_README and FAQ.  
WAIS should prove more and more useful as the AVS module repository
becomes larger.  It provides a convienient interface to large amounts
of data.

There is also an archive of comp.graphics.avs postings beginning
with May 1992 postings.

For example, I might be interested in JPEG files, so I might ask
the server the question: "Can I read or write JPEG files using AVS?"
A typical response from swais, a WAIS client that you could type
your question into, would be as shown below.  I could then select
any of these documents for viewing.

SWAIS                            Search Results                       Items: 40
  #    Score     Source                       Title                       Lines
001:   [1000] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  AVS_README   /src/avs/ftp/                 589
002:   [ 844] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  AVS_CATALOG   /src/avs/ftp/               2008
003:   [ 603] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  write_jpeg                                 459
004:   [ 592] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  read_jpeg                                  456
005:   [ 413] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  WHAT_IS_AVS   /src/avs/ftp/                290
006:   [ 380] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  FAQ   /src/avs/ftp/                        274
007:   [ 184] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  read_HDF_SDS                               198
008:   [ 184] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  read_abekas_                               116
009:   [ 178] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  read_tiff                                  225
010:   [ 173] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  read_shak                                  461
011:   [ 139] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  read_FLOW3D                                140
012:   [ 139] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  read_compres                                67
013:   [ 139] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  read_compres                                63
014:   [ 139] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  write_compres                               67
015:   [ 111] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  fast_animate                               109
016:   [ 106] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  animate_file                               177
017:   [ 100] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  write_abekas                                58
018:   [  89] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  read_16_bit_                                69
019:   [  89] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  read_sunras                                 63
020:   [  83] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  Image_Sequen                               219
021:   [  83] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  phoenics_int                                62
022:   [  83] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  write_irreg                                 58
023:   [  83] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  write_reg                                   58
024:   [  78] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  Keyframe_Ani                               777
025:   [  67] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  write_A60_yu                                44
026:   [  61] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  readFLOW3D                                  71
027:   [  55] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  Record_Anima                               301
028:   [  50] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  read_dyna3d                                 89
029:   [  50] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  read_gif                                    52
030:   [  50] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  cone                                        78
031:   [  44] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  field_conver                               132
032:   [  44] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  my_mirror                                   64
033:   [  44] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  new_crop                                   140
034:   [  44] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  3D_axis                                    174
035:   [  39] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  animate_floa                               274
036:   [  39] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  animate_inte                               274
037:   [  39] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  read_Dore_im                                24
038:   [  39] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  Iterate                                    128
039:   [  39] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  Stepper                                    115
040:   [  39] (  AVS_TXT_FILES)  collage                                     95

To get the WAIS client and server software, ftp to think.com,
login as anonymous, and get the compressed file wais/wais-8-b4.tar.Z.
In the same location, you can get a list of available sources from the
file wais-sources.tar.Z.  A "source" is a file needed by a WAIS client
(running on your local machine) to access a server running on a remote
(or local) machine.  

An overview of WAIS is provided below, in an article written by
Brewster Kahle of Thinking Machines.  Brewster is the Project 
Leader of the WAIS project.


		 Overview of Wide Area Information Servers
			      Brewster Kahle
				April 1991


The Wide Area Information Servers system is a set of products supplied by
different vendors to help end-users find and retrieve information over
networks.  Thinking Machines, Apple Computer, and Dow Jones initially
implemented such a system for use by business executives.  These products
are becoming more widely available from various companies.

What does WAIS do?
	Users on different platforms can access personal, company, and
published information from one interface.  The information can be anything:
text, pictures, voice, or formatted documents.  Since a single
computer-to-computer protocol is used, information can be stored anywhere
on different types of machines.  Anyone can use this system since it uses
natural language questions to find relevant documents.  Relevent documents
can be fed back to a server to refine the search.  This avoids complicated
query languages and vendor specific systems.  Successful searches can be
automatically run to alert the user when new information becomes available.


How does WAIS work?   
	The servers take a users question and do their best to find
relevant documents.  The servers, at this point, do not "understand" the
users english language question, rather they try to find documents that
contain those words and phrases and ranks then based on heuristics.  The
user interfaces (clients) talk to the servers using an extension to a
standard protocol Z39.50.  Using a public standard allows vendors to
compete with each other, while bypassing the usual proprietary protocol
period that slows development.  Thinking Machines is giving away an
implementation of this standard to help vendors develop clients and
servers.

What WAIS servers exist?   
	Even though the system is very new, there are already several
servers: 
  * Dow Jones is putting a server on their own DowVision network.
This server contains the Wall Street Journal, Barons, and 450 magazines.
This is a for-pay server.  
  * Thinking Machines operates a Connection Machine on the internet for
free use.  The databases it supports are some patents, a collection of
molecular biology abstracts, a cookbook, and the CIA World Factbook.  
  * MIT supports a poetry server with a great deal of classical and
modern poetry.  Cosmic is serving descriptions of government software
packages.  The Library of Congress has plans to make their catalog
available on the protocol.  
  * Weather maps and forecasts are made available by Thinking Machines as a
repackaging of existing information.  
  * The "directory of servers" facility is operated by Thinking Machines so
that new servers can be easily registered as either for-pay or for-free
servers and users can find out about these services.

How can I find out more about WAIS?   
	Contact Brewster Kahle for more information on the WAIS project,
the Connection Machine WAIS system, or the free Mac, Unix Server, and X
Window System interfaces.  There is a mailing list that has weekly postings
on progress and new releases; to subscribe send and email note to
wais-discussion-request@think.com.

Brewster Kahle
Project Leader
Wide Area Information Servers
Brewster@Think.com

The source file you will need to access the International AVS Center's 
archive of the module text files is "avs-txt-files.src" (NOT including 
the lines with the asterisks):

************************avs-txt-files.src***********************
(:source
   :version  3
   :database-name "/usr1/avs/wais-sources/AVS_TXT_FILES"
   :cost 0.00
   :cost-unit :free
   :maintainer "avs@doppler.ncsc.org"
   :ip-address "128.109.178.23"
   :ip-name "doppler.ncsc.org"
   :tcp-port 210
   :description "Server created with WAIS release 8 b4 on Apr 23 16:22:03 1992 by avs@doppler

        All of the .txt files for Application Visualization System
(AVS) modules freely available on the International AVS Center's
anonymous ftp site have been indexed, as well as informational
files such as AVS_README and FAQ.  The anonymous ftp site can be
accessed at avs.ncsc.org.

        Please send email to avsemail@ncsc.org for an automated reply
with information about the International AVS Center and how you can
make use of it.

        Please send questions for the International AVS Center to
avs@ncsc.org.
"
)
****************************************************************

The source file you will need to access the International AVS Center's 
archive of the postings to comp.graphics.avs is "cg_avs_files.src" 
(NOT including the lines with the asterisks):

************************cg_avs_files.src************************
(:source 
   :version  3 
   :database-name "/usr1/avs/wais-sources/cg_avs_files"
   :cost 0.00 
   :cost-unit :free 
   :maintainer "avs@doppler.ncsc.org"
   :ip-address "128.109.178.23"
   :ip-name "doppler.ncsc.org"
   :tcp-port 210
   :description "Server created with WAIS release 8 b4 on Jun  6 10:35:11 1992 by avs@doppler

        An archive of postings to the newsgroup comp.graphics.avs
has been indexed, starting with May 1992 postings. 

        Please send email to avsemail@ncsc.org for an automated reply
with information about the International AVS Center and how you can
make use of it and our anonymous ftp site.

        Please send questions for the International AVS Center to
avs@ncsc.org.
"
)
****************************************************************


From woody@wolves.uucp (Woody Muller)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Re: DecAVS
Message-ID: <1992Jun6.201245.9701@wolves.uucp>
Date: 6 Jun 92 20:12:45 GMT
References: <rcion.707499776@rw9.urc.tue.nl> <1992Jun3.190247.15251@ryn.mro4.dec.com>
Organization: Wolves Den UNIX, Durham NC
Lines: 26
X-Md4-Signature: a0ddadee1fff2192048f5323e0b747db

In <1992Jun3.190247.15251@ryn.mro4.dec.com> stearman@mr4dec.enet.dec.com (Susan Stearman) writes:

>>2.How fast works this version ( by example on Dec 5000) ?
>>  It is fast enough for real time visualization ?
>
>	We have several customers using DEC AVS for real time work and
>	seem to be pleased with the performance
>
>>3.It is possible to make video animation on Decstations, and what
>>  conditions are necessary ?
>	The folks at MIT's Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences Dept
>	have written an AVS module to drive the Folsom Research scan
>	converter.

Thanks, Susan.  But the question remains unanswered.  Tell us, will
the Animation Application be there for us?  Or just for the MIT people
who have the patience to code around DEC's software gaps?!

Will the Animation Application ship from DEC?

Anxiously awaiting your reply,

Woodster

-- 
wm


From thune@afrodite.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Nils Thune)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Scatter data
Message-ID: <1992Jun7.085822.12130@alf.uib.no>
Date: 7 Jun 92 08:58:22 GMT
Sender: thune@afrodite (Nils Thune)
Organization: University of Bergen, Norway
Lines: 24

On page 2-20 in the Developer's Guide (AVS 4.0) it is given an example of a scatter data field which should be declared as "field 1D 0-vector 3-coordinate irregular" !

It does not work ! I get the following message:

	DrawPolygon: AVStypesize: invalid type -1

Now, indicating the type of the 0-vector seems to solve the problem:

	"field 1D 0-vector 3-coordinate irregular byte"

Is it true that one always has to specify the data type of a field, even though the field won't contain any data?

	
- Nils

--------------------------------
Nils Thune                      
Dept. of Science and Technology 
Christian Michelsen Research    
N-5036 Fantoft, Bergen, Norway  
Email: thune@cmi.no             
Phone: 05 574355                
Fax  : 05 574001                
--------------------------------


From larryg@avs.com (Larry Gelberg)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Re: Scatter data
Message-ID: <1992Jun8.133600.12080@ctr.columbia.edu>
Date: 8 Jun 92 13:36:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: ctr.1992Jun8.133600.12080
References: <1992Jun7.085822.12130@alf.uib.no>
Sender: news@ctr.columbia.edu (The Daily Lose)
Organization: Advanced Visual Systems Inc.
Lines: 29
X-Posted-From: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

thune@afrodite.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Nils Thune) writes:
: On page 2-20 in the Developer's Guide (AVS 4.0) it is given an 
: example of a scatter data field which should be declared as 
: "field 1D 0-vector 3-coordinate irregular" !
: 
: It does not work ! I get the following message:
: 
: 	DrawPolygon: AVStypesize: invalid type -1
: 
: Now, indicating the type of the 0-vector seems to solve the problem:
: 
: 	"field 1D 0-vector 3-coordinate irregular byte"
: 
: Is it true that one always has to specify the data type of a field, even though the field won't contain any data?
: 
: 	
: - Nils

I would bet that that is probably the case.  My guess is that you
are using the AVSdata_alloc() routine and that that routine expects
all the field elements to be filled regardless of whether they are
used or not.


-- 
=== Larry Gelberg ============================ larryg@avs.com =======
      Advanced Visual Systems Inc. (AVS Inc.)
      300 Fifth Ave, Waltham, MA 02154
===== Tel: 617-890-4300 = Fax: 617-890-8287 =========================


From dsc@xray.hmc.psu.edu (David S. Channin)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Radiation Therapy Planning in AVS
Message-ID: <mt0wHst9t7@atlantis.psu.edu>
Date: 8 Jun 92 16:13:22 GMT
Sender: news@atlantis.psu.edu (Usenet)
Reply-To: dsc@xray.hmc.psu.edu
Distribution: na
Organization: Dept. of Radiology, Hershey Medical Center, Hershey PA
Lines: 7

Does anyone know the name of the company in Boston (I believe)
that has developed a set of AVS modules for use in Radiation Therapy
planning?

Thanks

dsc


From enxing@btlnck.enet.dec.com (Hugh Enxing)
Subject: Re: Radiation Therapy Planning in AVS
Message-ID: <1992Jun8.184834.956@nntpd2.cxo.dec.com>
Sender: enxing@btlnck (Hugh Enxing)
Reply-To: enxing@btlnck.enet.dec.com (Hugh Enxing)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
References:  <mt0wHst9t7@atlantis.psu.edu>
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1992 18:48:34 GMT


Sounds like you are describing RSA.

	 Radiosurgical & Stereotactic Applications, Inc.                
	 2 Brookline Place, Suite 205
         Brookline,Ma  02146
	 617-738-3370




From weinhous@roentgen.RadOnc.Duke.EDU (Marty Weinhous (guest))
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Re: Radiation Therapy Planning in AVS
Message-ID: <3245@news.duke.edu>
Date: 9 Jun 92 00:45:21 GMT
References: <mt0wHst9t7@atlantis.psu.edu>
Sender: news@news.duke.edu
Distribution: na
Organization: Radiation Oncology, Hahnemann U, Phil PA, 215/448-8616
Lines: 21
Nntp-Posting-Host: roentgen.radonc.duke.edu

In article <mt0wHst9t7@atlantis.psu.edu> dsc@xray.hmc.psu.edu writes:
>Does anyone know the name of the company in Boston (I believe)
>that has developed a set of AVS modules for use in Radiation Therapy
>planning?
>
>Thanks
>
>dsc

The company is RSA. Their system does therapy planning for only Stereotactic
Radiosurgery (in the brain). If you need their phone # or address, e-mail
me and I will provide the data.

