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partiview.txt 86.86 KiB
  Partiview (PC-VirDir)
  Peter Teuben, Stuart Levy
  25 June 2002

  partiview is a program that enables you to visualize and animate par-
  ticle data. partiview runs on relatively simple desktops and laptops,
  but is mostly compatible with its big brother VirDir.  This document
  helps you installing and running the development version of partiview.
  ______________________________________________________________________

  Table of Contents


  1. Installation
     1.1 MESA/OpenGL
     1.2 FLTK
     1.3 partiview
     1.4 CVS
     1.5 Compiling under Windows

  2. Directory structure
  3. Running the program
     3.1 Example 1: Hipparcos Bright Star Catalogue 3-D viewing
     3.2 Top Row
     3.3 Group row (optional)
     3.4 Time Animation rows (Optional)
     3.5 Camera (path) Animation row
     3.6 Logfile window
     3.7 Command window
     3.8 Viewing window
     3.9 Example 2: a (starlab) animation
     3.10 Example 3: stereo viewing
     3.11 Example 4: subsetting

  4. Commands
     4.1 Control Commands
     4.2 I/O Control Commands
     4.3 Object Group Control Commands
     4.4 View Control commands
     4.5 Particle Display Control Commands
     4.6 Particle subsetting & statistics
     4.7 Boxes
     4.8 Data commands
     4.9 Kira/Starlab
        4.9.1 Kira particle attributes
        4.9.2 Hertzsprung-Russell diagram
        4.9.3 kira control commands
     4.10 Textures
     4.11 Coordinates and Coordinate Transformations
     4.12 Colormap Files

  5. Viewing Window Keyboard Shortcuts
  6. Partiview and NEMO
  7. Tips
  8. Bugs, Features and Limitations
     8.1 Limitations w.r.t. VirDir:
     8.2 Some notes for newcomers to VirDir

  9. Glossary


  ______________________________________________________________________



  1.  Installation


  This assumes you have the July 2001 release (version 0.6 or later) of
  partiview, not the earlier "gview" release that was described in
  earlier versions of this document. We keep copies of some Linux
  support files (Mesa, FLTK) on our current
  http://www.astro.umd.edu/nemo/amnh website. Although more current
  versions of support libraries may be available, they may not have been
  tested out.  This release has been tried on Linux (red hat 6.2, 7.1,
  7.2), Irix and Windows.

  partiview needs two libraries to compile: OpenGL (or MESA) for the
  drawing operations, and FLTK for the graphical user interface.  These
  libraries are known to work on MS-Windows as well as many Unix
  flavors.



  1.1.  MESA/OpenGL


  First make sure Mesa is installed, for redhat6.2 there are rpm files
  available.  For redhat7.1+ they are now included in the basic
  distribution.  Check if you have something like the following (version
  numbers may be different):



       ______________________________________________________________________
              % rpm -qa | grep Mesa
              Mesa-3.2-2
              Mesa-devel-3.2-2

       else:

              % rpm -i Mesa-3.2-2.i686.rpm Mesa-devel-3.2-2.i686.rpm
       ______________________________________________________________________



  You should have both installed. Some packages will use libMesaGL,
  others libGL. Our configure script (see below) should take care of the
  two possible options.

  Homepage: http://mesa3d.sourceforge.net/


  Redhat packages: (part of powertools I believe)


  Mesa3D is under continuous development. As of this writing the stable
  release is 4.0.1, but it has not been tested with the current
  partiview release.  Redhat 7.1 comes with Mesa-3.4 and also works with
  partiview.  You can also use a CVS release of Mesa.


  1.2.  FLTK

  Also make sure FLTK is installed.  If you got our version, do this (as
  root)



  ______________________________________________________________________
         % locate libfltk.a
         % locate Fl_Slider.h

  if they fail, then

         % cd <where-ever>/fltk-1.0.9
         % make install

  ______________________________________________________________________


  (you only need it if you want to recompile the program at some point,
  not if you just want to run it)

  Homepage: http://www.fltk.org/

  Redhat packages: http://www.cs.cornell.edu/nogin/RPM/fltk-devel.html

  Find rpms: http://rpmfind.net


  FLTK is under continuous development.   Versions from 1.0.9 through
  1.1.0rc3 have been successfully tested with partiview.  The upcoming
  2.0 version of FLTK is unlikely to work with partiview.



  1.3.  partiview


  You can decide to use a branded version, usually available as a tar or
  zip file, or use the CVS (see below).  Extract the tarball, and
  install the program from within the src directory:



       ______________________________________________________________________
              % tar zxf partiview-0.6.tar.gz

              % cd partiview-0.6/src
              % make clean                (if you really must compile a new executable)
              % ./configure               (GNU autoconf toolset to ease installation)
              % make depend               (might need to make new local dependancies)
              % make partiview            (should not have to edit Makefile anymore)
       ______________________________________________________________________



  If you encounter difficulties of locating either the FLTK or
  MESA/OpenGL libraries, configure script options can specify them:
  --with-fltk=dirname names the directory which contains the lib and FL
  subdirectories, --with-mesa=dirname can specify the Mesa installation
  directory [??], and --with-kira=dirname names the Starlab directory,
  whose default value is taken from environment variable STARLAB_PATH if
  that is set.


  1.4.  CVS

  Since version 0.5 partiview is under CVS control, and occasionally we
  will stamp out a new release when we deem it stable. Anonymous or
  read-only CVS access is also offered. Currently the CVS repository
  machine is cvs.astro.umd.edu and you will need to setup your
  developers account with Peter (teuben@astro.umd.edu). Here's a sample
  session with some commonly used CVS commands:



       ______________________________________________________________________
        setenv CVSROOT   :pserver:anonymous@cvs.astro.umd.edu:/home/cvsroot
        setenv CVSEDITOR emacs
        setenv CVS_RSH   ssh           (not needed for pserver access though)

        cvs login                      (only needed once, and only for pserver type access)

        cvs checkout partiview              # get a new local sandbox to work in, or

        cd partiview                        # goto the root directory of partiview
        cvs -n -q update                    # check if others had made any changes
        cvs update                          # if so, update your sandbox and/or resolve conflicts

        cd partiview/src                    # goto the 'src' directory of partiview
        ./configure
        emacs partibrains.c                 # edit some files
        make all                            # compile the program
        ./partiview                         # test the program
        emacs kira_parti.cc                 # edit another file
        make all                            # check if it still compiles

        cvs -n -q update                    # check if anybody else made changes
        cvs update                          # if so, update your sandbox again, resolve conflicts

        cvs commit                          # and commit your changes
       ______________________________________________________________________



  1.5.  Compiling under Windows

  Partiview can be compiled from the command line on Windows using
  either the Microsoft Visual C tools (cl, nmake, etc.) or using gcc/g++
  with MinGW32, MSYS and w32api.  The MinGW route is currently the only
  way to compile with kira/Starlab support.  There's no provision for
  building partiview within the MS Visual Studio GUI.

  To compile with Microsoft C:


  1. Install FLTK using MS Visual C++ as described in its documentation.

  2. Unpack the partiview distribution from its tarball or via CVS.

  3. Edit the file partiview/src/partiview.mak, changing FLTK_DIR as
     appropriate.

  4. Run the vcvars32.bat script from the Developer Studio Bin
     directory; this will set the MSVCDIR environment variable, add the
     Bin directory to PATH, etc.

  5. In the partiview/src directory, compile with


              nmake -f partiview.mak


  Dependencies are not properly maintained by this Makefile, so use
  nmake -f partiview.mak   clean if you change anything.


  To compile with MinGW and company, you'll need to:

  1. Install MinGW (gcc, etc.), its associated w32api libraries and
     header files, and the MSYS suite of UNIX-like tools.  All three
     packages are available at:
     http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/mingw/ Recent releases of
     w32api include MinGW versions of OpenGL libraries and headers,
     which partiview needs.  As of June 2002, current versions seem to
     be mingw-1.0.1-20010726, w32api-1.4-2, and MSYS-1.0.7.  Unpack the
     .zip or .tar archives of MinGW and w32api; both packages are
     intended to live in the same directory.  The MSYS package comes as
     a self-extracting archive and can be extracted into a different
     directory as desired.  (But don't attempt to merge the MSYS bin
     directory contents into mingw/bin.)

  2. Add both the MSYS bin subdirectory and MinGW bin subdirectory to
     the Windows PATH environment variable, with the MSYS directory
     coming earlier, e.g. in a command window

           set path=%path%;C:\util\msys\1.0\bin;C:\util\mingw\bin



  or the analogous setting of PATH using (on WinNT/2000 at least) My
  Computer -> Control Panel -> System -> Environment to make a permanent
  change to PATH.

