Cosmo Player 2.1.1
Release Notes
for
Windows 95/98 and Windows NT

An interactive game teaching the basics of navigating 3D spaces with Cosmo Player.

These release notes describe the 2.1.1 release of of Cosmo Software's Cosmo Player for Windows 95/98 and Windows NT. The latest version of this file is always available from the Cosmo Player Support Resources page, on the Cosmo Software web site.

Users will find Recommended Hardware Configuration, Installation and Browser Issues, On-line Help, Media Types and Software, and Troubleshooting especially helpful.

1. Legal Notices
2. Recommended Hardware Configuration
3. Installation and Browser Issues
4. On-line Help
5. Media Types and Software
6. Troubleshooting
7. Differences Between Cosmo Player 2.0 and 2.1.1
8. What's Included in This Release
9. VRML Developer Notes
10. Known Bugs and Limitations
11. Support and Bug Reporting

1. Legal Notices

Software License Agreement

Cosmo^TM Player 2.1.1 Release for Windows 95/98 and Windows NT

Developed by PLATINUM technology, inc., 1815 South Meyers Road, Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181, USA. Copyright © 1997-1999 PLATINUM technology, inc. All rights reserved.

Cosmo and the Cosmo logo are trademarks and PLATINUM technology® is a registered trademark of PLATINUM technology, inc. Silicon Graphics®, OpenGL® and the Silicon Graphics logo are registered trademarks and the OpenGL logo is a trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. ActiveMovie and DirectX are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

COSMO SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT

PLATINUM technology, inc., IS WILLING TO LICENSE COSMO SOFTWARE TO YOU ONLY UPON THE CONDITION THAT YOU ACCEPT ALL OF THE TERMS CONTAINED IN THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT ("Agreement"). READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS LICENSE CAREFULLY. YOUR USE OF THE LICENSED SOFTWARE INDICATES YOUR ASSENT TO BE BOUND BY THE LICENSE TERMS SET FORTH BELOW.

1. DEFINITIONS

a) "PLATINUM SOFTWARE" means the software program identified above and all related updates and new versions that may be supplied by PLATINUM.

b) "PLATINUM PRODUCT" means the PLATINUM SOFTWARE, associated media, documentation (including printed materials and any associated "online" or electronic documentation), and any multimedia files (including but not limited to 3D models, sample applications, bit-mapped images, graphics, photographs, animations, video, sounds, applets, and behaviors) included in or available as part of the downloadable product, as well as all related updates or new versions that may be supplied by PLATINUM.

c) "END-USER PRODUCT" means the output file generated by your using the PLATINUM SOFTWARE and any copies of these files. END-USER PRODUCT includes the VRML content you create but does not include the PLATINUM RUN-TIME required in order for the END-USER PRODUCT to operate on hardware on which the PLATINUM PRODUCT is not resident.

d) "PLATINUM RUN-TIME " means those files included in or generated by the PLATINUM SOFTWARE that are required in order for the END-USER PRODUCT to operate on hardware on which the PLATINUM SOFTWARE is not resident.

2. SINGLE USER LICENSE

a) GRANT. You (but not other individuals in your organization) may use the PLATINUM PRODUCT on any single computer, as well as on any home or portable computer that you may possess, but only so long as you use the PLATINUM PRODUCT on just one single computer at any time and have paid us our then-current license fee. Upon acceptance of the terms of this license, you will be prompted to enter the serial number packaged with the PLATINUM PRODUCT that may be needed to use the PLATINUM PRODUCT under this license to (i) design, develop, and test END USER PRODUCTS and Internet content and (ii) distribute the PLATINUM RUN-TIME solely (i) as part of or in conjunction with END USER PRODUCTS or (ii) as an upgrade or add-on to your software application to enable it to operate on hardware on which the PLATINUM SOFTWARE is not resident. Except as expressly permitted herein, you may not distribute the PLATINUM RUN-TIME on a stand alone basis.

b) RESERVATION. Platinum reserves all rights not expressly granted to you in this license agreement. Should you wish to acquire any additional rights with respect to the PLATINUM PRODUCT or PLATINUM RUN-TIME, you must enter into a separate agreement with Platinum, which may be subject to additional terms and charges. For further information, contact us by email at info@platinum.com or by telephone at 800-442-6861.

c) TERMINATION. You may terminate this license agreement at any time without right to refund, by notifying us in writing and destroying all copies of the PLATINUM PRODUCT and PLATINUM RUN-TIME in your possession and control. We may terminate this license agreement in the event you breach any of its terms or conditions, without prejudice to any other remedies we may have.

3. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS

The PLATINUM PRODUCT and PLATINUM RUN-TIME are protected by national copyright laws and international copyright treaties. The source code of the PLATINUM PRODUCT and PLATINUM RUN-TIME are protected as a trade secret. Platinum and/or its licensors retain all proprietary rights in or related to the PLATINUM PRODUCT and PLATINUM RUN-TIME. You are granted only the limited rights specified in this license agreement with respect to the object code versions of the PLATINUM PRODUCT and PLATINUM RUN-TIME. Nothing in this license agreement grants you any right to receive updates, upgrades or new versions of the PLATINUM PRODUCT or PLATINUM RUN-TIME. If you would like to receive information about any available maintenance services, contact us by email at info@platinum.com or by telephone at 800-442-6861.

4. UNAUTHORIZED USE

You may not allow other individuals (whether in your organization or not) to use the PLATINUM PRODUCT. Except for making an archival copy of the PLATINUM PRODUCT or loading it on other computers, if and as authorized above, you may not copy, lend, rent, lease, transmit or otherwise distribute the PLATINUM PRODUCT. You may not modify, adapt or create derivative works based on the PLATINUM PRODUCT or PLATINUM RUN-TIME, other than as expressly authorized under this license agreement, or attempt to disable any password or other protective devise incorporated into the PLATINUM PRODUCT. You may not decompile, disassemble or reverse engineer the PLATINUM SOFTWARE or PLATINUM RUN-TIME, except as and to the extent that applicable law authorizes you to do so despite this restriction. You may not disclose results of any benchmark test of the PLATINUM SOFTWARE or PLATINUM RUN-TIME to a third party without Platinum's prior written approval. You may not delete or obscure any proprietary legends on the PLATINUM PRODUCT or PLATINUM RUN-TIME, and you must copy such legends on to any copy thereof that you are authorized to make. You may not assign or otherwise transfer any of your rights under this license agreement.

5. LIMITED WARRANTY

If you accept the terms of this license agreement, and have paid us the applicable license fee, we warrant that the PLATINUM PRODUCT will perform substantially as described in its internal help screens or related documentation for 90 days after you pay us the applicable license fee, but we do not warrant that your use of the PLATINUM PRODUCT or PLATINUM RUN-TIME will be uninterrupted or error-free. In addition, this Limited Warranty will become inapplicable if you modify the PLATINUM PRODUCT or use it on or in conjunction with hardware or software with which the PLATINUM PRODUCT or PLATINUM RUN-TIME were not designed to be used according to the internal help screens or related documentation.