- Marty


-- 

 Marty Weinhous, Ph.D.			weinhous@radonc.hahnemann.edu
 Radiation Oncology, Hahnemann U.
 Philadelphia, PA 19102,		215/448-8616


From pcw@wilbur.unh.edu (Pak C Wong)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Need polytriangle geometry module.
Message-ID: <1992Jun9.013917.15540@nic.unh.edu>
Date: 9 Jun 92 01:39:17 GMT
Article-I.D.: nic.1992Jun9.013917.15540
Sender: news@nic.unh.edu (USENET News System)
Organization: Computer Science Department, University of New Hampshire
Lines: 13

I want to create a polytriangle geometry from a dataset of 1800
vertices.  The plot_xyz module of NCSC only constructs polyline
geometry objects.  Is there any other public domain module to
do the job?  Any help will be greatly appreciated.

-- 
===============================================================================

Pak Wong                                                         pcw@cs.unh.edu

University of New Hampshire, Department of Computer Science, Durham NH 03824

===============================================================================


From mssacks@cse.uta.edu (Michael S Sacks)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Can you use AVS as a C library?
Message-ID: <1992Jun9.154845.29558@cse.uta.edu>
Date: 9 Jun 92 15:48:45 GMT
Article-I.D.: cse.1992Jun9.154845.29558
Organization: Computer Science & Engineering, Univ. of Texas at Arlington
Lines: 7

I am new to AVS and was wondering how useful/easy it is to use as a 
graphics library.  What I would like to do is to use it to draw polygonal
stuff to the screen, including effects like shading, hidden line removal
etc, without having to code it myself.  I am currently using X11/R4 on a 
DEC 5000.  I was going to do this entirely through X, but why reinvent
the lightbulb? I would appreciate any suggestions.
-Michael Sacks


From schiano@vega.acs.uci.edu (Allen V. Schiano)
Subject: Re: Can you use AVS as a C library?
Nntp-Posting-Host: vega.acs.uci.edu
Message-ID: <2A34DB61.7279@noiro.acs.uci.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Reply-To: schiano@vega.acs.uci.edu (Allen V. Schiano)
Organization: University of California, Irvine
Lines: 20
References: <1992Jun9.154845.29558@cse.uta.edu>
Date: 9 Jun 92 16:25:05 GMT

In article <1992Jun9.154845.29558@cse.uta.edu>, mssacks@cse.uta.edu (Michael S Sacks) writes:
|> I am new to AVS and was wondering how useful/easy it is to use as a 
|> graphics library.  What I would like to do is to use it to draw polygonal
|> stuff to the screen, including effects like shading, hidden line removal
|> etc, without having to code it myself.  I am currently using X11/R4 on a 
|> DEC 5000.  I was going to do this entirely through X, but why reinvent
|> the lightbulb? I would appreciate any suggestions.
|> -Michael Sacks

>From experience you can do this two ways using AVS. 1) Add in AVS geometry library calls to your code. The resulting output file will be an AVS geometry thus allowing you to use in the AVS rendering interface (the geometry viewer) for your shading, etc. Much smarter than writing your own unless there's something you want that's not in the renderer. 2) Write an AVS module of your code which includes the aforementioned geometry library calls. The output can then be added to an AVS network. This allows







you access to the rendering modules as well as a couple of geometry manipulating modules that may help the process.

Just my two cents.

Allen V. R. Schiano
Advanced Scientific Computing
Office of Academic Computing
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, Ca 92727
schiano@uci.edu


From thune@godemine.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Nils Thune)
Subject: Source for display image
Message-ID: <1992Jun12.034807.24192@alf.uib.no>
Sender: thune@godemine (Nils Thune)
Organization: University of Bergen, Norway
Date: Fri, 12 Jun 92 03:48:07 GMT
Lines: 18

I'm looking for a module similar to "display image" which will let the user draw lines, polygons, etc. to indicate special features in a 2D field. These lines, and or polygons, should be sent to the output port for further processing.

Does such a module exists out there, or would it be possible to get the source code of "display image" and extend it with these capabilities ?


- Nils

--------------------------------
Nils Thune                      
Dept. of Science and Technology 
Christian Michelsen Research    
N-5036 Fantoft, Bergen, Norway  
Email: thune@cmi.no             
Phone: 05 574355                
Fax  : 05 574001                
--------------------------------




From jk87377@cc.tut.fi (Juhana Kouhia)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs,comp.graphics
Subject: Re: 2D & 3D MORPHING
Message-ID: <1992Jun12.170922.2006@cc.tut.fi>
Date: 12 Jun 92 17:09:22 GMT
References: <92161.200729U45561@uicvm.uic.edu> <1992Jun12.144841.992@overload.lbl.gov>
Organization: Tampere University of Technology
Lines: 17


In article <1992Jun12.144841.992@overload.lbl.gov> wes@maui.lbl.gov
(Wes Bethel) writes:
>
>Someone sent me a questionnaire re morphing.  Below are some of the
>answers I gave.  It is usually not in the best of net etiquette to quote
>private email on the net, but I'll compromise and not include the
>person's name or address.

Nah, I think lotsa people have got this query -- I suggest
that the mailer of the query post it to newsgroups.

Think about e-mailing such queries -- how is he able to find
out who have made morphing? At least not by mailing queries randomly.
By posting the query to newsgroups all morphers really get the query.


Juhana Kouhia


From wmccain@x102a.ess.harris.com (mccain wb 17021)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Re: Finite element models and AVS
Message-ID: <1992Jun12.192643.21469@mlb.semi.harris.com>
Date: 12 Jun 92 19:26:43 GMT
References: <92164.102034ICH561@DJUKFA11.BITNET>
Sender: news@mlb.semi.harris.com
Organization: Harris ESS, Melbourne, Fla.
Lines: 14
Nntp-Posting-Host: x102a.ess.harris.com

We came up with a quick and dirty way to view the wireframe model generated
by FERM, a finite element analysis code for electromagnetics (antenna
modelling, etc.)   The FERM package contained a fortran program that would
take the model description and, given a viewing angle, produce some Plot10
commands to send a plot to a tektronix plotter.  We went into this fortran
code, found out where it was generating vertices for the lines and triangles,
and wrote these out to an ascii file.  It was then simple to read these into
AVS and generate a geometry.  Not very elegant, but it certainly gets the
job done, and the FERM users were ecstatic to be able to see their model
and manipulate the view real-time instead of trial and error-ing their way
through a bunch of "pick a view angle and hope it looks good" plots!

Bruce McCain
wmccain@rhino.ess.harris.com


From lipman@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Robert Lipman)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Animating and lighting on UCD data
Message-ID: <21008@oasys.dt.navy.mil>
Date: 12 Jun 92 19:37:24 GMT
Article-I.D.: oasys.21008
Reply-To: lipman@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Robert Lipman)
Organization: Carderock Division, NSWC, Bethesda, MD
Lines: 19

I've got some UCD data into AVS and have a couple of questions.
The quadrilateral cells have no consistency in their
connectivity ordering, therefore the normals don't all point
"outwards" and the directional lighting gets messed up.
Is two-sided lighting available in AVS or is their some way
in AVS or externally to make all the normals point "outward"?
The second question deals with animating a time series of UCD
data.  How do I animate the deformation of the UCD data over
time?

Thanks in advance, e-mail please

Bob Lipman                        | Internet: lipman@oasys.dt.navy.mil
David Taylor Model Basin - CDNSWC | Yellnet : (301) 227-1931
Computational Signatures and      | Faxnet  : (301) 227-5753
   Structures Branch, Code 1282   | Fishnet : Stockings@legs
Bethesda, Maryland  20084-5000    |

She sells C shells by the seashore.


From davidb@doppler.ncsc.org (David Bennett)
Subject: AVS/SIGGRAPH
Message-ID: <Bpru58.9FH@doppler.ncsc.org>
Sender: news@doppler.ncsc.org
Nntp-Posting-Host: doppler
Organization: North Carolina Supercomputing Center
Date: Sat, 13 Jun 1992 06:31:56 GMT

                Attention AVS Users.
                Call for Participation

The International AVS Center has sponsored a large
40 x 40 foot exhibit at SIGGRAPH this July.  We have
been sponsored by 16 organizations.  We would like to
get one more affiliate in the exhibit.  Cost is 5K, but
the PR value for participating in an exhibit bringing
together more than 1.5 million dollars in equipment and joining
forces with so many major organizations is well worth
the cost of participation.  We provide everything except
people power, modules of real science and data.

Exhibit demonstrates future large-scale presentation environments
designed for high spatial fidelity and participatory involvement using
a 20 foot dome and Evans and Sutherland's DIGISTAR.  Includes 10 workstations
surrounding the dome doing real science using AVS.  Also some
collaboratory demonstrations using DTM, etc.

For additional information, contact David Bennett at
919 248 1182 or via email at avs@ncsc.org before June 22nd.
FAX is 919 248 1101.  New ideas that fit within the theme are
919 248 1182 or via email at avs@ncsc.org before June 22nd.
FAX is 919 248 1101.  New ideas that fit within the theme are
welcomed.

Sponsored by the IAC, E & S DIGISTAR, North Carolina Supercomputing
Center.  In cooperation with Advanced Visual Systems Inc., CONVEX
Computing Corporation, Digital Equipment Corporation, Hewlett-Packard
Company, IBM, Kubota Pacific Corporation, SUN Microsystems and Wavetracer
Inc.  Affilates include Xerox Corporation, BUSSAN Advanced Systems,
SET Technology, Waterloo Maple Software.
~



From larryg@avs.com (Larry Gelberg)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Re: Animating and lighting on UCD data
Message-ID: <1992Jun14.170152.12699@ctr.columbia.edu>
Date: 14 Jun 92 17:01:52 GMT
Article-I.D.: ctr.1992Jun14.170152.12699
References: <21008@oasys.dt.navy.mil>
Sender: news@ctr.columbia.edu (The Daily Lose)
Organization: Advanced Visual Systems Inc.
Lines: 40
X-Posted-From: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

lipman@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Robert Lipman) writes:
: I've got some UCD data into AVS and have a couple of questions.
: The quadrilateral cells have no consistency in their
: connectivity ordering, therefore the normals don't all point
: "outwards" and the directional lighting gets messed up.
: Is two-sided lighting available in AVS or is their some way
: in AVS or externally to make all the normals point "outward"?

Bi-directional lighting is available on most platforms.  To turn it
on, go into the geometry viewer, and into the sub-menu called 
"Lights".  There should be a set of radio buttons near the bottom
of the stack with "Bi-directional" one of the choices.  Or you could
issue the cli command:
	geom_set_light -type Bi-Directional

If the quads you have coming in have their vertex orders all mixed
up (clockwise & counter-clockwise), yes, you will have this problem.

: The second question deals with animating a time series of UCD
: data.  How do I animate the deformation of the UCD data over
: time?

The ucd_offset module deforms a ucd structure which has a vector 
(delta-x, delta-y, delta-z) componant.  If you only have a single
deformation computed you can animate several frames from the undeformed
state to the deformed state by plugging the "animated float" module 
into the "offset factor" port of the ucd_offset module.  If you have
several time steps computed, you need to be able to read in each
file individually.  This can either be done with a cli script, or with
the "animated file name" module available from the International AVS
Center (avs.ncsc.org - ftp site 128.109.178.23).

I hope this helps!

larryg
-- 
=== Larry Gelberg ============================ larryg@avs.com =======
      Advanced Visual Systems Inc. (AVS Inc.)
      300 Fifth Ave, Waltham, MA 02154
===== Tel: 617-890-4300 = Fax: 617-890-8287 =========================


From thorpe@doppler.ncsc.org (Steve Thorpe)
Subject: SIGGRAPH
Message-ID: <BpwAAI.9Ly@doppler.ncsc.org>
Organization: North Carolina Supercomputing Center
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 1992 16:11:05 GMT

Hi Folks,

The International AVS Center has a 40 ft. by 40 ft. exhibit at
SIGGRAPH '92.  Part of this booth will demonstrate new and innovative
presentation technology to the scientific visualization community:
an Evans and Sutherland Digistar projector will be placed in the
center of a 20' diameter dome, projecting scientific phenomena
onto the dome's surface.  The area surrounding the dome will
contain 12 workstations demonstrating various scientific applications 
within the AVS environment.  

There are several vendors collaborating with us on the workstation
demonstrations that will take place.  Due to the relatively large
participation cost, which can be prohibitively expensive for the
university community, there is a "University" option in place for
SIGGRAPH participation.  We are offering a workstation in our booth
to universities on a different pay scale: module submissions rather
than $.  If you have a scientific demonstration within AVS and are
willing to commit 20 AVS module submissions to the International
AVS Center's public domain distribution  by July 1st, and 50 modules 
by October 1st, we would like to talk with you regarding the 
possibilities of your participation in our booth at SIGGRAPH.
There are additional requirements for personnel, etc, and you may
email us or contact the number below for additional information.

