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Download, Installation & Configuration

[Version 1.0 Alpha 1, 09/20/2004]

Contents

Downloads

VRVis 1.0 Alpha 1 (Source .gz): vrvis-1.0a1-src.tar.gz
VRVis 1.0 Alpha 1 (Source .zip): vrvis-1.0a1-src.zip
VRVis 1.0 HTML Docs Alpha 1 (.gz): vrvis-1.0a1-htmldoc.tar.gz
VRVis 1.0 HTML Docs Alpha 1 (.zip): vrvis-1.0a1-htmldoc.zip

Installation

VRVis uses several libraries to support parts of its functionality. Thus, to successfully compile, link and run programs with the current version of VRVis, the following dependencies have to be correctly installed and available at all times:

With all dependencies installed properly, VRVis itself has to be installed; there are two possibilities to accomplish this.

To build VRVis from source, the VRVis source code has to be compiled by adapting the provided Makefile to the operating system's compiler and directory conditions and run make.

Note:
Although all dependency libraries exist for multiple operating systems, and VRVis theoretically is also platform-independent, the building from source was tested only for SGI Irix up to now (09/20/2004).
To use a binary version of VRVis, one just includes the corresponding header files, and links against the pre-built libraries later---either the static or dynamic ones.

Configuration

To configure VRVis, it is primarily required to have VR Juggler configured properly. VR Juggler has a set of standard configuration files (.jconf) that are included in an installation of version 2.0 Alpha 4 or later. These show in different combinations, what can be done and configured in VR Juggler applications. The configuration files are used to configure---amongst other things---all of the following:

The most important thing is, that the VR Juggler config files connect the different items to each other, without making a recompilation of the code necessary at all; e.g. a digital proxy is connected to an input device and the alias "VJButton0" is connected to this proxy. Please refer to the brandnew VR Juggler Configuration Guide DRAFT for further information on configuring VR Juggler.

The VRVis configuration is based on a completed VR Juggler configuration and is done in the form of a ``key=value" configuration file named "vrvis.cfg" in the executable's directory. Stripped from any extra documentation, the contents of an example vrvis.cfg could look like this:

# Origin of the visualization in meters ["x y z"].
DrawOrigin=0.0 1.0 -1.0

# Background color ["R G B"].
BGColor=0.0 0.0 0.0

# Maximum available hardware texture size (2^n!)
MaxTexSize=2048

# Digital Devices (Buttons)
VJButton0=Translate
VJButton1=ZoomOut
VJButton2=ZoomIn
VJButton3=ChangeActionSet
VJButton4=
VJButton5=

# Analog Devices (Wheels, Sliders, ...)
VJAnalog0=RotateY
VJAnalog1=RotateX

The first three configuration entries are quite self-explanatory, they configure the initial values of the application data items: the drawing origin for the visualization in meters, the background color of the displayed scene, and the maximum texture size available on the executing machine. The maximum texture size can not be read from the graphics system via the corresponding OpenGL access method, because the calculation of textures takes place before the first GL context becomes active. Thus, a changeable entry in the configuration file seems to be the most elegant solution for now.

The next config file entries list all available VR Juggler device proxies, or---respectively---their aliases. All digital proxy names have to follow the naming convention "'VJButton' plus digit" (e.g. "VJButton0"), the analog ones have to be named "'VJAnalog' plus digit" (e.g. "VJAnalog0"); otherwise they can not be used in VRVis. The part following a proxy name after the equals sign is optional: it either defines the usage of the preceding proxy in the "DefaultActionSet" (see Adding Actions) or it declares a digital device to be the "ChangeActionSet" button. Note however that each one of the listed device proxies---either one with or without any of the standard Actions assigned in the config file, but not the "ActionSetChange" button---can have programmatically assigned one Action for each ActionSet!

While the VRVis configuration file is automatically searched for in the executable's directory, at least one VR Juggler configuration file has to be submitted on the command-line when executing a VRVis application! If either the vrvis.cfg is missing or no VR Juggler config file is submitted, the execution will be terminated. Like this, the same VRVis application can easily be executed in several Virtual Environment configurations just by calling it with different .jconf files.


Generated on Tue Sep 21 08:44:11 2004 for VRVis by doxygen 1.3.8