boily@phy.ulaval.ca (Edouard Boily) (09/28/90)
I think that everybody can agree with the fact that there is not enough scientific programs to fill the growing needs of the Amiga community. Charles Stockman have been explicit on that and I must say that I feel a bit like he does. To solution our (the Amiga community) problem, we need to organize ourself. We should define what our most urgent needs are. Then developpers will know what we want. C= should participate on that too. If I look at Next, there is a team of scientific programmers specially dedicated to develop new original scientific applications on their platform... I'm a developper and a scientific, I have my own ideas and projects but I'd like to hear what you think sould be the most urgent things to do. I want you to be specific, descriptive, even technical. It's your time, scientific users, to get your words listened. - Edouard .---------------------------------------------------------. | boily@phy.ulaval.ca 1150055@LAVALVX1.bitnet | |---------------------------------------------------------| | Edouard Boily | Projects: AmiGraph, AmigIRAF, A.I.R.P. | | Physic's Dept. | Interests: Astronomy, Comp. Sciences | | Laval Univ. | Work: On my Ph. D. _ // | | Quebec, CANADA | Citation: Not yet! \X/ | `---------------------------------------------------------'
kent@swrinde.nde.swri.edu (Kent D. Polk) (09/28/90)
In article <31796@nigel.ee.udel.edu> boily@phy.ulaval.ca (Edouard Boily) writes: > > I think that everybody can agree with the fact that there is >not enough scientific programs to fill the growing needs of the Amiga >community. Charles Stockman have been explicit on that and I must say >that I feel a bit like he does. > > To solution our (the Amiga community) problem, we need to >organize ourself. We should define what our most urgent needs are. There have been a few of us scientists who have been discussing something like a mailing list to keep track of what is available & what is needed, but none of us have the time, etc. to do so. It appears that many of us write our own software and from what I see, (in my case) it is too specialized to be of much benefit to anyone else. Exceptions are programming tools and libraries - Especially things like PLPLOT (Thanks Tony and Steve). Also of benefit would be to have help port some of the standard scientific packages create with federal funding that exist on the Mac, etc. I currently appear to be the 'gateway' for SwRI scientists who work with the Amiga, and have requested help in getting some of the packages ported - nothing has resulted. What would be of assistance would be a way of connecting programmers with us. Does someone know of a way to notify these labs of the need and arrange to have the software written or ported as was done with the Mac? Please help if you know. Any suggestions on how to do this? We need these contacts. Want a list of what we need ported? --------------------------------------------------------------------- With all this recent talk about lack of software, etc. I must say that even though it has taken me 4 years to get to this point, I believe I have finally hit 'critical mass' with respect to the Amiga. Things are really improving, and people are starting to take notice. Much of it has happened with the advent of the beta 2.0 releases. 2.0 has really opened up my options - Thanks again C= personnel. No, I don't just work with Amigas, and they have their limitations, but I believe they offer an excellent 'desktop platform' for scientific data manipulation if you don't have a workstation. While it is true that more scientific software needs to be available, I have found that I can manipulate my data in more flexible ways at greater throughput, and end up with more professional reports than I can with a PC or Mac given the time I have. It's also more fun. Kent Polk: Southwest Research Institute (512) 522-2882 Internet : kent@swrinde.nde.swri.edu UUCP : $ {cs.utexas.edu, gatech!petro, sun!texsun}!swrinde!kent
hill@evax.arl.utexas.edu (Col. Ames and Pixel) (09/29/90)
My wish list:
1) Plotting program. Ability to plot xy, scatter, polar, parametric. Plot as
wire frame and ability to rotate (ala Calligari, and Lightwave with a
cube, rectangle etc...) around all axes. Ability to figure volumes of
closed solids, limited symbolic math, (find intersection of planes in
y=mx+b format or others, min/max of f(x)'s.
2) Vector Math - Simple 3D static systems. Normal finding etc...
3) Something like LabView..... This is a real niche market, but I thought I'd
mention it.
4) An absolute "pie in the sky" -- A HP48SX emulator.