	The International AVS Center
	David Bennett, Terry Myerson, and Steve Thorpe
	avs@ncsc.org
	(919) 248-1100

This is a great opportunity to gain positive exposure, 
cultivate relationships, and lay the groundwork for
future collaboration with your peers.  Please contact us
in the next few days if you would like to participate.  Time
is running out - so we must move fast.

Also... the International AVS Center reserves the right to limit
participation based on the response received.

-Steve
----------------------------------------------------------------
   Steve Thorpe, Application Visualization System Specialist
International AVS Center, North Carolina Supercomputing Center
PO Box 12889   3021 Cornwallis Rd, RTP, NC 27709   avs@ncsc.org
----------------------------------------------------------------


From thorpe@doppler.ncsc.org (Steve Thorpe)
Subject: SIGGRAPH possibilities
Message-ID: <BpwGBM.Axo@doppler.ncsc.org>
Organization: North Carolina Supercomputing Center
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 1992 18:21:22 GMT

Hi Folks,

I posted a message earlier today about university participants
at the International AVS Center's SIGGRAPH exhibit... just to
clarify the cost of participating, we will require 20 modules
to be submitted to the ftp site if you commit to participate
by July 1st, and 50 modules to be submitted to the ftp site if
you commit after July 1.  All modules will need to be in hand at
the IAC by SIGGRAPH itself.

The rest of this message is basically what was posted earlier today.

The International AVS Center has a 40 ft. by 40 ft. exhibit at
SIGGRAPH '92.  Part of this booth will demonstrate new and innovative
presentation technology to the scientific visualization community:
an Evans and Sutherland Digistar projector will be placed in the
center of a 20' diameter dome, projecting scientific phenomena
onto the dome's surface.  The area surrounding the dome will
contain 12 workstations demonstrating various scientific applications 
within the AVS environment.  

There are several vendors collaborating with us on the workstation
demonstrations that will take place.  Due to the relatively large
participation cost, which can be prohibitively expensive for the
university community, there is a "University" option in place for
SIGGRAPH participation.  We are offering a workstation in our booth
to universities on a different pay scale: module submissions rather
than $.  If you have a scientific demonstration within AVS and are
willing to commit to 20 AVS module submissions to the International
AVS Center's public domain distribution  by July 1st, (50 modules 
if you commit after July 1st), we would like to talk with you regarding the 
possibilities of your participation in our booth at SIGGRAPH.
All module will need to be in hand by SIGGRAPH itself.
There are additional requirements for personnel, etc, and you may
email us or contact the number below for additional information.

	The International AVS Center
	David Bennett, Terry Myerson, and Steve Thorpe
	avs@ncsc.org
	(919) 248-1100

This is a great opportunity to gain positive exposure, 
cultivate relationships, and lay the groundwork for
future collaboration with your peers.  Please contact us
in the next few days if you would like to participate.  Time
is running out - so we must move fast.

Also... the International AVS Center reserves the right to limit
participation based on the response received.

-Steve
----------------------------------------------------------------
   Steve Thorpe, Application Visualization System Specialist
International AVS Center, North Carolina Supercomputing Center
PO Box 12889   3021 Cornwallis Rd, RTP, NC 27709   avs@ncsc.org
----------------------------------------------------------------



From dgs@draco.larc.nasa.gov (Dave G Shively)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Graph Viewer
Message-ID: <1992Jun15.181039.7274@news.larc.nasa.gov>
Date: 15 Jun 92 18:10:39 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.1992Jun15.181039.7274
Sender: news@news.larc.nasa.gov (USENET Network News)
Distribution: usa
Organization: NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA  USA
Lines: 11
Originator: dgs@draco.larc.nasa.gov


I am using the Graph Viewer to make some simple X-Y plots.  I can easily
read in data from ASCII files and then adjust the axes minimum and maximum
values to get the picture just the way I want it.  My problem is that once
I have a good graph I write it to a Postscript file and print it but
on the paper I still have data points that fall outside the range of my
axes.  Has anyone else had this problem?  Is there a problem in the Postscript
driver?

Dave Shively
dgs@draco.larc.nasa.gov


From elessar@physics.unc.edu (Shawn Mehan)
Subject: Field to mesh
Message-ID: <1992Jun15.200607.21353@samba.oit.unc.edu>
Sender: usenet@samba.oit.unc.edu
Nntp-Posting-Host: augustus.physics.unc.edu
Organization: Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Univ. North. Carolina at Chapel Hill
Distribution: comp.graphics.avs
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 1992 20:06:07 GMT

Hello AVSer's: I am animating a bunch of 2D fields that I have run
through field_to_mesh and converted to geoms. It seems that the
f_to_m module takes an absolute ceiling in each frame to scale the 
z factor to. This has causes the frames with mostly low data values
to have a higher plateau than a frame with a high peak. Or


          ------              ---
         |      |            |   |
     ****       *****        |   |
                       ******    *******
where * is the same data value. My question is: is there
any way to make this not jump around. I was thinking about 
a way to make the geom viewer lock the coordinates to
an absolute reference? Any help would be most appreciated.
Thanks in advance....
-srm
.



From osa@wilbur.unh.edu (Bart Simps... er.. Oktay Ahiska)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: LaTeX and network pictures
Message-ID: <OSA.92Jun16180938@wilbur.unh.edu>
Date: 16 Jun 92 23:09:38 GMT
Sender: news@nic.unh.edu (USENET News System)
Distribution: comp
Organization: Springfield Elementary School
Lines: 30
X-Advertisement: Use Emacs
X-Board-Quoe: I will finish what I sta
Comments: Rooner Spules OK


Hi everybody,

I was wondering if anyone had any luck in including avs network
pictures into LaTeX.  I am using something like the following but all
I am getting is an empty space where the picture is supposed to be.
Is it something with the ps code avs is generating?  Or is it my dvi
to ps converter?  I'm using dvi2ps, btw.

\begin{figure}
        \vskip0.01in
        \special{psfile=net1-organized.ps hscale=0.5 vscale=0.5 hoffset=1.5}
        \vskip2in
        \caption{    \label{f_2ray}
        This is the network that I used for a meaningless project.
        }
\end{figure}

I will appreciate any kind of help.  E-mail replies, and I'll post a
summary.

--
 |\/\/\/|  Oktay Ahiska (osa@wilbur.unh.edu, osa@cs.unh.edu)     |\/\/\/|   
 |      |   							 |      |   
 |      |      Disclaimer: I'm not the unborn funk messiah. 	 |      |   
 | (o)(o)      Disclaimer: I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it,  (o)(o) |   
 {      _)                  can't prove anything. 		(_      }   
  | ,___|      							 |___, |    
  |   /        Hi! I'm Bart Simpson, the ultimate sig virus.	   \   |    
  /---\      Just throw away your sig and copy this one instead.   /---\    


From memura@uoft02.utoledo.edu
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Re:LaTeX and network pictures
Message-ID: <1992Jun16.221549.8042@uoft02.utoledo.edu>
Date: 16 Jun 92 22:15:49 EST
Organization: University of Toledo, Computer Services
Lines: 96


Hi bar ... Oktay

I recently tried (successfully :-) to put the network pictures in to LaTeX.  
I used dvips (which I like very much) and ps2eps to convert the file from 
avs postscript to encapsulated postscript.  I had trouble because I did
not want the postscript to go to a priner by default so I would catch
the network in the temp directory and copy it to my own file before I pressed
the negative answer to "Send to the printer?" question (I know, it is something 
different but I cannot remember exactly the phrase).  If I were you I would
check a few things 
1. the obvious one - is there any postscript in your file?
2. are any of the following in your postscript? --- showpage, save, restore
   sometimes the postscript can barf if there are save or restore statements
   and if you replace them by gsave or grestore respectively then it can 
   help.
3. Is there a bounding box --- I don't recall if a bounding box is produced  
   automatically.
4. Is the encapsulated postscript header on the first line of the
   file?

I used ps2eps (I have included the README file below which tells you
the site to obtain it yourself).  It works well and is easy to compile.


I have used both dvi2ps and dvips and my personal preference is the latter ---
no disrespect to the former intended.  I should imagine if you can properly
encapsulate your postscript (by hand or using ps2eps) your own 
driver should be able to handle it properly.  If not try dvips which is at

byron.u.washington.edu             128.95.48.32    dvips TeX/Latex

and the epsf.sty file for latex which is included; it can be used as follows

\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\leavevmode
\epsffile{junk.eps}
\end{center}
\caption{this is another network which occasionally works ... use with
care}
\end{figure}


Hope this helps somewhat

Mike

Michael E. Mura                         Postdoctoral Research Fellow,
                                        Chemistry Department,
                                        University of Toledo,
                                        Toledo, OH, 43606 USA
e-mail:
memura@stardent.chem.utoledo.edu
memura@uoft02.utoledo.edu


########################################################################
Stop reading now if you already know about ps2eps
########################################################################


  Ps2eps is a package that converts figures in PS format into an EPS
  format suitable for including it in a LaTeX file.
  When a figure was generated by program
        DrawPerfect, Gem, OrCAD, PSpice, GnuPlot, MathCAD or PrintGL
  special actions are taken. However, the figure file may come from
  anywhere in which case ps2eps will do its best in making a usable
  EPS file.
  Ps2eps is meant to be used with programs 'dvips' or 'dvialw' to
  make a PS file from the dvi file.

  The package contains:

./:
  README        /* this file */
  Makefile      /* UNIX makefile */
  makefile.msc  /* makefile for Microsoft C compiler under DOS */
  ps2eps.exe    /* DOS executable */
  gnuplot.c     dperfect.c    help.c        orcad.c       pspice.c
  adj_bbox.c    gem.c         incl.h        parse.c       comments.c
  getarg.c      main.c        printgl.c     mathcad.c

./doc:
  cupid.eps     /* EPS file to be included in the LaTeX example */
  notes.tex     /* Reference manual.
                   How to use the figure programs.
                   Example how to include into a LaTeX file. */

./man:
  ps2eps.1      /* Reference manual in nroff format */


If you are interested you can get the package named ps2eps.tar.Z from
anonymous ftp site "duteela.et.tudelft.nl" in directory pub.



From rheingan@currituck.cs.unc.edu (Penny Rheingans)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Volume analysis/statistics
Message-ID: <13059@borg.cs.unc.edu>
Date: 16 Jun 92 17:52:30 GMT
Sender: news@cs.unc.edu
Lines: 29




Let's say I have a volume of data describing pollutant concentrations
below the surface (ground or water). I'd like to explore and analyze
the areas of contamination. Call Z the axis measuring distance below
the surface, with Z==0 the ground plane. I can obviously slice through
or make isosurfaces to visualize the data.

I'm also interested in doing some analysis on this data -- stuff like
calculating the volume within an isosurface, between two 
isosurfaces, or above an isosurface. I'd also like to be able to 
get some information about the isosurface itself -- where does it
pass, what is the minimum and maximum depth at each XY coordinate pair?
How about calculating the area above some value threshold on a 
particular slice?

It's fairly easy to imagine a brute force implementation of some 
of this (at least for regular fields), but I was hoping to avoid 
reinventing the wheel. 

Does anyone know of a way to do any of this in AVS? Or maybe someone 
has some modules they'd be willing to share?

Thanks,
Penny Rheingans
US EPA Scientific Visualization Center
rheingans@ralph.rtpnc.epa.gov



From lipman@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Robert Lipman)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs,comp.sys.sgi
Subject: AVS and SGI Video Creator
Message-ID: <21184@oasys.dt.navy.mil>
Date: 17 Jun 92 13:54:07 GMT
Reply-To: lipman@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Robert Lipman)
Followup-To: comp.graphics.avs
Organization: Carderock Division, NSWC, Bethesda, MD
Lines: 12

Is there an AVS module that lets you do an AVS animation
through the SGI Video Creator board?

Thanks in advance, e-mail please

Bob Lipman                        | Internet: lipman@oasys.dt.navy.mil
David Taylor Model Basin - CDNSWC | Yellnet : (301) 227-1931
Computational Signatures and      | Faxnet  : (301) 227-5753
   Structures Branch, Code 1282   | Fishnet : Stockings@legs
Bethesda, Maryland  20084-5000    |

She sells C shells by the seashore.


