The IBM booth at SIGGRAPH'93 demonstrated Version 2 of the IBM Visualization Data Explorer software. VERSION 2 ENHANCEMENTS ______________________ Since its introduction two years ago, Data Explorer has been continuously enhanced and expanded. Version 2 of Data Explorer contains dozens of new features and improvements that make it even more powerful and easier to use. Some of these are described below. IMPROVED GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE _________________________________ The new version of Data Explorer enhances its support of X Windows by providing the capability to display software- rendered images on 8-, 12- and 24-bit windows. DATA DRIVEN INTERACTORS _______________________ The functions and capabilities of interactors have been raised to a new level. For example: Interactors are smarter because they're data-driven. Interactors are now auto- ranging and self-limiting. They examine your data and, de- pending on its type, will determine the minimum and maximum of the data, or create a list for an option menu based on your data. You can even set the label of the interactor based on some aspect of your data (e.g., metadata). The data-driven concept is not simply for sliders, dials and op- tion menus. It also applies to vector interactors. These will reconfigure themselves based on the dimensionality of the data. They will also auto-range themselves based on the maximum and minimum of each vector component. Both the ColorMap Editor and the Sequencer are also data-driven. COLORMAP EDITOR _______________ The ColorMap Editor A number of new features let you use color more effectively. For example, you can select from one of the built-in wave forms, specifying the range over which it applies and the number of steps. You can have the data values used in your color map displayed individually, or in selected groups. . .or all at once. If your color map is data-driven, you can display a histogram of your data. A copy-and-paste function lets you copy parts of a color map between editors, or within the same editor. CLICK AND PICK ______________ A new Picking function lets you select objects that are dis- played in an image. Data Explorer provides you with informa- tion so you can hide it, color it, move it, copy it...whatever you wish. You can specify multiple picks and even accumulate picks from execution to execution. IMPORTING DATA ______________ Data Explorer now includes Data Prompter to simplify import- ing data. With it, you can specify the structure of your in- put data with a few clicks of the mouse. And a new File Selector interactor makes it easier for you to specify the name of the file you wish to import. . .also with a click of the mouse. CUSTOMIZING ___________ You can selectively disable portions of the User Interface. You can use this function to shield your end-users from the complexities behind the applications you build. MAKING NEW MODULES __________________ A new Module Builder utility will automatically generate module source code templates. You simply insert your code. The Module Builder also will create the files that will de- scribe your module to the rest of the system, so it appears like any other module in Data Explorer. ENHANCE MODULE FUNCTIONALITY ____________________________ Compute does the work of dozens of individual functions. It directly solves arbitrary algebraic and trigonometric equations, as well as recasts your data. There's a larger selection of data types. Modules have been enhanced so that they now supports virtually any commonly used data type. Realization modules are added and enhanced. A new Band mod- ule provides filled contours. Isosurface has been enhanced so it handles 1D, as well as 2D and 3D data. ShowBoundary has been enhanced to support 2D, as well as 3D data. You can now measure an object. The new Measure module lets you obtain analytic information, such as the volume or surface area of an isosurface, about your visualization. Scattered data points are now supported. A new Connect module creates a grid (connection elements) for scattered data. Regrid, an- other new module, can map scattered data onto a user- specified grid. If you like, you can have a grid position marked invalid if a data value cannot be mapped onto the grid position. IMAGE PROCESSING IS IMPROVED. _____________________________ Morph is a new module that provides morphological operations like erode, dilate, open and close. AutoGrayScale is a new module that provides a mapping between data values and gray scales. And Filter has extensions to include rank value filtering. ANNOTATION __________ The Glyph modules have been extended so you can now specify your own glyphs. The font set has been extended and the font format has been documented. So you now can have Data Explorer's modules use your own fonts. The Plot module now allows you to specify linear or log axes, specify two dif- ferent Y-axes on the same plot, as well as control various aspects of label and axis color and style. ENHANCED DATA MODEL ___________________ The Data Model has always been extremely versatile, support- ing many data types and grids. Now it's even better...and the enhancements are supported throughout the module set. Data Explorer has no problem with invalid data (e.g., data dropouts). It can handle overlapping grids with ease. And it now handles data with nonuniform step sizes more effi- ciently. ADVANCED EXECUTION ENVIRONMENT ______________________________ Distributed processing gives you more power, greater effi- ciency. You can now distribute your visualization across multiple workstations in a heterogeneous environment. You can break up your visualization into appropriate segments and run them simultaneously-giving you, in effect, a paral- lel multiprocessor. And it's all done without programming. You just point-and-click. FLOW CONTROL IS IMPROVED ________________________ Improvements to the Switch module give you the means to dy- namically choose one of many sources. And the new Route module lets you dynamically control the flow of output to multiple sources. Because both are data-driven, you can build applications that dynamically reconfigure themselves to the data. And this gives you extensive flexibility in controlling the execution of your visualization. Modules can be in a separate executable. Data Explorer now supports user-defined modules in a separate executable. This makes it easier for you to test new functions and integrate them into Data Explorer. And you can create them on a wide range of platforms from leading workstation manufacturers: IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Silicon Graphics, Sun...and now Data General. o IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. o Hewlett-Packard is a registered trademark of Hewlett- Packard Company. o Silicon Graphics is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. o Sun is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. o Data General is a registered trademark of Data General Corporation. o OSF/Motif is a trademark of The Open Software Founda- tion. o X Window System is a trademark of the Massachusetts In- stitute of Technology.