--
adam hill Everybody lies about sex.
hill@evax.arl.utexas.edu BOING!4Ever Rub HER feet!
It's better to copulate than never
AmigaDos2.0 - A VW with $10,000 in options. --Robert A. Heinleinduncan@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Shan D Duncan) (09/30/90)
From article <1990Sep29.021658.26896@evax.arl.utexas.edu>, by hill@evax.arl.utexas.edu (Col. Ames and Pixel): > > My wish list: > > > 1) Plotting program. Ability to plot xy, scatter, polar, parametric. Plot as > wire frame and ability to rotate (ala Calligari, and Lightwave with a > cube, rectangle etc...) around all axes. Ability to figure volumes of > closed solids, limited symbolic math, (find intersection of planes in > y=mx+b format or others, min/max of f(x)'s. > > 2) Vector Math - Simple 3D static systems. Normal finding etc... > > 3) Something like LabView..... This is a real niche market, but I thought I'd > mention it. > > > 4) An absolute "pie in the sky" -- A HP48SX emulator. > > > > > -- > adam hill Everybody lies about sex. > hill@evax.arl.utexas.edu BOING!4Ever Rub HER feet! > It's better to copulate than never > AmigaDos2.0 - A VW with $10,000 in options. --Robert A. Heinlein I refer to the opening statement in an article in the Oct. issue of Byte "Science goes visual on the mac" - Don Crabb where he says just a few years ago the Mac lacked good scientific software meaning : * statistical analysis * laboratory telemetry * simulation systems * visualization software (to name a few categories) He cites an underpowered machine as a prime reason, there are other reasons I'm sure BUT... He mentions a set of "scientific visualization" software in the public domain for the Mac developed by Brad Fortner's Mac visulation group at the National Center for SuperComputer Appliications - Univ. of Il. Transform View Format Dicer Transform allows one to manipulate floating point data and represent the data in various ways. It supports HDF and provides routines in C and FORTRAN as libraries. View appears to be a type of image analysis program and an animation program. Format a presentation program. Dicer lets you see you data as a 3D cube you can then slice in any place and change any of the visualization factors (color, and surface shades). He also mentions that Fortner has started a new company to market a commercial version of the NCSA products. I recently attended a presentation where the analysis was really hindered by linear thinking. It really needed a multivariate approach bur was being forced into univariate... If only the author had been able to see how their data interacted... perhaps being able represent in different ways... I mention these products because they seem to be in keeping with Commodore's approach that the amiga is a computer for the creative mind and IF they are freely available might be a place to start for porting.
danb20@pro-graphics.cts.com (Dan Bachmann) (09/30/90)
In-Reply-To: message from boily@phy.ulaval.ca
Being a student and being interested with computer technology, I feel
the same way. The Amiga is a superb operating platform, but there are some
scientific applications that we really should have available.
A friend and I wanted to buy a good Math package for our machines. Is
Doug's Math Aquarium the best thing??? We need something that handles cal
calculus and an array of other functions. Most mathematics programs for Amiga
are for young children.
Let me know about your projects, AmiGraph, AmigIRAF, AIRP, etc. I
might someday crank out a math writter program like on the Mac for us Amigos.