From James Peters <peters@convex.COM>
Subject: Re: AVS and SGI Video Creator
Message-ID: <1992Jun17.155200.5310@convex.com>
Originator: peters@mikey.convex.com
Sender: usenet@convex.com (news access account)
Nntp-Posting-Host: mikey.convex.com
Reply-To: peters@convex.COM (James Peters)
Organization: CONVEX Computer Corporation, Richardson, Tx., USA
References: <21184@oasys.dt.navy.mil>
Date: Wed, 17 Jun 1992 15:52:00 GMT
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.
Lines: 21

In article <21184@oasys.dt.navy.mil> lipman@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Robert Lipman) writes:
>Is there an AVS module that lets you do an AVS animation
>through the SGI Video Creator board?
>
>Thanks in advance, e-mail please
>
>Bob Lipman                        | Internet: lipman@oasys.dt.navy.mil
>David Taylor Model Basin - CDNSWC | Yellnet : (301) 227-1931
>Computational Signatures and      | Faxnet  : (301) 227-5753
>   Structures Branch, Code 1282   | Fishnet : Stockings@legs
>Bethesda, Maryland  20084-5000    |
>
>She sells C shells by the seashore.

hello,

convexavs3.0 possesses the capability to output to either the video creator
or an imagenode. the animator module is also useful for producing video.

regards,
james, peters@convex.com


From wwestlun@ustb.cnde.iastate.edu (Warren Westlund)
Subject: AVS typein_string & typein_int 
Message-ID: <1992Jun17.180340.21369@news.iastate.edu>
Sender: news@news.iastate.edu (USENET News System)
Organization: CNDE Ames Labs (Ultrasonics)
Date: Wed, 17 Jun 1992 18:03:40 GMT
Lines: 69

AVS masters,
  I am having a small but difficult problem getting the strings and integers back from my module.
The following code shows the calls:

/*************************************************************************/
/* Description of the coroutine module                                   */
/*************************************************************************/
int init_real_time()
{
  int oport,iparm;

  AVSset_module_name("aline",MODULE_FILTER);
  AVSset_module_flags(SINGLE_ARG_DATA | COROUT_UNPACK_ARGS);
  AVSset_destroy_proc(shut_down_rcvr);
  oport=AVScreate_output_port("field",
        "field 2D scalar irregular real 3-space");
  AVSautofree_output(oport);
  iparm=AVSadd_parameter("sleep","boolean",1,0,1);
  iparm=AVSadd_parameter("line number","integer",0,0,34);
  iparm=AVSadd_parameter("Port number","integer",1000,9999,2555);
  AVSconnect_widget(iparm,"typein_integer");
  iparm=AVSadd_parameter("Host name  ","string",
                         "","","ustb.cnde");
  AVSconnect_widget(iparm,"typein_string");
  return(0);
}
/*************************************************************************/
/* Main function and infinite loop                                       */
/*************************************************************************/
main(int argc, char **argv)
{
  int           *input_data_ptr,*output_data_ptr;
  int           sleep,line,port,dims[2],i;
  char          host[MAXCHAR];
  AVSfield      *out_field,*out_data;
  int           counter,not_connected=True,error1=False,error2=False;

  AVScorout_init(argc,argv,init_real_time);
  AVScorout_input(&sleep,&line,&port,host);
  dims[0]=ROTDIM;
  dims[1]=LENDIM+part_points;
  out_field=(AVSfield *)AVSdata_alloc(
            "field 2D scalar irregular real 3-space",dims);
  while(1)
  {
    if(!sleep) AVScorout_mark_changed();
    AVScorout_wait();
    AVScorout_input(&sleep,&line,&port,host);
    fprintf(stderr,"New Host name: %s\n",host);
    fprintf(stderr,"New Port number: %d\n",port);
    AVScorout_output(out_field);
    AVScorout_exec();
  }
}

  the Host name seems to be 2 characters of garbage no matter what is typed in.  And
the port number never gets changed at all.

  Any response is welcome, and I hope you guys know this in C, I am trying to write all
of my modules in C.  (Nothing personal against Fortran.)

  Thanks in advance.

Warren Westlund
westlun@iastate.edu
Center for Non-Destructive Evaluation
Ames Laboratories
Iowa State University



From thorpe@doppler.ncsc.org (Steve Thorpe)
Subject: sample data sets anyone?
Message-ID: <Bq0pLL.B4z@doppler.ncsc.org>
Organization: North Carolina Supercomputing Center
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1992 01:32:09 GMT

Hi Folks,

The International AVS Center is collecting sample data sets
to store on our anonymous ftp site (in avs.ncsc.org:SAMPLE_DATA/* ).
If you have interesting volumes, geometries, images, etc, that
you would be willing to share with the AVS community, please
submit them to us.  You can ftp to avs.ncsc.org, cd SUBMIT,
mkdir <your name>, and put files of interest.  Please try to
include helpful files such as a README and an AVS network 
as well.

If they are really neat, you may see them as part of our 
exhibit at SIGGRAPH!  We will be setting up a 20' dome
with a DIGISTAR projector displaying scientific visualizations, 
surrounded by approximately a dozen workstations with various 
AVS demos going on.

Hope to hear from you soon.  See you in Chicago!

-Steve
----------------------------------------------------------------
   Steve Thorpe, Application Visualization System Specialist
International AVS Center, North Carolina Supercomputing Center
PO Box 12889   3021 Cornwallis Rd, RTP, NC 27709   avs@ncsc.org
----------------------------------------------------------------


From elan@tasha.cheme.cornell.edu (Elan Feingold)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: IMAGES + GEOMETRY??
Message-ID: <1992Jun17.205942.13063@tc.cornell.edu>
Date: 17 Jun 92 20:59:42 GMT
Sender: news@tc.cornell.edu
Reply-To: elan@tasha.cheme.cornell.edu (Elan Feingold)
Organization: Cornell University
Lines: 20
Nntp-Posting-Host: tasha.cheme.cornell.edu


AVS3.0A DECstation 5000/200 PXG
I was wondering if anyone knew any way to include images (GIF, .x, whatever, 
in the geometry viewer.  The only way right now I know of having a GIF next to a sphere generated by the `render geometry' is converting the geometry to an image, which takes lots of time considering I'm trying to do it in real time.\

Thanks in advance,

--
Elan Feingold

CS/EE Departments
Cornell University

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------


From limperos@nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov (Kevin Limperos)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: PHIGS and AVS
Message-ID: <1992Jun17.231405.1548@nsisrv.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Date: 17 Jun 92 23:14:05 GMT
Sender: usenet@nsisrv.gsfc.nasa.gov (Usenet)
Organization: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Lines: 31
Nntp-Posting-Host: nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov


I have a question for anyone (although, preferably not sales-oriented 
AVS employees) using AVS who has experience programming with PHIGS and/or
other 2/3D graphics subroutine packages.

I'm trying to understand if there is a justification for using PHIGS
(or other package) vs. creating AVS networks to create 3D graphics 
(non-real time) applications.  I am always concerned (and skeptical) 
when I read or hear  (perhaps exaggerated) statements in User's Guides 
like, "AVS allows researchers to apply their hardware power to their 
problems WITHOUT requiring programming expertise or great amounts of 
time." This jogs memories of individuals I used to work with saying, 
"People used to think that COBOL is the answer to eliminating business 
applications programmers, since it was supposed to be so simple as to 
be usable by anyone (including managers)." 

Nevertheless, from what I've seen of AVS, users can do remarkable things
with it in short periods of time. So my question is, "Should
I throw in the 'PHIGS' towel and move exclusively to some kind of visual 
programming package (AVS or otherwise), or are there certain classes of
applications for which the answer is 'yes' or 'no', and if so, what are
the classes?". Realistically, AVS is expensive, but from a philosophical 
standpoint I'd like to know what others think.


-- 


--------------------------------------------------------------

"I don't believe in a no-win scenario" - Admiral James T. Kirk


From chris@batman.cs.byu.edu (Kevin Christiansen)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: VGA card control
Keywords: VGA
Message-ID: <1992Jun17.235729.29042@hamblin.math.byu.edu>
Date: 17 Jun 92 23:57:29 GMT
Sender: news@hamblin.math.byu.edu (Usenet News)
Reply-To: chris@batman.cs.byu.edu
Distribution: all
Organization: Brigham Young University -- Mathematics Department
Lines: 17
Nntp-Posting-Host: batman.cs.byu.edu


I am not sure if this is the right newsgroup to post to, but I couldn't find
any others that seemed MORE appropriate...

I just got an ATI VGA WONDER XL card (the one with HiColor Graphics).
I am writing assembly language routines to drive it (386 assembly on
a DOS machine).  Anyway, I need some information about the ports, bit
assignments, etc. for selecting the HiColor graphics memory, and the
technical programming manual is $50.00 (too much for ME).

Does anybody out there have access to this manual (or have the card)
and is willing to give me a hand?

Thanx!

-Kevin Christiansen
 Computer Vision Lab, Brigham Young University


From larryg@avs.com (Larry Gelberg)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Re: IMAGES + GEOMETRY??
Message-ID: <1992Jun18.125913.9016@ctr.columbia.edu>
Date: 18 Jun 92 12:59:13 GMT
Article-I.D.: ctr.1992Jun18.125913.9016
References: <1992Jun17.205942.13063@tc.cornell.edu>
Sender: news@ctr.columbia.edu (The Daily Lose)
Organization: Advanced Visual Systems Inc.
Lines: 28
X-Posted-From: phobos.avs.com
X-Posted-Through: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

elan@tasha.cheme.cornell.edu (Elan Feingold) writes:
: 
: AVS3.0A DECstation 5000/200 PXG
: I was wondering if anyone knew any way to include images (GIF, .x, whatever, 
: in the geometry viewer.  The only way right now I know of having a GIF next to a sphere generated by the `render geometry' is converting the geometry to an image, which takes lots of time considering I'm trying to do it in real time.\
: 
: Thanks in advance,
: Elan Feingold

With AVS4, You can create a simple "square" object (1 polygon) and 
use the software renderer to texture-map the image onto the simple
object.

With AVS3 on a DECstation, your choices are more limited.  How about
creating an image of the geom viewer output and pumping both it and
the 2D image into the Image Viewer and displaying the two images
side by side?  There is some overhead associated with the 
"image to pixmap" conversion, but it shouldn't be too bad.

larryg



-- 
=== Larry Gelberg ============================ larryg@avs.com =======
      Advanced Visual Systems Inc. (AVS Inc.)
      300 Fifth Ave, Waltham, MA 02154
===== Tel: 617-890-4300 = Fax: 617-890-8287 =========================


From stgprao@xing.unocal.com (Richard Ottolini)
Subject: Re: PHIGS and AVS
Message-ID: <1992Jun18.135944.6742@unocal.com>
Originator: stgprao@xing
Sender: news@unocal.com (Unocal USENET News)
Organization: Unocal Corporation
References: <1992Jun17.231405.1548@nsisrv.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1992 13:59:44 GMT
Lines: 3

PHIGS is a programming system.  AVS is a visualization system.  The intention
of AVS is to minimize, if not eliminate programming, if you have fairly
standard display objects like scientific measurements.


From elan@tasha.cheme.cornell.edu (Elan Feingold)
Subject: Trouble with AVSadd_parameter_prop
Message-ID: <1992Jun18.161653.8475@tc.cornell.edu>
Lines: 45
Sender: elan@picard.cheme.cornell.edu (Elan Feingold)
Nntp-Posting-Host: picard.cheme.cornell.edu
Reply-To: elan@tasha.cheme.cornell.edu (Elan Feingold)
Organization: Cornell Theory Center
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1992 16:16:53 GMT



AVS3.0A, DECstation 5000/200 PXG, cc

Does anyone know why this works:

------------------
AVSadd_parameter_prop(parm, "layout", "string",
                        "manipulator \"$Module:RESET\" -xy 95,130");
------------------

And this doesn't

------------------
/*****************************************************/
/* Sets the position of a widget in the layout panel */
/*****************************************************/
void SetPos(int widget, char *widgetname, int x, int y)
{
  char string[150];

  sprintf(string, "manipulator \"$Module:%s:\" -xy %d,%d", widgetname, x, y);
  AVSadd_parameter_prop(widget, "layout", "string", string);
}
-------------------

Helllllp!  It looks right... What's wrong?

Thanks in advance, 

Elan

--
Elan Feingold

CS/EE Departments
Cornell University

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------


From elan@tasha.cheme.cornell.edu (Elan Feingold)
Subject: Typo in last post
Message-ID: <1992Jun18.163326.9035@tc.cornell.edu>
Lines: 26
Sender: elan@picard.cheme.cornell.edu (Elan Feingold)
Nntp-Posting-Host: picard.cheme.cornell.edu
Reply-To: elan@tasha.cheme.cornell.edu (Elan Feingold)
Organization: Cornell Theory Center
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1992 16:33:26 GMT



Whoops re last question change

sprintf(string, "manipulator \"$Module:%s:\" -xy %d,%d", widgetname, x, y);
                                         ^
to 

sprintf(string, "manipulator \"$Module:%s\" -xy %d,%d", widgetname, x, y);


It still doesn't work, though :(

--
Elan Feingold

CS/EE Departments
Cornell University

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------


From elan@tasha.cheme.cornell.edu (Elan Feingold)
Subject: Trouble with AVSadd_parameter_prop
Message-ID: <1992Jun18.171705.10063@tc.cornell.edu>
Lines: 16
Sender: news@tc.cornell.edu
Nntp-Posting-Host: tasha.cheme.cornell.edu
Reply-To: elan@tasha.cheme.cornell.edu (Elan Feingold)
Organization: Cornell Theory Center
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1992 17:17:05 GMT


Alright, I solved the problem.  It's got an interesting solution.  Maybe I'm just stupid, but I expected that AVS routine to be able to accept a dynamically allocated string which I subsequently destroyed.  Not so.  That routine needs a pointer that is permanent, so to speek, so if you malloc something, don't free it after you have called the routine.  So am I just being stupid, or is AVS kind of retarded in this way?

