Frequently Asked Questions

<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr height="150"> <td align="left"><img src="../../img/logo.gif" alt="IAC logo"></img></td> <td width="100%" rowspan="2" align="left" valign="center"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" bgcolor="c6c6e0" height="32"> <tr align="center" valign="center"> <td> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4">Frequently Asked Questions</font></td> </tr> </table>  <br> <table border="0" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <tr> <td><img src="../../img/spot1.gif" alt="" width="8" height="8"></td> <td nowrap><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="3"><b>Questions</b></font></td> <td><img src="../../img/spot1.gif" alt="" width="8" height="8"></td> </tr> </table> <br> <ol> <li><a href="#one">What is the International AVS Centre?</a> </li> <li><a href="#two">Where is the International AVS Centre?</a></li> <li><a href="#three">What is AVS?</a> </li> <li><a href="#four">What are the AVS Products?</a></li> <li><a href="#five">What are the system requirements to run AVS Products?</a></li> <li><a href="#six">What do I need to download to be able to use modules from the International AVS Centre?</a></li> <li><a href="#seven">I have downloaded a document as a <tt>.gz</tt> file from the IAC. Why do I get error messages when I want to unpack the file using gunzip or winzip?</a></li> <li> <a href="#eight">How do I install IAC modules in AVS/Express?</a></li> <li> <a href="#nine">When I drag the IAC module into the Network Editor I get an error message which asks about recompiling. What does it mean?</a></li> <li> <a href="#ten">Is there sample AVS data available?</a></li> <li><a href="#eleven">Why should I submit a module to the International AVS Centre?</a></li> <li><a href="#twelve">How do I submit a module to the International AVS Centre?</a></li> <li><a href="#thirteen">How do I have to prepare a module in order to submit it to the International AVS Centre?</a></li> <li><a href="#fourteen">Are there courses being offered on AVS?</a></li> <li><a href="#fivteen">What is the procedure to add a question to this FAQ file?</a></li> </ol> <br> <table border="0" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <tr> <td><img src="../../img/spot1.gif" alt="" width="8" height="8"></td> <td nowrap><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="3"><b>Answers</b></font></td> <td><img src="../../img/spot1.gif" alt="" width="8" height="8"></td> </tr> </table> <br> <ol> <li><a name="one"><b>What is the International AVS Centre?</b></a> </li> <p> The International AVS Centre serves as a catalyst for expanding the AVS user base and for increasing AVS functionality by fostering discipline-specific module development and new AVS uses. The main activities carried out at the IAC are to:</p> <ul> <li>Maintain and enhance the AVS/Express and AVS5 Module Repositories.</li> <li>Manage the IAC Web Site</li> <li>Carry out Selected Research Projects on behalf of AVS Inc.</li> <li>Support User Group Activities</li> <li>Participate in AVS Product and Solution Testing and Quality Assurance.</li> </ul> <p> The AVS Consortium is made up of AVS sponsors and affiliates who fund and provide direction for the International AVS Centre. </p> <li> <a name="two"><b>Where is the International AVS Centre?</b></a></li> <p> The International AVS Centre is located at the Manchester Visualization Centre, Manchester Computing, University of Manchester, in the UK.</p> <li> <a name="three"><b>What is AVS?</b></a></li> <p> Advanced Visual Systems Inc. (AVS) is a company that provides High Performance visualization tools and libraries. The Visualization Tools use a modular approach to build custom applications from predefined or self written modules. </p> <p> For more information please have a look at the <a href="http://www.avs.com" target="_top">AVS website</a> or contact AVS Inc. directly at:</p> <p> <pre> Advanced Visual Systems Inc. 300 Fifth Ave. Waltham, MA 02451 USA Tel: 781-890-4300 Fax: 781-890-8287 Email: <a href="mailto:info@avs.com">info@avs.com</a> Email: <a href="mailto:support@avs.com">support@avs.com</a> </pre> </p> <li> <a name="four"><b>What are the AVS Products?</b></a></li> <p> The main products provided by Advanced Visual Systems Inc. (AVS) are: <dl> <dt><a href="http://www.avs.com/software/soft_t/avs5.html" target="_top">AVS 5</a></dt> <dd> AVS5 enables end-users to analyse, manipulate and display large volumes of complex data, including 2D and 3D images, 3D graphics and multidimensional numeric data.