ProLine: danb20@pro-graphics ***************************
UUCP: ...crash!pro-graphics!danb20 * Dan Bachmann *
ARPA/DDN: pro-graphics!danb20@nosc.mil * Raritan Valley College *
Internet: danb20@pro-graphics.cts.com ***************************
U.S.Mail: 509 StonyBrook Drive, Bridgewater, NJ 08807skank@du248-09.cc.iastate.edu (Skank George L) (09/30/90)
In article <31796@nigel.ee.udel.edu> boily@phy.ulaval.ca (Edouard Boily) writes: > I'm a developper and a scientific, I have my own ideas and >projects but I'd like to hear what you think sould be the most urgent >things to do. I want you to be specific, descriptive, even technical. > > It's your time, scientific users, to get your words listened. > > > - Edouard >.---------------------------------------------------------. >| boily@phy.ulaval.ca 1150055@LAVALVX1.bitnet | >|---------------------------------------------------------| >| Edouard Boily | Projects: AmiGraph, AmigIRAF, A.I.R.P. | >| Physic's Dept. | Interests: Astronomy, Comp. Sciences | >| Laval Univ. | Work: On my Ph. D. _ // | >| Quebec, CANADA | Citation: Not yet! \X/ | >`---------------------------------------------------------' SPICE, SPICE, SPICE!!! Not just Spice version 2GS (or whatever the public domain version is) but something like PSpice (or better yet) IntuoSoft Spice, both for the IBM-PC. It should use the math coprocessors if installed. It should remain Spice 2GS compatible (i.e. accept a text file which describes the circuit) but what would be really sweet would be a schematic capture screen which would allow you to select components (transistors, resistors, etc.) and create a schematic on screen while sumultaneously creating the text file which describes the circuit (like IntuoSoft Spice). More importantly I think, it should be able to do high resolution plotting of Spice results. I like the .PROBE card in PSpice, but I think (again) IntuoSoft Spice probably has a better solution because IntuoSoft Spice input files are backward compatible with SPICE version 2GS. That's all I can think of now... --George
UH2@psuvm.psu.edu (Lee Sailer) (09/30/90)
Here's a different slant on the lack of Scientific Software on <insert machine
here>. The Unix community, and to a lesser extent the general Comp Sci
community have a tradition developed over the past 20 years of sharing
locally developed software. For example, if you create an experimental
text editor for a machine, you write a manual, bundle the whole thing up,
and try to export it. I think this is because for many people in this
community developing software is the *end product* they want to be recognized
for.
On the other hand, this tradition is very rare in the sciences and engineering.
When some scientist develops a program that allows a user to view a data cloud
in N-dimensions, the *last* thing that occurs to him or her is to go on and
add a user interface and write a manual, and so on.
There are exceptions to this, of course, but as a general trend I doubt you
will see many good scientific applications floating around free because
scientists aren't motivated to produce them.
leeUH2@psuvm.psu.edu (Lee Sailer) (09/30/90)
In article <1990Sep29.021658.26896@evax.arl.utexas.edu>, hill@evax.arl.utexas.edu (Col. Ames and Pixel) says: > My wish list: > 1) Plotting program. Ability to plot xy, scatter, polar, parametric. Plot as > wire frame and ability to rotate (ala Calligari, and Lightwave with a > cube, rectangle etc...) around all axes. Ability to figure volumes of > closed solids, limited symbolic math, (find intersection of planes in > y=mx+b format or others, min/max of f(x)'s. Isn't there a freely distributable package that does some of this stuff? It writes HPGL output, and includes a way to send HPGL to any preferences printer. I think it is called MultiPlot, or PLPLOT:, or some such, or maybe that is two different packages altogether. Perhaps the real problem is that it isn't commercial enough! There needs to at least be that little ad in the back of Amiga World every month to help people find it. Better yet, the ad should be in Science. > 2) Vector Math - Simple 3D static systems. Normal finding etc... MatLab, from some gov't agency or other, is there. Again, maybe the problem is that it isn't commoercial *enough*! Most people don't know it exists. Also, Maple is available from U. Waterloo. Perhaps it isn't as sexy as Mathematica, but it flies OK. My wish list includes a) A statistical analysis program like Systat or SAS. b) A lot of small niche special purpose stuff that my social scientist friends have written over the years for cluster analysis, blockmodeling, multi- dimensional scaling, chorpleth mapping (spelling?), and content analysis. Almost of all of this software has been written for msdos, because that's what most social scientists have. Question: Is there a "market" for this stuff? I don't mean a million copies per year, just enough to make it worth while? Would you buy a typical Nonmetric MDS program for $79? Or a collection of half a dozen typical Cluster Analysis programs for $89.50? It would be easy to find lots of such stuff and port it to the Amiga, but a giant headache to deal with customers and so on. Amigifying it all would be a big project, since it is almost all written in a sort of 1960's style batch oriented Fortran. No indentation, no interaction, fixed width input, no comments, 8-( lee
