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README
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1998-05-05
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This is the README file for angela!
The angela! editor is distributed under the GPL License. Read the
included LICENSE file for more informations.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REMEMBER: THIS IS BETA SOFTWARE IN DEVELOPMENT STATE
ALL ODD MAJOR VERSION NUMBERS ARE BETA (DEVELOPMENT) VERSIONS !!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.:. .!V! ..
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III !VVVI:.VVXX: IVVXI: !:.
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.:.... :I!....I!:. ..
. :: .:.
. .
angela! stands for: A ngela is a
N atural
G raph
E ditor with
L ayout
A lgorithms
!
angela! is also a nice name ;)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
angela! is a mouse-driven graph editor.
angela! should be easy to learn in order to help creating in short time graphs
for presentations, technical papers...
New functions should be easy to code as plugins (modules in angela! jargon) in
high-level languages like C and very high languages like Tcl.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What do I need to use angela! ?
-------------------------------
For binary distributions, only Tcl/Tk Version 8.0p2 and Tix 4.1 are
necessary. Contact your system administrator to help you installing these
tools (also used by other programs, so the disk space is not wasted ;) )
These tools are installed by default (or at least included) in modern Linux
distributions.
The developpment platform is Linux 2.0.33 with glibc libraries as there
are provided with RedHat 5.0. Porting angela! to other systems should not
be difficult, but is still untested. I use following tools:
- Standard C compiler (no C++ code at this time)
- CWEB Version 3.4
- Tcl/Tk Version 8.0p2
- Tix 4.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to install the source version ?
-----------------------------------
Unpack the distribution source package into a new directory.
Launch the configure script by doing
./configure
If this fails at the time the script is looking for tcl.h or
tk.h, you should provide a command-line argument to help the
script finding the required files:
./configure --with-tcl=/somewhere/to/find/includes \
--with-tk=/somewhere/to/find/includes
Take a look to the freshly-created Makefile.common and make some
changes. Please reminder that these changes will disappear when
calling ./configure again. If you want to make permanent changes,
then edit the Makefile.common.in file.
Then do a
make exec
PLEASE USE GNU MAKE. On some systems, GNU make is called gmake.
After a (little) while, some *.o files should appear in your directory and
you should be able to launch the program by typing
./angela
If the program complains, that he cannot find Tcl/Tk (wish) or perhaps the
Tix toolkit (tixwish4.1.8.0), edit the first some lines of the file angela
to correct bad path settings. You can also make a symbolic link from the
position where tixwish4.1.8.0 resides to the same file in the current
directory.
*** IF NOTHING WORKS ***
If nothing helps, then double check, that you have the correct CWEB
version. Send me a bug report with a copy of the error messages and a
copy of the result of a "make configuration".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to install the binary version ?
-----------------------------------
Check that you have installed the few tools that are required (Tcl/Tk and Tix).
unpack the distribution archive into a new directory. Step into it and type
angela
on some systems (if the current directory is not in the PATH environment),
you will need to type
./angela
If this does not work, then send me a bug report.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What can angela! do at this time ?
----------------------------------
I must divide this section in two parts. First the features a user can see
when he uses angela! and second, the features a programmer has when he is
using the module mechanism of angela!
See the CHANGES file for informations about the evolution of the last
versions of angela!
Features with a *** indicates new or changed features for the current release.
So, here is what a user sees and can use:
- Creating nodes.
- Creating edges.
- Creating edge bends.
- Changing all attributes of the nodes (also their shape and text).
- Changing all attributes of the edges (also their line aspect).
- Moving nodes.
- Moving edges.
- Moving edge bends.
- Saving to PLING format.
- Load from PLING format.
(note that the PLING format cannot save all features angela! provides)
- Saving of window positions.
- Saving of save and load directories.
- Grid facility to help manual alignment.
- Selecting Nodes in edit mode with Ctrl-Left Click and middle click.
- Deleting selected nodes with related edges.
- Style manager for changing quickly the different attributes of nodes
and edges.
- Context menu for edges and nodes.
- Configuration mechanism.
- Executing of external programs manipulating the PLING format.
- Load and save using GML format.
- Generate Tcl/Tk programs for tcl plugin and stand-alone viewing.
And for programmers:
- Easy interface to angela! for writing all sorts of modules in Tcl or
in C. This API can also be used to create stand-alone modules for
Tcl.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What features will angela! acquire ?
------------------------------------
- The "Natural" part which consist of a mass-spring simulator
giving the user the possibility to create constraints between
nodes
- Interface to AGD. For more informations about this library,
take a look at
http://www.mpi-sb.mpg.de/~mutzel/dfgdraw/agdlib.html
- Interface to LEDA. Please note that LEDA is NOT distributed under
the GPL License. For research purposes, LEDA is free. For any other
purpose, LEDA must be licensed. See the LEDA WWW-Site for more
Informations ( http://www.mpi-sb.mpg.de/LEDA ).
- Better documentation
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to contribute/participate ?
-------------------------------
Using angela! is already a great participation and help for me. If you are
connected to the Internet, then you can send me bug reports in any form, or
by using the built-in Bug Report dialog box (in the File menu).
Also positive experiences are welcome.
You can also write modules to improve/optimize existing algorithms or to
extend the functionality.
See the mailing-list section to get access to a more usefull source of
information.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New versions ?
--------------
The actual version is at this time under the following URL:
http://www.mpi-sb.mpg.de/~pabst/angela
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mailing-list
------------
There is a mailing-list for users and developpers who want to share their
experiences, report bugs or talking about the underlying philosophy of angela!