  3. Build FLTK using MinGW.  Unpack its source distribution and say


           sh configure
           make



  4. Build the Starlab libraries, if desired:

     a. You may need to install CVS for Windows.  Binary packages are
        available; follow the Win32 link on
        http://www.cvshome.org/downloads.html.  Put the resulting
        cvs.exe file into the PATH somewhere.

     b. Use CVS to checkout the Starlab sources into some directory:


              cd C:\some\where
              set CVSROOT=:pserver:anonymous@cvs.astro.umd.edu:/home/cvsroot
              cvs login
              cvs checkout starlab
              cd starlab



     c. Copy templates\starlab_setup.bat to local\starlab_setup.bat, and
        edit it.  Change the first two set commands: set STARLAB_PATH to
        the installation directory -- in the above example, set
        STARLAB_PATH=C:\some\where\starlab.  Also optionally update (or
        remove) set PATH=...  to add MSYS and MinGW bin directories to
        it.

     d. From a Windows command window, type



               local\starlab_setup
               make libs



     e. If successful, you should find in the lib directory the files
        libdstar.a  libdyn.a  libnode.a  librdc.a  libsstar.a  libstd.a
        libtdyn.a



  5. Now, back in the partiview/src directory, use configure and make as
     under Unix.  The MSYS package imposes its own UNIX-like syntax for
     Windows pathnames, which you'll need to use as arguments to
     configure and friends, with forward- instead of backslashes and a
     /drive-letter prefix.  Also, if typing to a Windows command-window,
     shell scripts like configure must be explicitly fed to sh.  Thus
     for example if FLTK is installed in C:\util\fltk-1.1.0 and Starlab
     is in F:\src\starlab, then you might build partiview by typing


               sh configure --with-fltk=/c/util/fltk-1.1.0  --with-kira=/f/src/starlab
               make


  Note there's no need to specify the location of the OpenGL or other
  libraries; the configure script and MinGW tools already know where to
  find them.



  2.  Directory structure


  Here is the directory structure, as per version 0.1:



            partiview/             root directory
            partiview/src          source code
            partiview/data         sample datafiles (e.g. Hipparcos Bright Star Catalogue)
            partiview/doc          manual (sgml, and derived  html, txt, ps/dvi)
            partiview/nemo         NEMO specific converters/code
            partiview/starlab      STARLAB specific converters/code
            partiview/tutor        examples of tutorial type code (added in 0.2)
            partiview/windows      windows executables/support (old)



  3.  Running the program

  First we describe a simple example how to run partiview with a
  supplied sample dataset. Then we describe the different windows that
  partiview is made up of, and the different commands and keystrokes it
  listens to.


  3.1.  Example 1: Hipparcos Bright Star Catalogue 3-D viewing


  Start the program using one of the sample  "speck" files in the data
  directory:



       ______________________________________________________________________
              % cd partiview/data
              % ./hipbright
       or
              % partiview hipbright
       ______________________________________________________________________



  and this should come up with a display familiar to most of us who
  watch the skies. You should probably enlarge the window a bit. Mine
  comes up in roughly a 300 by 300 display window, which may be a bit
  small (certainly on my screen :-) (Hint: the .partiviewrc file may
  contain commands like eval winsize 600 400.)


  Hit the TAB key to bring focus to the (one line) command window
  inbetween the log screen (top) and viewing screen (bottom). Type the
  commands



       ______________________________________________________________________
               fov 50                          (field of view 50 degrees)
               jump 0 0 0 80 70 60             (put yourself in the origin
                                               and look at euler angles
                                               RxRyRz (80,70,60)
       ______________________________________________________________________


  and it should give another nice comfy view :-)  If you ever get lost,
  and this is not hard, use the jump command to go back to a known
  position and/or viewing angle.


                              partiview view


  Note that spatial units for this dataset are parsecs, though angular
  units are degrees for any data in partiview.

  Now play with the display, use the 't', 'r', 'f' and 'o' keys (keys
  are case sensitive) in the viewing window and use the left and mouse
  buttons down to (carefully) move around a bit, and make yourself
  comfortable with moving around. Using the 't' button you get some idea
  of the distance of the stars by moving back and forth a little (the
  parallax trick). In fact, if you 't' around a little bit, you may see
  a green line flashing through the display. This is one of the  RGB
  (xyz) axes attached to the (0,0,0) [our sun] position.  You should see
  Procyon and Sirius exhibit pretty large parallaxes, but Orion is
  pretty steady since it is several hundred parsecs away.  If you move
  the right mouse button you will zoom in/out and should see our Sun
  flash by with the red-green-blue axes.

  The RGB axes represent the XYZ axes in a (right-handed) cartesian
  system. For the Hipparcos data the X (red) axis points to RA=0h, Y
  (green) axis to RA=6h, both in the equatorial plane, and the Z (blue)
  axis points to the equatorial north pole.

  Try and use the middle mouse button (or the 'p' key)  to click on
  Sirius or Procyon, and see if you can get it to view its properties.
  Now use the 'P' key to switch center to rotation to that star. Sirius
  is probably a good choice. Move around a bit, and try and get the sun
  and orion in the same view :-)

  [NOTE: these Hipparcos data do not have reliably distance above
  100-200 pc, so Orion's individual distances are probably uncertain to
  30%]


  A little bit on the types of motion, and what the mouse buttons do



       ______________________________________________________________________

                     |     left            middle          right
                     |     Button-1        Button-2        Button-3         Shift Button-1
       ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
       f (fly)       |     fly             'pick'          zoom
       o (orbit)     |     orbit           'pick'          zoom
       r (rotate)    |     rotate X/Y      'pick'          rotate Z            translate
       t (translate) |     translate       'pick'          zoom
       ______________________________________________________________________



  The point of origin for rotations can be changed with the 'P' button.
  First you can try and pick ('p' or Button-2) a point, and if found,
  hit 'P' to make this point the new rotation center default.



       ______________________________________________________________________
       red   = X axis
       green = Y axis
       blue  = Z axis
       ______________________________________________________________________



  To choose an arbitrary center of rotation, use the center command.


  3.2.  Top Row

  The top row contains some shortcuts to some frequently used commands.
  From left to right, it should show the following buttons:

      More
        Offers some mode switches as toggles: inertia for continues spin
        or motion, and an H-R Diagram to invoke a separate H-R diagram
        window for datasets that support stellar evolution.


      [g1]
        Pulldown g1, g2, ... (or whichever group) is the currently
        selected group. See  object command to make aliases which group
        is defined to what object. If multiple groups are defined, the
        next row below this contains a list of all the groups, and their
        aliases, so you can toggle them to be displayed.


      [f]ly
        Pulldown to select fly/orbit/rot/tran, which can also be
        activate by pressing the f/o/r/t keys inside the viewing window.


      point
        Toggle to turn the points on/off. See also the points command.


      poly
        Toggle to turn polygons on/off. See also the polygon command.


      lbl
        Toggle to turn labels on/off. See also the label command.


      tex
        Toggle to turn textures on/off. See also the texture command.


      box
        Toggle to turn boxes on/off. See also the boxes command.


      #.###
        The current displayed value of the logslum lum slider (see next)


      logslum lum
        Slider controlling the logarithm of the datavar variable
        selected as luminosity (with the lum command).



  3.3.  Group row (optional)

  When more than one group has been activated (groups of particles or
  objects can have their own display properties, and be turned on and
  off at will), a new Group Row will appear as the 2nd row.

  Left-clicking (button 1) on a button toggles the display of that
  group; right-clicking (button 3) enables display of the group, and
  also selects it as the current group for GUI controls and text
  commands.


  3.4.  Time Animation rows (Optional)

  For time-dependent data, the third and fourth row from the top control
  the currently displayed data-time.  This time-control bar is only
  visible when the object has a nonzero time range.
      T Shows the current time (or offset from the tripmeter).  The
        absolute time is the sum of the T and + fields.  Both are
        editable.  See also the step control command.


     trip
        Press to mark a reference point in time.  The T field becomes
        zero, and the + field (below) is set to current time.  As time
        passes, T shows the offset from this reference time.


     back
        Press to return to reference time (sets T to 0).


      + Current last time where tripmeter was set. You can reset to the
        first frame with the command step 0


      dial
        Drag to adjust the current time.  Sensitivity depends on the
        speed setting; dragging by one dial-width corresponds to 0.1
        wall-clock second of animation, i.e. 0.1 * speed in data time
        units.


      |<

      >|
        Step time backwards or forwards by 0.1 * speed data time units.
        See also the < and > keyboard shortcuts.


