AVS Modules						read points
US EPA Visualization Center				July 20, 1992

NAME
	 read points -  read scattered points from an ASCII file

SUMMARY
	Name	read points
	Type	Data
	Inputs	NONE
	Outputs	Field Output	field 2D scalar float	
	Parameters
		Name		Type	Default	Range
		Filename	string

DESCRIPTION

	Read observation locations and variable values from an ASCII
	file. From these observations build a 1D irregular (scatter)
	field with one element for each observation.

	The first line of the file should contain two integers : the
	first gives the number of spatial dimensions, the second gives
	the number of variables per observation. Each line after that
	contains one observation, first the coordinates, then the variable
	values. Each number on the line can be either an integer or a 
	float. For example,
		3 4
		1 1 1 4 5 6 7
		1 2 7 3 2 9 8
		....
	describes observations in 3-space with 4 variable values at 
	each point. The first point is located at (0, 0, 0) with
	values 4, 5, 6, 7 for the first, second, third, and fourth
	variables, respectively. Another example,
		2 3
		1 1 1 4 5 
		1 2 7 3 2
		....
	describes observations in 2-space with 3 variable values at
	each point. The first point is located at (1, 1) with values
	1, 4, 5 for the first, second, and third variables, respectively.


PARAMETERS
	Filename
	This parameter specifies the name of the file containing 
	the point data.

OUTPUTS
	Field Output -- field 1D irregular float

EXAMPLE NETWORKS
	This network reaads in scattered multivariate observations,
	picks one variable, and displays the samples as colormapped 
	dots at the sample locations.

				 read points
				     |
				extract scalar
				     |
	generate colormap	 bubblevis
		|		     |
		|__________     _____|
			   |   |
			scatter dots
			     |
			geometry viewer

	This network reaads in scattered multivariate observations,
	picks one variable, drops the (presumably dense) samples
	into a grid, and displays them as a colormapped mesh
	(mountain plot).

				   read points
					|
				  extract scalar
				        |
	generate colormap	scatter to sparse
	        |			|
		|___________     _______|
			    |   |
			field to mesh
			      |
			geometry viewer


RELATED MODULES
	Modules which process the field output:
		bubbleviz
		field to mesh
		colorizer
		scatter to sparse
		trivar, bivar

SEE ALSO
	read points ucd

AUTHOR
	Penny Rheingans, US EPA Scientific Visualization Center