IN ANY CASE, EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY STATED IN THIS SECTION, ALL WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE PLATINUM PRODUCT AND PLATINUM RUN-TIME, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE, SATISFACTORY QUALITY OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, ARE HEREBY OVERRIDDEN, EXCLUDED AND DISCLAIMED.

If you believe that you have a claim under this Limited Warranty, contact us immediately by email at info@platinum.com or by telephone at 630-620-5000, Technical Support, but in no event later than the expiration of the 90-day warranty period. If we are able to replicate the problem, and if it amounts to a breach of this Limited Warranty, then we will provide you with the fix or work-around solution that we have or may develop for general release to our licensees or, if we determine that the problem cannot reasonably be fixed, we will refund to you the Single User License fee that you paid for the PLATINUM PRODUCT, provided that there is evidence of when you paid this fee. Inquiries not covered by this Limited Warranty are subject to our then-current technical support policies. For information about these policies, contact us by email info@platinum.com or telephone at 630-620-5000, Technical Support.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusions and limitations contemplated above, so you may have additional or alternative warranty rights under applicable law.

6. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL PLATINUM, ITS LICENSORS OR RELATED PERSONS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, SPECIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES OR LOSSES, WHETHER FORESEEABLE OR UNFORESEEABLE, BASED ON YOUR CLAIMS OR THOSE OF YOUR CUSTOMERS (INCLUDING CLAIMS FOR LOSS OF DATA, GOODWILL, PROFITS, USE OF MONEY, COMPUTERS OR THE PLATINUM PRODUCTS OR PLATINUM RUN-TIME, INTERRUPTION IN THE USE OR AVAILABILITY OF DATA, STOPPAGE OF WORK OR OTHER IMPAIRMENT OF ASSETS), ARISING OUT OF BREACH OR FAILURE OF WARRANTY, BREACH OF CONTRACT, MISREPRESENTATION, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY IN TORT OR OTHERWISE. IN NO EVENT WILL PLATINUM'S, ITS LICENSORS' OR RELATED PERSONS' AGGREGATE LIABILITY EXCEED THE LICENSE FEE THAT YOU ACTUALLY PAID TO US FOR THE PLATINUM PRODUCT. THIS EXCLUSION AND LIMITATION WILL NOT APPLY ONLY IF AND TO THE EXTENT THAT APPLICABLE LAW REQUIRES LIABILITY BEYOND AND DESPITE THIS EXCLUSION AND LIMITATION.

7. EXPORT CONTROLS

You acknowledge that you are not a national or resident of Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, or any other country under current trade embargo by the U.S. Government and agree not to download or otherwise export or re-export the PLATINUM PRODUCT, PLATINUM RUN-TIME or related technical data, or direct products thereof, into any such country or national or resident thereof.

8. U.S. GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED RIGHTS

If you are a U.S. government agency, in accordance with section 12.212 of the Federal Acquisition Regulations, you hereby acknowledge that your use, duplication and disclosure of the PLATINUM PRODUCT or PLATINUM RUN-TIME is governed by, and subject to, this license agreement. If, for any reason, that section 12.212 is not applicable, you hereby acknowledge that your use, duplication and disclosure of the PLATINUM PRODUCT and PLATINUM RUN-TIME is subject to the Commercial Computer Software Restricted Rights clause, FAR §52.227.19(c). Manufacturer is Platinum technology, inc. 1815 South Meyers Road, Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181, USA.

9. MISCELLANEOUS

This Agreement states the entire agreement between us with respect to the PLATINUM PRODUCT and PLATINUM RUN-TIME and overrides the terms of any purchase order that you may place with us. It is governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, U.S.A, and may be modified or supplemented only in writing signed by both of us. We agree to exclude application of the U.N. Convention of Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, if applicable.

Other Copyright Notices

• JPEG Software - Copyright 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, Thomas G. Lane. All Rights Reserved. Code from the Independent JPEG Group was used in Cosmo Player.
• Portions include gzip - Copyright © 1992-1993 Jean-loup Gailly.
• Portions include modified sources from the Group 42 PNG reference library,Copyright © 1995, 1996 Guy Eric Schalnat, Group 42, Inc. See http://www.group42.com/png.htm for more details.

2. Recommended Hardware Configuration

• Pentium PC
• 16 MBytes RAM
• 8-bit color depth (16-bit color is recommended)

3. Installation and Browser Issues

You can download the latest version of Cosmo Player from http://cosmosoftware.com/products/player.

Cosmo Player 2.1.1 is designed to work as a plug-in component for the following Web browsers:

• Netscape 3.01 and higher
• Netscape 4.x
• Internet Explorer 4.x

During installation of Cosmo Player 2.1.1, you're presented with a Select Components dialog that lists supported Web browsers currently installed on your system. If the installed version of your preferred Web browser does not appear in the list of supported browsers, check the "Other (unsupported browsers)" option. The installer then asks you which unsupported Web browser you want to use; after you specify a browser, you're asked to indicate what directory Cosmo Player should be installed in. The installer then installs the necessary files for Cosmo Player into the directory you specified. PLATINUM technology, inc. does not warrant compatibility with any Web browser that isn't automatically detected by the Cosmo Player 2.1.1 installer.

The installer will attempt to detect currently installed versions of Cosmo Player.  If you choose to uninstall a previous version during the installation process, you should reboot your machine after the successful install of the new version.  This will ensure that the Cosmo Player files are correctly updated on your system.

If the Cosmo Player dashboard is too dark, then your monitor may not be set up correctly. Reset the monitor's brightness and contrast so that the control panel is pleasantly visible.

4. On-line Help

5. Media Types and Software

ActiveMovie/DirectShow

Microsoft has recently changed the name of ActiveMovie to DirectShow, which will be bundled with DirectX beginning with DirectX 5.1 and also comes bundled with Internet Explorer 4.0, so you may be familiar with it under that name.

If, in the Cosmo Player Console, you see the message

ActiveMovie not available. Video will be disabled. Audio which is not uncompressed WAV or MIDI will be disabled.

then you may want to download and install ActiveMovie. (Press the \ [backslash] key to display the Console.) You can download a self-extracting archive of the ActiveMovie support package from the Cosmo Software ftp site (amovie.exe).

Upon installation of ActiveMovie, you may find that multimedia files (.mpg, etc.) on your system have different icons. This is because ActiveMovie changes the default file associations for these file types. See www.microsoft.com/directx for additional information on ActiveMovie/DirectShow.

DirectX

Windows 95/98

DirectX 3.0 or later not detected. Spatialization will be limited to simple left/right pan calculation.

in the Cosmo Player Console, you will need to install DirectX 3.0 or later if you desire to hear fully spatialized audio. For best performance in Windows 95/98, use DirectX 5.0 or later. A self-extracting archive of the DirectX 5.0 runtime is available from the Cosmo Software ftp site (dx5eng.exe). This is the English-language version of DirectX 5; international users should download the appropriate version directly from Microsoft.

Windows NT

6. Troubleshooting

Also, be sure to check the Known Bugs and Limitations section, in case you're running into a specific known problem in this release of Cosmo Player.

I do not hear audio in all worlds known to have audio content.