      <<


      >>
        toggle movie move forwards in time Toggle animating backwards or
        forwards in time, by 1 * speed data time units per real-time
        second.  See also the {, ~, and } keyboard shortcuts.


      #.####
        (Logarithmic) value denoting speed of animation.  See also the
        speed control command.



  3.5.  Camera (path) Animation row

  The fifth (or 4th or 3rd, depending if Group and/or Time rows are
  present) row from the top controls loading and playing sequences of
  moving through space.



      Path...
        Brings up a filebrowser to load a .wf path file. This is a file
        with on each line 7 numbers: xyz location, RxRyRz viewing
        direction, and FOV (field of view).  The rdata command loads
        such path files too.


      Play
        Play the viewpoint along the currently loaded path, as the play
        command does.  Right-click for a menu of play-speed options.


      << < [###] >>>
        Step through camera-path frames.  See also frame control
        command.


      slider
        Slides through camera path, and displays current frame.



  3.6.  Logfile window

  The third window from the top contains a logfile of past commands and
  responses to them, and can be resized by dragging the bar between
  command window and viewing window.  The Logfile window also has a
  scroll bar on the left. You can direct the mouse to any previous
  command, and it will show up in the command window. Using the arrow
  keys this command can then be edited.



  3.7.  Command window

  The Command window is a single line entry window, in which Control
  Commands can be given.  Their responses appear in the Logfile window
  and on the originating console. (unlike Data Commands, which show no
  feedback). You can still give Data Commands in this window by
  prefixing them with the add command.  The Up- and Down-arrow keys (not
  those on the keypad) scroll through previous commands, and can be
  edited using the arrow keys and a subset of the emacs control
  characters.



  3.8.  Viewing window

  The (OpenGL) Viewing window is where all the action occurs.  Typically
  this is where you give single keystroke commands and/or move the mouse
  for an interactive view of the data.  It can be resized two ways:
  either by resizing the master window, or by picking up the separator
  between Viewing window and Command window above.


  3.9.  Example 2: a (starlab) animation

  Setting up a small animation in for example Starlab can be done quite
  simply as follows: (see also the primbim16.mk makefile to create a
  standard one):



  ______________________________________________________________________
    % makeplummer -i -n 20 | makemass -l 0.5 -u 10.0 | scale -s | kira -d 2 -D x10 > run1
    % partiview run1.cf
    % cat run1.cf

    kira run1
    eval every
    eval lum mass 0 0.01
    eval psize 100
    eval cment 1  1 .7 .3
    eval color clump exact

  ______________________________________________________________________



  Alternatively, if you had started up partiview without any arguments,
  the following Control Command (see below) would have done the same



       ______________________________________________________________________
         read run1.cf

       ______________________________________________________________________



  3.10.  Example 3: stereo viewing

  The 's' key within the viewing window toggles stereo viewing. By
  default each object is split in a blue and a red part, that should be
  viewed with a pair of red(left)/blue(right) glasses. Red/green glasses
  will probably work too.  Crosseyed viewing is also available if
  selected by stereo cross.  See stereo and focallen in the View
  Commands section.


  3.11.  Example 4: subsetting

  In the data directory, run

    partiview hip.cf


  One of the data fields for these stars is the B-V color, colorb_v,
  abbreviatable to just color.  Look at just the bluest stars: try

    thresh color < -.1


  Back off to a large distance (drag with right mouse button, and drag
  the logslum lum slider to brighten) and look at the distribution of
  these blue stars.  The Orion spiral-arm spur, extending generally
  along the +Y (green) axis, has lots of them.  Now look at more reddish
  stars, those with .5 <= B-V <= 1.5, with:

    thresh color  .5  1.5


  These are much more uniformly distributed in the galactic plane.
  Return to seeing all stars, with:

    see all


  or re-view the threshold-selected subset (reddish stars) with

    see thresh


  or its complement with

    see -thresh



  4.  Commands

  There are two types of commands in partiview: Control Commands and
  Data Commands.  Probably the most important difference between the two
  is that Control Commands return feedback to the user, whereas Data
  Commands are interpreted without comment.  The command window expects
  to receive Control Commands.  However, it is possible to enter a Data
  Command where a Control Command is expected, using the add command
  prefix. Likewise, a Control Command may be given where data is
  expected, using the eval prefix, e.g. in a data (or .cf) file. The
  real (Control) Command expects data commands, but if Control Commands
  are needed, they need to be preceded with the eval command. See also
  the previous starlab example.



  4.1.  Control Commands


  (see partibrains.c::specks_parse_args)

  Control Commands are accepted in the Command window, and in some other
  contexts.  Generally, partiview gives a response to every Control
  Command, reporting the (possibly changed) status.

  Typically, if parameters are omitted, the current state is reported.

  Some commands apply to particles in the current group (see Object
  group commands); others affect global things, such as time or display
  settings.

  Data Commands can also be given, if prefixed with add.



  4.2.  I/O Control Commands



     read specks-file
        Read a file containing Data Commands (typical suffix .cf or
        .speck).
     async unix-command
        Run an arbitrary unix command (invoked via /bin/sh) as a
        subprocess of partiview.  Its standard output is interpreted as
        a stream of control commands.  Thus partiview can be driven
        externally, e.g. to record an animation (using the snapshot
        command), or to provide additional GUI controls.  Several async
        commands can run concurrently.  Examples are given later.
        Warning: you cannot interrupt a started command, short of
        hitting ESC to exit partiview.


     add data-command
        Enter a Data Command where a Control Command is expected, e.g.
        in the text input box.  For example,

          add 10 15 -1 text blah


     adds a new label "blah" at 10 15 -1, or

       add kira myrun.out


     loads a kira (starlab) output file.


     eval control-command
        Processes that control command just as if the eval prefix
        weren't there.  Provided for symmetry: wherever either a control
        command or a data command is expected, entering eval control-
        command ensures that it's taken as a control command.


     add filepath (data-command)
        Determines the list of directories where all data files, color
        maps, etc.  are sought.  See the filepath entry under Data
        Commands.



  4.3.  Object Group Control Commands

  Partiview can load multiple groups of particles, each with independent
  display settings, colormaps, etc.  When more than one group is loaded,
  the Group Row appears on the GUI, with one toggle-button for each
  group.  Toggling the button turns display of that group on or off.
  Right-clicking turns the group unconditionally on, and selects that
  group as the current one for other GUI controls.

  Many Control Commands apply to the currently selected group.

  Groups always have names of the form gN for some small positive N;
  each group may also have an alias.


     gN Select group gN.  Create a new group if it doesn't already
        exist.


     gN=alias
        Assign name alias to group gN.  Note there must be no blanks
        around the = sign.


     object objectname
        Likewise, select object objectname, which may be either an alias
        name or gN.


     gN control-command

     object objectname control-command
        Either form may be used as a prefix to any control command to
        act on the specified group, e.g. object fred poly on


     gall control-command
        Invoke the given control-command in all groups.  For example, to
        turn display of group 3 on and all others off, use:


          gall off
          g3 on



     on

     enable
        Either one will enable the display of the currently selected
        group (as it is by default).


     off

     disable
        Either one will turn off the display of the current group.



  4.4.  View Control commands

  View commands affect the view; they aren't specific to data groups.


     fov float
        Angular field of view (in degrees) in Y-direction.


     cen[ter] X Y Z [RADIUS]
        Set point of interest.  This is the center of rotation in
        [o]rbit and [r]otate modes.  Also, in [o]rbit mode, translation
        speed is proportional to the viewer's distance from this point.
        The optional RADIUS (also set by censize) determines the size of
        the marker crosshair, initially 1 unit.


     cen[ter] [X Y Z [RADIUS]]
        int[erest] [X Y Z [RADIUS]]" Set point of interest.  This is the
        center of rotation in [o]rbit and [r]otate modes.  And, in
        [o]rbit mode, translation speed is proportional to the viewer's
        distance from this point.  The optional RADIUS (also set by
        censize) determines the size of the marker crosshair, initially
        1 unit.

        ****  why is center/interest commented out in the first example.
        Originally this command was documented twice, the first one has
        /interest commented out.
     censize [RADIUS]
        Set size of point-of-interest marker.


     where  (also)  w
        Report the 3-D camera position and forward direction vector.


     clip NEAR FAR
        Clipping distances.  The computer graphics setup always requires
        drawing only objects in some finite range of distances in front
        of the viewpoint.  Both values must be strictly positive, and
        their ratio is limited; depending on the graphics system in use,
        distant objects may appear to blink if the FAR/NEAR ratio
        exceeds 10000 or so.

