# ./README_ibm6000

    *
    * RISC System/6000 specific README for IBM Visualization Data Explorer
    *
    *
    *

    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.

    ========================================================================

    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

    ========================================================================

    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/share/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

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------

    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.