--
Elan Feingold

CS/EE Departments
Cornell University

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------


From przemek@space.ualberta.ca (Przemek Frycz)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Re: Field to mesh
Keywords: normalizing field_to_mesh
Message-ID: <1992Jun18.225255.17308@kakwa.ucs.ualberta.ca>
Date: 18 Jun 92 22:52:55 GMT
Article-I.D.: kakwa.1992Jun18.225255.17308
References: <1992Jun15.200607.21353@samba.oit.unc.edu>
Sender: news@kakwa.ucs.ualberta.ca
Distribution: comp.graphics.avs
Organization: University Of Alberta, Edmonton Canada
Lines: 66
Nntp-Posting-Host: pluto.space.ualberta.ca

In article <1992Jun15.200607.21353@samba.oit.unc.edu>  
elessar@physics.unc.edu (Shawn Mehan) writes:
> Hello AVSer's: I am animating a bunch of 2D fields that I have run
> through field_to_mesh and converted to geoms. It seems that the
> f_to_m module takes an absolute ceiling in each frame to scale the 
> z factor to. This has causes the frames with mostly low data values
> to have a higher plateau than a frame with a high peak. Or
> 
> 
>           ------              ---
>          |      |            |   |
>      ****       *****        |   |
>                        ******    *******
> where * is the same data value. My question is: is there
> any way to make this not jump around. I was thinking about 
> a way to make the geom viewer lock the coordinates to
> an absolute reference? Any help would be most appreciated.
> Thanks in advance....
> -srm

Hi,
I had similar problem: I used the field_to_mesh module to look at my data  
but I could not compare results corresponding to different time or slices  
on different planes because the values at each slice were normalized to  
themselves ignoring what was before on the screen. So I wrote a module  
which keeps proportions between different calls to the mesh_to_grid  
module. Here is an extract from the README file. I will send my module to  
the International AVS Center, but it may take me a while so if anyone is  
interested I can send him the current version now.

Przemek Frycz






C	"@(#)normalizer.f	1.0          91/10/08"
C			Przemek Frycz, U of Alberta
C                        przemek@space.ualberta.ca
C	
C  The main objective of this module is to keep proportions between
C  different calls to the "mesh_to_grid" module. Usually "mesh_to_grid"
C  normalizes each frame separately. "normalizer" allows user to keep
C  uniform scale for the whole sequence of frames. The way I use it is: 
C  I find the slice with the biggest value, adjust z_value using  
"normalizer"
C  and then lock this value using locking button.
C
C  When the radio button "unlock" is highlighted then normalizer acts 
C  simply as an interface passing z_value to the module mesh_to_grid. One 
C  should set the z_value using "normalizer" rather than mesh_to_grid.
C  When the user click on the button "locking" then, the normalization 
C  is saved and all subsequent frames will be stretched accordingly;
C  the button "locked" is highlighted. Another way of imposing
C  normalization is to type in "scaling factor". It automatically
C  changes choice button to "locked".
C
C  Two other out ports used in "normalizer" allow user to keep the meaning 
C  of the colors the same on subsequent slices. They should be connected  
to
C  colorizer minimum and colorizer maximum input ports. An example of the
C  network is provided. 
C
C  Minimum and maximum fields act independently, and show actual value
C  independently of the state of choice buttons.


From rsignell@crusty.er.usgs.gov (Richard P. Signell)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: FREE_LOCAL problem with DEC AVS3.0a
Message-ID: <1992Jun19.155721.5023@netnews.whoi.edu>
Date: 19 Jun 92 15:57:21 GMT
Sender: news@netnews.whoi.edu
Organization: U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, MA
Lines: 27

I just solved a troublesome problem, and thought I better let other
DEC AVS3.0a users know that they apparantly need to fix port.h to  
avoid problems with modules that call FREE_LOCAL.

In port.h, FREE_LOCAL is defined thusly for all machines EXCEPT
Ultrix:

#define FREE_LOCAL(P)  free(P)

For Ultrix, the line reads:

#define FREE_LOCAL(P)

This was causing the output_a60 module (which calls FREE_LOCAL) 
to grow in size until core was exhausted, 
and AVS would die after about 60 frames.  
When I changed port.h so that DEC was the same as the other machines,

#define FREE_LOCAL(P)  free(P)

this problem went away.  Does anyone have anything to add to this?

--
Rich Signell               |  rsignell@crusty.er.usgs.gov
U.S. Geological Survey     |  (508) 457-2229  |  FAX (508) 457-2310
Quissett Campus            |  "George promised to be good... 
Woods Hole, MA  02543      |  ... but it is easy for little monkeys to forget."


From enxing@hitu.zko.dec.com (Hugh Enxing)
Subject: Re: FREE_LOCAL problem with DEC AVS3.0a
Message-ID: <1992Jun19.170540.18701@nntpd2.cxo.dec.com>
Sender: usenet@nntpd2.cxo.dec.com (USENET News System)
Reply-To: enxing@hitu.zko.dec.com (Hugh Enxing)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
References:  <1992Jun19.155721.5023@netnews.whoi.edu>
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1992 17:05:40 GMT


On systems where "alloca" is available, the definitions in port.h should read
as follows:

#define ALLOC_LOCAL(A) alloca(A)
#define FREE_LOCAL(P)


Where "alloca" is not available, they should read as follows:

#define ALLOC_LOCAL(A) malloc(A)
#define FREE_LOCAL(P)  free(P)


This is because "alloca" should allocate memory "on the stack" which should
be automatically released when returning from the subroutine/function which
called "alloca".


On DECstations, this function does not work as expected.

The incorrect definitions of "ALLOC_LOCAL" and "FREE_LOCAL" should be
considered a bug in DEC AVS V3.0A, and is fixed in V4.0. They should be changed
to:

#define ALLOC_LOCAL(A) malloc(A)
#define FREE_LOCAL(P)  free(P)

Hugh Enxing
enxing@dssdev.enet.dec.com


From glennd@george.arc.nasa.gov (Glenn Deardorff)
Subject: Warping/Projection Module?
Message-ID: <1992Jun19.211517.6222@riacs.edu>
Sender: glennd@george.arc.nasa.gov (Glenn Deardorff -- GDP)
Organization: NASA Ames Res. Ctr. Mtn Vw CA 94035
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 21:15:17 GMT

Does there exist a module for AVS 3.0 that allows for projection or warping,
specifically, of a 2D field onto a sphere?

Thanks much.


From glennd@george.arc.nasa.gov (Glenn Deardorff -- GDP)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Ignore query about warping
Message-ID: <1992Jun19.212657.6378@riacs.edu>
Date: 19 Jun 92 21:26:57 GMT
Sender: news@riacs.edu
Organization: NASA Ames Res. Ctr. Mtn Vw CA 94035
Lines: 4

Well, Murphy's Law struck and I found the answer to my question as soon as I
posted the question... Looks like the "sphere" module will do the trick.

Regards.


From wes@maui.lbl.gov (Wes Bethel)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: somebody write a new colormap generator module, PLEASE
Message-ID: <1992Jun20.002026.28504@overload.lbl.gov>
Date: 20 Jun 92 00:20:26 GMT
Sender: usenet@overload.lbl.gov
Followup-To: comp.graphics.avs
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
Lines: 37
Nntp-Posting-Host: maui.lbl.gov


As you all well know, the generate colormap widget is a cumbersome
tool.  It continues to live on in its current form, unchanged from
the day it was first introduced over 2 years ago, despite howls of
frustration from the user community.

It's author, who I won't embarass by identifying ;-), said in a
UG meeting "You know, user's really are tolerant.  They continue
to put up  with this after all this time."  

I guess no one has really had the time or energy to come up with
anything better.  One reason, I suspect, is the level of difficulty
with writing code which consumes X events and does something intelligent.

One could say something like "the SGI explorer module is much better"
but I don't think this is the case.

Here's what happens to me.  A user walks in and says, "I want a colormap
with eight colors.  The first range is from 0-0.03, the second from 
0.03 to 0.1, the third from 0.1 to 0.15, etc., and >0.5 is the last
one." 

I groan.  Mapping from data to colors is really a related, but
separate issue.  To address this problem, it may be nice to have
a non-linear colorizer module, but that's the topic for another day.

My suggestion is this.  Write a generate colormap module which allows
the user to "mix" a color for each of N entries in the colormap.  This
thing of being "stuck" with 256 colors is a real drag.  I would like to
work on one at a time.  I would like to be able so save a colormap of
8 colors, not 256 colors, by God, if that's what I want.

Maybe if enough people squawk, someone will do something about this
problem.  (hint hint hint)  For $8K, I'd really like to see something
a little bit more flexible than what is there.

wes


From rsignell@crusty.er.usgs.gov (Richard P. Signell)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: read_HDF_image for multiple image files?
Message-ID: <1992Jun21.175903.13847@netnews.whoi.edu>
Date: 21 Jun 92 17:59:03 GMT
Article-I.D.: netnews.1992Jun21.175903.13847
Sender: news@netnews.whoi.edu
Organization: U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, MA
Lines: 19

I have multiple frames in an HDF image file (I use ximage for
animating them on my display), and I would like to put the
whole sequence of frames out on the abekas.  Unfortunately,
it does not appear that read_HDF_image allows the user to specify
which frame to read from files that contain multiple images.  I say
apparantly, because I am cannot actually test read_HDF_image since
I'm on a DECstation, and there is a bug in the SDSC libraries upon
which read_HDF_image is based that causes it to bomb on DECstations.

Does anyone have a read_HDF_image module that works with HDF files
containing multiple images (and preferrably based on the NSCA HDF
libraries, which work on my DECstation)?

Thanks,
--
Rich Signell               |  rsignell@crusty.er.usgs.gov
U.S. Geological Survey     |  (508) 457-2229  |  FAX (508) 457-2310
Quissett Campus            |  "George promised to be good... 
Woods Hole, MA  02543      |  ... but it is easy for little monkeys to forget."


From restrepo@math.psu.edu (Juan M Restrepo)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: LaTeX and network pictures
Message-ID: <Bq814E.1FM@cs.psu.edu>
Date: 22 Jun 92 00:24:13 GMT
Sender: news@cs.psu.edu (Usenet)
Organization: Department of Mathematics, The Pennsylvania State University
Lines: 36
Nntp-Posting-Host: frechet.math.psu.edu

The postscript module, either in the AVS package, or the one available
from the AVS ftp center generate postscript files that do not have
a bounding box, and it uses the initgraph postscript command to reset 
all of its coords, etc.

dvips, and dvi2ps need to see the statement
%%BoundingBox lx ly rx ry
somewhere on the header of the postscript file (for details see the 
postscript reference book). Additionally, if you want to re-position
the graph, comment out the 

initgraph

postscript statement on the postscript file. 

Finally, you may need to comment-out/change rotations and translations
on the postscript file to get the whole thing just right.

One can actually automate some/most of this if you have the time and
lots of graphs to deal with. But for now, try it by hand till you
get the hang of it.

Isn't AVS just the greatest??? 



Juan



--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Juan M. Restrepo                     (814) 865-2778         
Box 119                            
Physics Department                   215 McAllister 
104 Davey Labs                       Mathematics Department
University Park, PA 16802            University Park, PA 16802


From John Stanley <stanley@oce.orst.edu>
Subject: 2nd CFV: sci.image.processing
Message-ID: <1992Jun22.153643.20812@uunet.uu.net>
Followup-To: poster
Sender: tale@uunet.uu.net (David C Lawrence)
Reply-To: mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu
Organization: Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1992 15:36:43 GMT
Approved: tale@uunet.uu.net
Lines: 135

This is the second CFV for the group sci.image.processing. Since the
vote software issues automatic ack's, and the list of voters so far is
[a real big number] in size, no mid vote ack will be issued.


NAME:    sci.image.processing

STATUS:  Unmoderated

One line description for the List of Active Newsgroups:

sci.image.processing	Scientific image processing and analysis

CHARTER: 

sci.image.processing provides a forum for discussion of the scientific
uses of image processing and analysis.  Discussions of algorithms
and application programs are appropriate, with emphasis on solving real
world image processing problems.  Discussions of computer graphics,
visualization, output, window systems, communications, etc. are not
appropriate.  Posting of images is strongly discouraged.  Images should
be posted to alt.binaries.pictures.misc, or made available for FTP.

This group will take a broad definition of the term image processing.
Most topics related to the formation and analysis of images
are appropriate so long as a more focused newsgroup does not exist.  
This presently excludes topics such as computer vision (comp.ai.vision)
and image compression per se (comp.compression), but not topics such
as image detectors or calibration of imaging equipment.  Obviously, 
topics such as the impact of lossy image compression on image processing 
algorithms or the use of AI to analyze scientific images are not excluded.

One purpose is to develop and maintain Frequently Asked Question (FAQ)
articles on the subject.  Another is to provide a forum where 
experimentalists learn about image processing algorithms while computer 
scientists hear about the uses to which generic algorithms are put, or 
the requirements of  a specific application.  Both will discuss what can
and cannot be done to improve image quality before and during processing.

The "IEEE Transactions on Image Processing" gives a list of topics 
which they consider appropriate for that journal.  Some of those 
topics are also appropriate here:

Image Processing
  Coding                           Filtering           Enhancement
  Restoration                      Segmentation       
  Multiresolution Processing       Multispectral Processing  
  Image Representation             Image Analysis
  Interpolation and Spatial Transformations
  Motion Detection and Estimation  Image Sequence Processing
  Video Signal Processing          Noise Modeling
  Architectures and Software
Computed Imaging
  Acoustic Imaging                 Radar Imaging        Tomography
  Magnetic Resonance Imaging       Geophysical and Seismic Imaging
	 Radio Astronomy                	  Speckle Imaging
	 Computer Holography              	Confocal Microscopy
 	Electron Microscopy              	X-ray Crystallography
	 Coded-Aperture Imaging           	Real-Aperture Arrays


RATIONALE:

While some existing newsgroups carry traffic related to image processing,
there are many aspects to scientific imaging and no newsgroup addresses
more than a few of them.  Image processing is usually carried out by 
software, but many questions appropriate to this group have little or 
nothing to do with software.