        To set the far clip range without changing the near, use a non-
        numeric near clip value, e.g. clip - 1000.



     jump [X Y Z] [Rx Ry Rz]
        Get or set the current position (XYZ) and/or viewing (RxRyRz)
        angle.


     readpath
        Read a Wavefront (.wf) file describing a path through space.


     rdata
        Synonym for readpath.


     play speed[f]
        Play the currently loaded (from readpath/rdata) camera animation
        path, at speed times normal speed, skipping frames as needed to
        keep up with wall-clock time.  (Normal speed is 30 frames per
        second.)  With "f" suffix, displays every speed-th frame,
        without regard to real time.


     frame [frameno]
        Get or set the current frame the frameno-th.

     update
        Ensures the display is updated, as before taking a snapshot.
        Probably only useful in a stream of control commands from an
        async subprocess.


     winsize [XSIZE [YSIZE]]

     winsize XSIZExYSIZE+XPOS+YPOS
        Resize graphics window.  With no arguments, reports current
        size.  With one argument, resizes to given width, preserving
        aspect ratio.  With two arguments, reshapes window to that
        height and width.  With complete X geometry specification (no
        embedded spaces), e.g. winsize 400x350+20-10, also sets position
        of graphics window, with +X and +Y measured from left/top, -X
        and -Y measured from right/bottom of screen.


     detach [full|hide]  [+XPOS+YPOS]
        Detach graphics window from GUI control strip and optionally
        specify position of control strip.  With full or hide, makes
        graphics window full-screen with GUI visible or hidden,
        respectively.  With neither full nor hide, the graphics window
        is detached but left at its current size.

        The +XPOS+YPOS is a window position in X window geometry style,
        so e.g. detach full -10+5 places the GUI near the upper right
        corner of the screen, 10 pixels in from the right and 5 pixels
        down from the top edge.

        If you don't mind typing blindly, it's still possible to enter
        text-box commands even with the controls hidden; press the Tab
        key before each command to ensure that input focus is in the
        text box.  Use Tabdetach fullEnter to un-hide a hidden control
        strip.


     bgcolor R G B
        Set window background color (three R G B numbers or one
        grayscale value).



     focallen distance
        Focal length: distance from viewer to a typical object of
        interest.  This affects stereo display (see below) and
        navigation: the speed of motion in [t]ranslate and [f]ly modes
        is proportional to this distance.


     stereo [on|off|redcyan|glasses|cross|left|right] [separation]
        Stereo display.  Also toggled on/off by typing 's' key in
        graphics window.  Where hardware allows it, stereo glasses
        selects CrystalEyes-style quad-buffered stereo.  All systems
        should be capable of stereo redcyan, which requires wearing
        red/green or red/blue glasses, and of cross (crosseyed), which
        splits the window horizontally.  left and right show just that
        eye's view, and may be handy for taking stereo snapshots.

        Useful separation values might be 0.02 to 0.1, or -0.02 to -0.1
        to swap eyes.  See also focallen command, which gives the
        distance to a typical object of interest: left- and right-eye
        images of an object at that distance will coincide on the
        screen.

        Virtual-world eyes will be separated by distance 2 * focallen *
        separation, with convergence angle 2 * arctan(separation).

        See also the winsize and detach commands for control over
        graphics window size and placement.

        Beware: some systems which support hardware ("glasses") stereo
        also require that the display be set to a stereo-capable video
        mode.  Partiview does not do this automatically.  For example,
        on stereo-capable SGI Irix systems, you may need to type (to a
        unix shell) /usr/gfx/setmon -n 1024x768_96s to allow stereo
        viewing and something like /usr/gfx/setmon -n 72 to revert.
        Otherwise, turning partiview's stereo on will just show the left
        eye's view -- displacing the viewpoint but nothing else.


     snapset [-n FRAMENO] FILESTEM [FRAMENO]
        Set parameters for future snapshot commands.  FILESTEM may be a
        printf format string with frame number as argument, e.g. snapset
        pix/%04d.ppm, generating image names of pix/0000.ppm,
        pix/0001.ppm, etc.  If FILESTEM contains no % sign, then
        .%03d.ppm.gz is appended to it, so snapset ./pix/fred yields
        snapshot images named ./pix/fred.000.ppm.gz etc.

        Frame number FRAMENO (default 0) increments with each snapshot
        taken.



     snapshot [FRAMENO]
        Capture a snapshot image of the current view.  Use snapset to
        specify the output image name.  Default format is snap.%03d.tif.

        Partiview generally invokes the ImageMagick program convert(1),
        which must be installed and be on the user's $PATH.  Convert
        determines the type of image (jpeg, sgi, bmp, etc.) based on the
        file suffix.

        Convert is not needed if the snapset FILESTEM ends in .ppm.gz
        (invokes gzip rather than convert) or .ppm (no external program
        required).



  4.5.  Particle Display Control Commands

  These commands affect how particles (in the current group) are
  displayed.


     psize scalefactor
        All particle luminosities (as specified by lum command) are
        scaled by the product of two factors: a lumvar-specific factor
        given by slum, and a global factor given by psize.  So the
        intrinsic brightness of a particle is value-specified-by-lum *
        slum-for-current-lumvar * psize-scalefactor.


     slum slumfactor
        Data-field specific luminosity scale factor, for current choice
        of lumvar as given by the lum command.  A slumfactor is recorded
        independently for each data field, so if data fields mass and
        energy were defined, one might say


          lum mass
          slum 1000
          lum energy
          slum 0.25



     having chosen each variable's slumfactor for useful display, and
     then freely switch between lum mass and lum energy without having
     to readjust particle brightness each time.



     ptsize minpixels maxpixels
        Specifies the range of apparent sizes of points, in pixels.
        Typical values might be ptsize 0.1 5.  The graphics system may
        silently impose an upper limit of about 10 pixels.



     polysize [on|off] [a|s|r]

     polylum

     polyminpixels

     polymin minradius [maxradius]

     color
        Specify how particles are colored.  Generally, a linear function
        of some data field of each particle becomes an index into a
        colormap (see cmap, cment).

         color  colorvar  [minval maxval]
           Use data field colorvar (either a name as set by datavar or a
           0-based integer column number) to determine color.  Map
           minval to color index 1, and maxval to the next-to-last entry
           in the colormap (Ncmap-2).  The 0th and last (Ncmap-1)
           colormap entry are used for out-of-range data values.

           If minval and maxval are omitted, the actual range of values
           is used.


         color  colorvar  exact  [baseval]
           Don't consider field colorvar as a continuous variable;
           instead, it's integer-valued, and mapped one-to-one with
           color table slots.  Data value N is mapped to color index
           N+baseval.


         color  colorvar  -exact
           Once the exact tag is set (for a particular data-field), it's
           sticky.  To interpret that data field as a continuous,
           scalable variable again, use -exact.


         color  const  R G B
           Show all particles as color R G B, each value in range 0 to
           1, independent of any data fields.


     lum
        Specify how particles' intrinsic luminosity is computed: a
        linear function of some data field of each particle.

         lum lumvar  [minval maxval]
           Map values of data field lumvar (datavar name or field
           number) to luminosity.  The (linear) mapping takes field
           value minval to luminosity 0 and maxval to luminosity 1.0.

           If minval and maxval are omitted, the actual range of values
           is mapped to the luminosity range 0 to 1.

           Note that the resulting luminosities are then scaled by the
           psize and slum scale factors, and further scaled according to
           distance as specified by fade, to compute apparent brightness
           of points.

         lum const L
           Specify constant particle luminosity L independent of any
           data field values.



     fade [planar|spherical|linear refdist|const refdist]
        Determines how distance affects particles' apparent brightness
        (or "size").  The default fade planar gives 1/r^2 light falloff,
        with r measured as distance from the view plane.  fade spherical
        is also 1/r^2, but with r measured as true distance from the
        viewpoint.  fade linear refdist gives 1/r light falloff -- not
        physically accurate, but useful to get a limited sense of depth.
        fade const refdist gives constant apparent brightness
        independent of distance, and may be appropriate for orthographic
        views.

