Release Notes
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IRIS Explorer 5.2 for Unix
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1. Introduction
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The IRIS Explorer product is a system for combining components
called modules to create powerful customized visualization
applications. Modules linked this way form an IRIS Explorer Map.
Modules in a map can execute on a collection of networked
computers, with IRIS Explorer providing the distributed
application framework.
The IRIS Explorer Map Editor utility is the primary way to interact
with modules that are cooperating as an aggregate IRIS Explorer
application. The Map Editor can be used to start and
stop modules, make and break connections between modules, and
operate controls for the modules themselves.
The mbuilder utility (Module Builder) can be used to build new
IRIS Explorer modules from existing subroutines written in C,
C++ or Fortran (even without source). With the Module
Builder, you can create graphical user interfaces for modules
without reprogramming their source code.
Help pages are provided for all modules and example maps.
IRIS Explorer documentation is available on-line as part of the
product's distribution. The documentation includes an
introductory tutorial, a four volume manual set, newsletters,
user stories and example images.
The documentation also contains links to the IRIS Explorer WWW
site which is at
http://www.nag.co.uk/Welcome_IEC.html
Alternatively contact http://www.nag.com/ in North America or
http://www.nag-j.co.jp/ in Japan.
IRIS Explorer is available from The Numerical Algorithms Group
Ltd. for a range of workstations and computers.
For further information, contact the IRIS Explorer Center nearest
you. The locations are
IRIS Explorer Center (Europe)
Wilkinson House
Jordan Hill Road
OXFORD OX2 8DR
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1865 311744
Fax: +44 (0)1865 310139
email: helpdesk@iec.co.uk
WWW: http://www.nag.co.uk/Welcome_IEC.html
IRIS Explorer Center (North America)
1431 Opus Place, Suite 220
Downers Grove
IL 60515-1362
USA
Tel: +1 630 971 2345
Fax: +1 630 971 2706
email: explorer@nag.com
WWW: http://www.nag.com/
IRIS Explorer Center Japan (IECJ)
Hatchobori Frontier Building 2F
4-9-9 Hatchobori
Chuo-ku
Tokyo
104-0032
Japan
Tel: +81 (0)3 5542 6311
Fax: +81 (0)3 5542 6312
email: help@nag-j.co.jp
WWW: http://www.nag-j.co.jp/
2. New Features in Release 5.0
---------------------------
This section details changes and additions to IRIS Explorer
since Release 4.0. In summary these are:
* Compiling groups. This allows users to create new modules in
the IRIS Explorer Map Editor by combining existing modules
together. This leads to performance improvements through the
better use of system resources such as CPU and memory, and
reduces the overheads associated with module communications.
* More module source. Because the group compilation mechanism
proceeds by returning to the source code of the constituent
modules and compiling them together, IRIS Explorer 5.0 now
contains the source to almost all of the modules in the
distribution (prior to this release, only a subset was available
as source). As well as as increasing the range of applicability
of group compilation, this also provides users with a great
deal more source, which can be modified or extended at will,
or used as the starting point for new user-developed modules.
* Internal performance enhancements. The internal architecture
of IRIS Explorer has been overhauled at version 5.0. Processes
in the core have been merged, and redundant duplication of
functionality has been removed. In addition, the internal
communications mechanism has been updated to use the native
Windows interface on that platform. The result is faster
communication between modules, which is particularly
noticeable for maps that contain loops.
* Module enhancements. Pyramid modules have been
substantially improved in IRIS Explorer 5.0. These modules,
which are used to visualize unstructured meshes (for
example, from finite element analysis or computational
fluid dynamics) using isosurfaces, contouring and slicing,
have been rewritten to incorporate state-of-the-art algorithms.
In tests, the new modules have run about fifty times faster
than the old versions, offering users more interactive analysis
of this type of data in IRIS Explorer 5.0. Additionally,
more options for display have been added to the Legend,
GenerateColormap and Render modules.
* New modules. There are around 70 new modules in IRIS Explorer
5.0 (representing an increase of about 25% over the previous
release). Particle advection for regular grids has been
supplemented by modules which visualize vector data on an
unstructured mesh (stored in the IRIS Explorer pyramid datatype)
using particle advection. New geometry manipulation modules
enable permanent changes to be made to, for example, the
material properties of geometry in visualization scenes.
Other new geometry modules allow for different types of clipping
to be performed on visualization objects in the scene.
A new module which reads column oriented ASCII text files
(for example, data exported from an Excel spreadsheet as
text) into an IRIS Explorer lattice has also been added at
version 5.0. Other modules allow users to perform simple
arithmetic operations on lattice data within an IRIS Explorer
map, and new modules have also been added for the output of
animations to MPEG files or output of scenes to a
ray-tracer for alternative rendering of visualizations.
* New tools. packmap takes a map file and builds a
distribution containing the modules, data and IRIS Explorer
components required for its operation on another machine.