By placing the group in the sci.* hierarchy, it should be clear to
new users that the the group is not limited to software or algorithms.
This placement also allows for the future discussion of a sci.image.* 
hierarchy with minimal upheaval.

An unmoderated group is needed to permit rapid responses to queries.
A focused, medium noise group is needed in order to attract and retain 
the readership which is essential to obtaining knowledgeable answers.

VOTING INSTRUCTIONS:

Do not post your vote, it will not be counted. The reply-to address of
this posting should point to the correct place, but double check your
mail before sending to make sure.

To cast a vote, send mail to

   "mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu"

with ONE of the following strings (you don't need the quotes)

   "vote sci.image.processing yes"
   "vote sci.image.processing no"

on a line by itself in the subject field or body of the message, where

"yes" means that you DO     want sci.image.processing created.
"no"  means that you DO NOT want sci.image.processing created.

* The deadline is 11:59:59 PM Tue 30-Jun-1992, EDT (GMT - 4).
* The mail server will reply within two hours confirming your vote.
  If no confirmation is received (allowing for normal E-mail round
  trip time), you may inquire at postmaster@pit-manager.mit.edu to 
  verify that the vote was received.
* If your mail message contains a signature, then be sure to put the
  string "quit" before it to prevent the mail server from being confused.
* DO NOT mail votes to John Stanley <stanley@oce.orst.edu>
* DO NOT mail votes to jik@mit.edu.
* DO NOT include any message in your vote (it won't be read).
* Offically, the vote is being run by John Stanley <stanley@oce.orst.edu>
  However, the collection and automation of the vote taking process is
  kindly being performed by Jonathan Kamens (jik@mit.edu).

Note: due to limitations on the length of Newsgroups: lines in news
software, this CFV is being posted three times. The first posting will
be to the groups shown in the header of this posting, which will include
news.announce.newgroups and news.groups.

As soon as the CFV appears in news.announce.newsgroups, it will be posted
to the following additional groups:

     sci.astro,   sci.bio,    sci.math,   sci.med,   sci.research,
     sci.space,   sci.geo.geology,        sci.geo.meteorology, 
     sci.geo.fluids,          comp.infosystems.gis,  bionet.general,
     comp.graphics.avs,       comp.soft-sys.khoros

In addition, the CFV will be posted indivudually to the following moderated
groups:

  bionet.announce		biosci-announce-moderator@genbank.bio.net
  bionet.biology.computational	comp-bio-moderator@genbank.bio.net
  comp.ai.vision		vision-list@ads.com
  comp.graphics.research	graphics@scri1.scri.fsu.edu

This division is solely to bypass the limitations of line length in some
versions of news software.


From jmb1@quads.uchicago.edu (james michael balter)
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1992 19:15:42 GMT
Reply-To: jmb1@midway.uchicago.edu
Sender: news@uchinews.uchicago.edu (News System)
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Lines: 11

Hello.

	I was wondering if anyone has a toll for extracting an isosurface
with fewer polygons than the avs isosurface tool extracts.  Any help woud
be greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,

James Balter
james@rover.bsd.uchicago.edu
"If the hat fits, slice it!"


From rama@sdsc.edu (Rama Ramachandran)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Address for Venceslava Pretlova
Date: 23 Jun 1992 04:06:05 GMT
Organization: San Diego Supercomputer Center @ UCSD
Lines: 46
Distribution: world
Message-ID: <1267vdINNn6l@network.ucsd.edu>
Reply-To: rama@sdsc.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: sneezy.sdsc.edu
Keywords: Address Prague


Would anyone out there possibly know the correct e-mail or postal address for Venceslava Pretlova.  I've been trying to e-mail a message to him, but it keeps
bounncing back?  I've included his message below :


Thanks in advance

Rama Ramachandran
San Diego Supercomputer Center



------------------------- BEGIN INCLUDED MESSAGE ------------------------------------


>From ASCOCP%CSEARN.BITNET%AEARN.EDVZ.UNI-Linz.AC.@@Sdsc.Edu Wed Jun 17 08:12:25 1992
Return-Path: <ASCOCP%CSEARN.BITNET%AEARN.EDVZ.UNI-Linz.AC.@@Sdsc.Edu>
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Date: Wed, 17 Jun 92 08:07:02 PDT
From: ASCOCP%CSEARN.BITNET%AEARN.EDVZ.UNI-Linz.AC.@@Sdsc.Edu
Message-Id: <9206171507.AA06330@sluggo.sdsc.edu>
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Status: RO

======================================================================== 13
Date:         Wed, 17 Jun 92 16:03:41 MDT
From:     ASCOCP%CSEARN%AEARN.EDVZ.UNI-Linz.AC.AT%CSEARN.BITNET%AEARN.EDVZ.UNI-Linz.AC.AT@Sdsc.Edu (Ascoc)
Subject:      info about libraries
To:       info@Sdsc.Edu (info@sdsc.edu)

  To compile the AVS module write_pcx_image I would need to install
  libim.a and libsdsc.a libraries to our STARDENT computer. Could you
  help me?

          Thanks

                Venceslava Pretlova
                ASCOC - Prague




From elan@tasha.cheme.cornell.edu (Elan Feingold)
Subject: Sphere subdivisions through software?
Message-ID: <1992Jun23.134145.23601@tc.cornell.edu>
Lines: 23
Sender: elan@picard.cheme.cornell.edu (Elan Feingold)
Nntp-Posting-Host: picard.cheme.cornell.edu
Reply-To: elan@tasha.cheme.cornell.edu (Elan Feingold)
Organization: Cornell University
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1992 13:41:45 GMT



DECstation 5000/200, PXG, AVS3.0A (soon to be 4.x)

Can anyone tell me how to set the "subdivisions" (for sphere approximations) in the geometry viewer submenu though software.  i.e. I have a module that I want to be able to set it for different objects.  I can;t seem to find a function that does what I want.

Thanks,

--
Elan Feingold

Computer Science/Electrical Engineering Departments
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------


From larryg@avs.com (Larry Gelberg)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Re: Isosurface with fewer polygons?
Message-ID: <1992Jun23.134920.17746@ctr.columbia.edu>
Date: 23 Jun 92 13:49:20 GMT
Article-I.D.: ctr.1992Jun23.134920.17746
References: <1992Jun22.191542.16109@midway.uchicago.edu>
Sender: news@ctr.columbia.edu (The Daily Lose)
Organization: Advanced Visual Systems Inc.
Lines: 37
X-Posted-From: phobos.avs.com
X-Posted-Through: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

jmb1@quads.uchicago.edu (james michael balter) writes:
: 	I was wondering if anyone has a toll for extracting an isosurface
: with fewer polygons than the avs isosurface tool extracts.  Any help woud
: be greatly appreciated!
: 
: James Balter
: james@rover.bsd.uchicago.edu

I don't know if this is well documented, but the isosurface module has
a button on it: "Optimize Surface" which reduces the total polygon
count by about half.  The reason that this is an option is that
the isosurface module produces polytriangle strips for more efficient
rendering.  It is quicker to just run through the data, creating 
polygons and stringing them together into polytriangle strips using 
"cobwebs" (zero area triangles), but this increases the total polygon
count (and memory). With "Optimize Surface" turned on, it creates a 
graph of the polygons and tries to find efficient polytriangle
strips.  It takes a little longer, but as I said, the polygon
count is usually cut almost in half.  It's a user selectable 
trade-off between surface computation time and rendering time.

A good future option would be to create a straight polyhedron (don't
bother with polytriangle strips) of minimal polygons, but the 
rendering time would be increased, at least for systems which offer
polytriangle strips as a hardware-supported rendering option.

If anyone does have a more efficient isosurface module, please put
it out on the International AVS Center's ftp site!  We'll all
benefit!

larryg

-- 
=== Larry Gelberg ============================ larryg@avs.com =======
      Advanced Visual Systems Inc. (AVS Inc.)
      300 Fifth Ave, Waltham, MA 02154
===== Tel: 617-890-4300 = Fax: 617-890-8287 =========================


From rthomson@mesa.dsd.es.com (Rich Thomson)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Re: PHIGS and AVS
Message-ID: <1992Jun23.221229.14486@dsd.es.com>
Date: 23 Jun 92 22:12:29 GMT
References: <1992Jun17.231405.1548@nsisrv.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Sender: usenet@dsd.es.com
Reply-To: rthomson@dsd.es.com (Rich Thomson)
Organization: Design Systems Division, Evans & Sutherland, SLC, UT
Lines: 102
Nntp-Posting-Host: 130.187.85.21

In article <1992Jun17.231405.1548@nsisrv.gsfc.nasa.gov>
	limperos@nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov (Kevin Limperos) writes:
>Nevertheless, from what I've seen of AVS, users can do remarkable things
>with it in short periods of time. So my question is, "Should
>I throw in the 'PHIGS' towel and move exclusively to some kind of visual 
>programming package (AVS or otherwise), or are there certain classes of
>applications for which the answer is 'yes' or 'no', and if so, what are
>the classes?". Realistically, AVS is expensive, but from a philosophical 
>standpoint I'd like to know what others think.

OK, here's my experience.  I have programmed PHIGS through our PEX
implementation for our ESV series of workstations.  I had a program
that created a model and allowed the user to move around the model by
manipulating knobs on a knob box.  The model was a large set of
polylines, displaced in Z by a height field and colored per vertex by
an image registered to the height field.

I recoded the basic "visualization" of this data set as an AVS module
that I called "vectorizer":


	(optional height field)		image
		|			  |
		|			  |
		|			  |
		V			  V
	+------[=]-----------------------[=]----+
	|					|
	| Vectorizer				|
	|					|
	+--------------------------------[=]----+
					  |
					  |
					  V
					geometry


Here are what I saw as the differences:

Pro hard-coded (PHIGS)/Con AVS:
    o I could show the same model (image + height field) on a machine with
	less memory

    o I could display and interact with the model while it was being
	constructed from the data files.

    o I didn't need to find/edit the network to display the model.

    o I had finer control over depth-cueing than that provided by AVS.
	(this was important for a line drawing)

    o I had finer control over the granularity of graphic data
	elements; since our workstation accelerates via data parallelism,
	adjusting the granularity of the primitives (i.e. 256 polyline
	segments per primitive, or 512 segments per primitive) can
	improve performance.

Pro AVS/Con hard-coded:
    o with the AVS module, I could use a height field/image pair
	constructed from any module with those outputs.
    o with a module, I could do pre/post processing of the inputs/outputs.
    o I could take the module source code and compile it on a system
	that didn't have a PHIGS implementation.

Basically, I think what you're asking is the difference between
hard-coded applications and an instance of the same application made
with a general purpose interpretive tool.  (AVS is essentially an
interpreted tool.)  The latter is more powerful, and expressive at the
expense of being a little more consumptive of memory or CPU cycles.
The former is leaner in the sense that it consumes less resources, but
it is less capable in function.  So, in a sense AVS can be a good
prototyping tool for a visualization.  When you need to do something
really fancy, with AVS you have a choice:

    i) write a module and integrate the fancy new thing into the
	existing AVS framework.  Using this approach really does
	create a whole more than the sum of its parts, because each
	module added increases the combinations of useful modules by
	more than 1 (i.e. the combinations increase exponentially(?)
	as you add modules, not linearly with the number of modules)

    ii) write a hard-coded application.  For some applications, this
	is the way to go (due to memory/performance constraints, usually);
	however there can be a tremendous amount of "reinventing the
	wheel" along this route.

    If someone came to me today and said: "I need to do this kind of a
visualization of my data", the probability is about 95% that I would use
AVS to do the job instead of writing a custom application.  If AVS didn't
do the whole job, I would consider augmenting its module library with
some custom modules to fit the job.  At that point, I would show the
work to the user via AVS and determine if its compute/rendering
performance was acceptable.  I would do a custom-app only as a last
resort (its *alot* of work for non-trivial problems!).

					Just one programmer's opinion
						-- Rich
-- 
	Repeal the personal income tax; vote Libertarian in 1992.
Disclaimer: I speak for myself, except as noted; Copyright 1992 Rich Thomson
UUCP: ...!uunet!dsd.es.com!rthomson			Rich Thomson
Internet: rthomson@dsd.es.com	IRC: _Rich_		PEXt Programmer


From mcohan@crash.cts.com (Max Cohan)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Module Generator - AVS 4.0B
Message-ID: <1992Jun24.174548.16491@crash.cts.com>
Date: 24 Jun 92 17:45:48 GMT
Sender: news@crash.cts.com
Reply-To: mcohan@crash.cts.com (Max Cohan)
Organization: Crash TimeSharing, El Cajon, CA
Lines: 17


I've been trying to use the module generator...
I've found it can not read back it's own source files...
in fact, if you try, it crashes avs...

Also I'm having trouble using the dialbox/dialmatrix 
what is the main difference between the two
also I've got it connected to the /dev/dials
but it still doesn't do anything...