1. Verify that audio works normally outside of Cosmo Player 2.1.1. Double-click on a .WAV file from within the Windows Explorer. Try a .MID file as well.
2. Display the Cosmo Player Console (press \ [backslash]) and look for diagnostic messages relating to the audio subsystem.

I do not hear audio in a particular world.

1. Check the Cosmo Player 2.1.1 Console to verify that there were no errors retrieving the audio content.
2. Verify that the content type is supported by your installation of Cosmo Player 2.1.1. In particular, without ActiveMovie/DirectShow, only uncompressed WAV and MIDI will be supported.

My audio is not spatialized.

1. Audio will only be "pseudo-spatialized" on Windows NT without Service Pack 3 or Windows 95/98 without DirectX 3.0 or later.
2. MIDI playback is not spatialized.

I do not see video when I would expect to.

1. Verify that ActiveMovie/DirectShow has been installed.
2. Verify that video playback is functional outside of Cosmo Player 2.1.1.

Video appears in a separate pop-up window.

• Re-install and restart Cosmo Player 2.1.1.

My web browser crashes when I try to display the Preferences window.

• This is a bug in certain older releases of Windows 95; you need an updated Microsoft system file, COMCTL32.DLL (you need version 4.70 or higher). Unfortunately, because of Microsoft licensing restrictions, the only way to to get this DLL is by installing any one of a number of Microsoft programs that include it, such as Internet Explorer 3.02, Internet Explorer 4.x, Word 97, or Developer Studio 5.

Java is not working.

• Check your CLASSPATH.  If the CLASSPATH environment variable points to any other (non-Cosmo Player 2.1.1) vrml.* classes, then Java functionality will not be available.

JSAI class files are not being loaded in Internet Explorer.

• Confirm that your SOCKS server on your firewall is compatible with Internet Explorer. Workaround by using an HTTP proxy to access the Internet or by upgrading your SOCKS firewall server.

Embedded VRML works in Netscape and IE 4.0 but not in IE 3.x.

• Make sure that you are using double quotes (NOT single quotes) in your HTML. That is, it should look like   SRC="coolVRML.wrl"   not   SRC='coolVRML.wrl'.

Some EAI content doesn't work in Internet Explorer.

• This can happen if the EAI applet is using the old-style LiveConnect functionality (the JSObject calls) to access the VRML browser; these calls are Netscape-specific. Please ensure that the content uses the Browser.getBrowser() method, which works in both Netscape and Internet Explorer.

Textured objects appear too bright or "washed out".

• This can happen if your content uses a bright emissiveColor on the material underneath the textured objects. Cosmo Player 2.0 did not apply the emissive and specular colors correctly in this case; the behavior in Cosmo Player 2.1.1 is spec-compliant. See below for more info and a workaround.

I get a black screen when trying to view any world that uses navigation type NONE.

• This is caused by OpenGL driver bugs on some systems; we've especially seen this with the Matrox Millennium II card (see below for more details), we've also seen it with the Diamond Stealth 3D 2000 card, and have heard reports of it with other cards too. You should first make sure you're running the latest versions of your card's OpenGL drivers (check the card manufacturer's web site); otherwise, use the "Force Software-only Rendering" item to work around this problem.

I get an error when uninstalling (or reinstalling) Cosmo Player 2.1.1.

• This usually happens when the Cosmo Player "uninstall log" gets corrupted somehow (eg. if you manually delete the .isu file that gets created when you first install.) The easiest way to fix things is to just reinstall Cosmo Player 2.1.1 on your system; this will re-create the uninstall logs and then you'll be able to safely uninstall the software.

 

 
 
 

Also, before installing or uninstalling, be sure you don't have any .wrl files on your Windows desktop! If you do, some of Cosmo Player's .dll's will be kept open by Windows (which interferes with the install/uninstall process).

Finally, there's one known problem with Internet Explorer 4.x, which happens because IE keeps the Cosmo Player libraries open even after you shut it down! So if you can't uninstall or reinstall Cosmo Player after using IE4, the workaround is to log out and log back in again; see below for details.

Cosmo Player hangs on startup; Netscape just locks up while displaying "Starting Java..."

• This is a bug in Windows NT, which can be triggered by Netscape Communicator when running with a TrueColor (24-bit) display. See below for more info and a workaround.

IE4.x can't bring up new browser windows.

• Sometimes Internet Explorer 4.0 or 4.01 can lose the capability to launch new browser windows (from links on any HTML page). This is a known bug in IE, but it may be triggered by the presence or absence of Cosmo Player. See below for more info, the fix from Microsoft's support site, and an additional workaround.

7. Differences Between Cosmo Player 2.0 and 2.1.1

New Features

• There is a Macintosh version available! (in Prerelease as of 4/3/98)
• Support for 16-bit color, Direct3D hardware acceleration (based on DirectX 5) on Windows 95/98. Details below.

Note: 8-bit color is not supported in the Direct3D renderer of Cosmo Player. We have done preliminary testing, but this is not a supported configuration.
• The EAI has been exposed as a COM interface. Check the Cosmo Player 2.1.1 Resources page for a Cosmo Player SDK to make use of the COM EAI.
• Cosmo Player is now compliant with the VRML97 event model. For example, Cosmo Player 2.1.1 will preload scripts and EXTERNPROTOs to enable predictable behavior.
• Improved documentation
• Improved support for 8-bit displays
• Improved startup speed
• New "Graphics" preferences panel for renderer selection. The Cosmo Player Console contains information about the current renderer.

Bugs Fixed

• Event model is VRML97 compliant
• Scripts and EXTERNPROTOs are preloaded to guarantee correct initialization
• Multiple events to Group nodes in one event cascade are handled properly
• Memory leaks in the EAI are fixed
• Vastly improved the look of the Cosmo Player dashboard in 8-bit display mode.
• HTML links (or VRML Anchors) to URLs as in "myWorld.wrl#ViewpointName" now correctly take you to the specified Viewpoint
• Anchor descriptions are now displayed in Internet Explorer
• You can now animate the camera's Field of View by routing directly to the fieldOfView of the currently bound Viewpoint
• Viewpoints are now removed correctly from the UI (the Viewpoint popup list) when they get removed from the scene, or after a replaceWorld() call
• Absolute time is now correct (was shifted)

Differences Between Cosmo Player 1.0 and 2.x

• The user interface has been redesigned to be more intuitive and natural.
• The Cosmo Player Console has been introduced to display errors, warnings, and developer information and print() statements.
• Rendering API information:
• OpenGL is used as the rendering API in Cosmo Player 2.0.
• Both OpenGL and Direct3D (on Windows 95/98 and requiring DirectX 5 or greater) can be used as the rendering API in Cosmo Player 2.1.1.
• Thus, if you have a graphics accelerator that has OpenGL drivers and/or an MMX enabled machine, then Cosmo Player will use the hardware for OpenGL acceleration. If you are using Windows 95/98, have DirectX 5 or later installed and have one of the supported graphics cards, then Cosmo Player will use Direct3D hardware acceleration.
• Java is supported in the Script node in CP 2.x. For the latest specification, please see the Revised Java Appendix of the VRML97 specification.
• Support for Internet Explorer 4.0.
• You need only compile your java content once (instead of once for each of Netscape and Internet Explorer).

