geomview

[munzner]

   geomview is really marvelous. We are using it in conjunction with
   AutoCad to help visualize the design of a new telescope (we study
   microwave background radiation at the south pole).

Thanks! We really appreciate hearing about what people are doing with
Geomview. 

   is there any way to make geomview display _points_ instead
   of vectors or polygons? This is totally unrelated to the
   telescope stuff (we are looking for a viewer to view on the
   order of 1000 "stars" in a galaxy-formation simulation). 

Yes, but its usefulness depends on which version of Geomview you're
using. In the SGI version, degenerate VECT or OFF objects are drawn as
points. If the linewidth is 1, points are drawn as single pixels, but
when the linewidth is > 1, points are drawn more visibly as discs with
radius proportinal to linewidth, always oriented towards the camera.

In the NeXT version, linewidth is not supported and single-pixel
points are currently drawn only for VECT objects. 

I'm not sure about the X version at the moment. 

Here are examples of degenerate OFF and VECT files, which each draw 2
points. Note that the OFF point is drawn with the "Face" color and is
controlled by the "Face" drawing toggle, while the VECT point is drawn
in the "Edge" color and is controlled by the "Vect" drawing toggle.
point2.off:

{appearance {
 linewidth 5
 }

OFF
2 2 2
0 0 0
1 1 1
1 	0	
1	1
}

point2.vect:

{appearance {
 linewidth 5
 }

VECT
2 2 0
1 1
0 0
0 0 0
1 1 1
}

What version are you running? I can't tell from here since nobody from
your site appears to have registered a copy. Do you want to be added
to the mailing list? 

Tamara Munzner          ((555) 555-5555
munzner at geom.umn.edu    The Geometry Center