Lastly, AVS crashed due to segmentation faults a few times
while fiddling with the dialbox windows

-- 
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|   mcohan@crash.cts.com   -  "To be or not to be, THAT is the question."    |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+


From larryg@avs.com (Larry Gelberg)
Subject: Re: Module Generator - AVS 4.0B
Organization: Advanced Visual Systems Inc.
References: <1992Jun24.174548.16491@crash.cts.com>
Message-ID: <1992Jun24.201526.12346@ctr.columbia.edu>
Sender: news@ctr.columbia.edu (The Daily Lose)
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 1992 20:15:26 GMT
X-Posted-From: phobos.avs.com
X-Posted-Through: sol.ctr.columbia.edu
Lines: 25

mcohan@crash.cts.com (Max Cohan) writes:
: 
: I've been trying to use the module generator...
: I've found it can not read back it's own source files...
: in fact, if you try, it crashes avs...

Since you are running AVS4.0B, this sounds like a problem with the
Beta release.  This has been fixed in the final release.

: Also I'm having trouble using the dialbox/dialmatrix 
: what is the main difference between the two
: also I've got it connected to the /dev/dials
: but it still doesn't do anything...
: 
: Lastly, AVS crashed due to segmentation faults a few times
: while fiddling with the dialbox windows

What system are you running on?  You might want to consider contacting
the customer service representative responsible for that system - 
they are pretty good at trouble shooting this kind of problem.
-- 
=== Larry Gelberg ============================ larryg@avs.com =======
      Advanced Visual Systems Inc. (AVS Inc.)
      300 Fifth Ave, Waltham, MA 02154
===== Tel: 617-890-4300 = Fax: 617-890-8287 =========================


From John Stanley <stanley@oce.orst.edu>
Subject: 2nd CFV: sci.image.processing
Message-ID: <1992Jun24.201708.26334@uunet.uu.net>
Followup-To: poster
Ffpath: bounce-back
Sender: tale@uunet.uu.net (David C Lawrence)
Reply-To: mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu
Organization: Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 1992 20:17:08 GMT
Approved: tale@uunet.uu.net
Lines: 138

[ This message is being reposted because the original was cancelled soon
  after it first appeared. --tale ]

This is the second CFV for the group sci.image.processing. Since the
vote software issues automatic ack's, and the list of voters so far is
[a real big number] in size, no mid vote ack will be issued.


NAME:    sci.image.processing

STATUS:  Unmoderated

One line description for the List of Active Newsgroups:

sci.image.processing	Scientific image processing and analysis

CHARTER: 

sci.image.processing provides a forum for discussion of the scientific
uses of image processing and analysis.  Discussions of algorithms
and application programs are appropriate, with emphasis on solving real
world image processing problems.  Discussions of computer graphics,
visualization, output, window systems, communications, etc. are not
appropriate.  Posting of images is strongly discouraged.  Images should
be posted to alt.binaries.pictures.misc, or made available for FTP.

This group will take a broad definition of the term image processing.
Most topics related to the formation and analysis of images
are appropriate so long as a more focused newsgroup does not exist.  
This presently excludes topics such as computer vision (comp.ai.vision)
and image compression per se (comp.compression), but not topics such
as image detectors or calibration of imaging equipment.  Obviously, 
topics such as the impact of lossy image compression on image processing 
algorithms or the use of AI to analyze scientific images are not excluded.

One purpose is to develop and maintain Frequently Asked Question (FAQ)
articles on the subject.  Another is to provide a forum where 
experimentalists learn about image processing algorithms while computer 
scientists hear about the uses to which generic algorithms are put, or 
the requirements of  a specific application.  Both will discuss what can
and cannot be done to improve image quality before and during processing.

The "IEEE Transactions on Image Processing" gives a list of topics 
which they consider appropriate for that journal.  Some of those 
topics are also appropriate here:

Image Processing
  Coding                           Filtering           Enhancement
  Restoration                      Segmentation       
  Multiresolution Processing       Multispectral Processing  
  Image Representation             Image Analysis
  Interpolation and Spatial Transformations
  Motion Detection and Estimation  Image Sequence Processing
  Video Signal Processing          Noise Modeling
  Architectures and Software
Computed Imaging
  Acoustic Imaging                 Radar Imaging        Tomography
  Magnetic Resonance Imaging       Geophysical and Seismic Imaging
	 Radio Astronomy                	  Speckle Imaging
	 Computer Holography              	Confocal Microscopy
 	Electron Microscopy              	X-ray Crystallography
	 Coded-Aperture Imaging           	Real-Aperture Arrays


RATIONALE:

While some existing newsgroups carry traffic related to image processing,
there are many aspects to scientific imaging and no newsgroup addresses
more than a few of them.  Image processing is usually carried out by 
software, but many questions appropriate to this group have little or 
nothing to do with software.

By placing the group in the sci.* hierarchy, it should be clear to
new users that the the group is not limited to software or algorithms.
This placement also allows for the future discussion of a sci.image.* 
hierarchy with minimal upheaval.

An unmoderated group is needed to permit rapid responses to queries.
A focused, medium noise group is needed in order to attract and retain 
the readership which is essential to obtaining knowledgeable answers.

VOTING INSTRUCTIONS:

Do not post your vote, it will not be counted. The reply-to address of
this posting should point to the correct place, but double check your
mail before sending to make sure.

To cast a vote, send mail to

   "mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu"

with ONE of the following strings (you don't need the quotes)

   "vote sci.image.processing yes"
   "vote sci.image.processing no"

on a line by itself in the subject field or body of the message, where

"yes" means that you DO     want sci.image.processing created.
"no"  means that you DO NOT want sci.image.processing created.

* The deadline is 11:59:59 PM Tue 30-Jun-1992, EDT (GMT - 4).
* The mail server will reply within two hours confirming your vote.
  If no confirmation is received (allowing for normal E-mail round
  trip time), you may inquire at postmaster@pit-manager.mit.edu to 
  verify that the vote was received.
* If your mail message contains a signature, then be sure to put the
  string "quit" before it to prevent the mail server from being confused.
* DO NOT mail votes to John Stanley <stanley@oce.orst.edu>
* DO NOT mail votes to jik@mit.edu.
* DO NOT include any message in your vote (it won't be read).
* Offically, the vote is being run by John Stanley <stanley@oce.orst.edu>
  However, the collection and automation of the vote taking process is
  kindly being performed by Jonathan Kamens (jik@mit.edu).

Note: due to limitations on the length of Newsgroups: lines in news
software, this CFV is being posted three times. The first posting will
be to the groups shown in the header of this posting, which will include
news.announce.newgroups and news.groups.

As soon as the CFV appears in news.announce.newsgroups, it will be posted
to the following additional groups:

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From haukoos@sdsc.edu (Dana Haukoos)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: AVS texture mapping
Followup-To: comp.graphics.avs
Date: 24 Jun 1992 22:35:33 GMT
Organization: San Diego Supercomputer Center @ UCSD
Lines: 15
Distribution: world
Message-ID: <12atblINN8bq@network.ucsd.edu>
Reply-To: haukoos@sdsc.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: rutroh.sdsc.edu
Keywords: AVS HELP

I'm a new AVS user with a question about texture mapping. I've got a mesh representing 
a terrain map and am image I want mapped onto it. Should be a straightforward texture 
mapping scenario. I followed the step-by-step instructions in the manual, and I'm 
getting results that make no sense to me. Yes, something is being mapped onto my mesh, 
and it appears to be part of my image (like a very small portion of it or an 
"extrusion" of the edge of the image). I've tried using the "Transform Map" operations; they do affect it, but not in a way that's comprehensible. How can I tell it to simply 
map the extents of the image to the extents of the mesh ? Doesn't seem like it should 
be this difficult. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
	-- Dana Haukoos

San Diego Supercomputer Center
haukoos@sdsc.edu



From tvv@ncsc.org (Terry Myerson)
Subject: Re: read_HDF_image for multiple image files?
Message-ID: <BqDrBJ.8Dw@doppler.ncsc.org>
Sender: news@doppler.ncsc.org
Nntp-Posting-Host: doppler
Reply-To: tvv@ncsc.org (Terry Myerson)
Organization: North Carolina Supercomputing Center
References:  <1992Jun21.175903.13847@netnews.whoi.edu>
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1992 02:38:07 GMT

Hi Rich -

The read_HDF_image module should work now on the DEC station - there
was a bug in the SDSC documentation which had me calling a routine wrong.

Your problem is an easy one to fix - and I should probably update the SDSC
module's to include this... but 

       imageEntry=TagTableQDirect(dataTable,"image vfb",0);


in this line in the code, the 0 represents the first image in the file.  if
you attach a parameter to this integer then you would be able to select
which image in the file you were interested in.

(i.e. imageEntry=TagTableQDirect(dataTable,"image vfb",1 ); would select the
second image !!


Good Luck -

Terry


---
Terry Myerson
International AVS Center
North Carolina Supercomputing Center
avs@ncsc.org


From tvv@ncsc.org (Terry Myerson)
Subject: Re: Sphere subdivisions through software?
Message-ID: <BqDrFw.8GM@doppler.ncsc.org>
Sender: news@doppler.ncsc.org
Nntp-Posting-Host: doppler
Reply-To: tvv@ncsc.org (Terry Myerson)
Organization: North Carolina Supercomputing Center
References:  <1992Jun23.134145.23601@tc.cornell.edu>
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1992 02:40:44 GMT



Hi Elan -

The subdivisions parameter applies when the geometry viewer changes
sphere geometries into polytriangle strips for rendering.  So if you
make the conversion yourself, you can make the conversion in your own
code.

1.  create sphere objects
2.  create polytriangle object
3.  and then call...
`
GEOMobj *GEOMcvt_sphere_to_polytri(geom,divs,flags)
GEOMobj *geom;
int divs;
int flags;

4.  edit the edit list with the polytriangle geometry !!!

Good luck ...

-terry

---
Terry Myerson
International AVS Center
North Carolina Supercomputing Center
avs@ncsc.org


From jrv@siemens.com. (Jim Vallino)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Problems with help browser
Message-ID: <95684@siemens.siemens.com>
Date: 24 Jun 92 20:27:15 GMT
Sender: news@siemens.siemens.com
Reply-To: jrv@siemens.siemens.com
Organization: Siemens Corporate Research, Inc.
Lines: 17

I am having trouble working with the help browser in AVS 4.0 on a Sun
SparcStation.  Quite often when I click the Help button in the Network Editor
or the Network Control Panel AVS terminates with a segmenation fault.  I have
not been able to quantify exactly what causes the problem.  It seems to be
related to having a HelpPath variable set in my .avsrc file.  When it fails
seems to be non-deterministic.  Has anyone else had problems with the Help
browser?  I would appreciate any input for where to look for the problem.

Thanks,
Jim
---

--
Jim Vallino
jrv@siemens.siemens.com            Siemens Corporate Research, Inc.
princeton!siemens!jrv              755 College Road East
(609) 734-3331                     Princeton, NJ 08540


From neujm@uts.uni-c.dk (J|rgen Moth)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: pixmap animation
Summary: Labels dropped in animations?
Keywords: display pixmap, labels, animation
Message-ID: <1992Jun25.151834.8372@uts.uni-c.dk>
Date: 25 Jun 92 15:18:34 GMT
Organization: UNI-C, Danish Computing Centre for Research and Education
Lines: 10

Hi,
When animating a sequence of pixmaps with the display pixmap
store frames function, label geometries seems to be dropped.
I'm using a changing title label to identify the individual
pixmaps in the animation sequence.
Any suggestions?
We are running Convex AVS.
 - Jorgen Moth     
   UNI-C (The Danish Computing Centre for Research and Education)
   neujm@uts.uni-c.dk


From eric@phobos.sscl.uwo.ca (Eric Cartman)
Subject: Installing AVS - Swap requirements?
Reply-To: eric@phobos.sscl.uwo.ca (Eric Cartman)
Organization: University of Western Ontario
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1992 17:02:29 GMT
Message-ID: <1992Jun25.170229.19128@julian.uwo.ca>
Sender: news@julian.uwo.ca (USENET News System)
Nntp-Posting-Host: phobos.sscl.uwo.ca
Lines: 10



The installation guide provided by DEC (DEC AVS) suggests that
there be 128 Mbytes of swap space due to "significant
demands on virtual memory". Is this in addition to
the swap space already allocated? (ie: if I have 96Mb of local swap
space for my workstation to I increase it _by_ 128Mb or _to_ 128Mb)

Merci millefois
-e


From enxing@hitu.zko.dec.com (Hugh Enxing)
Subject: Re: Installing AVS - Swap requirements?
Message-ID: <1992Jun25.180206.26756@nntpd2.cxo.dec.com>
Sender: usenet@nntpd2.cxo.dec.com (USENET News System)
Reply-To: enxing@hitu.zko.dec.com (Hugh Enxing)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
References:  <1992Jun25.170229.19128@julian.uwo.ca>
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1992 18:02:06 GMT

In article <1992Jun25.170229.19128@julian.uwo.ca>, eric@phobos.sscl.uwo.ca (Eric Cartman) writes:

|> 
|> 
|> The installation guide provided by DEC (DEC AVS) suggests that
|> there be 128 Mbytes of swap space due to "significant
|> demands on virtual memory". Is this in addition to
|> the swap space already allocated? (ie: if I have 96Mb of local swap
|> space for my workstation to I increase it _by_ 128Mb or _to_ 128Mb)
|> 
|> Merci millefois
|> -e
|> 

This lower "suggested" limit is the total space required by a "nominal"
AVS workstation. "Nominal" here is defined as one running typical networking
(nfs, inet, ...) and windowing (x-servers, x-terms, ...) software combined
with AVS running typical networks and using typical data sets as are
distributed on the DEC AVS kit.