rsn@cartan.math.nd.edu (Ross Niebergall) (10/01/90)
From article <4730@crash.cts.com>, by danb20@pro-graphics.cts.com (Dan Bachmann): > In-Reply-To: message from boily@phy.ulaval.ca > > A friend and I wanted to buy a good Math package for our machines. Is > Doug's Math Aquarium the best thing??? We need something that handles cal > calculus and an array of other functions. Most mathematics programs for Amiga > are for young children. Maple is available for the Amiga, and it is certainly not a toy. It's price of US$395 reflects that, and I would say that it is a reasonable price for this piece of software. There has been a lot of discussion lately about the lack of scientific software available for the Amiga, and people are constantly overlooking the availability of Maple. I think that perhaps Amiga users are just unwilling to pay the price for the kind of software that they are asking for. Ross Niebergall, Department of Mathematics, University of Notre Dame rsn@ndmath.math.nd.edu rsn@cartan.math.nd.edu
philip@utstat.uucp (Philip McDunnough) (10/01/90)
In article <681@cartan.math.nd.edu> rsn@cartan.math.nd.edu (Ross Niebergall) writes: [quotes re lack of a good mathematical program on the Amiga deleted] > >Maple is available for the Amiga, and it is certainly not a toy. It's >price of US$395 reflects that, and I would say that it is a reasonable >price for this piece of software. I must agree with this. I have been using Maple, Mathematica, and Theorist on Macs for quite a while( I am not an Amiga user, but find it rather interesting). Maple is first rate. In my opinion, it is much more powerful than Mathematica from a mathematical point of view. Where Mathematica ( and Theorist) have had the advantage is in the graphics' area. However, Maple has been updated for many cpu's( don't know about the Amiga) to produce graphics which easily rival those of Mathematica. The people developing Maple have been very careful to provide graphical tools which can deal with the issue of plotting functions. This is more complicated than it would seem, as you have to worry about singularities,etc... By the way, since the Amiga does have a bridgecard, there is a very nice PC symbolic mathematical program called Derive which functions quite well on an XT and has a neat interface. It's written in Lisp. It's only a matter of time before the Amiga gets these areas satisfied. In the meantime Maple for mathematical problems and I believe it's called Xlisp-Stat from Minnesota( publice domain but VERY good) for statistics should tie people over. Philip McDunnough Department of Statistics University of Toronto [my opinions]
jlh@noether.math.purdue.edu (Jeffrey Hensley) (10/01/90)
In article <90273.104606UH2@psuvm.psu.edu> UH2@psuvm.psu.edu (Lee Sailer) writes: >Here's a different slant on the lack of Scientific Software on <insert machine >here>. The Unix community, and to a lesser extent the general Comp Sci >community have a tradition developed over the past 20 years of sharing >locally developed software. For example, if you create an experimental >text editor for a machine, you write a manual, bundle the whole thing up, >and try to export it. I think this is because for many people in this >community developing software is the *end product* they want to be recognized >for. > >On the other hand, this tradition is very rare in the sciences and engineering. >When some scientist develops a program that allows a user to view a data cloud >in N-dimensions, the *last* thing that occurs to him or her is to go on and >add a user interface and write a manual, and so on. > >There are exceptions to this, of course, but as a general trend I doubt you >will see many good scientific applications floating around free because >scientists aren't motivated to produce them. I would tend to disagree with this generalization. Perhaps you have never needed a "Scientific" package, but there are LOTS of packages out there in the public domain. Have you ever heard of Netlib? Source code is available to solve a large number of problems. Finite element packages, finite differences, ODE solvers, plotters, special function routines, etc. etc. What you perceive as a rarity may be due to the fact that you just haven't run across this stuff. I might as well say that there is a lack of source code available for X applications :-) One difference is real, and this probably explains why there is an apparent lack of AMIGA scientific packages - most scientists have access to machines at work which handle things for them (most notably, plotting routines). I am not going to try to use my A2000 at home to plot when I can go to work and do it better & faster and where I have a laserjet printer hooked up (and for many people change that to an actual plotter). Since there is less of a software base for the Amiga (as compared to Macs) it isn't surprising to find a lack of software aimed at the sciences. An exception is Maple, but then the hope there is that enough schools will use Amigas that they can make a nice profit. --Jeff
ted@sbstaff2.cs.sunysb.edu (Dr. Ted Carnevale) (10/01/90)
This message is empty.
