CS 418: Laboratory 0

Getting started with DataExplorer.

These instructions will introduce you to DataExplorer (DX) and the lab facilities in the Cornell University Computer Science department and in the Cornell Theory Center. DX is a software package intended to be used for scientific visualization. At the start of the semester we will use it as a rendering/viewing platform for various computer graphics procedures. Machines to run DX are located in the undergraduate lab in Upson. There are several sections:

• Your First DX session on the NT machines.

  To get started, login to one of the NT machines in the undergrad lab.

  • Use the right mouse button and click on Save link as ... while holding the mouse over this spot to download some utilities you will need. When the dialog box appears, save the file as "macros.tar" in your home directory.
  • Open up a window into your home directory and notice that there is now a folder with a clamp on it. Double-click the folder to start a utility called Winzip to extract the files. When the utility starts, choose the extract option from one of the menus. This will produce a folder called .DXmacros.
  • Start DataExplorer by clicking on the "DX program editor" entry in the programs list at the extreme lower left of the screen. When the editor appears, choose the Load Macro entry from the File menu. Change the directory at the top of the dialog box to:
    z:/yourid/.DXmacros then hit the Load All button. You are now ready to write a DX program or load an example.

    NOTEs:

    • All dialog boxes in DX use a forward slash (/) to indicate a directory, even when running on an NT machine!
    • There is BUG in DX which causes the program to crash if you leave out punctuation in the program loading dialog box. For instance, leaving out a "/" between a directory name and program name will halt DX.
    • When you download programs from the other lab pages BE SURE to add the appropriate extension (.net or .cfg) when the netscape dialog box appears.

  DX has extensive on-line help, including tutorials and a complete manual which you can look at by clicking the Help menu in the upper right of the editor window. You can also choose context sensitive help on any object (module, menu).

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• More Information
  • UNIX for CS 418.
  • DX Data Structures.
  • DX use notes and WARNINGS.
  • Submitting Still images and animation for the course Web pages.
  • Creating MPEG animation files on the SP2.
  • There are some DX techniques outlined in the DX Repository which may be useful later in the semester. You may also want to look at some student programming projects using DX.

  • Disk Space:
    We have set up a temporary 1.7 Gbyte partition for CS 418 use at
    /afs/theory/tc/courses/cs418/tmp
    You should consider it scratch space for MPEG compression. Materials are subject to deletion after 24 hours.
    To use it:
    • Read the AFS documentation.
    • FTP to the sp2 using ftp splogin.
    • Issue a cd command to /afs/theory/tc/courses/cs418/tmp
    • Make a directory for your materials

  • DX on the Theory Center SP2
    You will be given SP2 accounts for DX projects which require more memory or disk space. To use the account:
    • Read the SP2 Users Guide. For more detail refer to SP2 docs and tutorials.

    • In a command window, telnet to splogin.tc.cornell.edu and login using your Theory Center password.

    • The first time you login, click here to download some utilities you will need. When the dialog box appears, save the file as "macros.tar" in your home directory. If you need more information on how to do this in UNIX ask a consultant or check out the UNIX intro page.
      Execute the command
      tar -xvf macros.tar
      This will put the utilities in a new directory called .DXmacros.
      Add the line
      setenv DXMACROS ~myid/.DXmacros
to your .cshrc file. Note that "myid" is a placeholder for your user id.
      Execute the command
      source .cshrc
      This will cause the macros to become available to DX when it starts up. This command is executed automatically whenever you login or open a new window.

    • At a DOS command prompt type ipconfig to get the network address of your machine. On the SP2,
      Type setenv DISPLAY address:0
      where address is the number you obtained from the ipconfig command.

    • On your console machine, make sure Exceed is running, so that an X-client can use the machine.

    • On the SP2, Type dx& to run DX and display the result on your local console.