</dd> <dt><a href="http://www.avs.com/software/soft_t/avsxps.html" target="_top">AVS/Express</a></dt> <dd>AVS/Express is a comprehensive and versatile data visualization tool for both non-programmers and experienced developers. It provides powerful visualization methods for challenging problems in a vast range of fields, including science, business, engineering, medicine, telecommunications and environmental research.</dd> <dt><a href="http://www.avs.com/software/soft_t/gsharp.html" target="_top">Gsharp</a></dt> <dd>Gsharp is a powerful graphing and contouring end-user display tool for presentation-quality output. A point-and-click interface for building graphical displays combined with powerful scripting capabilities offers impressive graphics production.</dd> <dt><a href="http://www.avs.com/software/soft_b/openviz/index.html" target="_top">OpenViz</a></dt> <dd>OpenViz creates easy-to-understand "scenes" that integrate real-time and historical data into powerful decision-making components that can be distributed via Web pages, emails, reports, spreadsheets and new or existing software applications.</dd> <dt><a href="http://www.avs.com/software/soft_t/toolm.html" target="_top">Toolmaster</a></dt> <dd> Toolmaster agX provides X and Microsoft Windows developers with a cross-platform library of more than 500 C/C++ and FORTRAN functions for scientific, technical and commercial graphics. Toolmaster is the most comprehensive toolset available for visual data analysis and presentation under X Windows and an excellent foundation for adding graphics to Windows applications.</dd> <dt><a href="http://www.avs.com/software/soft_b/vizworks/index.html" target="_top">VizWorks</a></dt> <dd>AVS/VizWorks combines our most popular charts and graphs in an easy-to-use package that lets you turn business information into business intelligence, quickly and simply.</dd> </dl> </p> <p> For more information please have a look at the <a href="http://www.avs.com" target="_top">AVS website</a>. </p> <li> <a name="five"><b>What are the system requirements to run AVS Products?</b></a></li> <p> Numerous people have requested AVS configuration information. This information changes regularly. Please check the <a href="http://www.avs.com" target="_top">AVS website</a> for this information, email <a href="mailto:support@avs.com">support@avs.com</a>, or contact your local vendor reps or AVS Inc. reps for additional information.</p> <li> <a name="six"><b>What do I need to download to be able to use modules from the International AVS Centre?</b></a></li> <p>For AVS5 modules the packages in the <a href="../../repository/avs5" target="_top">AVS5 Repositories</a> contain everything you need. The modules are compiled externally using the provided Makefile.</p> <p>To be able to use modules from the AVS/Express Repositories you first need to download the <a href="../../repository/pfiles" target="_top">IAC project files</a>, which create the general IAC infrastructure inside AVS/Express. Once you have installed the project files you can include any modules from the <a href="../../repository/express" target="_top">AVS/Express Repositories</a>.</p> <li> <a name="seven"><b>I have downloaded a document as a <tt>.gz</tt> file from the IAC. Why do I get error messages when I want to unpack the file using gunzip or winzip?</b></a></li> <p> Some Web-Browsers unpack gzip-files automatically when you download them. Unfortuately they do not remove the <tt>.gz</tt> extension. The file might already be unpacked.</p> <li> <a name="eight"><b>How do I install IAC modules in AVS/Express?</b></a></li> <p> Please have a look at the <a href="../../repository/download/DownloadGuide.pdf">IAC Download Guide</a> which gives a detailed description of the Installation Procedure. </p> <li> <a name="nine"><b>When I drag the IAC module into the Network Editor I get an error message which asks about recompiling. What does it mean?</b></a></li> <p> The error message is similar to this: <pre> --- Warning from: module: OMcxxmethod --- There is no definition of function: Root.Applications.MultiWindowApp.ReadVRML.ReadVRMLFunc.ReadVRMLCore.readVRML in process: express. Have you added this object without recompiling? -------------------------------------------------- </pre> </p> <p> In general this means that either the modules have not been compiled (ie. the <tt>base -comp_proc express -quit</tt> command was not called), or that the wrong AVS/Express binary was started. When the IAC modules are compiled AVS/Express generates a new binary in <tt>bin/$MACHINE/express</tt>, which needs to be started.