        The refdist for linear and const modes is that distance r at
        which apparent brightness should match that in the 1/r^2 modes
        -- a distance to a "typical" particle.


     labelminpixels

     labelsize

     lsize

     point[s]   [on|off]
        Turn display of points on or off.  With no argument, toggles
        display.


     poly[gons]  [on|off]
        Turn display of points on or off.  With no argument, toggles
        display.


     texture [on|off]
        Turn display of textures on or off.  With no argument, toggles.


     label[s] [on|off]
        Turn display of label text on or off.  With no argument,
        toggles.



     txscale  scalefactor
        Scale size of all textures relative to their polygons.  A scale
        factor of 0.5 (default) make the texture square just fill its
        polygon, if polysides is 4.


     polyorivar
        Report setting of polyorivar data-command, which see.


     texturevar
        Report setting of texturevar data-command, which see.


     laxes  [on|off]
        Toggle label axes.  When on, and when labels are displayed,
        shows a


     polyside(s)
        Number of sides a polygon should have.  Default 11, for fairly
        round polygons.  For textured polygons, polysides 4 might do as
        well, and be slightly speedier.

     fast
        see also ptsize


     ptsize  minpixels [maxpixels]
        Specifies range of apparent (pixel) size of points.  Those with
        computed sizes (based on luminosity and distance) smaller than
        minpixels are randomly (but repeatably) subsampled -- i.e. some
        fraction of them are not drawn.  Those computed to be larger
        than maxpixels are drawn at size maxpixels.


     gamma displaygamma
        Tells the particle renderer how the display + OpenGL relates
        image values to visible lightness.  You don't need to change
        this, but may adjust it to minimize the brightness glitches when
        particles change size.  Typical values are gamma 1 through gamma
        2.5 or so.  Larger values raise the apparent brightness of dim
        things.


     alpha alpha
        Get or set the alpha value, in the range 0 to 1; it determines
        the opacity of polygons.


     speed
        For time-dependent data, advance datatime by this many time
        units per wall-clock second.


     step [timestep]
        For time-varying data, sets current timestep number.  Real-
        valued times are meaningful for some kinds of data including
        those from Starlab/kira; for others, times are rounded to
        nearest integer.  If running, step also stops datatime
        animation.  (See run.)


     step [+|-]deltatimestep
        If preceded with a plus or minus sign, adds that amount to
        current time.


        (note that fspeed has been deprecated)


     run
        Continue a stopped animation (see also step).


     tfm [-v] [numbers...]
        Object-to-world transformation.  May take 1, 6, 7, 9 or 16
        parameters: either scalefactor, or tx ty tz rx ry rz
        scalefactor>], or 16 numbers for 4x4 matrix, or 9 numbers for
        3x3 matrix.  See Coordinates and Coordinate Transformations.

        With no numeric parameters, reports the current object-to-world
        transform.  Use tfm -v to see the transform and its inverse in
        several forms.


     move [gN] {on|off}
        Normally, navigation modes [r]otate and [t]ranslate just adjust
        the viewpoint (camera).  However, if you turn move on, then
        [r]otate and [t]ranslate move the currently-selected object
        group instead, e.g. to adjust its alignment relative to other
        groups.  ([o]rbit and [f]ly modes always move the camera.)

        To indicate that move mode is enabled, the control strip shows
        the selected group's name in bold italics, as [g3].  Use move
        off to revert to normal.  The tfm command reports the current
        object-group-to-global-world transformation.


     fwd

     datawait   on|off
        For asynchronously-loaded data (currently only ieee data
        command), say whether wait for current data step to be loaded.
        (If not, then keep displaying previous data while loading new.)


     cmap    filename
        Load (ascii) filename with RGB values, for coloring particles.
        The color command selects which data field is mapped to color
        index and how.

        Colormaps are text files, beginning with a number-of-entries
        line and followed by R G B or R G B A entries one per line; see
        the Colormaps section.


     vcmap -v fieldname  filename
        Load colormap as with cmap command.  But use this colormap only
        when the given data field is selected for coloring.  Thus the
        cmap color map applies to all data fields for which no vcmap has
        ever been specified.


     cment  colorindex  [R G B]
        Report or set that colormap entry.


     rawdump dump-filename
        All particle attributes (not positions though) are written to a
        dump-filename.  Useful for debugging.  Warning: it will happily
        overwrite an existing file with that name.



  4.6.  Particle subsetting & statistics



     clipbox ...
        see cb below.


     cb ....
        Display only a 3D subregion of the data -- the part lying within
        the clipbox.

        cb xmin ymin zmin  xmax ymax zmax
           Specified by coordinate ranges.  Note only spaces are used to
           separate the 6 numbers.

        cb xcen,ycen,zcen xrad,yrad,zrad
           Specified by center and "radius" of the box.  Note no spaces
           after the commas!
        cb xmin,xmax ymin,ymax zmin,zmax
           Specified by coordinate ranges.

        cb off
           Disable clipping.  The entire dataset is again visible.

        cb on
           Re-enable a previously defined clipbox setting. It will also
           display the clipbox again

        cb hide
           Hide the clipbox, but still discard objects whose centers lie
           outside it.

        Note this command does not toggle clipping if no arguments given
        (that would be handy and more in line with similar commands).
        If no arguments given, it reports the current clipbox.


     thresh
        Display a subset of particles, chosen by the value of some data
        field.  Each thresh command overrides settings from previous
        commands, so it cannot be used to show unions or intersections
        of multiple criteria.  For that, see the only command.  However,
        unlike only, the thresh criterion applies to time-varying data.

        thresh field minval maxval
           Display only those particles where minval <= field field <=
           maxval.  The field may be given by name (as from datavar) or
           by field number.

        thresh field <maxval

        thresh field >minval
           Show only particles where field is <= or >= the given
           threshold.

        thresh [off|on]
           Disable or re-enable a previously specified threshold.


     only=  datafield  value  minvalue-maxvalue  <value >value ...

     only+  datafield  value  minvalue-maxvalue  <value >value ...

     only-  datafield  value  minvalue-maxvalue  <value >value ...
        Scans particles (in the current timestep only!), finding those
        where datafield has value value, or has a value in range
        minvalue <= value <= maxvalue, or whatever.  Multiple value-
        ranges may be specified to select the union of several sets.
        The resulting set of particles is assigned to (only=), added to
        (only+) or subtracted from (only-) the thresh selection-set.
        Also display just particles in that selection-set, as if see
        thresh had been typed.

        The net effect is illustrated by these examples:

        only= type 1-3 5
           Show only particles of type 1, 2, 3 or 5.

        only- mass <2.3  >3.5
           After the above command, shows only the subset of type
           1/2/3/5 particles AND have mass between 2.3 and 3.5.  (Note
           that to take the intersection of two conditions, you must
           subtract the complement of the latter one.  Maybe some day
           there'll be an only&.
     see  selexpr
        Show just those particles in the selection-set selexpr.
        Predefined set names are all, none, thresh and pick, and other
        names may be defined by the sel command.  The default is see
        all.  Using the thresh or only commands automatically switch to
        displaying see thresh.

        Note that you can see the complement of a named set, e.g. all
        except the thresh-selected objects, with see -thresh.

     sel selname = selexpr
        Compute a logical combination of selection-sets and assign them
        to another such set.  The set membership is originally assigned
        by thresh or only commands.  Yeah, I know this doesn't make
        sense.  Need a separate section to document selection-sets.


     sel selexpr
        Count the number of particles in the selection-set selexpr.


     clearobj
        Erase all particles in this group.  Useful for reloading on the
        fly.


     every   N
        Display a random subset (every N-th) of all particles.  E.g.
        every 1 shows all particles, every 2 shows about half of them.
        Reports current subsampling factor, and the current total number
        of particles.


     hist datafield [-n nbuckets] [-l] [-c] [-t] [minval] [maxval]
        Generates a (numerical) histogram of values of datafield, which
        may be a named field (as from datavar) or a field index.
        Divides the value range (either minval..maxval or the actual
        range of values for that field) into nbuckets equal buckets (11
        by default).  Uses logarithmically-spaced intervals if -l (so
        long as the data range doesn't include zero).  If a clipbox is
        defined, use -c to count only particles within it.  If a thresh
        or only subset is defined, use -t to count only the chosen
        subset.


     bound  [w]
        Reports 3D extent of the data.  With w, reports it in world
        coordinates, otherwise in object coordinates.


     datavar

     dv Report names and value ranges (over all particles in current
        group) of all named data fields.