rhunt@icard.med.unc.edu (Rick Hunt) (10/01/90)
Every once in a while I get a mailer from a company called Lionheart. They carry "Statistical and Management Software for Business, Technology, & Science" and the selection seems rather extensive. The prices range from $100-200 but each pacage seems a little narrow in scope. For example, some of the titles are: ANOVA, Cluster Analysis, Matrix Operations etc. I have never ordered anything from them since I am forced against my will to use a clone at work :-( Lionheart Press, Inc. PO Box 379 Alburg, VT 05440 phone: 514-933-4918 They also make the software for IBMs, Atari ST, and Macs. I don't know if they are still in business. Rick
hb136@leah.Albany.Edu (Herb Brown) (10/01/90)
In article <1990Sep30.212440.18576@utstat.uucp>, philip@utstat.uucp (Philip McDunnough) writes: > In article <681@cartan.math.nd.edu> rsn@cartan.math.nd.edu (Ross Niebergall) writes: > > >Maple is available for the Amiga, and it is certainly not a toy. It's > > I must agree with this. I have been using Maple, Mathematica, and Theorist > on Macs for quite a while( I am not an Amiga user, but find it rather > interesting). Maple is first rate. In my opinion, it is much more powerful > than Mathematica from a mathematical point of view. Where Mathematica ( and > Theorist) have had the advantage is in the graphics' area. However, Maple At the University at Albany we are now teaching mathematics in a classroom equipped with Amiga computers and Maple software. The students interact between blackboard and computer instruction simultaneously. So far, Maple seems to be quite a success. We are using an old version (4.1) and are looking forward to an Amiga port of Maple V. Herb Herb Brown Math Dept The Univ at Albany hibrown@leah.albany.edu
ypcazabon@tiger.uwaterloo.ca (Yvan Cazabon) (10/01/90)
I agree there is a shortage of good scientific programming, but you might want to take a look at MATLAB, which is a port of the original Unix version (written in Fortran). It does almost everything you would like to do w.r.t. matrix algebra, and has some 2D and 3D plotting abilities. It's available via FTP, although I forget which site I got my copy from :-). Regards, Yvan Cazabon
kent@swrinde.nde.swri.edu (Kent D. Polk) (10/01/90)
In article <6669@uwm.edu> duncan@csd4.csd.uwm.edu writes: [...] >He cites an underpowered machine as a prime reason, there are >other reasons I'm sure BUT... He mentions a set of "scientific >visualization" software in the public domain for the Mac >developed by Brad Fortner's Mac visulation group at the National >Center for SuperComputer Appliications - Univ. of Il. > >Transform >View >Format >Dicer You hit it right on the head. >Transform allows one to manipulate floating point data and >represent the data in various ways. It supports HDF and provides >routines in C and FORTRAN as libraries. With the HDF libraries, you may write your two-dimensional image to an "HDF" file from Fortran or C on your VAX, UNIX workstation, or a SuperComputer like the cray, then download them to a Mac or PC for postprocessing and visualization (basically the equivalent of showanim's for raster animations). Support IFF instead - provide IFF writers in the form of source or libraries for use on such as: VAX, UNIX, and Cray-UNICOS from both Fortran77 and C. Comment from a fellow scientist: "It is a real pain to have to write your files as some sort of ascii portable file, [...] convert to IFF to perform the animations. The HDF format allowed the scientific user to go directly from the Cray to the Mac for animations. WE in the amiga community could blow the Mac "animations" away with IFF/ANIM animations -- if only we could casually generate IFF files via calls to Fortran77 or C callable lib on the big computers. And we would then have the capablity to "postprocess" the IFF's -- a capability sorely missing with in the HDF/Mac environment. Unfortunately, the lib's would have to be distributed as source code for portability to VAX, UNIX, and UNICOS -- but so does the HDF stuff anyway." >View appears to be a type of image analysis program and an >animation program. Signal and Image Processing. Also runs under X11. >I recently attended a presentation where the analysis was really >hindered by linear thinking. It really