From: CRDGW2::CRDGW2::MRGATE::"SMTP::LOUIE.UDEL.EDU::AMIGA-RELAY-REQUEST" Date: 2-OCT-1990 02:45:03 Description: Re: Scientific programs on Amiga Received: by crdgw1.ge.com (5.57/GE 1.73) id AA19157; Tue, 2 Oct 90 02:31:45 EDT Received: from louie.udel.edu by louie.udel.edu id ab03497; 2 Oct 90 5:46 GMT Received: from USENET by louie.udel.edu id aa03486; 2 Oct 90 1:44 EDT Received: from snow-white.ee.udel.edu by louie.udel.edu id aa03474; 2 Oct 90 1:44 EDT Received: from nigel.ee.udel.edu by snow-white.ee.udel.edu id aa17518; 2 Oct 90 5:40 GMT From: myb100@csc1.anu.oz.au Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Scientific programs on Amiga Message-Id: <1990Oct2.140459.3022@csc.anu.oz.au> Date: 2 Oct 90 04:04:59 GMT Organization: Computer Services, Australian National University To: amiga-relay@udel.edu Sender: amiga-relay-request@udel.edu In article <28496@swrinde.nde.swri.edu>, kent@swrinde.nde.swri.edu (Kent D. Polk) writes: > [...] > With the HDF libraries, you may write your two-dimensional image to an > "HDF" file from Fortran or C on your VAX, UNIX workstation, or a > SuperComputer like the cray, then download them to a Mac or PC for > postprocessing and visualization (basically the equivalent of > showanim's for raster animations). > > Support IFF instead - provide IFF writers in the form of source or > libraries for use on such as: VAX, UNIX, and Cray-UNICOS from both > Fortran77 and C. > There is another way to convert to IFF, where resides on the mainfame. > Comment from a fellow scientist: > > "It is a real pain to have to write your files as some sort of ascii > portable file, [...] convert to IFF to perform the animations. The HDF > format allowed the scientific user to go directly from the Cray to the > Mac for animations. WE in the amiga community could blow the Mac > "animations" away with IFF/ANIM animations -- if only we could casually > generate IFF files via calls to Fortran77 or C callable lib on the big > computers. And we would then have the capablity to "postprocess" the > IFF's -- a capability sorely missing with in the HDF/Mac environment. > Unfortunately, the lib's would have to be distributed as source code > for portability to VAX, UNIX, and UNICOS -- but so does the HDF stuff > anyway." > [Excuse the length of the include, but it was all very relevant to this:] [#define Stand_on_soapbox_and_start_selling_mode ON :-) ] You might recall a posting I made a while back (~21Sep90) about a program (actually two) called PAWS and PAWSDisp. Ken Mighell's PAWS is a programmable terminal emulator that runs on the Amiga, that has VT100/Tek4010/Image-Display screens all available simultaneously. PAWS allows you to display images from your mainframe with a minimum of fuss, just by sending the image a line at a time over the serial line to the Amiga, which decompresses it and draws it. This works very well, and is quite fast. (note, serial line!) I've written a Fortran subroutine (called PAWSDisp) that will accept a 2D array of numbers (on the mainframe) and displays it (on the Amiga), using PAWS. All that a user needs to provide is a main program (I have used Fortran and C) that reads in your data, model, image, whatever into a 2D array, and calls my subroutine. This 'header' to PAWSDisp is usually quite trivial to write, given a particular format. PAWSDisp provides you with several options in terms of scaling, zooming, trimming, PostScript output, plots of slices, plots of histograms, etc. I have ported PAWSDisp to VAXes (with VMS) and Suns/SPARCS (Unix, or, more strictly, SunOS). If you want to animate several frames, this can be QEDone by using PAWSDisp together with a screengrabber, like GRABBitt, which saves the screen as an IFF frame. Load the various frames into something like DPaint III, and voila, animations and IFF manipulations (albeit with 32 colours.. which is enough for a lot of things, but not for everybody, granted) A point to note: PAWS/PAWSDisp runs over a serial line/modem. You can quite happily do this at home/in the office with no Ethernet requirement ! [In the PAWSDisp readme, you'll see that HDF format is something I do want to support - I collect header programmes as I/someone-else write(s) them. At this stage I only have astronomical stuff, like IRAF,FIGARO,Starlink,FITS..] If you're interested in trying this out, the following is from the release message: - begin included stuff ---------------------------- [...] PAWSDisp 1.40 : 18 September 1990 - Markus Buchhorn [list of features deleted] So, where do I get it ? ======================= Anonymous ftp from merlin.anu.oz.au [130.56.4.215] in the directory pub/PAWS_Sun or pub/PAWS_Vax There is also a header program for IRAF images in the PAWS_Sun directory. Others are available - mail me if you want them, or need help writing your own. Please remember that we are GMT+10hrs here at the moment - keep your ftp'ing to a quiet time of our day please, if possible. - end include -------------------------- Sorry about the length of this posting, but I do have several vested interests here :-), not just as someone flogging a (*free*) product. I would like to see lots more scientific programs for the Amiga, E. Boily's stuff for example sounds great ! Plotting programmes, 2d and 3D, with the ability to rotate 3D displays with the mouse, would be my first and major requirement. PAWS/PAWSDisp covers most of the rest for me (for now) :-) [#define sale_mode OFF] To Kent: Do you think your above-mentioned 'fellow scientist' would be interested in something like this ? From your description, it comes kinda close...and might save him/her a lot of time. > Kent Polk: Southwest Research Institute (512) 522-2882 ^^^^^^^^ what do you research into ? > Internet : kent@swrinde.nde.swri.edu > UUCP : $ {cs.utexas.edu, gatech!petro, sun!texsun}!swrinde!kent =============================================================================== Markus Buchhorn /// | This space Mt Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories, Canberra /// | PMB Weston Ck. P.O. A.C.T. 2611, Australia \\\/// | intentionally markus@mso.anu.oz.au -or- nssdca::psi%mssso::markus \XX/ | left blank ===============================================================================