</p> <li> <a name="ten"><b>Is there sample AVS data available ?</b></a></li> <p>There is some sample data availlable from the IAC under <a href="http://www.iavsc.org/ftp/Data/avs_data" target="_top"> http://www.iavsc.org/ftp/Data/avs_data</a></p> <p> This directory is for sample data that has been donated without any modules.</p> <p> No tests have been made on this data, so use it at your own risk. This is simply to allow you to get your hands on a variety of different data types for experimentation purposes. </p> <li> <a name="eleven"><b>Why should I submit a module to the International AVS Centre?</b></a></li> <p> Donating a module to the International AVS Centre benefits the entire AVS user community by facilitating further use of AVS to visualize complex scientific phenomena. Any module that is not donated may be rewritten elsewhere - wasting valuable time - hindering further development of other module capabilities for everyone's benefit. </p> <li> <a name="twelve"><b>How do I submit a module to the International AVS Centre?</b></a></li> <p> The easiest way to submit is to send the module attached to an e-mail to the International AVS Centre at <a href="mailto:avs@iavsc.org">avs@iavsc.org</a>. If you have any problems or questions about the submission of a module please contact us, to make the submission as conveniant as possible to you.</p> <li> <a name="thirteen"><b>How do I have to prepare a module in order to submit it to the International AVS Centre?</b></a></li> <p> It's not necessary.</p> <p> The International AVS Centre is happy to receive your module as is. Once the IAC has received the module it will go through a process of standardization according to the <a href="../../repository/pog/" target="_top">IAC Project organization guidelines</a> before it will be released to the IAC repositories.</p> <p>Please submit the v-code of the module the source code of the module and a short description what the module does.</p> <p> If the module is processing or reading some special data file a simple dataset would be good, but is not essential. If data is submitted, please tell the IAC if it is for internal testing purposes only, or if it can be released with the module.</p> <li> <a name="fourteen"><b>Are there courses being offered on AVS?</b></a></li> <p>Courses can be given by the IAC on site at your facility or theirs, depending on the arrangement that is set up. Please contact IAC at <a href="mailto:avs@iavsc.org">avs@iavsc.org</a> for further information. </p> <li> <a name="fivteen"><b>What is the procedure to add a question to this FAQ file?</b></a></li> <p> Please submit suggestions for this FAQ via email to <a href="mailto:avs@iavsc.org">avs@iavsc.org</a>. The question and answer will quite possibly show up in this file shortly thereafter. </p> </ol>  </td></tr> <tr height="100%"> <td class="sideLink" width="25%" align="left" valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><a href="../../general/index.shtml" target="_top">General Information</a></p> <p class="sideLinkLevel2"><a href="../contents/index.shtml" target="_top">  Site Contents</a></p> <p class="sideLinkLevel2"><a href="../news/index.shtml" target="_top">  Latest News</a></p> <p class="sideLinkLevel2"><a href="../faq/index.shtml" target="_top">  FAQ</a></p> <p class="sideLinkLevel2"><a href="../gallery/index.shtml" target="_top">  Gallery</a></p> <p class="sideLinkLevel2"><a href="../links/index.shtml" target="_top">  Links</a></p> <p class="sideLinkLevel2"><a href="../mirrors/index.shtml" target="_top">  Mirrors</a></p> <p class="sideLinkLevel2"><a href="../release/index.shtml" target="_top">  Release</a></p> <p><a href="../../repository/index.shtml" target="_top">Repositories</a></p> <p><a href="../../usergroup/index.shtml" target="_top">User Group</a></p> <p><a href="../../training/index.shtml" target="_top">Training Materials</a></p> </td> </table> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" bgcolor="c6c6e0"> <tr> <td><img src="../../img/foot1.gif" alt="IAC" width="155" height="25"></td> <td width="100%">  </td> </tr> </table>