This gives developers a convenient way to share their
application without distributing unnecessary parts of
the system. QuickLat is a new tool in IRIS Explorer 5.0
that provides a simplified interface for building data
reader modules. Working with QuickLat, the user specifies
the form of the output lattice datatype together with
other parameters such as input filenames. QuickLat then
automatically generates template code in either C or Fortran
which contains simplified hooks into the lattice data and
coordinate arrays, and the user adds the code to read into
these arrays, given the format of their input file. The last
step is to compile and use the module to read the data into
an IRIS Explorer map.
* Improved help. A new interactive demonstration facility has
been added to show users the answers to some frequently
asked questions (FAQs) - such as "How do I save an image of
my visualization?". The main interface to the demos is
the new FAQ page in the documentation. The demos run within
the Map Editor using the new ViewDemo module and contain a
running commentary that explains what is happening in the map
at each step. The user can step through the demo interactively,
or leave it to play through automatically; finally, the demo
can be paused at any point and the map saved for later
recall by the user.
* Module searching. A new search facility has been added
which allows users to find all modules with a specific
functionality (e.g. all modules which accept lattices and
produce geometry). There is also the facility to search
map files for specific modules. The search facility runs
within the Map Editor using the new HelpMaps and HelpModules
modules.
* Example maps. The number of maps has been substantially
increased in this release, with the aim being to provide
an example of the use of each supported module. Around 115
new maps have been added, which has increased the total number
of maps by a factor of about 3.5, compared to the previous
release of IRIS Explorer. The example map for a module is
now part of its resources, and so is accessible from the
module icon in the Module Librarian (as well as from the
list of maps in the Maps category).
* New interface. The Map Editor interface now defaults to
coloring each connection according to the datatype which
it is transferring between the modules. In addition,
multiple connections between pairs of modules are displayed
separately. The previous interface (all wires colored
blue, single wires between modules) is still accessible,
however.
* Improved layout algorithm. The algorithm used for
laying out the widgets in the Module Control Panel Editor
has been improved to give greater consistency with the
layout as displayed in the Map Editor. The treatment
of Decorations (frames, separators) in the control panel
has also been improved.
* Hide parameter ports from port list. A new option has been
added to the Module Control Panel Editor not to display
individual parameter ports in the module port list. This can
save space in the port list, especially if the module has a
large number of parameters.
* More robust API. The IRIS Explorer Application Programmer's
Interface has been enhanced for this release with the
explicit declaration of any pointer to a constant as 'const'.
This makes it harder to modify pointers inadvertently (for
example, module port names are now declared as 'const char *'
in API routines).
* New API routines. The routines which handled error checking
after data allocation (specifically cxDataAllocErrorClear,
cxDataAllocErrorGet, cxDataCheckErrorInfoDel,
cxDataCheckErrorInfoGet, cxDataCheckErrorInfoMsgAppend,
cxDataCheckErrorInfoNew, cxDataErrorMsgGet) have been replaced
by a new routine, called cxDataManAbortOnError, which
manages the error handling behaviour of the data manager.
* Enhanced module building. The Module Builder now
automatically generates a header file which contains a
declaration of a prototype of the user function (as specified
in the User Function pane of the Module Builder) along with
any hook functions. Including the header file - which is
called .uf.h - in the module source file ensures
that the user function (and hook functions) in files are
consistent with the details entered in the Module Builder.
* Updated documentation. The IRIS Explorer documentation set
has been completely overhauled and enhanced for this release.
A new layout has been adopted, which gives greater consistency
between the on-line and hardcopy form of the documentation.
* The HTML pages now link to a stylesheet which can be modified
for each installation to change the appearance (font families,
font sizes, colors, borders, etc) of all of the documentation.
The stylesheet (in which, by default, all of its options are
commented out) is at $EXPLORERHOME/docs/html/style.css
* Bug fixes and other system enhancements.
3. New Features In Release 5.2
---------------------------
A number of bugs have been fixed in this maintenance release,
including:
* The correct slider values are now obtained when an mres file
is read into the Module Builder. Previously, this would fail
if the new values were outside the original default values set
in Module Builder.
* The correct slider values are now obtained when a map file is
read into the Map Editor. Previously, these would be
overridden by the values set in the module's mres file, if
these differed.
* The DrawText module now produces black or white text if the
Hue value is set to 0.0 or 1.0.
* New fonts have been added to the menus in DrawText, and some
old ones have been removed.
* The distribution now contains a number of TrueType fonts
which can be used in, e.g, the DrawText module.
4. Known Problems with this Release
--------------------------------
The group compilation process has been tested extensively and
has been found to work with several groups of modules, but it
cannot be guaranteed to behave correctly with every combination
of modules. In particular, problems may occur for groups that
include multiple instances of modules which are statically
linked to libraries containing global or static data. Examples
of these types of modules include those that use the NAG
Graphics Library, LatFunction-based modules and ImageVision
modules on some platforms.
The LineGraph module has been omitted from this release. The
NAGGraph module may be used in its place.
The documentation has not been updated from Release 5.0 for
this release.