./README_ibm6000
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* RISC System/6000 specific README for IBM Visualization Data Explorer
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The information contained in this file consists of architecture specific
hints for using the system, help with functions that may not be apparent,
and last minute updates to the existing documentation. It is advisable to
review this file any time Data Explorer updates are applied.
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CONTENTS
To go directly to an item, search for the item number beginning
at the left margin.
1. System configuration
A. User Limits
B. Prerequisite Software
C. "OS page space is low, terminating execution"
2. Hardware Rendering Considerations
A. Shared Library Support for Hardware Rendering
B. Hardware Rendering Not Available Message
C. The Gto
D. Gt4x under Sequencer control
E. 2D Graphics Cards with AIX Option X11_3d.gl.rte
F. The Gto does not support transparency
G. OpenGL vs GL hardware renderer
H. Backing store performance using the OpenGL renderer
I. The GXT1000
3. User Interface Notes
A. Visual Program line connections
B. Differences for AIX 4.1 desktop
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1. System configuration
A. User Limits
AIX enforces per process limits on the amount of physical memory used by a
process. When you want Data Explorer to use large amounts of physical memory,
it is advised that you change these per process limits using 'smit' by
traversing the following menu selections:
Security & Users
Users
Change / Show Characteristics of a User
You may want to change "Max physical MEMORY" to be some number a few megabytes
less than the machine size. This number is specified in 512 byte blocks.
For example, a machine with 64MB may have this limit set to 114688, 56MB.
B. Prerequisite Software
The following are required and must be at or greater than the given release
level...
bos.obj 03.02.0000
bosext1.csh.obj 03.02.0000
X11rte.obj 01.02.0000
X11rte.ext.obj 01.02.0000
If present, the following are required to be at or greater than the given
release level...
X11_3d.gl.rte.obj 01.02.0000
X11_3d.obj 01.02.0000
X11dev.obj 01.02.0000
C. "OS page space is low, terminating execution"
This message occurs when there is not enough page space allocated.
See "Paging Space" in the general README file.
2. Hardware Rendering Considerations
The behavior of Data Explorer on the RISC System/6000 differs in a few
ways when using the hardware rendering option.
A. Shared Library Support for Hardware Rendering
When hardware rendering is requested for the first time, the executive
dynamically loads /usr/lpp/dx/bin_ibm6000/DXhwddOGL.o and the OpenGL shared
libraries. If one of these is not present then hardware rendering will
be disabled. See G "OpenGL vs GL hardware renderer".
B. Hardware Rendering Not Available Message
When the message 'Hardware rendering not available: /usr/lib/libgl.a not
found' appears, then GL shared library or run-time support has
not been installed.
C. The Gto
The Gto drawing processor card should have a Date Code greater than 9052,
and any EC Level except S24699. To determine the Date Code and EC Level,
type "lscfg -v -l hispddrp*". If either requirement is not met, contact
IBM Service to request an upgrade to the Drawing Processor Card (hispddrp*).
D. Gt4x under Sequencer control
When users of the Gt4x hardware accelerator cards run visual programs
which generate simple images, either small or with few objects,
quickly under Sequencer control, their system may be bogged down with
graphics work. To avoid this situation, set the throttle parameter either
to the Display module or with the Throttle dialog for an Image module
to some small number (e.g. 0.25 seconds).
E. 2D Graphics Cards with AIX Option X11_3d.gl.rte
When users try to use hardware rendering on machines which don't support
3D rendering but on which the X11_3d.gl.rte option is installed, Data
Explorer may abnormally exit.
F. The Gto does not support transparency
The High Speed 3D Graphics Accelerator (Gto) does not support transparency
when Hardware Rendering is selected.
G. OpenGL vs GL hardware renderer
The default hardware renderer on AIX platforms is OpenGL. To use
OpenGL, you must start the X server as follows:
xinit -- -x mbx -x abx -x GLX
To use the GL hardware renderer export the environment variable DXHWMOD:
Korn shell (ksh): export DXHWMOD=DXhwdd.o
C shell (csh): setenv DXHWMOD DXhwdd.o
(The alternative is DXHWMOD=DXhwddOGL.o)
You can also choose between OpenGL and GL on the command line to dx
by specifying -hwrender [gl|opengl]
H. Backing store performance using the OpenGL renderer
When DX is in hardware rendering mode it uses a pixel read function
to read back the image after each complete display. The saved image is
used to refresh the window when an area is later obscured and exposed
(e.g. pop-up menus) and also for erasing lines drawn during use of the
direct interactors (e.g. zoom box). When using the OpenGL renderer on
adapters where the time to read and write pixels is slow relative to
drawing geometry, it may be preferable to disable this mechanism by
exporting the environment variable DXNO_BACKING_STORE:
Korn shell (ksh): export DXNO_BACKING_STORE=1
C shell (csh): setenv DXNO_BACKING_STORE 1
This will cause the image to be redrawn when image areas are exposed
and will cause the direct interactors to erase lines by using black.
The black lines will persist until the image is redrawn.
I. The GXT1000
In order to use hardware rendering of any type (GL 3.2 or OpenGL) on
the GXT1000, users must start the X server with the GLX, abx and mbx
server extensions as described in 2G.
The GXT1000's X server may sometimes leave black rubberbanding
lines in place when using the Colormap editor or when
moving icons around on the canvas. These lines will disappear if the
window is obscured and then exposed.
If you resize a window which is using hardware rendering on an
object with non-opaque objects, it is possible that you will see only
the opaque object in the original location of the window. This is true
only for GL 3.2 (not OpenGL).
You should apply the following ptf's. They will fix many of the above
problems.
U433080 GXT1000 Maint Package 1 -- superceded by U437136
U433283 GXT1000 Maint Package 2
U434859 GXT1000 Maint Package 3 -- superceded by U437136
U437136 GXT1000 Enhancement Package 4
3. User Interface Notes
A. Visual Program line connections
Graphical objects in the Visual Program Editor (VPE) may not be shown if the
workspace is larger than 1280x1024 pixels.
B. Differences for AIX 4.1 desktop
Some user interface features may look different than they appear
on other architectures and in the documentation. You can change
this behavior by setting the following X resources:
*enableEtchedInMenu: False
*enableToggleVisual: False
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The following trademarks apply to this information:
IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.
IBM Visualization Data Explorer AIX, AIXwindows, and RISC System/6000
are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.
OpenGL is a trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc.