1Geomview(1gv) Geomview(1gv)
2
6 Geomview - interactive geometry viewer
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9 geomview [-b r g b] [-c commandfile] [-wins #windows] [-noinit]
10 [-nopanels] [-noopengl] [-wpos xmin ymin xsize ysize]
11 [-wpos xsize,ysize[@xmin,ymin]] [-e external-module-name]
12 [-M[cg][sp] pipename] [-start external-module-name [arg ...] --]
13 [-run external-module-path [arg ...] --] [file ...]
14
16 Geomview is an interactive geometry viewer written at the Geometry Cen‐
17 ter. It displays the objects in the files given on the command line
18 and allows the user to view and manipulate them interactively.
19 The present version (1.7) of geomview runs on Silicon Graphics Irises,
21 and X Window System workstations. We are very interested in hearing
22 about any problems you may have using it; see below for information on
23 how to contact us.
24 In addition to providing interactive control over a world of objects
26 via the mouse and keyboard, geomview has an interpreted language of
27 commands for controlling almost every aspect of its display. It can
28 execute files containing statements in this language, and it can commu‐
29 nicate with other programs using the language. See geomview(5), e.g.
30 the file man/cat5/geomview.5 in the geomview distribution, for more de‐
31 tails of the language.
32
35 This manual page serves only as a (very) terse reference manual for ge‐
36 omview. For a gentler introduction to the program and the format of
37 the data files it can read, see "overview" and "oogltour" in the "doc"
38 directory of the geomview distribution, or better, see the full manual:
39 "geomview.tex" or "geomview.ps", also in the "doc" directory. The
40 source distribution also includes a tutorial for how to write external
41 modules in the "src/bin/example" directory.
42
45 -b Set the window background color to the given r g b values.
46 -c Interpret the commands in commandfile, which may be ``-'' for
48 standard input. The command language is described in ge‐
49 omview(5). Commands may be supplied literally, as in ``-c "(ui-
50 panel main off)"''; since they include parentheses, they must be
51 quoted.
52 -wins Causes geomview to initially display #windows camera windows.
54 -wpos Specifies the initial location and size of the first camera win‐
56 dow. With ``-'', you are prompted for window placement.
57 -M objname
59 Display (possibly dynamically changing) geometry (or commands)
60 sent via ``togeomview -g objname [geomview-shell-command]'' or
61 ``geomstuff objname file ...''. The data appears as a geomview
62 object named objname.
63 Actually listens to the named pipe ``/tmp/geomview/objname'';
65 you can achieve the same effect with the shell commands:
66 mkdir /tmp/geomview;
67 mknod /tmp/geomview/objname p
68 (assuming the directory and named pipe don't already exist),
69 then executing the geomview command:
70 (geometry objname < /tmp/geomview/objname)
71 -M[cg][ps[un|in|in6]] PIPENAME|TCPPORT
73 The -M option accepts modifiers: a 'g' suffix expects geometry
75 data (the default), while a 'c' suffix expects GCL commands. A
76 'p' implies the connection should use a named pipe (the default
77 on everything except on the NeXT), while 's' implies using a
78 UNIX-domain socket (the default on the NeXT). Since version 1.9
79 of Geomview internet domain sockets are also supported; use
80 'sin' to make Geomview listen on the IPv4 port given by TCPPORT,
81 or use 'sin6' to make Geomview listen on an IPv6 port (also as
82 specified by TCPPORT). 'sun' is a synonym for 's', i.e. use the
83 Unix domain socket with the name PIPENAME. If PIPENAME starts
84 with a slash ('/'), then it is assumed to be an absolute path‐
85 name, otherwise the named pipe or socket is created below ${TM‐
86 PDIR}/geomview/.
87 So -Mcs fred selects reading commands from the UNIX-domain sock‐
89 et named /tmp/geomview/fred, -Mcsin 40000 selects reading com‐
90 mands from the IPv4 port '40000'.
91 -noopengl
93 Disable the use of OpenGL for (possibly) hardware accelerated
94 rendering, even if the Geomview binary has support for OpenGL
95 compiled in. This also disables the support for transparency and
96 and textures
97 -nopanels
99 Start up displaying no panels, only graphics windows. Panels
100 may be invoked later as usual with the "Px" keyboard shortcuts
101 or "(ui-panel ...)" command.
