Article View: comp.graphics.explorer
Article #168Axis Update + making modules
From: Gordon Cameron
Date: Sat, 17 Oct 1992 01:59
Date: Sat, 17 Oct 1992 01:59
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7358 bytes
Hi folks,
Just a quick note to say that Robert DeMillo has updated his Axis module
, and details follow at the foot of this message, together with a description
of the module. As usual, ftp-able from ftp.epcc.ed.ac.uk, and (soon)
swedishchef.lerc.nasa.gov
Also, if you grab source for modules from the ftp sites, you should create a
Makefile by executing /usr/explore/bin/cxmkmodmf, then just type make
(some folks were having trouble, but this is the solution )
Bye for now - those of you visiting Vis 92, have a good time #:-)
-Gordon.
PATCH INFO....
Corrections:
- Titles are now centered. Subtitling works.
- Tic labels correctly position themselves when
the XZ plane is chosen for the "back wall"
- The axis labeling now does "correct things" when
the x,y,z minimums are all below 0.0.
- Axis now *always* assumes a default of 10 major
and 2 minor tics along all three axis. (Before, it
would try and place a major tic mark at every
major integer interval...which obviously would
overcrowd the screen on a run from 0 to 10,000 and
would undercrowd the screen on a run from 0 to 0.1
Thanks for the help.
- Rob
NAME
Axis
DESCRIPTION
"Axis" will annotate a geometric, rendered image that was constructed
from an Explorer 3D Uniform Lattice. The user has control over the
axes that are displayed, as well as textual information such
as axis labels, tic labels and an image title. This module is meant
to be used in conjunction with the "Render" module, since all of its
output is in the geometric data set.
"Axis" was written so that the user can "know where he/she is looking"
in a render window. Although explorer is an excellent visualization
tool, the lack of any common reference can be quite confusing after
you've stretched, rotated and zoomed behind your image a multitude of
times. "Axis" provides you with a common reference point, and allows
for a bit of useful annotations.
Although images rendered in conjunction with "Axis" can be used
for presentations or reports, the extreme two-dimensionality of the
fonts in a three-dimensional world can look a bit...strange. In a
future release, we will offer better control of font placement,
font type, and (hopefully) three-dimensional block fonts. Until that
time, feel free to use "Axis" as a starting point and perhaps fill
in the "nicities" of image label using "Showcase" or a similar
presentation tool.
When the "Axis" module is connected to a 3D Lattice input stream,
it take certain reasonable defaults for the axis attributes. The
number of Major tics will attempt to correspond to the number of
incremental divisions in the user's X, Y, and Z matrix. If the user
is not satisfied with the tic spacing, then he/she can set any spacing
desired, or turn them off altogether.
Axis labels, tic labels and tic marks are placed in the plane that the
axis in question shares with the X Axis. Y Labels, for instance, are
written in the XY plane. For now, numeric tic labels are limited to
1 decimal position for output. We realize this is troublesome, and it
will be remedied in subsequent releases.
Image titles and subtitles are placed in either the XY plane above
the maximum Y value, or in the XZ plane above the maximum Z value.
An attempt is made to center the text string,
but there are no guarantees since we cannot get world coordinate
information *back* from the Render module easily.
Image titles can be up to 1,024 characters in length. Subtitles are
separated from the main title with a "||" separator. (Two pipes
together.) There is no limit as to how many subtitles
there can be in any one image. The main title is moved upwards forever
to make room for the subtitles.
INPUTS
InputLattice -- Lattice
(3-D, float..double, uniform).
Input port from other Explorer modules.
WIDGETS
X Axis Visible? -- Radio Box
Turns the X Axis (with labels) on and off.
X Major -- Slider
Number of major tics on the X Axis.
Y Major -- Slider
Number of major tics on the Y Axis.
Z Major -- Slider
Number of major tics on the Z Axis.
X Minor -- Slider
Number of minor tics on the X Axis.
Y Minor -- Slider
Number of minor tics on the Y Axis.
Z Minor -- Slider
Number of minor tics on the Z Axis.
Numeric Tic Labels? -- Radio Box
Turns the numeric labeling on and off.
Image Title -- Text
Enter a title for the image.
X Axis Label -- Text
Enter a label for the X Axis.
Y Axis Label -- Text
Enter a label for the Y Axis.
Z Axis Label -- Text
Enter a label for the Z Axis.
Y Axis Visible? -- Radio Box
Turns the Y Axis (with labels) on and off.
Z Axis Visible? -- Radio Box
Turns the Z Axis (with labels) on and off.
Title Location -- Option Menu
Place title on either the XY plane or the XZ plane.
OUTPUTS
OutputGeom -- Geometry
Outputs the axis and labels in a geometric form to
another Explorer module. (99% of the time this will be Render.)
KNOWN PROBLEMS
The severe restriction of allowing for only 16 input ports in any
given module meant that a lot of functionality was left out of
the "Axis" module. Color, for instance, is outside of the user's
control. "Axis" will draw its information using whatever color is in
colortable position 1 in render. Likewise, the user has no control over
placement of the labels, origin of the axes, etc. Hopefully, these
omissions will be addressed in a future release.
"Axis" has a little bit of a hard time centering it's titles. Hopefully,
this will be addresses in a future release.
"Axis" only understands 3D Uniform Lattices, because that was our
immediate need. It would be worthwhile to consider the labeling
of other Lattices and 2D Lattices in future releases.
SEE ALSO
Render, RenderRemote
--
e|p Gordon Cameron | Phone:+44 31 650 5024(Rm. 2259)
c|c Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre | Email: gordonc@epcc.ed.ac.uk
oOo The University of Edinburgh oOo | 'So far so good, so now so what'
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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!gatech!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!agate!doc.ic.ac.uk!uknet!edcastle!dcs.ed.ac.uk!epcc.ed.ac.uk!gordonc From: gordonc@epcc.ed.ac.uk (Gordon Cameron) Newsgroups: comp.graphics.explorer Subject: Axis Update + making modules Message-ID: <Bw8tIM.G89@dcs.ed.ac.uk> Date: 17 Oct 92 01:59:09 GMT Sender: cnews@dcs.ed.ac.uk (UseNet News Admin) Organization: Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre Lines: 181