8. What's Included in This Release

• Cosmo Player Netscape plug-in

 

 
 
 

The Cosmo Player plugin, npcosmop211.dll, is installed in Netscape's plugins directory.

• Cosmo Player as an ActiveX control

 

 
 
 

The Cosmo Player ActiveX control, cp211_axucp.dll, is installed by default in the Windows system directory, typically \Windows\System under Windows 95/98 and \Winnt\System32 under Windows NT.
Other Cosmo Software products may use Cosmo Player as an ActiveX control to preview VRML work in progress.  Microsoft's Internet Explorer can use the ActiveX control to display VRML data.

• Cosmo Player Supporting DLLs

 

 
 
 

All other DLLs required by Cosmo Player are installed by default in the Windows system directory, typically \Windows\System under Windows 95/98 and \Winnt\System32 under Windows NT.

• Cosmo Software Shared DLLs

 

 
 
 

Cosmo Software has other products that may share dlls with Cosmo Player. These are installed by default in the Windows system directory, typically \Windows\System under Windows 95/98 and \Winnt\System32 under Windows NT.

• Cosmo Player External Authoring Interface Java classes (EAI) and Java in the Script Node Authoring Interface classes (JSAI)
• For use in Netscape, these classes are installed in the npcosmop211.zip (or npcosmop211.jar) file in the Netscape plugins directory.
• For use in Internet Explorer, these classes are installed into \Program Files\CosmoSoftware\CosmoPlayer
• Example VRML world

 

 
 
 

One example VRML world (the game Chomp) is provided with this release. By default it is installed in \Program Files\CosmoSoftware\CosmoPlayer\examples. For more VRML content, see the Galleries on the Cosmo Software web site.

• VRML 1.0 to VRML97 converter

 

 
 
 

Cosmo Player will automatically convert VRML 1.0 files to VRML97 on read. If you prefer to permanently convert your VRML 1.0 files to VRML97, a standalone converter, vrml1tovrml2.exe, is also provided. By default, the converter is installed where the other DLLs are installed.

• GZIP

 

 
 
 

All data formats can now be gzip compressed. This could make significant improvements in download time for large data files expected to be transferred over slow modem connections.

• UTF8

 

 
 
 

Cosmo Player will read and convert utf8 characters in a WRL file into Unicode characters to display. This will work on Windows NT 4.0 for the string field of the Text node and also the description field of the Viewpoint node. Windows 95/98 does not support Unicode and so will display '-' dash characters instead of the proper value for most charsets but has limited support for Latin1 characters. Of course, you must have the TrueType fonts installed that support the charset that you want to display.

• These Release Notes

 

 
 
 

These Release Notes are by default installed in \Program Files\CosmoSoftware\CosmoPlayer\doc\relnotes.html.  For the most up-to-date release information, check the Cosmo Player Support Resources page.

9. VRML Developer Notes

Compatibility with Cosmo Worlds 2.0

WARNING: the default classpath in the Cosmo Worlds Script Editor refers to the VRML classes by their Cosmo Player 2.0 name ("npcosmop", not"npcosmop211"). This means that with Cosmo Player 2.1.1, you must re-set the classpath option every time you bring up the Script Editor if you use it to compile your Java code. Here's how to re-set the classpath:

1. Bring up the Script Editor, select the "Settings" tab.
2. Update the "Compiler Options":
• original value:

-classpath "<JDK_dir>\lib\classes.zip;<CP2.0_install_dir>\npcosmop.zip"
• change to:

-classpath "<JDK_dir>\lib\classes.zip;<CP2.1.1_install_dir>\npcosmop211.zip"

VRML97 Compliance

Functionality

• At runtime, you can toggle an in-scene display of frame rate by pressing the = key.

 

 
 
 
 
 

• The Cosmo Player 2.1.1 Console is used to display errors, warnings and developer information, along with other messages logged by Javascript or Java code in the VRML content. You can force the display of the Console at runtime by pressing the \ [backslash] key (or the / [forward-slash] key on the numeric keypad.) Also, the "Advanced" preferences panel allows you to select when/if the Console should ever automatically display itself.

 

 
 
 

Note: since the "Automatic Muting" item in the "Audio" preferences panel defaults to "Mute when window is not active", any sound produced by the VRML scene will be muted when the console is the active window! So if you use the VRML console a lot and you need to hear your scene's audio, you should set this preference item to "Never mute".

• Using EMBED tags, it is possible to turn off visible UI (similar to navigation type NONE) while still providing built-in navigation. This can be useful for ad banners and other stealth VRML content. Example:

<EMBED SRC="foo.wrl" WIDTH=120 HEIGHT=90 VRML-DASHBOARD=FALSE>

Note that for full page/frame plugins, you must still use an EMBED tag in HTML to get this effect, specifying the width and height as "100%."
 
 
• Using an EMBED tag, it is possible to set the initial background color of the VRML window (e.g. to match the HTML page background color). The syntax is

 VRML-BACKGROUND-COLOR="#rrggbb"

where the "rrggbb" are hex values for each of the colors: red, green, and blue.
 
 
• A print() method can be used in JavaScript to print information to the Cosmo Player Console from a VRML Script node using JavaScript. For example:

   Script {
      url "javascript: 
         function initialize() {
                 print('Script 2 initialized.'); 
                 vec = new SFVec2f(0,1);
                 print('SFVec2f is ('+vec.x+','+vec.y+')');
         }"
   }

• A print() method is also available in the EAI and JSAI. The static Browser.print() methods print the passed-in information to the Cosmo Player Console. You may pass a String, int, boolean, float, double, long, or char to this method.  For example, in the EAI:

      import vrml.external.Browser;
      ...
      Browser.print("Your message here");

or

      vrml.external.Browser.print("Your message here");

In the JSAI:

      import vrml.Browser;
      ...
      Browser.print("Your message here");

or

      vrml.Browser.print("Your message here");

Multimedia Notes

• MIDI seeking is not supported. Thus, MIDI files can only start playing from the beginning.
• MIDI playback will not be spatialized. It is attenuated for distance from the listener.
• Only one MIDI clip can be playing at a time.
• MIDI playback does not obey the "Mute when window inactive" preference.
• MIDI files containing many SysEx messages may play back incorrectly.
• Pitch shifting of audio (in AudioClip) is limited to a ceiling of 100KHz. In other words, a 22KHz clip can only be shifted a maximum of about 4.4. Pitch-shifted audio is not filtered, so audio content should be frequency limited based upon the maximum pitch shift factor expected and the 100KHz ceiling. The same limitations apply to the MovieTexture node when used as an audio source.
• Multiple instances of Cosmo Player may produce sound from only one instance. This is due to the Microsoft provided functionality. If there are no native DirectSound drivers for the audio device being used to render sound, then Windows falls back to an emulation mode which uses the Windows WAVE functions. There is a known issue where two applications cannot simultaneously have the WAVE device open at the same time. Thus, if your audio device does not have native DirectSound drivers, then you can only get sound from one process at a time. Note that under Windows NT 4.0, DirectSound always uses emulation mode. So, if you're running Windows NT 4.0, then you will never be able to have two processes with audio active at the same time.
• MovieTexture nodes do not support negative speeds for MPG/AVI/MOV files.
• MovieTexture video decoding can degrade rendering performance. In general performance is much better with video encoded at lower frame rates (e.g. 10fps) and smaller sizes (e.g. 128 x 128).
• Looping MovieTextures may experience audio stutters when wrapping from the end of the media to the beginning.
• The alpha channel is not supported for any video formats, except you may use transparent animated GIFs.
• Changing the Renderer Selection in the "Graphics" preferences panel may sometimes cause MPEG/QT/AVI MovieTextures to be rendered with incorrect colors (the pixel format may get accidentally switched between RGB and BGR). Just reload the VRML world if this happens.