102 -noinit
104 Read no initialization files. By default, geomview reads the
105 system-wide ".geomview" file, followed by those in $HOME/.ge‐
106 omview and ./.geomview.
107 -e modulename
109 Start an external module; modulename is the name associated with
110 the module, appearing in the main panel's Applications browser,
111 as defined by the emodule-define command (see geomview(5) for
112 details).
113 -start modulename arguments ... --
115 Like -e but allows you to pass arguments to the external module.
116 "--" signals the end of the argument list; the "--" may be omit‐
117 ted if it would be the last argument on the geomview command
118 line.
119 -run shell-command arguments ...
121 Like -start but takes the pathname of executable of the external
122 module instead of the module's name.
123
126 The format of the files read by geomview is described in oogl(5); type
127 "man 5 oogl", or see the file man/cat5/oogl.5 in the geomview distribu‐
128 tion, for details.
129 Note to users of MinneView (the precursor to geomview): geomview can
131 read MinneView files, but MinneView cannot read all geomview files.
132
135 Immediately upon starting up geomview reads and executes the commands
136 in the system-wide .geomview file in the "data" subdirectory of the ge‐
137 omview directory. Then, if there is a file named .geomview in the cur‐
138 rent directory, it executes the commands in that file. If no in the
139 user's home directory, and executes it if found. The startup file of an
140 individual user overrides the systemwide defaults, since later commands
141 take precedence over earlier ones.
142
145 Geomview has the ability to interact via its command language with oth‐
146 er programs, called "external modules". Many such modules have been
147 written and appear in the "Application" browser in the main geomview
148 panel. To invoke a module you click the mouse on the module's entry in
149 this browser. This starts the module and adds an additional entry to
150 the browser, beginning with a number in square brackets as in ``[1]
151 Crayola'', which represents the running instance of that module. You
152 can terminate the module by clicking on the numbered entry. Modules
153 are documented separately from geomview. See the manual page for each
154 module for details.
155
158 Geomview looks for external modules in a special directory for modules.
159 In the geomview distribution tree this is the "bin/$MACHTYPE" subdirec‐
160 tory. A module consists of two files: the executable program, and a
161 "module init file", which is a whose name is ".geomview-" followed by
162 the module name. The module init file tells geomview how to run that
163 program. Be sure to always keep these two files together; geomview
164 needs both of them in order to run the module. To install a new mod‐
165 ule, simply put the module's executable file and its init file in your
166 geomview's module directory. The next time you run geomview, it will
167 know about that module.
168 Geomview can actually looks for modules in a list of directories; by
170 default only the "bin/$MACHTYPE" directory is on this list. See the
171 set-emodule-path command in geomview(5) for details.
172 There is a tutorial for how to write external modules in the
174 "src/bin/example" directory.
175
178 An external module init file is the file that tells geomview how to run
179 that module. Its name must be ".geomview-" followed by the name of the
180 module, e.g. ".geomview-foo". It should contain geomview commands;
181 typically it will contain a single emodule-define command which enters
182 the module into geomview's application browser:
183 (emodule-define "Foo" "foo")
185 The first string is the name that appears in the browser. The second
187 string is the command to invoke the module. It may contain arguments;
188 in fact it can be an arbitrary shell command.
189
193 Many geomview operations are available from the keyboard. Hitting the
194 "?" button on the main panel, or typing "?" with the cursor in any
195 window, causes geomview to print a message on standard output listing
196 all the keyboard shortcuts.
