User AVS Modules					   waffle


NAME
     waffle - 3D cellular surface diagram, with averaged statistics
              on side shadow panels, and annotation. A transparent
              theshold sheet is superimposed on waffle grid.

AUTHOR: Ian Curington, Advanced Visual Systems, Staines, UK

SUMMARY
     Name	   waffle

     Type	   mapper

     Inputs	   field 2D scalar float uniform
		   colormap 

     Outputs	   geometry

     Parameters	   Name		   Type		  Default	 Min	   Max
		   Z scale	   float	  1.0		 none	   none
                   width           float          .6             0.        1.
                   offset          float          .1             0.        1.
                   threshold       float          1.             none      none
                   tic scale       float          1.             none      none
                   show X-cells    boolean        on             off       on
                   show Y-cells    boolean        on             off       on
                   show shadows    boolean        on             off       on
                   show threshold  boolean        on             off       on
                   show annotation boolean        on             off       on


DESCRIPTION
     The waffle module converts a two-dimensional floating point
     field into group of 3D cross section planes,
     represented as a GEOM-format mesh, with the base at zero.
     Each X or Y line  of the field is mapped to a "fence".
     The height of each fence post above each point
     is proportional to the scalar
     value of the field. This is my attempt at "Business Graphics",
     for a multi-dimensional telecommunications statistics data
     application, while allowing 3D interaction.

     Side panels show the Min, Max and Average along each row and column
     in the 2D data.

     A threshold transparent sheet can be moved through the mesh to
     highlight specific values, where only values above the threshold
     will stick up beyond the sheet.

     Line tic marks and text labels show the row and column numbers,
     and the vertical scale

     The waffle cells don't have bottoms, so you can look inside!

     This module does no normalization of the Z-height, while the
     x-y plane is approx 0.0 to 1.0 on each side.
     Use the dials to get your data range under control.
     The dials are unbounded to allow any data range.
     but will be over-sensitive for small numbers.
     Try flying over the waffle in perspective to see the hole pattern.

     It makes a lot more polygons than field_to_mesh, be carefull!

INPUTS

     Data Field (required; field 2D scalar uniform float)
     The input data must be a 2D field with a scalar data value at
     each element.

     Colormap 
     Colors each vertex in the waffle section sheet a specific color,
     according to the data value at that point.

PARAMETERS

     Z scale    height scale for whole waffle mesh

     width      relative width of each side panel

     offset     how far away the average shadow planes are from mesh

     threshold  height of threshold sheet in mesh 

     tic scale  vertical scale tic mark pitch control

     show toggles, enable or dissable parts of the display

OUTPUTS

     Geometry
	  The output is	an AVS geometry.

EXAMPLE

     see the waffle.net in this directory.