The mail adress is:
angela@itm.uni-sb.de
and you must subscribe to this list:
Send a mail with empty body and subject: "subscribe" to
angela-request.itm.uni-sb.de
To unsubscribe from this list:
Send a mail with empty body and subject: "unsubscribe" to
angela-request.itm.uni-sb.de
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks
------
for Assistance:
- Dr. Petra Mutzel <mutzel@mpi-sb.mpg.de>
- Carsten Gutwenger <gutwenge@mpi-sb.mpg.de>
- Thomas Ziegler <tziegler@mpi-sb.mpg.de>
for Bug reports:
- Perry Couprie <perry@office.netland.nl>
- Dov Grobgeld <dov@Orbotech.Co.IL>
- Markus Hennig <hennig@planNET.de>
- Michael Hirsch <hirsch@mathcs.emory.edu>
- Bernt Hullen <Bernt.Hullen@ruhr-uni-bochum.de>
- Bastian Kleineidam <calvin@mpi-sb.mpg.de>
- Syrus Nemat-Nasser <syrus@ucsd.edu>
- Erik Rantapaa <rantapaa@uswest.net>
- Aharon Schkolnik <aharon@health.gov.il>
- Karl-Heinz Schramm <Karl-Heinz.Schramm@FernUni-Hagen.de>
- Nicolas Thiery <nthiery@clipper.ens.fr>
- Curtis Vagner <cvarner@cs.ucr.edu>
- Scott Wisniewski <scott@tigger.cs.uwm.edu>
for Code:
- Marcus Raitner <raitner@fmi.uni-passau.de>
Scanner and Parser for GML file format.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
User Frequently Asked Questions
-------------------------------
Q1: How can I add edge bends ?
------------------------------
A1: Simply click on "Create Edge" and then on one point of an existing
edge. The bend will appear as a little black box. It will disappear
if the mouse cursor moves over another edge.
Q2: How can I move edge bends ?
-------------------------------
A2: Click on "Edit Object" and then move over an edge. The bends of this
edge will appear and you can drag them away.
Q3: How can I set the grid size ?
---------------------------------
A3: At this time only by editing the angela.rc configuration file.
Q4: How can I select a node ?
-----------------------------
A4: Click on "Edit Object" and then click on the node you will (de)select
and press the Ctrl-Key at the same time.
Q5: How can I delete some nodes ?
---------------------------------
A5: Select them (see A4) and then choose "Cut" in the "Edit" menu.
Q6: I really need function X. Will you implement it ?
-----------------------------------------------------
A6: Send me a wish list via email and I will try to incorporate it into a
future version of angela! See also the mailing-list section to get
direct access with developpers and users.
Q7: Why are you always writing a ! after angela! ?
--------------------------------------------------
A7: Because angela! is the answer. ;)
In analogy to:
Micr*s*ft is not the answer.
Micr*s*ft is the question.
The answer is NO.
(thanks to jm !)
Q8: What is this PLING format ?
-------------------------------
A8: See http://www.mpi-sb.mpg.de/~schwartz/pling.ps
Q9: How can I delete edges ?
----------------------------
A9: You can remove an adjacent node or use the context menu by clicking
with the right mouse button on an edge.
Q10: I installed a new release of angela! and some dialog boxes look strange
or some modules are missing!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A10: angela! is saving the geometry of the main dialog boxes in a file called
angela.rc in your home directory. This geometry constrain can have the
negative side-effect that some new items in dialog boxes become invisible.
You will have to stretch the dialog box manually one time or to erase
the angela.rc file in your HOME directory.
Also the list of modules to be loaded at runtime is stored in this
configuration file.
Q11: How can I use the external calling of program feature
(in menu Tools->PLING external program) ?
----------------------------------------------------------
A11: You need the module_plingexternal.tcl module to be loaded at startup.
a) you need a command-line program (let's call it filter) that reads a
PLING file, does some work with the contained graph and then writes
the result to a new PLING file.
b) you need to register this filter:
i) Click on Tools->PLING external program->Configure
ii) Click on Insert new item
iii) Enter the desired name
iv) Enter the command for the filter. Try to use an absolute path.
%i will be expanded into a temporary file with PLING content of
graph before processing.
%o will be expanded into a temporary file with PLING content of
graph after processing. %o will be loaded by angela!
Example: /usr/bin/plingfilter -some -switches %i 276 345 > %o
v) Click on Done, then Done again.
c) A new menu entry under Tools->PLING external program should be now
active with the name you entered in iii)
d) Save the configuration to use this settings with future sessions with
angela!
Q12: Where can I get informations about the GML file format ?
-------------------------------------------------------------
A12: See http://www.fmi.uni-passau.de/~himsolt/Graphlet/GML/index.html
Q13: What non-standard attributes have been used in the GML format supported
by angela! ?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A13: Since there are some informations that cannot be represented with the
standard GML tags, I introduced some inofficial attributes.
* the labelgraphics|font attribute does only understand standard X11
font descriptions. I wanted to continue using the "Arial 12 bold"
form, which is much more readable. The new attribute is called
pifont for platform independent font.
* The physical values for velocity, acceleration and mass for nodes have
been grouped in a physics section. The attributes are called
physics|X where X is vx, vy, ax, ay or mass.
* The physical values for rest length, spring constant and dampering
constant for edges have been grouped in a physics section. The attributes
are called physics|X where X is restlen, ks or kd.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Epilogue
--------
Thank you for using some of your time with this project.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friend: "I am using Wind*ws 95!"
Me: "Hmmmm."
Friend: "My computer is not working properly"
Me: "You already said that."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(non Eric, ce n'est pas toi l'ami en question ;)