If your worksation is running more than "nominal" (i.e. many users running
many apps, debugging sessions, ...) processes, or you are pushing AVS by
using large data sets (e.g. MRI volume data sets can be 7-10 MBytes), then
128MBytes of swap may not be sufficient. You will definitely start seeing
"malloc" errors, followed by processes crashing with seg faults. This should
be your clue that you need more. But start with 128MBytes total.

(You can monitor you virtual memory usage while AVS is running using the
 command "/etc/pstat -s").

Hugh Enxing
Digital Equipment Corp
enxing@dssdev.enet.dec.com


From schiano@vega.acs.uci.edu (Allen V. Schiano)
Subject: Remote Module Execution timeouts
Nntp-Posting-Host: vega.acs.uci.edu
Message-ID: <2A4BB18C.5086@noiro.acs.uci.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Reply-To: schiano@vega.acs.uci.edu (Allen V. Schiano)
Organization: University of California, Irvine
Lines: 18
Date: 27 Jun 92 00:08:44 GMT

	We are using AVS across a variety of platforms and have noticed trouble
with remote module execution when one of the machines is very slow inresponding
to inquiries from another AVS.  In particular, when we run DEC AVS on our
DEC 5200 machines and ask our Convex C240 for a remote module, we often get
'timeout' messages saying that DEC AVS has timeouted waiting for the 
'list_dir' program on the Convex.  The problem is intermitent due to the varying load average on the C240.  Our lower priority users have noticed it..

My question to the AVS developers (not just at Convex or DEC) is:  can we
change the time-out 'time' in anyway from the AVS kernel when it searches for
'list_dir'?  Is it a matter of changing the 'rsh' command or is it in the 
AVS kernel itself?


	With users waiting for any answer..

	Dr. Allen Schiano
	OAC
	UCI


From thorson@typhoon.atmos.colostate.edu (Bill Thorson)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Animating Particles
Message-ID: <Jun27.051829.60508@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU>
Date: 27 Jun 92 05:18:29 GMT
Sender: news@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU (News Account)
Organization: Colorado State University -- Atmos Sci
Lines: 19


  I am new to AVS to please ignor my ignorance.  I was just handed the
assignment to animate particles with AVS.  The particles will be moved
and animated with the meteorology.  They already have the meteorology
animating.

  The question I have is has anyone done this?  I was handed a fairly
recent copy of the PD modules list and didn't see anything in there
that looked like what I want.

Bill Thorson
-- 
#!/bin/sh
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------#
echo Bill Thorson                   thorson@typhoon.atmos.colostate.edu
echo Dept of Atmospheric Science    +1 303 491-8339
echo Colorado State University
echo Ft. Collins,  CO  80523
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------#


From yee@gold.cchem.berkeley.edu (Raymond Yee)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: a simple question
Date: 27 Jun 1992 23:58:22 GMT
Organization: Dept of Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley
Lines: 16
Message-ID: <12ivauINNrlr@agate.berkeley.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: gold.cchem.berkeley.edu

Hello,

	Is it possible to start AVS up with NO display -- that is, I'd
like AVS to run a script to generate some pictures without actually displaying
anything on the console.  
	I'd appreciate any insight into this problem.

Raymond Yee
 



------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Raymond Yee					c/o Chandler Group 
(yee@gold.cchem.berkeley.edu)			Dept of Chemistry, UC Berkeley
(510) 643-7128					Berkeley, CA 94720


From lipman@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Robert Lipman)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs,comp.sys.sgi
Subject: Using 'output VideoCreator' module in AVS
Message-ID: <21536@oasys.dt.navy.mil>
Date: 24 Jun 92 16:27:23 GMT
Reply-To: lipman@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Robert Lipman)
Followup-To: comp.graphics.avs
Organization: Carderock Division, NSWC, Bethesda, MD
Lines: 23

I've been trying to use the AVS module 'output VideoCreator'
without much success on an SGI 4D/420 VGX with a Video Creator
VME board.  When I bring the module down into the network
editor I get the message:

You have not configured your AVS environment to use a Video Creator.

See the output VideoCreator module documentation for more information.

Well, the documentation did not help (at least not me).  What specifically
do I have to do?  Do I have to put something in my .avsrc or .animrc

files?  What mode should the Video Creator and V-LAN be set for?

Thanks in advance, e-mail please,

Bob Lipman                        | Internet: lipman@oasys.dt.navy.mil
David Taylor Model Basin - CDNSWC | Yellnet : (301) 227-1931
Computational Signatures and      | Faxnet  : (301) 227-5753
   Structures Branch, Code 1282   | Fishnet : Stockings@legs
Bethesda, Maryland  20084-5000    |

She sells C shells by the seashore.


From elan@tasha.cheme.cornell.edu (Elan Feingold)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: AVS4.0 question
Message-ID: <1992Jun28.233229.28006@tc.cornell.edu>
Date: 28 Jun 92 23:32:29 GMT
Sender: elan@picard.cheme.cornell.edu (Elan Feingold)
Reply-To: elan@tasha.cheme.cornell.edu (Elan Feingold)
Organization: Cornell University
Lines: 18
Nntp-Posting-Host: picard.cheme.cornell.edu


I've heard that with AVS 4.0 there is a new geom object - One that is a simple "frame" so that one can use it to display images in the geometry subsystem, through texture mapping.  We just installed 4.0 and I don't see anything like this.  Can anyone point me in the right direction?  Thanks, 

--
Elan Feingold

Computer Science/Electrical Engineering Departments
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------


From dave@panum.Stanford.EDU (Dave Nichols)
Subject: Picking modules ?
Message-ID: <DAVE.92Jun28204849@panum.Stanford.EDU>
Sender: news@morrow.stanford.edu (News Service)
Reply-To: dave@sep.stanford.edu
Organization: /homes/sep/dave/.organization
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1992 04:48:49 GMT
Lines: 19


We are in the process of evaluating AVS and Explorer. One of our
requirements is to be able to interpret a surface from a volume of 3-D
data.  i.e. given a 3-D data volume rendered on the screen (Using any
of the multitudes of ways of rendering volume data.) I wish to
select points within the volume and produce a connected surface as the
output.

Can anybody tell me whether this is possible in either system with
either the basic module sets or other freely available modules?

If it isn't possible in either system, would anybody like to suggest a
flexible system (suitable for a research environment) in which I can
do this.

Please mail replies to dave@sep.stanford.edu and I will summarize.
--
Dave Nichols, Dept. of Geophysics, Stanford University.
dave@sep.stanford.edu


From larryg@avs.com (Larry Gelberg)
Subject: Re: a simple question
Organization: Advanced Visual Systems Inc.
References: <12ivauINNrlr@agate.berkeley.edu>
Message-ID: <1992Jun29.140305.29343@ctr.columbia.edu>
Sender: news@ctr.columbia.edu (The Daily Lose)
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1992 14:03:05 GMT
X-Posted-From: phobos.avs.com
X-Posted-Through: sol.ctr.columbia.edu
Lines: 26

yee@gold.cchem.berkeley.edu (Raymond Yee) writes:
: Hello,
: 
: 	Is it possible to start AVS up with NO display -- that is, I'd
: like AVS to run a script to generate some pictures without actually displaying
: anything on the console.  
: 	I'd appreciate any insight into this problem.
: 
: Raymond Yee

Yes, run:
	avs -nodisplay -cli
Then, you can run scripts, etc. which produce images and use the
WRITE IMAGE module (for example) to dump the images to disk.  With the 
AVS4 geometry viewer, you can get images directly out of the 
geom viewer for archiving.  With the Animator, you can dump an image
sequence in an encoded format.

I hope this helps you,
larryg

-- 
=== Larry Gelberg ============================ larryg@avs.com =======
      Advanced Visual Systems Inc. (AVS Inc.)
      300 Fifth Ave, Waltham, MA 02154
===== Tel: 617-890-4300 = Fax: 617-890-8287 =========================


From enxing@hitu.zko.dec.com (Hugh Enxing)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Re: Remote Module Execution timeouts
Message-ID: <1992Jun29.134711.7722@nntpd2.cxo.dec.com>
Date: 29 Jun 92 13:47:11 GMT
References: <2A4BB18C.5086@noiro.acs.uci.edu>
Sender: usenet@nntpd2.cxo.dec.com (USENET News System)
Reply-To: enxing@hitu.zko.dec.com (Hugh Enxing)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Lines: 24

In article <2A4BB18C.5086@noiro.acs.uci.edu>, schiano@vega.acs.uci.edu (Allen V. Schiano) writes:
|> 
|> 	We are using AVS across a variety of platforms and have noticed trouble
|> with remote module execution when one of the machines is very slow inresponding
|> to inquiries from another AVS.  In particular, when we run DEC AVS on our
|> DEC 5200 machines and ask our Convex C240 for a remote module, we often get
|> 'timeout' messages saying that DEC AVS has timeouted waiting for the 
|> 'list_dir' program on the Convex.  The problem is intermitent due to the varying load average on the C240.  Our lower priority users have noticed it..
|> 
|> My question to the AVS developers (not just at Convex or DEC) is:  can we
|> change the time-out 'time' in anyway from the AVS kernel when it searches for
|> 'list_dir'?  Is it a matter of changing the 'rsh' command or is it in the 
|> AVS kernel itself?
|> 

This 30-second value is hard-wired into the AVS kernel.

Sounds like a request from the user community to allow an env.
var. override for this length of time.

Hugh Enxing
Digital Equipment Corp
Nashua, NH
enxing@dssdev.enet.dec.com


From dlc@convex.com (Dominique Le Corre)
Subject: Re: Picking modules ?
Message-ID: <1992Jun29.143639.10588@convex.com>
Sender: usenet@convex.com (news access account)
Nntp-Posting-Host: convex1.convex.com
Organization: CONVEX Computer Corporation, Richardson, Tx., USA
References: <DAVE.92Jun28204849@panum.Stanford.EDU>
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1992 14:36:39 GMT
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.
Lines: 14

AVS incorporates a (very powerfull) mechanism called upstream transform.
With it, any upstream module (like your renderer) can get feedback
from the geometry viewer about user-performed operations(translation,
rotation,scaling) and also selection information (which vertex of which
object has been selected). This mechanism is used in modules like 
particle advector, stream lines, arbitrary slicer, to control the starting
position(s) for the operation, and also by the probe module, which allows
you to point somewhere in your object and display the underlying data.
A version of this module is available, including source, at the IAC which
is very similar to your needs : it already accumulates values and coordinates
and you would just have to draw a polyline.
I think this information might be useful for everybody.
D.LC
dlc@cvxfr.fr.convex.com


From schiano@vega.acs.uci.edu (Allen V. Schiano)
Subject: Re: Remote Module Execution timeouts
Nntp-Posting-Host: vega.acs.uci.edu
Message-ID: <2A4F3E45.12168@noiro.acs.uci.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Reply-To: schiano@vega.acs.uci.edu (Allen V. Schiano)
Organization: University of California, Irvine
Lines: 35
References: <2A4BB18C.5086@noiro.acs.uci.edu> <1992Jun29.134711.7722@nntpd2.cxo.dec.com>
Date: 29 Jun 92 16:45:57 GMT

In article <1992Jun29.134711.7722@nntpd2.cxo.dec.com>, enxing@hitu.zko.dec.com (Hugh Enxing) writes:
|> In article <2A4BB18C.5086@noiro.acs.uci.edu>, schiano@vega.acs.uci.edu (Allen V. Schiano) writes:
|> |> 
|> |> 	We are using AVS across a variety of platforms and have noticed trouble
|> |> with remote module execution when one of the machines is very slow inresponding
|> |> to inquiries from another AVS.  In particular, when we run DEC AVS on our
|> |> DEC 5200 machines and ask our Convex C240 for a remote module, we often get
|> |> 'timeout' messages saying that DEC AVS has timeouted waiting for the 
|> |> 'list_dir' program on the Convex.  The problem is intermitent due to the varying load average on the C240.  Our lower priority users have noticed it..
|> |> 
|> |> My question to the AVS developers (not just at Convex or DEC) is:  can we
|> |> change the time-out 'time' in anyway from the AVS kernel when it searches for
|> |> 'list_dir'?  Is it a matter of changing the 'rsh' command or is it in the 
|> |> AVS kernel itself?
|> |> 
|> 
|> This 30-second value is hard-wired into the AVS kernel.
|> 
|> Sounds like a request from the user community to allow an env.
|> var. override for this length of time.
o|> 

	YES!!!!  I'm making the argument for it.  You can't tell ahead of time
	how long it will take for the process to fire.  Load averages vary by
	too much a range to set it at 30-seconds.  Question:  would it cause
	any trouble to have set it to a much longer time?


|> Hugh Enxing
|> Digital Equipment Corp
|> Nashua, NH
|> enxing@dssdev.enet.dec.com

	Allen Schiano
	OAC/UCI


