NAME

IRIS Explorer - the IRIS Explorer Map Editor

SYNOPSIS

explorer

 -map "mapname"
 -app "mapname"
 -arenasize "size"
 -base "address"
 -level "integer"
 -script [options]
 -action "integer"

DESCRIPTION

IRIS Explorer is a system for combining small, general tools called modules to create powerful custom visualization applications. Modules linked together this way form an IRIS Explorer Map. The Map Editor is the primary means of interacting with modules that are cooperating as an aggregate IRIS Explorer application. The Map Editor is used to start and stop module execution, make and break connections among modules, and operate controls for the modules themselves.

Use the Module Builder (mbuilder) application to build new IRIS Explorer modules from existing subroutines written in C, C++, or Fortran (even without source).

The Data Scribe utility (dscribe) will help you make modules to convert your data files to and from IRIS Explorer's internal formats.

By default, IRIS Explorer displays a Map Editor window and a Module Librarian. Modules are executed by being selected in the Librarian and dragged into the Map Editor window. Modules are represented in the Map Editor window by small control panels. Larger, more detailed full-sized versions of the small control panels can be brought up for each module. Modules may execute on different remote hosts while being part of a local map. Composite module icons in the Librarian represent complete maps that contain multiple modules, and turn into multiple control panels in the Map Editor when executed.

Connections are made among modules by selecting their IO Pads with the right mouse button. Selected IO Pads display a menu of ports offered by the module. Selecting an output port, (right-hand IO Pad) followed by an input port (left-hand IO Pad) of like type will establish a connection. Connections are represented by lines joining modules.

Groups of modules may be assembled, and represented in the Map Editor as single small control panels. Controls and ports for the group may be selected from those hidden on contained modules. Groups of groups may be composed hierarchically.

IRIS Explorer uses the environment variable EXPLORERHOME to find the root of its system files. The default location of these files is /usr/explorer. If you change the location at installation time EXPLORERHOME must be set to point to the installation directory.

The environment variableCXGLTYPE is also used by IRIS Explorer to determine the location to search for display-based modules. These can either use OpenGL or X (via the Mesa 3-D graphics library) for rendering; the former option usually gives faster rendering speeds, but can only display on X displays that support the GLX extension. The latter option displays on a wider variety of hardware. Choose the rendering option by setting CXGLTYPE to OPENGL or MESAGL.

The following options apply to IRIS Explorer:

-map mapname

Starts the specified aggregate application automatically.

-app mapname

Starts the IRIS Explorer system without the Map Editor or Librarian windows. Maps that are saved with visible maximized control panels will have only those control panels available when executed this way.

-arenasize size

IRIS Explorer usually uses shared memory to communicate between modules on the same host. Applications processing exceptionally large data sets may need to increase the amount of shared memory allocated for this purpose. The default value of arenasize is 32 megabytes.

-base address

The shared memory arena used by IRIS Explorer is normally mapped at an address chosen by the system based on previously allocated resources. Specifying base forces the arena to be mapped at address. This value may be specified in hexadecimal by prefixing it with 0x. Normal caveats concerning the location of mapped files and performance will apply.

-level value

Data input to modules are checked for integrity before being used. Specifying a value for level sets the level of detail at which data is checked. Allowed values are:

0 A ``magic number'' in the data is checked for validity. This helps detect data that has already been freed, as a result of reference count errors in a user's module.

1 Memory allocated for the data is checked for boundary overrun. This helps detect indexing errors which may trash data memory.

The default level is 0. The detailed levels invoke the less detailed tests as well. For example, the magic number is always checked before memory boundaries.

The level of detail can also be set by setting the CXDATACHECKLEVEL environment variable to the same integer value. The command line option overrides the environment variable.

-script [options]

Starts the IRIS Explorer system in scripting mode. Scripting can either be driven interactively or via a script file. The options are:

file

specifies the name of an Explorer script file.

-

allows interactive scripting via the controlling terminal window.

%

allows interactive scripting via a dedicated scripting control window.

-action integer

Specifying action defines the action performed when an error is detected in data. An error message is constructed by the module describing where in the data the error is, and at what point it was detected. Bad data is not input to the module. Allowed specifications for action are:

0 The error message is ignored.

1 The message is presented in a pop-up dialogue box that must be dismissed by the user.

2 The message is presented in a pop-up dialogue box and the module halts so that it may be debugged. The module will continue when the global integer variable cxDataErrorRelease is set to a non-zero value. The module cannot communicate with the rest of the system while it is halted. It cannot be fired, connected or disconnected with other modules, or destroyed.

3 The message is presented in a pop-up dialogue box and the module aborts, causing a core file to be left in the current directory.

The action can also be set by setting the CXDATACHECKACTION environment variable to the same integer value. The command line option overrides the environment variable.

CONFIGURATION

When IRIS Explorer starts up, it first reads commands from the file $EXPLORERHOME/Explorer.config, followed by .explorerrc in the user's home directory. These files contain commands that configure IRIS Explorer.