needed a multivariate approach > >I mention these products because they seem to be in keeping with >Commodore's approach that the amiga is a computer for the >creative mind and IF they are freely available might be a place >to start for porting. Our thoughts exactly. So, these are a few items that would be useful on the Amiga and could be performed by students without a lot of ambiguity. They are either direct ports of existing programs, or involve a well defined program development with existing code "chunks" for guidance. Any takers? BTW, this thread has generated quite a bit of email as well as these substantive postings. I am keeping a list of requested software and probably will post it sometime soon. Kent Polk: Southwest Research Institute (512) 522-2882 Internet : kent@swrinde.nde.swri.edu UUCP : $ {cs.utexas.edu, gatech!petro, sun!texsun}!swrinde!kent
boily@phy.ulaval.ca (Edouard Boily) (10/02/90)
Hi Dan, It took me some time to respond but my mail generated a lot of responses. You wanted more info about the project in my .sig. Here. AmiGraph is a high-end scientific data plotter (read publication-quality graphics generator) which will have a VERY nice interface to work with. It will output professionnal looking graphics. Since it will be library based, the user will be able to add modules as his needs grows. We've made plans for Statistical, Fourier and Fit/Filter modules. Since we use the PlPlot library, the output can be PostScript, which is interesting. I cannot tell you more now but it will be quite interesting. I also work (I'm alone this time) on porting some IRAF stuff on the Amiga. A.I.R.P. is now obsolete since the arrival of AmigaDOS 2.0. It was an "Amiga Intuition replacement Project", a bit like ARP. It's dead by now. Anyway, an Alpha version of AmiGraph will probably get out in 1991 (I can't be more precise, sorry!). Regards, - Edouard .---------------------------------------------------------. | boily@phy.ulaval.ca 1150055@LAVALVX1.bitnet | |---------------------------------------------------------| | Edouard Boily | Projects: AmiGraph, AmigIRAF, A.I.R.P. | | Physic's Dept. | Interests: Astronomy, Comp. Sciences | | Laval Univ. | Work: On my Ph. D. _ // | | Quebec, CANADA | Citation: Not yet! \X/ | `---------------------------------------------------------'
myb100@csc.anu.oz.au (10/02/90)
In article <28496@swrinde.nde.swri.edu>, kent@swrinde.nde.swri.edu (Kent D. Polk) writes: > [...] > With the HDF libraries, you may write your two-dimensional image to an > "HDF" file from Fortran or C on your VAX, UNIX workstation, or a > SuperComputer like the cray, then download them to a Mac or PC for > postprocessing and visualization (basically the equivalent of > showanim's for raster animations). > > Support IFF instead - provide IFF writers in the form of source or > libraries for use on such as: VAX, UNIX, and Cray-UNICOS from both > Fortran77 and C. > There is another way to convert <any_format> to IFF, where <any_format> resides on the mainfame. > Comment from a fellow scientist: > > "It is a real pain to have to write your files as some sort of ascii > portable file, [...] convert to IFF to perform the animations. The HDF > format allowed the scientific user to go directly from the Cray to the > Mac for animations. WE in the amiga community could blow the Mac > "animations" away with IFF/ANIM animations -- if only we could casually > generate IFF files via calls to Fortran77 or C callable lib on the big > computers. And we would then have the capablity to "postprocess" the > IFF's -- a capability sorely missing with in the HDF/Mac environment. > Unfortunately, the lib's would have to be distributed as source code > for portability to VAX, UNIX, and UNICOS -- but so does the HDF stuff > anyway." > [Excuse the length of the include, but it was all very relevant to this:] [#define Stand_on_soapbox_and_start_selling_mode ON :-) ] You might recall a posting I made a while back (~21Sep90) about a program (actually two) called PAWS and PAWSDisp. Ken Mighell's PAWS is a programmable terminal emulator that runs on the Amiga, that has VT100/Tek4010/Image-Display screens all available simultaneously. PAWS allows you to display images from your mainframe with a minimum of fuss, just by sending the image a line at