  4.7.  Boxes


     showbox  list of integer box level numbers...

     hidebox  list of integer box level numbers...

     box[es] [off|on|only]
        Turn box display off or on; or display boxes but hide all
        particles.


     boxcmap filename
        Color boxes using that colormap.  Each box's level number (set
        by -l option of box data-command, default 0) is the color index.


     boxcment  colorindex  [R G B]
        Get or set the given box-colormap index.  E.g. boxcment 0
        reports the color of boxes created with no -l specified.


     boxlabel [on|off]
        Label boxes by id number (set by -n option of box data-command).


     boxaxes [on|off]
        Toggle or set box axes display mode.


     boxscale [float] [on|off]

     gobox boxnumber

     goboxscale

     menu fmenu



                                  BEGIN CAVEMENU
                  pos P1 P2
                  wall P1
                  hid [P1]
                  show [P1]
                  h  [P1]
                  demandfps [P1]
                  font
                  help
                  ?
                                  END CAVEMENU



     datascale


  4.8.  Data commands


  (see also partibrains.c::specks_read)

  Data Commands can be placed in a data file.  Lines starting with #
  will be skipped.

  Control Commands can also be given, if prefixed with the eval command.



     read file
        read a speck formatted file. Recursive, commands can nest.
        (strtok ok??)  Note that read is also a Control Command, doing
        exactly the same thing.


     include  file
        read a speck formatted file.


     ieee [-t time] file
        read a IEEEIO formatted file, with optional timestep number (0
        based).  Support for this type of data must be explicitly
        compiled into the program.


     kira file
        read a kira formatted file. See the kiractl Control Command to
        modify the looks of the objects.


     setenv name value
        Add (or change) a named variable of the environment variables
        space of partiview. Enviroment variables, like in the normal
        unix shell, can be referred to by prepending their name with a
        $.  Note there probably is not an unsetenv command.


     object gN=ALIAS
        Defines/Selects a particular group number (N=1,2,3....) to an
        ALIAS. In command mode you can use gN=ALIAS. Any data following
        this command will now belong to this group.


     object ObjectName
        Select an existing group. Following data will now belong to this
        group.


     sdbvars var
        Choose which data fields to extract from binary sdb files (any
        of: mMcrogtxyzSn) for subsequent sdb commands.


     sdb [-t time] file
        Read an SDB (binary) formatted file, with optional timestep
        number.  (Default time is latest datatime, or 0.)


     pb [-t time] file
        Read a .pb (binary) particle file, with optional timestep
        number.  (Default time is latest datatime, or 0.)  A .pb file
        contains (all values 32-bit integer or 32-bit IEEE float):

        1. magic number, 0xFFFFFF98  (int32)

        2. byte offset of first particle (int32)

        3. number of attributes (int32)

        4. sequence of null-terminated attribute name strings,
           attributename0 \0 attributename1 \0 ...

        5. possibly some pad bytes, enough to reach the specified first-
           particle file offset

        6. sequence of particle records, each (number-of-attributes +
           4)*4 bytes long:

           a. particle-id (int32)

           b. particle X, Y, Z (3 float32's)

           c. particle attributes (number-of-attributes float32's)

           ending at the end of the file (i.e. there's no particle-count
           field).

        Either big- or little-endian formats are accepted; the value of
        the magic number determines endianness of all values in that
        file.


     box[es] ....
        Draw a box, using any of the following formats:


         xmin ymin zmin  xmax ymax zmax

         xmin,xmax ymin,ymax zmin,zmax

         xcen,ycen,zcen xrad,yrad,zrad

         [-t time] [-n boxno] [-l level] xcen,ycen,zcen  xrad,yrad,zrad

        level determines color.


     mesh [-t txno] [-c colorindex] [-s style]
        Draw a quadrilateral mesh, optionally colored or textured.
        Following the mesh line, provide a line with the mesh
        dimensions: nu nv

        Following this comes the list of nu*nv mesh vertices, one vertex
        (specified by several blank-separated numbers) per line.  (Blank
        lines and comments may be interspersed among them.)  Note that
        the mesh connections are implicit: vertex number i*nu+j is
        adjacent to (i-1)*nu+j, (i+1)*nu+j, i*nu+(j-1), and i*nu+(j+1).
        Each vertex line has three or five numbers: the first three give
        its 3-D position, and if a -t texture was specified, then two
        more fields give its u and v texture coordinates.


        Options:

         -t txno
           Apply texture number txno to surface.  In this case, each
           mesh vertex should also include u and v texture coordinates.

         -c colorindex
           Color surface with color from integer cmap entry colorindex.

         -s style
           Drawing style:

            solid
              filled polygonal surface (default)

            wire
              just edges


            point
              just points (one per mesh vertex)


     Xcen Ycen Zcen ellipsoid [options]... [transformation]
        Draw an ellipsoid, specified by:

         Xcen Ycen Zcen
           Center position in world coordinates

         -c colorindex
           Integer color index (default -1 => white)

         -s style
           Drawing style:

            solid
              filled polygonal surface (default)

            plane
              3 ellipses: XY, XZ, YZ planes

            wire
              latitude/longitude ellipses

            point
              point cloud: one per lat/lon intersection

         -r Xradius[,Yradius,Zradius]
           Radius (for sphere) or semimajor axes (for ellipsoid)

         -n nlat[,nlon]
           Number of latitude and longitude divisions.  Relevant even
           for plane style, where they determine how finely the
           polygonal curves approximate circles.  Default nlon = nlat/2
           + 1.

         transformation
           Sets the spatial orientation of the ellipsoid.  May take any
           of three forms:

            (nothing)
              If absent, the ellipsoid's coordinate axes are the same as
              the world axes for the group it belongs to.

            9 blank-separated numbers
              A 3x3 transformation matrix T from ellipsoid coordinates
              to world coordinates, in the sense Pworld = Pellipsoid * T
              +  [Xcen, Ycen, Zcen].

            16 blank-separated numbers
              A 4x4 transformation matrix, as above but for the obvious
              changes.


     waveobj [-time timestep] [-static] [-texture number] [-c col-
        orindex] [-s style]  file.obj
        Load a Wavefront-style .obj model.  Material properties are
        ignored; the surface is drawn in white unless -c colorindex in
        which case it's drawn using that color-table color.  Also if
        -texture (alias -tx) is supplied, the surface is textured using
        whatever texture coordinates are supplied in the .obj file.  The
        model is displayed at all times only if marked -static;
        otherwise it's displayed only at the time given by -time
        timestep or by the most recent datatime.

        A subset of the .obj format is accepted:

        v X Y Z
           -- vertex position

        vt U V
           -- vertex texture coordinates

        vn NX NY NZ
           -- vertex normal

        f V1 V2 V3 ...
           -- face, listing just position indices for each vertex.  The
           first v line in the .obj file has index 1, etc.

        f V1/T1 V2/T2 V3/T3 ...
           -- face, listing position and texture coordinates for each
           vertex of the face.

        f V1/T1/N1 V2/T2/N2 V3/T3/N3 ...
           -- face, listing position, texture-coordinate, and normal
           indices for each vertex.

        Note that material properties (mtl) are ignored.  Waveobj models
        are colored according to the -c colorindex option (integer index
        into the current cmap colormap), or white if no -c is used.  If
        texturing is enabled -- if the .obj model contains vt entries,
        and the -texture option appears, and that numbered texture
        exists -- then the given texture color multiplies or replaces
        the -c color, according to the texture options.



     tfm [camera] numbers...
        Object-to-world transformation.  May take 1, 6, 7, 9 or 16
        numbers: either scalefactor or tx ty tz rx ry rz
        [it/scalefactor/] or 16 numbers for 4x4 matrix, or 9 numbers for
        3x3 matrix.  See Coordinates and Coordinate Transformations.

        Normally the transform is to world coordinates; but with
        optional camera prefix, the object's position is specified
        relative to the camera, useful to place legends in a fixed
        position on the screen.  In camera coordinates, (0,0,0) is the
        viewpoint, x=y=0 at screen center, and negative z extends
        forward.  Try for example

            tfm camera -3 -3 -20  0 0 0
            0 0 0 text -size 20  Legend



     eval command
        execute a Control Command.


     feed  command
        Synonym for eval.


     VIRDIR  command
        Synonym for eval.



     filepath path
        A colon-separated list of directories in which datafiles, color
        maps, etc.  will be searched for. If preceded with the + symbol,
        this list will be appended to the current filepath.


     polyorivar indexno
        By default, when polygons are drawn, they're parallel to the
        screen plane -- simple markers for the points.  It's sometimes
        useful to give each polygon a fixed 3-D orientation (as for disk
        galaxies).  To do this, provide 6 consecutive data fields,
        representing two 3-D orthogonal unit vectors which span the
        plane of the disk.  Then use polyorivar indexno giving the data
        field number of the first of the 6 fields.  The vectors define
        the X and Y directions on the disk, respectively -- relevant if
        texturing is enabled.