OpenGL, Direct3D, and hardware graphics acceleration

WARNING: If your system has a graphics card that supports Direct3D, be sure to check the list of supported cards below. If your card does not appear on this list, be aware that you may encounter rendering problems (since not all D3D cards support the full set of features needed to render a VRML scene!) If you do have problems, please bring up the "Graphics" preferences panel and switch your renderer to "OpenGL".
• The "Force Software-only Rendering" checkbox item

 

 
 
 

If your system supports hardware acceleration of either OpenGL or Direct3D (note: DirectX 5 is needed for D3D acceleration), Cosmo Player will by default make use of this acceleration. To override this behavior, there is a "Force Software-only Rendering" checkbox on the "Graphics" preferences panel which can be used to disable hardware acceleration. There are valid reasons for users to disable this capability, such as:

• Some graphics accelerators are no faster (and sometimes even slower) than the software OpenGL that is provided with Cosmo Player. For example, at present, the Matrox Millenium II driver has some performance oversights and software OpenGL is usually faster.
• Some graphics accelerators may not produce the rendering quality of software rendering, especially if you are using an 8-bit display (8-bit color is not a supported configuration with the Direct3D renderer available with Cosmo Player 2.1.1).
If you do have hardware acceleration, you are encouraged to compare the performance and visual quality of hardware versus software rendering and set your preferences accordingly. If your system has no hardware acceleration capability, the "Force Software-only Rendering" item is grayed out and cannot be selected. (Note: the checkbox may also be grayed out in some situations where your system does support hardware acceleration, but it's just not currently available. This can happen if your display is set to a bit depth that your card can't accelerate, for example.)

Note: when switching between the Direct3D and OpenGL renderers, the "Force Software-only Rendering" item is only updated after you press the "OK" button, so you'll need to bring up the preferences panel again to see whether hardware acceleration is available for the new renderer. And on some systems, you may need to totally shut down and restart your web browser for a change in the "Force Software-only Rendering" item to take effect.

To be absolutely sure which renderer you're using at any given point, just bring up the Cosmo Player Console (press \ [backslash]) and check the info under "Current Graphics Renderer":

"Current Graphics Renderer" info from the Console
Name	Description	Renderer
"SGI"	"Generic 1.1.2 SGI"	SGI software-only OpenGL
"Microsoft Corporation"	"GDI Generic 1.1.0"	Microsoft software-only OpenGL, or hardware acceleration using MCD driver
(your graphics card manufacturer)	(card-specific info)	Hardware-accelerated OpenGL using ICD driver
... "Direct3D Renderer"	... "Software Emulation"	Software-only Direct3D
... "Direct3D Renderer"	... "Hardware acceleration through Direct3D HAL"	Hardware-accelerated Direct3D

• Graphics Accelerators: OpenGL

 

 
 
 

If you have a 3D graphics card with OpenGL drivers, Cosmo Player will take advantage of the card's acceleration. Some OpenGL cards which are known to work with Cosmo Player are:

• Cards based on the 3DLabs Permedia 2 chipset (eg. the FireGL 1000 Pro from Diamond Multimedia, which has OpenGL drivers for Windows 95/98 and Windows NT; make sure you have the latest drivers!)
• Cards based on the ATI Rage Pro chipset (eg. the ATI Rage Pro, which has OpenGL drivers for Windows NT.)
• Cards based on the Nvidia Riva 128 chipset (eg. the Diamond Multimedia Viper V330, which has OpenGL drivers for Windows 95/98.)
• Cards based on Mitsubishi's 3DPro/2mp chipset (eg. the Diamond Multimedia Fire GL 4000, which has OpenGL drivers for Windows NT; make sure you have the very latest drivers!)
• Cards based on the Intel 740 chipset

 

 
 
 
 
 

Note: with some OpenGL cards, the OpenGL drivers will fall back to software-only rendering if the window size becomes too large for hardware acceleration. The maximum window size depends on the card itself, as well as the color depth of the screen (eg. running in 24-bit color uses 50% more memory for the front and back buffers than 16-bit color).
• Graphics Accelerators: Direct3D

 

 
 
 

You must have DirectX 5 or greater installed to use the Direct3D renderer. (DirectX 5 is currently available only for Windows 95/98.) We have tested and support the following graphics cards for Direct3D hardware acceleration:

• Diamond Viper 330 (nVidia RIVA128 chipset)
• Diamond FireGL 1000 Pro (3DLabs Permedia 2 chipset)
• ATI 3D Rage Pro (ATI Rage Pro chipset)
• Real3D StarFighter (Intel 740 chipset)
Note: if Cosmo Player is rendering via Direct3D hardware acceleration and the window size becomes too large for hardware acceleration (this is dependent on the card), then Cosmo Player will switch to using the Direct3D software renderer. But since D3D cards often have a fairly small amount of onboard memory - 4MB for many cards - and the front, back and Zbuffers (and also textures, with some cards!) have to fit into this onboard memory in order for there to be hardware acceleration, you may run into this limitation sooner than you'd expect. Also, after switching to software rendering, we redo this check every time the window is resized (to see if we can start using hardware acceleration again.) Finally, remember that the resolution and color depth of the screen affect how much video memory you need (eg. running in 24-bit color uses 50% more memory for the front and back buffers than 16-bit color.)

We have made efforts to ensure our Direct3D renderer works with software-only support, but this has not been fully tested. Also, the D3D software renderer is known to be very slow on some platforms. So if Cosmo Player thinks you have D3D hardware but you always end up with the software renderer (see the Console to tell for sure), you should try manually switching to the OpenGL renderer in the "Graphics" preferences panel and see if that's faster.

• The OglPanel program

 

 
 
 

OglPanel is a utility program that allows you to change the underlying rendering technology used in displaying VRML worlds. You can use this program in conjunction with Cosmo authoring tools and with Cosmo Player 2.0, but you don't need it when using Cosmo Player version 2.1 or higher; the same functionality is now provided by the "Force Software-only Rendering" item on the "Graphics" preferences panel. See that section for information on why you might want to disable the hardware acceleration provided by your graphics card.

If you do have hardware OpenGL acceleration, the "Force Software-only Rendering" item will generally override the OglPanel setting, although the OglPanel setting still matters in some cases (especially when using Cosmo Player as the previewer for Worlds or PageFX!) In these cases, just look at the "Current Graphics Renderer" info in the Cosmo Player Console (press \ [backslash] to display the Console) to be sure which renderer you're using, as described in the "Force Software-only Rendering" section.

