THE OVERALL STRUCTURE OF SFA

All of the source code for SFA is place in one of the two directories:

rewrite
ui

REWRITE

The rewrite directory contains the files which handle the data structures, input files, and data management. Here is a listing of the files contained in the rewrite directory and their purpose:

AlphaMap.C

Contains the functions that initialize alpha maps, read previously generated alpha maps from a file, write the alpha maps to a file, and set alpha maps to a data dimension.

CCache.C

This file handles the contour caching by organizing a caching structure based on position to efficiently find glyphs near a 2D contouring plate in order to calculate the contour lines.

ColorMap.C

Similar to AlphaMap.C, this file contains the functions that initialize, read from a file, and write to a file the color maps, as well as, set the color maps to a data dimension.

Contour.C

Creates a contour panel to visualize the Xsize attribute coupled with density . As the plate moves through the volume, the luminance of the plate changes to reflect the Xsize and density of glyphs at the plate location.

ContourList.C

Contains the functions that generate the dials and menu lists that control the contour panel.

DataSet.C

One of the primary files in the rewrite directory, this file contains the functions that will manage the datasets (i.e. set the dimensions to mappings, pullout key information from the datataset, and translate the data to values that are used by the draw routine), as well as, build 3D textures, step through data, and create caches that will sort the data based on their scale(Xsize).

DataSetList.C

The functions in this file insert, remove, and find datasets from a list that stores the datasets that are loaded into SFA. There are also functions that handle the subsetting, contouring, and stepping of the datatsets.

DataSetNode.H

This file defines a container class that facillitates storing DataSets in the DataSetList

Defines.H

Simply contains many of the #defines for the number of display dimensions, indices to the elements of the PackedGlyph structure, error codes, glyph shapes, and constants for 3D texturing. These values are used throughout SFA.

FileHandler.H

Currently, FileHandler.H does not serve a specific purpose.

FileIO.C

This file contains the functions that read the setfiles from either a separate files or the internet. Setfiles are meta data files containg the files where the actual data can be found, what they are supposed to be mapped to, and other information concerning the structure of the data (length, name, time steps, etc.). There are functions that then create the datasets to be used by SFA from the information obtained by the setfiles. There are also functions that will create setfiles from datasets are already stored with in SFA.

GlobalScale. C

Defines a class which stores global scaling information. This is used when multiple datasets are loaded concurrently, and we want everything to fall within the same coordinate system(s).

Interface.C

Contains the callback functions for the dials and menus that available in the two-handed interaction version of SFA.

MappingNode.C

The functions that map the actual data variables to the glyph attributes (shape, color, position, etc.)

NoMR.C

Defines the class used to replace MR functionality when SFA has been compiled without MR.

PackedGlyph.C

Contains the data structure of a glyph and it's attributes that is then used to draw the glyph. A function is also present that will sort the glyphs based on "size" and insert them into an array.

Rules.make

This file contains the settings needed upon compilation (i.e. Fanatic and trackers support) as well as the libraries and compilation flags necessary.

StaticObject.C

Implements static objects in the scene. The eventual goal is to have a pseudo-scenegraph available to put in arbitrarily complex objects into the scene, such as spacecraft models. Initially, it will only
support scaled sphere geometry to represent astronomically sized objects (eg: earth, moon, sun), but will be extensible to support more complex models in the future.

StaticObjectList.C

Manages static objects in a scene. This class handles loading, creation, and management of the static objects, which are instances of SFAStaticObject (StaticObject.[CH]).

String.C

Contains the function implementation for the String class. This class, however, is currently not being used.

StringSFA.C

Contains the function implementation for the StringSFA class that is currently being used in SFA.

Subset.C

Handles the graphical interaction routines used in subsetting with MR and with the mouse.

TexFont.C

This C++ class manages the textured fonts that appear in SFA.

main.C

This program, which is not used when SFA is run, is a test program that initializes the network daemons, reads new datasets, deletes the datasets, and writes a metafile that it prints out.

UI

The ui directory contains the files that generate the user interface, as well as, the main draw routines that are used in SFA. In addition, the executable for SFA is located here as well. Here is a listing of the main files located in the ui directory and their purpose:

Dial.C

This file contains the draw routines for the sundial menus that are used in conjunction with MR.

Draw.C

One of the main files in SFA, this file contains the majority of draw routines for generating the glyphs, the bounding box, and handling stereo viewing. In addition, mouse interaction is handled here as is the drawing of vectors.

Form.C

This file, generated by BXPro, contains the code for the drawing of the interface and the menus and widgets contained within the interface. Inside the designated user code blocks, code has been added that define the callbacks for the widgets in the interface.

Labels.C

Contains the functions that generate the labels used to indicate the postition of the bat(cursor) within the bounding box.

Led.C

Currently, this file has not been integrated into SFA.

LedController.C

Currently, this file has not been integrated into SFA.

NetThread.C

These functions handle the opening of socket connections in order to read data from external agents.

SQuadrics.C

These functions are used to generate the superellipsoid glyphs.

SelectionCubic.C

Generates a cubic with which the user can perform subsetting with.

SelectionObject.C

Handles the cubic and sphere classes that can be used for subsetting.

SelectionSphere.C

Generates a sphere with which the user can perform subsetting with.

SfaControlButtons.C

This file, generated by BXPro, contains the callbacks for the control buttons (OK, RESET, and APPLY) that are used throughout SFA.

Shapes.C

Currently written in C, this files contains the draw routines for many of the interpolated shapes (i. e. tetrahedron-to-cube, tetrahedron-to-octahedron, octahedron-to-cube, turbulated cube, etc.).

Slider.C

Implements a fairly simple slider control which is controlled by the trackers.

TextureFactory.H

This class has multiple accessors which take a filename of a 2D texture and return a pointer to the loaded 2D texture. This will make adding future textures to SFA extremely simple.

UIComponent.C

Base class for all C++/Motif UI components.

Vector_noise.C

Vector functions that are used in the Shapes.C file.

Xfun.C

Auxillary functions to convert an array string to an array of compund strings and free an XmStringTable widget in XMotif.

Form.ucb*, app-defaults, bXsave.uil, default.txf, defs-C.H, interface.uil, main-C.C, outfile

Files created by BXPro. interface.uil is the file that is to be opened in BXPro when modifications need to be made.

sfa-ui*

The main SFA executable.

sfa-ui.H

Contains many of the #defines used throughout SFA and links in some of the files in the rewrite directory.

trackball.c

Implementation of a virtual trackball that is, currently, not integrated into SFA.

vect.c

Various functions to support operations on vectors that are used throughout SFA.

Christopher J. Morris --5/25/00