        Actually, unit vectors aren't essential; making them different
        lengths yields non-circular polygonal disks.

        If polyorivar is specified for the group, but some polygons
        should still lie in the screen plane, use values 9 9 9 9 9 9 for
        those polygons.


     texture [-aiAOlmnMDB] txno file.sgi

         -a(lpha)
           A single-channel image would normally be used as luminance
           data.  With -a, the image is taken as opacity data instead
           (GL_ALPHA texture format).

         -i(ntensity)
           For 1- or 3-channel images, compute the intensity of each
           pixel and use it to form an alpha (opacity) channel.

         -A(dd)
           Use additive blending.  This texture will add to, not
           obscure, the brightness of whatever lies behind it (i.e.
           whatever is drawn later).

         -O(ver)
           Use "over" compositing.  This texture will obscure features
           lying behind it according to alpha values at each point.



         -M(odulate)
           Multiply texture brightness/color values by the colormap-
           determined color of each particle.

         -D(ecal)
           The textured polygon's color is determined entirely by the
           texture, suppressing any colormapped color.

         -B(lend)
           Probably not very useful.


     texturevar field
        If polygon-drawing and texturing are turned on, use the given
        field (datavar name or number) in each particle to select which
        texture (if any) to draw on its polygon.



     coord name ... 16 world-to-coord tfm floats (GL order)

     dataset indexno datasetname
        Give names to multiple datasets in IEEEIO files (read with ieee
        command).  indexno is an integer, 0 being the first dataset.


     datavar indexno name [minval maxval]
        Name the variable in data field indexno.  The first data field
        has indexno 0.  If provided, minval maxval supply the nominal
        range of that data variable; some control commands (lum, color)
        need to know the range of data values, and will use this instead
        of measuring the actual range.


     datatime time
        Label subsequent data with this time (a non-negative integer).


     Xpos Ypos Zpos Var0 ....
        These lines, with XYZ positions in the first 3 columns, will
        make up the bulk of a typical dataset. The 4th and subsequent
        columns contain the values of the datavariables as named with
        the datavar commands. Note that data variable (field) numbers
        are 0-based.



  4.9.  Kira/Starlab


  To read Kira output, in human-readable or binary tdyn form, use the
  ``kira kirafilename'' data-command.



  4.9.1.  Kira particle attributes

  The particles read in have the following attributes:

      id
        positive integer worldline index for single stars (matching the
        id in the kira stream).  For non-leaf (center-of-mass) tree
        nodes, id is a negative integer.

      mass
        Mass, in solar mass units (see ``kira mscale'' control command).

      nclump
        Number of stars in this particle's subtree.  1 for isolated
        stars, 2 for binaries, etc.

      Tlog
        base-10 log of temperature (K)

      Lum
        Luminosity in solar-mass units.  (Note this is linear, not log
        luminosity.)

      stype
        Stellar type code (small integer).  The [bracketed] message
        reported when picking (button-2 or p key) on a star gives the
        corresponding human-readable stellar type too.


      ismember
        Is this star still a member of (bound to) the cluster?

      rootid
        id of root of subtree.  For single stars, rootid = id.

      treeaddr
        bit-encoded location of star in subtree.

      ringsize
        0 for stars.  For nonleaf nodes, this is the semimajor axis or
        instantaneous separation (according to ``kira sep'').  This
        field isn't multiplied by the scale factor given in kira sep; it
        gives the actual distance in kira units.

      sqrtmass
        Square root of mass/Msun.  Might be useful for luminosity
        scaling.

      mu
        Mass ratio for center-of-mass nodes.  Zero for stars.



  4.9.2.  Hertzsprung-Russell diagram

  The H-R diagram can be invoked via the More... menu (upper left) or by
  the kira hrdiag on control command.  Axes for this plot are log
  temperature (initial range from 5 to 3) and log luminosity (initial
  range -4 to 6).  Ranges may be changed with the kira hrdiag range
  command or with keystrokes.

  Keystroke commands in the H-R window:

      b/B
        Adjust the (b)rightness (dot size) of the dots plotted for each
        star.  Small b brightens (enlarges); capital B shrinks.

      a/A
        Adjust (a)lpha (opacity) of dots plotted for each star.  If many
        stars coincide in H-R, their brightnesses add.  Thus reducing
        opacity may help clarify the relative L-T space densities, if
        there are many stars.

      v/V
        Zoom out (v) or in (V) by 33%.  The point under the cursor
        becomes the center of the view.


  4.9.3.  kira control commands
  Viewing control options for kira/Starlab formatted data that have been
  read in with the kira Data Command.  All control commands begin with
  kira too.

      kira node {on|off|root}
        Show or hide center-of-mass nodes for multiple stars.  With on,
        show CM nodes for each level in a binary tree.  With root, show
        only the top-level CM node for each multiple.


      kira ring {on|off|root}
        Show circles around multiple stars; on and root as above.



      kira tree {on|off|cross|tick} [tickscale]
        Show lines connecting pairs of stars at each binary-tree level
        in a multiple group.  With cross, also show a perpendicular line
        -- a tick mark -- which crosses at the CM point, and whose
        length is tickscale (default 0.5) times the true separation of
        the pair.  With tick, just show the tick-mark with no connecting
        line.


      kira size [sep|semi] [ringscalefactor]
        Determines 3-D size of circles when kira ring on.  With kira
        size sep, ring diameter is scalefactor * instanteous separation.
        With kira size semi, ring radius is scalefactor * a (the
        semimajor axis of the two-body system, or |a| for hyperbolic
        orbits).  Using semi gives typically more stable-looking rings,
        though they will pop if they become marginally (un-)bound.
        Default: kira size semi 1.5.


     kira scale ringscalefactor
        Synonym for kira size above.


      kira span minpix maxpix
        Sets screen-space (pixel) size limits on rings.  They'll never
        get smaller than radius minpix nor larger than maxpix,
        regardless of true 3-D size.  Thus even vanishingly tight
        binaries can always be visibly marked.  Default: kira span 2 50.


      kira track id|on|off
        As particle id moves through time, move the viewpoint in the
        same way, so that (if you don't move the view by navigation) the
        particle remains fixed in apparent position.  kira track off
        disables tracking, and kira track on re-enables it.  Use the p
        key or mouse button 2 to pick a particle (or CM node if kira
        node on) to see its numeric id.  Transient center-of-mass nodes
        (shown if kira node on) can be tracked while they exist.


      kira mscale massscalefactor[!]
        Set/check the mass scale factor.  Starlab dynamical mass values
        are multiplied by this factor for reporting to the user.
        Normally massscalefactor should equal the initial cluster mass
        in solar-mass units.  For some input files, starlab can
        determine what was specified in the original kira run.  If so,
        ``kira mscale number'' will be ignored unless number ends with
        an exclamation point (!).  So with no !, the user (or .cf
        script) provides a default value; use ! to override the original
        mass scale.


      kira int seldest [= selsrc]
        Track interactions between particles.  As the cluster evolves,
        whenever any star matching selection-expression selsrc
        encounters (is a member of the same kira tree as) another
        particle, then the other particle is added to the seldest set.
        If seldest and selsrc are the same (or if ``= selsrc'' is
        omitted), then kira int computes the transitive closure of the
        interaction set.  Otherwise, only stars that encounter members
        of the initial selsrc set become members of the seldest set.
        Example:

         click on some star
           The clicked-on star(s) become members of the pick set.

         sel x = pick
           Save a copy in the new set named x.

         kira int x
           Accumulate encounters in the set x.

         emph x
           Increase brightness of members of x.

         kira trail x
           Extend trails from these set members.



      kira trail selexpression|off
        Leave trails behind particles selected by selexpression (see the
        sel command).  As (dynamical) time passes, for each display
        update, one sample point is added to the trail for each selected
        particle.  (If you reverse the direction of time, the trails
        will fold back on themselves.)  Some examples:

         kira trail all
           Makes trails grow behind all particles (including CM nodes,
           if they're displayed)

         kira trail pick
           Clicking on a star will make a trail grow behind it.  If
           several stars are within picking range (under the cursor),
           trails will grow behind each of them.

         thresh -s big  mass > 1.5
           threshold when masses are larger than 1.5

         kira trail big
           These two commands (a) select all stars exceeding 1.5 solar
           masses and (b) extend trails behind them.


      kira trail clear
        Erase current trails, but let them continue to accumulate as
        time passes.


      kira maxtrail nsamples
        Set how many time-points are kept for each particle's trail,
        initially 50.


      kira hrdiag on|off
        toggle to turn HD Diagram on or off. Initially off.

      kira hrdiag range logTleft logTright logLbottom logLtop
        set limits on the HD Diagram axes.