197 Keyboard commands apply while cursor is in any graphics window and most
199 control panels. Most commands allow one of the following selection prefixes
200 (if none is provided the command applies to the current object):
201 g world geom g# #'th geom g* All geoms
202 c current camera c# #'th camera c* All cameras
203 Many allow a numeric prefix: if none they toggle or reset current value.
204 Appearance:
205 Draw: Shading: Other:
206 af Faces 0as Constant av eVert normals: always face viewer
207 ae Edges 1as Flat #aw Line Width (pixels)
208 an Normals 2as Smooth #ac edges Closer than faces(try 5-100)
209 ab Bounding Boxes 3as Smooth, non-lighted al Shade lines
210 aV Vectors aT allow transparency at Texture-mapping
211 Color: aC allow concave polygons
212 Cf Ce Cn Cb CB face/edge/normal/bbox/backgnd
213 Motions: Viewing:
214 r rotate [ Leftmouse=X-Y plane, 0vp Orthographic view
215 t translate Middle=Z axis, 1vp Perspective view
216 z zoom FOV Shift=slow motion, vd Draw other views' cameras
217 f fly in r/t modes. ] #vv field of View
218 o orbit [Left=steer, Middle=speed ] #vn near clip distance
219 s scale #vf far clip distance
220 w/W recenter/all v+ add new camera
221 h/H halt/halt all vx cursor on/off
222 @ select center of motion (e.g. g3@) vb backfacing poly cull on/off
223 #vl focal length
224 L Look At object v~ Software shading on/off
225 show Panel: Pm Pa Pl Po main/appearance/lighting/obscure
226 Pt Pc PC Pf tools/cameras/Commands/file-browser
227 Ps P- saving/read commands from tty
228 Lights: ls le Show lights / Edit Lights
229 Metric: me mh ms Euclidean Hyperbolic Spherical
230 Model: mv mp mc Virtual Projective Conformal
231 Other:
232 N normalization < Pf load geom/command file
233 0N none > Ps save something to file ui motion has inertia
234 1N each TV NTSC mode toggle uc constrained (X/Y) motion
235 2N all uo motion in Own coord system
236 Rightmouse-doubleclick pick as current target object
237 Shift-Rightmouse pick interest (center) point
238 Renderman:
239 RR send RIB output to <fileprefix>NNN.rib (default fileprefix == "geom")
240 RC Emulate lines using cylinders (default)
241 RP Emulate lines using polygons
242 Ra choose ASCII RIB format (default)
243 Rb choose BINARY RIB format
244 Rt choose Display token to specify .tiff file (default)
245 Rf choose Display token to specify framebuffer
246 Rs Simulate background color with Polygon (default)
247 Rx No background simulation - fully transparent (alpha) background
248
251 The "geomview" command is actually a shell script that sets various en‐
252 vironment variables which tell geomview about your local setup, and
253 then invokes the geomview executable program "gvx" (or "gvx.OGL"). Do
254 not run "gvx" by itself; always invoke geomview with the "geomview"
255 shell script.
256
259 oogl(5) - OOGL geometric file formats and conventions
260 geomview(5) - geomview command language reference
261
263 data/.geomview - default initialization file in geomview command lan‐
264 guage
265 data/geom - sample data files
266
268 The ``geomview'' shell script sets these internally by default; if you
269 set them before invoking geomview, the values you set will be used in‐
270 stead of the built-in defaults.
271 GEOMVIEW_GVX - geomview executable
272 GEOMVIEW_DATA_DIR - default directory for data files
273 GEOMVIEW_LOAD_PATH - colon-separated search path for data files
274 GEOMVIEW_EMODULE_DIR - default directory for external emodules
275 GEOMVIEW_EMODULE_PATH - colon-separated search path for external mod‐
276 ules
277 GEOMVIEW_SYSTEM_INITFILE - system-wide GCL initialization script
278 GEOMDATA - top directory of the default data tree, used by some modules
279 GEOMVIEW_DOC_DIR - path to the user manual
280 WEBBROWSER - executable for viewing the HTML version of the manual when
281 invoking the `Manual (HTML)' menu item
282 PDFVIEWER - executable for viewing the PDF version of the manual when
283 invoking the `Manual (PDF)' menu item
284
287 Stuart Levy Tamara Munzner Mark Phillips
288 Celeste Fowler Nathaniel Thurston
289 Daniel Krech Scott Wisdom
290 Daeron Meyer Timothy Rowley
291 The National Science and Technology Research Center for
293 Computation and Visualization of Geometric Structures
294 (The Geometry Center)
295 University of Minnesota
296 www.geomview.org
298
300 Sometimes core dumps on bad input files.
301 Zoom and scale have no inertia.
303 Virtual spherical mode doesn't work on VGXes.
305Geometry Center December 10, 1996 Geomview(1gv)