If a configuration file is marked as executable, IRIS Explorer will attempt to execute it as a command and will use the text it sends to standard output as the configuration information. This allows for special configuration files that are shell scripts that generate the configuration information. Furthermore, as a special case, if the first line of the file contains only #!CPP then the file is filtered through the C preprocessor before being analyzed.

These are the available configuration commands:

modulepath [ [ -prepend ] path]

path is the directory containing saved maps, modules, and their resources. Named directories are appended to the end of the existing list of directories. Use -prepend to add directory names at the beginning of the list. If no names or options are given, the list of directories is made empty. The default module directory location includes $EXPLORERUSERHOME/modules for user modules, $EXPLORERHOME/modules for non-graphics modules, and one of $EXPLORERHOME/mesagl/modules or $EXPLORERHOME/opengl/modules for graphics modules. See the description of the CXGLTYPE variable above for more information on which directory of graphics modules is used.

tempdir dir

Use dir as the directory containing IRIS Explorer temporary files. The default value for dir is /usr/tmp. If the value of the TMPDIR environment variable is wanted for this variable, use the string %TMPDIR%.

logfile file

Sets the name for IRIS Explorer's status log output file. The default value for file is cxlog.

category name [module|pattern|directory] ...

Use category to place modules in special columns in the Librarian. The special predefined category shelf is used to specify the open rectangle at the bottom of the Librarian's window. Items listed in this command may be module names, patterns to match against module names, or directory names. Module names listed are inserted into the category. Patterns result in all know modules matching the pattern being placed in the category; shell file matching rules are used. Directory names cause IRIS Explorer to search the named directory for all modules, and then they are placed into the category.

arenasize size [ mb | kb ]

Use arenasize to set the size of the shared memory segment. The modifiers mb and kb may be used to specify arenasize in terms of megabytes and kilobytes, respectively. See option flag -arenasize above.

arenabase address

Use arenabase to set the base virtual address for the shared memory arena on those systems supporting shared memory. See the -base option flag above.

host hostname [ -command remote-execution-command ]

Use host to enable module execution on remote host hostname. To run IRIS Explorer as a particular user on machine host, use the -command option to specify a remote execution command. For example, the host entry host alaska -command "rsh HOST -l trbrown" will cause IRIS Explorer to execute on host alaska as user trbrown. The string HOST expands to the hostname specified as the first argument to the host entry.

scriptfile filename

Use scriptfile to cause IRIS Explorer to read the mentioned file as a Skm script language file on start-up. This is useful to preload a set of scripting procedures into the system for subsequent use.

RESOURCES

FILES

$EXPLORERHOME/Explorer.config
~/.explorerrc
/usr/tmp/cxlog
$XUSERFILESEARCHPATH/Explorer

SEE ALSO

mbuilder(1) dscribe(1) cxmkmf(1)

FURTHER INFORMATION

Details on installation are provided in the IRIS Explorer Installer's Guide appropriate to this implementation. The new features or restrictions of a version are given in the Release Notes for that version.

Help with creating and running applications with IRIS Explorer is given in the IRIS Explorer User's Guide, while the IRIS Explorer Module Writer's Guide is a guide for users who wish to build their own modules for use within IRIS Explorer. Information about the collaborative capability of IRIS Explorer may be found in the IRIS Explorer Collaborative User Guide. Finally, the IRIS Explorer Reference Pages contains the man pages for all of the modules and API calls within the IRIS Explorer library.

On-line information is available using the WWW at http://www.nag.co.uk/Welcome_IEC.html which also contains links to the ftp sites and other sources of information about IRIS Explorer and its use. Alternatively, see http://www.nag.com/ in North America or http://www.iijnet.or.jp/IECJ/ in Japan.

IRIS Explorer is discussed on the UseNet newsgroup comp.graphics.apps.iris-explorer

To obtain more information about IRIS Explorer please contact one of the IRIS Explorer Centers:

IRIS Explorer Center
Wilkinson House
Jordan Hill Road
Oxford OX2 8DR
UK
Tel:   +44 (0)1865 516377
Fax:   +44 (0)1865 516388
email: helpdesk@iec.co.uk
WWW:   http://www.nag.co.uk/Welcome_IEC.html

IRIS Explorer Center (North America)
1400 Opus Place, Suite 200
Downers Grove IL 60515-5702
USA
Tel:   +1 630 971 2367
Fax:   +1 630 971 2346
email: explorer@nag.com
WWW:   http://www.nag.com/

IRIS Explorer Center Japan (IECJ)
Nagashima Building 2F
2-24-3 Higashi
Shibuya-ku
Tokyo
Japan
Tel:   +81 3 5485 2901
Fax:   +81 3 5485 2903
email: help@IRIS.explorer.co.jp
WWW:   http://www.iijnet.or.jp/IECJ/

ORIGIN

Release 1 and 2 produced by the IRIS Explorer Development Group, Silicon Graphics, Inc. 1991-1994. Subsequent releases produced by The Numerical Algorithms Group Ltd. 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999.