  4.10.  Textures

  To make polygons be textured:

  +o  Use a series of texture data-commands to provide a table of
     textures, each named by a small integer texture-index;

  +o  Create a data field in each particle whose value is the texture-
     index for that particle's polygon
  +o  Use data-command texturevar fieldno to specify which data field
     that is.

  +o  Use control commands (poly, polylumvar, polysize) to enable drawing
     polygons and textures, and to give the polygons nonzero size.

  +o  Possibly use control command polysides to specify 4-sided polygons
     -- a bit faster to draw than default 11-gons.

     It doesn't matter whether the texture-index data field is given a
     datavar name.

  For each particle, if the value of its texturevar'th field either (a)
  doesn't match the value in some texture command or (b) the file named
  in that texture command couldn't be read, then its polygon is drawn as
  if texturing were disabled.


  4.11.  Coordinates and Coordinate Transformations

  Matrices as for the tfm command are intended to be multiplied by an
  object-coordinate row vector on the left, so that 4x4 matrices specify
  a translation in their 13th through 15th entries.  Generally they're
  in the sense of an object-or-camera-to-world transform.

  The six- or seven-number transforms (tx ty tz rx ry rz
  [it/scalefactor/], as accepted by the tfm and jump commands) are
  interpreted as

  Pworld = Pobject * scalefactor * rotY(ry) * rotX(rx) * rotZ(rz) *
  translate(tx,ty,tz)


  4.12.  Colormap Files

  Colormap files, as read by the cmap and vcmap commands, are line-
  oriented text files.  Blank lines are ignored, as are # comments.  The
  first nonblank, non-comment line gives the colormap size (number of
  entries).  Later lines may have the form

    <it/R G B/


  giving red, green, and blue, each in the range 0 .. 1.  Typically
  there will be size of these lines.  However the colormap need not be
  written sequentially; a line like

    <it/colorindex/:  <it/R G B/


  places that RGB value at that colorindex, in the range 0 .. size-1.
  Later R G B lines are assigned to colorindex+1, colorindex+2 and so
  on.  Also,

    <it/colorindex/ := <it/oldcolorindex/


  copies the (previously-assigned) RGB value from oldcolorindex and
  assigns it to colorindex.


  5.  Viewing Window Keyboard Shortcuts

  Commands that you can give from within the viewing window are all
  single keystroke commands, often combined with moving the mouse.
       TAB             change focus to command window for Control Commands
       S/s             toggle STEREO mode (need blue/red glasses :-)
                       modes:  mono redcyan crosseyed glasses
                       See also the 'stereo' View Command
       >               single frame forward stepping, in time animation mode
       <               single frame backward stepping, in time animation mode

       Button-N            various translation/rotation/zoom, depending on mode (fly/orbit/rot/tran)

       SHIFT + Button-N    modifier to the usual Button-N action, to have more fine control

       CTRL + Button-N     modifier to orbit-mode, e.g. to do translations instead of rotations

       playmodes:
               s       playnow
               l       loop (rock)
               f,e     playevery=1
               r,t     playevery=0

       Gview.cpp : Fl_Gview::handle()
               cw      reset camera position
               p       identify nearest object under mouse cursor
               P       pick that object as the new origin
               o       ORBIT mode
               f       FLY mode
               r       ROTATE mode
               t       TRANSLATE mode
               O       toggle perspective mode
               v       make field of view larger
               V       make field of view smaller
               ^v      toggle debug output
               @       report viewpoint position
               =       show object-to-world, world-to-object 4x4 matrices
                         (precede by object name, e.g. "c=", "g3=")
               ESC     exit

               PrintScreen  Take image snapshot of current view
               <  >    Step backwards/forwards in dynamical time
                          (numeric prefix sets time step)
               {  }    Animate backwards/forwards in dynamical time
               ~       Fermionic dynamical-time animation toggle:
                          cycle between stop/forward/stop/backward/...
               z  Z    Halve/double animation speed (dyn units/sec)
                          (numeric prefix sets animation speed)



  6.  Partiview and NEMO

  The program snapspecks  converts a NEMO snapshot to specks format that
  can be read in directly by partiview. The default viewing variables
  are x,y,z,m, but you can add and changed them by using the options=
  keyword.  In fact, arbitrary bodytrans expressions can be used for
  output.  In the following example a 32-body Plummer sphere is created,
  which is then given a power-law mass spectrum (with slope -2) between
  0.5 and 10 mass units, and animated:



  ______________________________________________________________________
    % mkplummer - 32 |\
          snapmass - - massname='n(m)' masspars=p,-2 massrange=0.5,10 |\
          hackcode1 - run1.dat
    % snapspecks run1.dat > run1.tab
    % partiview run1.cf
    % cat run1.cf

    read run1.tab
    eval labels off
    eval lum lum 0 1
    eval polylumvar point-size .1 area
    texturevar 4
    eval psize 5000
    eval slum 5
    eval every 1

  ______________________________________________________________________



  7.  Tips


  During animation the trip/back buttons can effectively be used to
  return to a point in time where you want to return back to if you
  wanted to browse around some specific point in time.

  You can spend most of the time moving in [o]rbit mode.  Left-button
  moves around chosen center; control-left pans around the sky.  As
  opposed to switching to 't' mode to zoom and translate, you can also
  use SHIFT-Mouse-1 and SHIFT-Mouse-3 to achieve the same from the other
  ('o', 'f') modes.

  To make an animation, create an executable shell script movie1 with
  for example the following commands:


       ______________________________________________________________________
         #! /bin/csh -f
         #
         echo step 0
         echo update
         echo snapshot
         echo step 0.01
         echo update
         echo snapshot
         echo step 0.02
         echo update
         echo snapshot
         echo step 0.03
         echo update
         echo snapshot
         ...
       ______________________________________________________________________



  the Control Command async movie1, and it will create files
  snap.000.sgi, snap.001.sgi, .... and already with xv a movie can be
  shown:

  ______________________________________________________________________
    xv -wait 0 snap.???.sgi
  ______________________________________________________________________



  To make animated GIFs, here are some examples with common software,
  all with a default 0.1 sec delay between frames. Some animation
  software (e.g. xanim) can change these:


       ______________________________________________________________________
         convert -delay 10 -loop 0 snap.???.sgi try1.gif
         gifsicle -d 10 snap.???.gif > try2.gif
       ______________________________________________________________________


  The script will run asynchronously within partiview, so if you then
  use the mouse to change orientation or zoom, these actions (minus the
  location of the mouse of course) will be nicely recorded in the
  snapshots.


  8.  Bugs, Features and Limitations


  Here is a list of known peculiarities, some of them bugs, others just
  features and others limitations, and there is always that class of
  things I simply have not understood how it works.


  8.1.  Limitations w.r.t. VirDir:



  1. cannot set an auto-motion, as we can in the dome, although one
     could of course load a path and move through the dataset :-) I was
     able to make a path (*.wf) file and load that though.  Now mostly
     solved via the Inertia toggle under the More button from the Top
     Row Window.


  8.2.  Some notes for newcomers to VirDir

  Although starting virdir is very similar to partiview,

  ______________________________________________________________________
     % parti gal2.cf
  or,
     % virir gal2.cf
  ______________________________________________________________________


  the seasoned partiview user will need  to relearn a few modes to get
  used to virdir. In particular, at AMNH starting virdir will probably
  cause your console screen  (which is normally panel#1 on the dome) to
  go dark with no visible command prompt. To regain control, type the
  commands (blindly)



  ______________________________________________________________________

     raise
     fly
     idle
  ______________________________________________________________________



  which will put virdir in fly and animation mode.

  Here are some important modes, make sure you keep the mouse in the
  console window.  It is easy to get it lost in any of the other 6
  displays which are only visible on the dome.

  1. Pushing the Left and Right mouse buttons simultaneously will send
     the display to the HOME position.

  2. Left mouse button will toggle the Pause mode in animate/fly mode.

  3. Holding the Ctrl-button down while moving the mouse will bring your
     point of interest into view

  4. Holding the Alt-button down while moving the mouse will rotate
     around your point of interest.

  5. The 'p' key

  6. The middle mouse button toggles Head display vs. Center display.

  7. Holding the Shift-button down while moving the mouse will change
     the available screen-space (works like a zoom).



  9.  Glossary



  1. group: particles can be grouped with the object command. If
     multiple groups exist, a separate Group row will be activated
     automatically.

  2. data command, not to be confused with control command

  3. control command, not to be confused with data command

  4.