NAME	NEW TILE -- create a geometry of a tile plot displaying 2D 3-space data

AUTHOR	Kathy Pearson, MCNC, kathyp@mcnc.org, (919) 248-9240

SUMMARY

	Name		NEW TILE	

	Type		mapper	

	Inputs		input_field	(field uniform float)	
			input_color_map	(colormap OPTIONAL)
			Data Minimum	(float)
			Data Maximum	(float)
			slice axis	(string)

	Outputs		geom_output	(geometry)

	Parameters
			Name			Type	Def	Min	Max
			----			----	---	---	---
			Color Bins		(int)	 8	1	256
			Mesh			(toggle) 0	0	1
			Mesh Red		(float) 1.0	0.0	1.0
			Mesh Green		(float) 1.0	0.0	1.0
			Mesh Blue		(float) 1.0	0.0	1.0

DESCRIPTION

The NEW TILE module accepts as input a field sliced on "X", "Y", or "Z"
and displays a tile map in the other two dimensions.  The NEW TILE module
was needed because versions available from the International AVS Center do
not work properly for cropped data and do not function well with any slice
axis other than "Z".   Still, much credit is due to David Bock, formerly of 
MCNC, who is the author of the original, for his pioneering efforts in
creating an early AVS version of this module.

For each grid cell, flat tiles are created to represent values in the
range from the Data Minimum to the Data Maximum.  The color of each tile
is based upon its value and what bin it falls into.  The bins are determined
linearly.  A mesh, whose color is user defined, can optionally be draped
over the color tile plot.

If a mesh is not selected, the geometry for the tile plot is optimized so
that a single polygon is drawn for tiles of the same color in adjacent
columns for Z-sliced data.  

In porting this module to the DEC ALPHA, integer colors did not work
properly, so compile-time "ifdef __alpha" statements are included to
signal that floating-point colors could be used.  The "__alpha" definition,
if present, is found in the standard AVS include file, port.h.

INPUTS

input_field		input data field sliced on "X", "Y", or "Z"

input_color_map		standard AVS input color map

Data Minimum		minimum value for tile legend scale and linear bins

Data Maximum		maximum value for tile legend scale and linear bins

slice axis		"X", "Y", or "Z" slice axis

OUTPUTS

geom_output		color tile output geometry with optional colored mesh

PARAMETERS

Color Bins		number of color bins

Mesh			switch to indicate user preference for a mesh to overlay
			the color tile plot

Mesh Red		red component of optional mesh overlay color

Mesh Green		green component of optional mesh overlay color

Mesh Blue		blue component of optional mesh overlay color

EXAMPLE

RELATED MODULES

LIMITATIONS

SEE ALSO

(MCNC Visualization Plan)						11/93
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The MCNC Environmental Programs Group has created this module as part of a
suite of AVS demo modules, networks, and sample data sets to demonstrate 
the functionality of its visualization prototype for an Environmental 
Decision Support System (EDSS).  This system provides a unified method of 
analysis and visualization for data output from different environmental air 
quality models.  Remotely, standard output files from the following models 
can be read into AVS:

        ROM (Regional Oxidant Model)
        RADM (Regional Acid Deposition Model), low res and high res
        RADM (Regional Acid Depostion Model) Emissions, low res
        UAM (Urban Airshed Model, regulatory version)
        UAM (Urban Airshed Model, AREAL research version)
        UAM Wind (Urban Airshed Model, regulatory version)
        MCNC ALPHA-Prototype netCDF files

Alternatively, xdr portable binary AVS fields can be created from these
data types and accessed directly from the local workstation.

You can download these modules individually from the IAC using anonymous
ftp to the appropriate directories /avs_modules at avs.ncsc.org.  
If you would like to download the entire suite of modules, networks, and
sample datasets at the same time, the IAC recommends that you use 
anonymous ftp to grab the following file from avs.ncsc.org -

/sample_data/avs_data/MCNC_Env_Pgms/MCNC_Env_Pgms.tar.Z

This contains all source code to all local and remote modules, as well as
all of the sample datasets, networks, documentation, installation, and
usage notes.
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