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SGI Developer Toolbox 6.1
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SGI Developer Toolbox 6.1 - Disc 4.iso
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RELEASE.NOTES
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1994-08-01
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This is SciAn release version 0.851. Please let us know if you have any
problems.
The following is a summary of the changes since release 0.85:
Text Size
A bug in saving the text font size in a text box in scripts was fixed.
Double Buffering
A bug which caused double buffering not to work properly on VGX systems,
Reality Engines, and other systems with more than 2 overlay planes was
fixed.
The following is a summary of the changes since release 0.842:
Bugs
A workaround was found for an SGI bug with the log10 function.
The following is a summary of the changes since release 0.841:
HDF 3.3 support
SciAn now supports HDF version 3.3 as well as 3.2 and 3.1.
Napping
There's a new preference to make SciAn nap while it's idle,
relinquishing more CPU time to other processes at the expense of a
delay when you decide you want to start interacting again.
Bugs
Some bugs were fixed.
The following is a summary of the changes since release 0.84:
Preferences
A bug which caused the preferences file to get lost has been fixed.
PLOT-3D reader
BINARY files written on Silicon Graphics machines can be read into
SciAn.
Stereo
The even/odd stereo technique has been implemented.
The following is a summary of the changes since release 0.831:
Walls
There is a new walls control panel which allows more flexible display
of the walls around the visualization object than was previously
available in the bounds controls. Each wall can be turned on or off
individually and shown with solid panels of any color and an optional
grid. Each wall can show a shadow of the visualization object, which
along with the grid is useful for getting a quantitative feel for the
values. It can also show reflections of the visualization object,
which is useful when only part of a symmetric problem domain has been
calculated and it is desirable to show the whole solution.
Axes
Some of the features of the old Bounds control panel have been put in
a new Axes control panel. Features will be added to both the Bounds
and Axes control panels later.
Observer
The observer control panel has been changed to be like visualization
controls (only a bit smaller). There is a new Stereo control panel
which controls stereo viewing and gives several more options thatn
previously.
NetCDF file reader
There is a very basic NetCDF file reader within SciAn. The features
are not significantly greater than those for the HDF file reader.
Later on we'll try to put in some features based on official and
de-facto conventions.
Redraws
Redraws have been changed a little which should reduce excess flashing,
especially on single-buffer systems.
NFF file reader
Some bugs in the NFF file reader, associated with the pp * and pl *
syntax, have been fixed.
The following is a summary of the changes since release 0.83:
Graphical objects
There is a check box in the Surface control panel that lets SciAn
cache visualization objects in GL graphical objects for increased
speed. (Actually, on most pieces of hardware, the speed increase
ranges from barely noticeable to quite modest.)
Function Keys
Function keys are now shown in menus.
JPEG recorder driver
If you have the CLRjpeg4 library, you can link it into SciAn and
use a recorder driver to write a series of JPEG images to disk. The
capabilities are fairly basic at present.
The following is a summary of the changes since release 0.82:
Menus
The internal mechanism for doing menus has changed. The menus look a
little different but act mostly the same. There is now help in context
on all the menu items.
SIMS Files
This version of SciAn contains some file readers developed by Christina
Lam at the Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences, National Research
Council of Canada. For more information, look in the technotes
directory. Also check out the file containing examples in the SIMS
directory.
NFF file reader
A modification to the NFF reader has been made to allow an asterisk (*)
to be used in place of the number of vertices in the p, pl, and pp
objects. When the * is used, the number of vertex lines following
the command will be used as the number of vertices.
Bugs
Some bugs reported for version 0.82 have been fixed.
The following is a summary of the changes since release 0.81:
Dial box
There is now support for the Silicon Graphics dial box. Look in the
technotes directory for Dial_Box.
PostScript Driver
There is now a color PostScript recorder driver.
Screen Saving
There is a quick way of saving a single window or screen through either
the IRIS screen save driver or the PostScript driver. Look in
Preferences to select which of the two is in use. Save screens using
items in the Window menu.
Sticks
There is now a Sticks visualization object to go along with the Balls
visualization object for molecular modeling.
The following is a summary of the changes since release 0.76:
Installation
There is a new (optional) step in the installation to assign font
mappings for special characters. See the README file for more
information.
Manual
There is a new version of the manual which corresponds to this version
of SciAn.
Recorder Drivers
Recorder drivers are now editable through control panels. Choose
Show Recorder Drivers from the Animation menu.
Scripts
A bug with dragging and dropping in scripts has been fixed.
Crystal Eyes
There is an experimental driver for the Crystal Eyes stereo viewing
system. It is a button in the Observer control panel. Do Help in Context
on the button to find out how to use it. It's a bit awkward now; we'll
streamline it later.
The following is a summary of the changes since release 0.74:
Isosurface
The isosurface routines have been sped up.
Data Representation
There is now internal data compression. It is only implemented using
the HDF file reader and is selectable via the HDF control panel.
Slices
The slice control panel has been changed a bit.
Observer
The observer control panel has been greatly expanded. There is a
little arrow at the bottom right. Click on it to see the bigger
control panel.
The following is a summary of the changes since release 0.73:
Visualization Objects
Bugs in several visualization objects, including the point cloud, mesh,
and balls objects, have been fixed
Visualize As...
The VisualizeAs... window has been changed to allow selection of
the visualization technique at the top. This simplifies the display
and allows all types of visualization techniques to be seen.
Deformation
A bug in deformation has been fixed.
The following is a summary of the changes since release 0.722:
PDB reader
Some bugs have been fixed in the protein data bank reader
PLOT-3D
The unformatted part of the PLOT-3D is working, but you need FORTRAN
to compile it.
Vector Datasets
Some scalar visualization techniques, such as isosurfaces, work on
vector data without a modifier. They use the absolute value of the
dataset. It is also possible to color by the absolute value of the
field. More flexibility will be provided later through modifiers.
Contours
Contours have been changed somewhat
Point Cloud
A couple of features have been added to the point cloud
The following is a summary of the changes since release 0.721:
Installation
The installation process has been automated even more, and it should
never be neccessary to edit machine.h by hand unless there's something
really strange going on.
Scripts
Several bugs involving scripts were fixed.
Cursor
A bug which caused the cursor to remain hidden after a recording
block has been exited was fixed.
Manual
We've gotten closer to releasing a manual. One more edit, and we
should have it.
Eric Pepke
pepke@scri.fsu.edu
Report bugs to: scian-bugs@scri.fsu.edu, but first read README.