[ackerman at nlm.nih.gov: Geomview, OOGL.m etc]

[mbp]

Thanks for the package.
        Last summer I wrote a package very similar to this one.
The problem with packages of this nature is that they tend to take
up a lot ob diskspace when the mathematica models are translated
into OOGL format.  Part of that problem may be fixed by using 
'OFF' instead of 'POLY' for some stuff, but I think we have,
and need, a lot more flexiblity in terms of mixing many graphics
types within a "Graphics3D".  Has anyone written anything for Mathematica
that properly uses the Geomview pipes?  We want to use Geomview instead
of the Mathematica Live mode because the Live mode has a poor user
interface and appears to not implement things like colored facets.
        Also I have been attempting to use the command language.  I 
want to be able to apply a transformation matrix to some objects.
I believe there are at least two ways of doing this, but neither works
well (assuming I am doing it correctly).
        I have tried using "read"
(read transform <fileneame> object )
        I have also tried loading an object of type INST or TLIST
and using
( xform-set objectname :transform_name )

        The first way tends to cause the program to crash, and the second
modifies the orientation slightly, but always the same way independent
of a change in the transformation, if it does anything at all.

        Just a few more questions and comments:
Is there, and how does one activate a stereo viewing mode?
Is there a way to prevent Geomview from assigning a new origin
to every new object loaded, so that all objects share an origin
that is roughly at the center of the object?  The problem with
the current system is that my OOGL files are pieces of a helicopter.
According to the files themselves the rotor blade should be attached
to the top of the helicopter, but when the body of the helicopter
and the rotor are loaded together, the rotor ends up being stuck
in the middle.
        Are texture and transparency implemented at all in this version?
Which files from the source code would contain relevent code to any of
the above questions? Has the use of a "spaceball" been implemented?
        Final comments (nitpicking detail actually) in the panes of
the widgets where the user is expected to type stuff like commands,
the widgets don't scroll.  Most of the time this wouldn't bother 
anyone except in "commands" widget where even the shortest commands are
right up against the edge of the box.

        Thanks for your help.  If you would like I could send you
our Mathematica -> OOGL converter.  It works with Minneview, but the
shared memory part was never quite worked out.  Instead we write a lot
of temperary files.

-Jeremy Ackerman