• Other renderer problems
• Some known problems with specific graphics cards are:
• We have not seen good results with the Matrox Millenium II card. This card has great 2D performance, but (for 3D) the MCD OpenGL drivers from Matrox do not take full advantage of the card's capabilities, and the resulting performance is slower and/or buggier than the software-only OpenGL renderer that comes with Cosmo Player! One specific bug we've seen with this card is that VRML worlds which use navigation type NONE are not displayed at all (you just get a black screen); you can use the "Force Software-only Rendering" item to work around this problem.
• Cards based on the 3DLabs Permedia 2 chipset (eg. the FireGL 1000 Pro) can't correctly display specular and emissive colors on textured objects; the textures are displayed correctly but the underlying specular and emissive colors are ignored. The best workaround is to disable the "specular and emissive color shine-through" preference item (see below), which will give reasonable (but not completely spec-compliant) results.
• Cards based on the S3 Virge VX chipset (eg. the STB Velocity 3D card) have been reported to have texturing problems on some systems (textures appear but look bad.) Changing the "Image/Texture Quality" setting on the "Performance" preferences panel might help; otherwise, use the "Force Software-only Rendering" item to work around this problem.
• Not all renderer/card combinations can correctly display specular and emissive colors on textured objects:
• With the OpenGL renderer, specular and emissive shine-through only happens for 1- and 3-component textures (ie. textures without alpha).
• The D3D renderer correctly displays specular and emissive colors regardless of the texture type. But note that with the D3D renderer, specular and emissive colors always shine through textures (ie. the "specular and emissive color shine-through" preference item has no effect with the D3D renderer. This is spec-compliant behavior, though.)
• Finally, some specific graphics cards (see above) may have problems with specular and emissive colors on textured objects.
• If you accidentally change your Renderer Selection (in the Graphics preferences panel) to a setting that prevents Cosmo Player from working at all, Cosmo Player will display an error message, re-initialize itself (with no active renderer), and automatically bring up the Graphics preferences panel in order to let you choose a different renderer.

 

 
 
 

It's possible in some rare cases, though, to select a renderer setting that crashes the browser (or your whole system) before Cosmo Player can recognize there's a problem; this can be caused by bugs in your graphics card's OpenGL or Direct3D drivers. If this happens, and you're comfortable editing the registry, you can manually reset Cosmo Player's renderer preferences by running regedit and looking in:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/CosmoSoftware/CosmoPlayer/2.1.1

The renderer preferences are:

    "forceSoftwareRendering"

either 0 (use HW if available) or 1 (force SW rendering)

    "renderer"

"AUTO" or "OpenGL" or "D3D"

VRML Multimedia Developer Guide

• Include multiple URLs in the AudioClip and MovieTexture nodes. For example, if you desire to use an MPEG1 audio file in an AudioClip node, include a .WAV format file as a fallback for those browsers that cannot support MPEG Audio only streams.
• Use MIDI for ambient sounds and/or lengthy music. For example, you could use MIDI AudioClips triggered by proximity sensors to create appropriate background music for different rooms/regions of your world. Be aware of the limitations to using MIDI clips mentioned below (e.g. no seeking, avoid SysEx).
• Use MPEG 1 Layer II Audio (.mpa) files for most other sounds, especially audio that should be spatialized. Note that you can use .mpa files as the URL for an AudioClip node with Cosmo Player; the MovieTexture node is not required. The only caveat with MPEG1 Audio is that when looping sounds, a click may be heard at the transition from the end of the media to the beginning. This is due to a limitation of the format.
• For best results with MovieTexture nodes, use video with a frame rate of 10fps max and frame sizes <= 128x128. OpenGL limits textures to powers of 2 sizes (e.g. 128 x 64, 32 x 32), so better performance can also be achieved by encoding the video at an appropriate size.
• Use Animated GIFs in the MovieTexture node if you require transparency or support for negative speeds.

10. Known Bugs and Limitations

VRML97 Compliance

• Java-related issues
• Developer Info
• More information about using Java with VRML, via both the JSAI (Java Script Authoring Interface) and the EAI (External Authoring Interface), can be found in the developer section of the Cosmo Software web site. The EAI page includes the EAI spec and several example programs with source code.
• Java Support in IE 3.x
• If you install Cosmo Player to be used in Internet Explorer 3.x, then you will need to install the Microsoft Java VM for IE 4.0 to execute JSAI and EAI content.
• LiveConnect - EAI - Netscape 4.x :
• Be sure not to use the old-style LiveConnect calls (the JSObject functions that were used in old versions of the EAI examples) in your EAI applets when getting a handle to the VRML browser! You should use the Browser.getBrowser() method instead; this works in both Netscape and Internet Explorer, and also lets Cosmo Player automatically work around LiveConnect bugs in certain versions of Netscape.
• Also, be sure to do your browser setup (ie. the getBrowser() call and any Node lookups) in your applet's start() method. If you do it in init() instead, you might break your EAI app or crash Netscape. The Cosmo Player 2.x FAQ (found on the Cosmo Player Support Resources page) has the full story on this problem, along with some other important EAI programming tips.
• If the getBrowser() method is returning null even though Cosmo Player is loading properly, make sure your CLASSPATH environment variable doesn't contain references to java40.jar. If this doesn't work, try clearing your CLASSPATH environment variable completely.
• Finally, even with correctly-written EAI applets, there's still a chance with some versions of Netscape that the getBrowser() method might return null (or Netscape might crash!) when you hit "Reload" or when you leave an EAI page (eg. by hitting "Back") and then revisit it. The underlying LiveConnect code (the Netscape-specific interface used to get a handle to the embedded VRML browser) is very sensitive to the timing of the Reload sequence and can sometimes send a bad browser pointer to the applet; we work around these problems in almost all cases (and Reload works fine with most EAI applets on most systems), but you still might see occasional problems. Using SHIFT-Reload (instead of Reload) is less likely to cause problems, by the way.
• CLASSPATH setting for EAI/JSAI :
• Some EAI applets may require the EAI/JSAI Java classes to be explicitly included in the CLASSPATH variable. If a java.lang.ClassNotFoundException occurs for one of the classes in the vrml package when loading an EAI applet, you will need to add the Cosmo Player Java classes to the CLASSPATH. The Cosmo Player Java classes are installed in the Netscape plugins directory, so for Communicator, this can be done by adding /Program Files/Netscape/Communicator/Program/Plugins/npcosmop211.jar to the CLASSPATH.
• Use MField.getSize() instead of array.length
• In the JSAI and/or EAI, please use MField.getSize() to retrieve the length of an array if the array was returned from a JSAI or EAI function (such as MFColor.getValue()). This is necessary due to an implementation oversight in Navigator 3.x's Java VM and JRI, where sometimes array.length will return the wrong value.
• Script Nodes
• The JSAI in Internet Explorer (or when accessed via the Cosmo Player ActiveX control) requires classes derived from Script to be public; this is also specified in the JSAI spec. The Microsoft Virtual Machine won't load your Script java classes if they are private, protected or default. They have to be defined explicitly as public. For example:

   public class Foo extends Script { ... }
will be loaded in a Script node in Internet Explorer while the following will not:
   class Foo extends Script { ... }
• Base URLs
• When calling loadUrl(), createVrmlFromUrl() or createVrmlFromString() from a Java Script or EAI applet, those calls now use the location of the running Java class as the base URL for relative URLs. So say the Java class is http://foo.com/a.class and the current VRML world is http://bar.com/b.wrl; if the Java class calls loadUrl("other.wrl"), "other.wrl" will be loaded from http://foo.com.
• This is the correct, spec-compliant behavior. See section 4.5.3 of the VRML97 spec for more details.
• Memory leak with EventOut.advise()
• When using the EventOut.advise() method (to set up a callback from the VRML scene to your EAI applet), the 2nd parameter to that call is a "userData" Object which is passed back to your applet every time a callback() occurs. The "memory leak" here is that any object you pass in as "user data" to EventOut.advise() will never be garbage collected, even if the node generating the callbacks is removed from the VRML scene.
• The workaround: don't pass in large objects (like VRML Node objects!) as "user data" to EventOut.advise(), especially if your applet repeatedly adds new nodes to the scene, registers callbacks on these nodes, and then deletes them!
• Material Properties
• Some hardware graphics accelerators do not properly render color per material with multiple lights.

 
• Lights
• With the OpenGL renderer, there's a limit on the number of lights in the scene that can be active at once. This number is usually 8, although it can be larger with some graphics cards. Global lights (PointLights and SpotLights) have the highest priority, so you won't see any DirectionalLights if you have too many global lights.

Important note: the headlight counts toward this limit. And since it's a DirectionalLight, it will not be visible if your scene contains 8 or more global lights!
 
 
• With the OpenGL renderer, PointLights and SpotLights ignore their radius fields. Therefore, these light types illuminate the entire scene. The attenuation fields can be used to limit the effect of the illumination. DirectionalLights are scoped properly by their parent group as defined by the VRML97 spec.

 
• Textures
• Some texture properties (clamp/wrap) are not maintained properly when textured objects are clipped on some graphics accelerators.

 
• Interpolators
• The NormalInterpolator does a linear interpolation of the normals, followed by a projection to the unit sphere. It should interpolate on the surface of the unit sphere.

 
• Extrusions
• Cosmo Player can crash if you try to extend the spine or crossSection of an Extrusion (ie. route from a Script to the set_spine or set_crossSection eventIn of an Extrusion node, using a value which would increase the number of spine or crossSection points.) The workaround is to initially create your Extrusion with the maximum number of spine/crossSection points you'll need, and reset them as appropriate to expand the Extrusion. Or, you can just recreate the Extrusion from scratch (eg. via createVrmlFromString()) if you need to increase the number of spine/crossSection points.

 
• GZIP
• When loading a gzip'ed VRML file with a .gz extension, Netscape 3.x may issue the warning message "Warning: unrecognized encoding: 'x-gzip'" . You can safely ignore this message, and Cosmo Player will correctly process the file. A workaround is to rename the gzipped file to have a .wrl extension instead of a .gz extension.

 
• Author-specified bounding boxes
• Grouping nodes which allow you to specify a bounding box (Anchor, Billboard, Collision, Group, Inline and Transform) ignore the bboxCenter and bboxSize fields in Cosmo Player 2.1.1. Instead, the browser uses the actual bounding box of the node's children. (These fields are only supposed to be hints to the browser for optimization purposes, and are not required for conformance according to the VRML97 spec.)

 
• Navigation Speed
• Cosmo Player 2.x interprets the NavigationInfo node's "speed" field more literally than pre-2.0 releases. This change makes Cosmo Player more spec-compliant than before, and allows content authors to confidently specify the proper navigation speed for a world (since the browser will now closely adhere to the specified speed).

 

 
 
 

Specifically, in the WALK viewer (i.e., Movement mode), navigation with the keyboard arrow keys now moves the camera at exactly the speed specified in the current NavigationInfo node. Navigation with the mouse allows some flexibility, but by default the user will not be able to move faster than approximately 3 times the specified speed. (Of course the user can always manually adjust the navigation speed via the Preferences panel.)

Authors should especially be aware that the default "speed" value (from the VRML97 spec) is 1 meter/sec, which is a very slow walking speed in a life-size world! (In other words, if you're building a VRML world using real-world scaling, you should probably use a NavigationInfo node with "speed" set to somewhere between 3 and 5.)

• Specular and emissive colors on textured objects
• According to the VRML97 spec, specular and emissive lighting should be unaffected by textures: the object's specular and emissive colors should shine through, and not just modulate the texture values. Cosmo Player 2.1.1 is spec compliant here, although there is a checkbox item provided (in the "Performance" preferences panel) to allow users to turn this feature off. Un-checking this preference item might improve rendering performance (only on some systems), and it can also be useful as a workaround for non-spec-compliant content (if textured objects appear "washed out" because the emissiveColor of the material underneath is too bright.)

 

 
 
 

Finally, the OpenGL and D3D renderers may produce different results in some cases (with certain texture formats, on specific graphics cards) when rendering specular and emissive colors on textured objects. See above for more details.

• Hang when using createVrmlFromString() with EXTERNPROTOs or Scripts
• On some systems, Cosmo Player can hang (lock up) when running createVrmlFromString() from either a Script node or the EAI, if the passed-in string contains either an EXTERNPROTO, or a Script node with an external URL (like a Java class, which would use something like 'url "Foo.class"'. Scripts with inline URLs like "javascript: ...", though, are safe to use inside createVrmlFromString().)

 

 
 
 

The details: Cosmo Player can hang if UI or VRML events come in while it's in the middle of fetching an EXTERNPROTO implementation or a Script URL. This hang is browser-dependent; it's somewhat likely to happen in Netscape and IE3, and unlikely to happen in IE4. The workaround is to use createVrmlFromURL() instead of createVrmlFromString() if you can; otherwise, don't use createVrmlFromString() with EXTERNPROTOs or with Scripts that require their URLs to be fetched.

Browser-specific Issues

• IE4: Local URLs with spaces in the pathname
There's a known bug in some versions of IE4 which prevents Cosmo Player from loading a local VRML file if there are any space characters in the pathname to the .wrl file. You may notice this problem with Chomp because the local Chomp files are installed under \Program Files\CosmoSoftware\CosmoPlayer\examples (which contains a space character.)

This problem is fixed in IE4 version 4.72.2106 or later. (This problem does not occur with any version of Netscape.) To work around this bug, just copy the file(s) in question to a path with no space characters, or set up your machine as a web server and access the files via the web server instead of the file system.

• IE4: Cache directory setting
If you're using IE 4.0, Cosmo Player uses the system-wide "Temporary Internet Files" directory as its cache. However, by default IE4 itself does not use this same directory; it uses a directory under windows-system-directory/Profiles/user-name.

For best results, be sure to set your cache directory to the system "Temporary Internet Files" directory (either \WINNT\Temporary Internet Files or \WINDOWS\Temporary Internet Files); this setting is found under "General" on the IE Internet Options page. This will make sure that any cache-related actions you do in IE (such as clearing the cache!) will also affect files cached by Cosmo Player.

• IE: Calling Javascript code on an HTML page from VRML
Under Netscape, you can call Javascript code on an HTML page from a VRML scene embedded on that same page, for example by using a URL like "javascript:parent.function_name()" in an Anchor node or in a Browser.loadURL() call. This does not work in IE, though.
• IE4: Can't uninstall (or reinstall) Cosmo Player because "cp211_main.dll is in use"
On some systems running Internet Explorer 4.x, if you try to uninstall Cosmo Player 2.1.1 (via the "Add/Remove Programs" Control Panel) you can get an error saying "cp211_main.dll is in use" even if you've already shut down IE. This happens because closing all your IE windows doesn't really shut down IE; there's still a process running (keeping Cosmo Player's DLL open) which stays around as long as you're logged in! This problem can also occur when installing Cosmo Player 2.1.1 on top of a previous Cosmo Player installation.

The solution is to log out and log back in (or just reboot), and then immediately uninstall Cosmo Player.

• IE4: Problems with Java Console
There are several known problems with IE4's Java console (which you can bring up via "View" -> "Java Console" after checking the "Java console enabled" item in the Advanced preferences section):
• Starting the Java console and forcing garbage collection (by typing "g") can cause non-deterministic behavior or crashes in worlds using the JSAI (the GC is too aggressive).
• Using System.out.println() when the Java console is visible often causes exceptions to be thrown from that call.
It is highly recommended that you do not enable the IE Java Console unless absolutely necessary. (Note that there are no known problems with the Java console under Netscape 3.x or 4.x.)
• IE4: Can't launch new browser windows
Some installations of Internet Explorer 4.0 or 4.01 can get into a broken state where the browser can't bring up new browser windows (when you click on a link that tries to bring up a new window, or even if you right-click on any link and select "Open in New Window".) This is a known bug in IE; there's an article on the Microsoft support site with more information and a fix. (Note that the article only mentions the problem occuring on Windows 95, but we've also seen it with Windows NT.)

The Microsoft fix (from the support article above) seems to work on most systems. If it doesn't work, though, the following is an alternative fix:

1. Run regedit.
2. Make sure that the following registry key:

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{00020424-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}\InprocServer32
exists. If not, create it.
3. Make sure this key contains the following two values:

(Default)	=	"oleaut32.dll"
"ThreadingModel"	=	"Both"

It's unclear if this IE bug is related to Cosmo Player; the bug doesn't happen on most systems with Cosmo Player 2.0 or 2.1.1, and it has been seen on machines that have never had any version of Cosmo Player installed. Also, it's possible that the presence of certain versions of Netscape might affect whether or not you see this bug in IE on your system.
• Netscape: Java hang with Netscape 4.0x and 24-bit display under Windows NT 4.0
This is a known bug in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 3, triggered by Netscape Communicator (4.0x) when running with a TrueColor (24-bit) display. If you're seeing this bug, note that the problem isn't specific to Cosmo Player: Netscape isn't ever able to start Java! (Just try displaying the Java Console by selecting "Communicator" -> "Java Console". If that hangs, you have the Java/TrueColor bug.)

More information on this bug is available from Netscape at http://help.netscape.com/kb/client/971009-22.html, and a fix is available on Microsoft's ftp site (the file you need is admnfixi.exe, which is an auto-installing executable).

Also, there's a similar problem which is specific to the Matrox Millennium graphics card (when using outdated drivers); more information is available from Netscape at http://help.netscape.com/kb/client/970805-1.html.

• Installing Netscape 4.05 breaks Cosmo Player 2.1.1
Netscape Communicator 4.05 includes Cosmo Player 2.0. If you attempt to install it on a system that already has Cosmo Player 2.1.1, though, the result will be a broken installation of Cosmo Player 2.0 (which won't be able to display textures, among other problems).

To avoid this problem, be sure to reinstall Cosmo Player 2.1.1 after installing Netscape 4.05 on your system.

• Support for the .wrl.gz file extension
Using the file extension .wrl.gz for gzip-compressed VRML files is a deprecated feature, and will not be supported by releases of Cosmo Player after 2.1.1. (In other words, this release of Cosmo Player does support the same file extensions - including .wrl.gz - as Cosmo Player 2.0. But don't use .wrl.gz filenames in the future!)

This is because some HTML browsers don't work well with multiple file extensions on a single file (such as "foo.wrl.gz"). Specifically, IE4.01 and versions of Netscape greater than 4.05 do not provide .wrl.gz files to Cosmo Player at all, even when Cosmo Player is fetching an Inlined file! (So even in Cosmo Player 2.1.1, content using .wrl.gz files will be broken in IE 4.01 and versions of Netscape greater than 4.05).

Until this is clarified by the VRML consortium in a "Recommended Practices" document, the safest thing for authors to do is to rename files that end in ".wrl.gz" to ".wrl". The ".wrz" extension is an acceptable, but less correct, alternative.

Hardware and Software Configuration

• OpenGL, Direct3D, and hardware graphics acceleration

 

 
 
 

Some graphics accelerators may produce slower performance and/or lower rendering quality than the software renderer that is provided with Cosmo Player. See the notes on OpenGL and Direct3D above for more details.

• 8-bit color displays and hardware graphics accelerator cards
• Most hardware graphics accelerator card vendors recommend that 8-bit color not be used.  Due to color palette difficulties with these cards and the Windows operating system, we do not fully support 8-bit color displays and hardware graphics cards.

 
• Audio
Audio will only be "pseudo-spatialized" on Windows NT without Service Pack 3 or higher.  To get fully functional audio, install Service Pack 3 or higher, available from Microsoft.

Audio will not be fully functional on Windows 95/98 without DirectX 3 or higher installed.  To get fully functional audio, install DirectX 3 or higher, available from Microsoft.

Multiple instances of Cosmo Player may produce sound from only one instance. This is due to the Microsoft provided functionality. If there are no native DirectSound drivers for the audio device being used to render sound, then Windows falls back to an emulation mode which uses the Windows WAVE functions. There is a known issue where two applications cannot simultaneously have the WAVE device open at the same time. Thus, if your audio device does not have native DirectSound drivers, then you can only get sound from one process at a time. Note that under Windows NT 4.0, DirectSound always uses emulation mode. So, if you're running Windows NT 4.0, then you will never be able to have two processes with audio active at the same time. This should be fixed by Windows 2000 because the hardware vendors are promising native DirectSound drivers under Windows 2000.

We've heard reports of MIDI problems on some systems; symptoms may include MIDI sounds in VRML worlds not being played, MIDI sounds crashing the browser, or a crash in Cosmo Player if you try to bring up a VRML world while some other MIDI sound is playing (eg. a MIDI sound on a different web page, such as when launching "Chomp"). These problems are usually caused by bugs in specific sound cards or MIDI drivers; please try downloading newer versions of your audio drivers from your system or sound card manufacturer.

11. Support and Bug Reporting

The latest version of these Release Notes can always be found on the Cosmo Player Support Resources page. And be sure to check the Cosmo Player FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions list); it's also found on the support page, and contains a wealth of useful information about Cosmo Player.