a time over the serial line to the Amiga, which decompresses it and draws it. This works very well, and is quite fast. (note, serial line!) I've written a Fortran subroutine (called PAWSDisp) that will accept a 2D array of numbers (on the mainframe) and displays it (on the Amiga), using PAWS. All that a user needs to provide is a main program (I have used Fortran and C) that reads in your data, model, image, whatever into a 2D array, and calls my subroutine. This 'header' to PAWSDisp is usually quite trivial to write, given a particular format. PAWSDisp provides you with several options in terms of scaling, zooming, trimming, PostScript output, plots of slices, plots of histograms, etc. I have ported PAWSDisp to VAXes (with VMS) and Suns/SPARCS (Unix, or, more strictly, SunOS). If you want to animate several frames, this can be QEDone by using PAWSDisp together with a screengrabber, like GRABBitt, which saves the screen as an IFF frame. Load the various frames into something like DPaint III, and voila, animations and IFF manipulations (albeit with 32 colours.. which is enough for a lot of things, but not for everybody, granted) A point to note: PAWS/PAWSDisp runs over a serial line/modem. You can quite happily do this at home/in the office with no Ethernet requirement ! [In the PAWSDisp readme, you'll see that HDF format is something I do want to support - I collect header programmes as I/someone-else write(s) them. At this stage I only have astronomical stuff, like IRAF,FIGARO,Starlink,FITS..] If you're interested in trying this out, the following is from the release message: - begin included stuff ---------------------------- [...] PAWSDisp 1.40 : 18 September 1990 - Markus Buchhorn [list of features deleted] So, where do I get it ? ======================= Anonymous ftp from merlin.anu.oz.au [130.56.4.215] in the directory pub/PAWS_Sun or pub/PAWS_Vax There is also a header program for IRAF images in the PAWS_Sun directory. Others are available - mail me if you want them, or need help writing your own. Please remember that we are GMT+10hrs here at the moment - keep your ftp'ing to a quiet time of our day please, if possible. - end include -------------------------- Sorry about the length of this posting, but I do have several vested interests here :-), not just as someone flogging a (*free*) product. I would like to see lots more scientific programs for the Amiga, E. Boily's stuff for example sounds great ! Plotting programmes, 2d and 3D, with the ability to rotate 3D displays with the mouse, would be my first and major requirement. PAWS/PAWSDisp covers most of the rest for me (for now) :-) [#define sale_mode OFF] To Kent: Do you think your above-mentioned 'fellow scientist' would be interested in something like this ? From your description, it comes kinda close...and might save him/her a lot of time. > Kent Polk: Southwest Research Institute (512) 522-2882 ^^^^^^^^ what do you research into ? > Internet : kent@swrinde.nde.swri.edu > UUCP : $ {cs.utexas.edu, gatech!petro, sun!texsun}!swrinde!kent =============================================================================== Markus Buchhorn /// | This space Mt Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories, Canberra /// | PMB Weston Ck. P.O. A.C.T. 2611, Australia \\\/// | intentionally markus@mso.anu.oz.au -or- nssdca::psi%mssso::markus \XX/ | left blank ===============================================================================
jwright@cfht.hawaii.edu (Jim Wright) (10/02/90)
I am looking for a package for the Amiga (or for Unix) which is capable of handling rather large data sets. I have five years worth of data on environmental and mechanical parameters. This consists of 100 floating point numbers recorded at ten minute intervals. I have about 75% to 80% coverage of all the possible readings. I've pre-processed the data files so that each year (1986-1990) is in a separate file of about 30 megabytes. Eventually I would like to correlate this information to seeing statistics. Obviously, a program which processes this in-memory isn't much use. The only thing that I can think of that will do a reasonable job with this much data is SAS. (I always have a glimmer of hope that SAS/Lattice will come to my rescue.) Any ideas? -- Jim Wright jwright@cfht.hawaii.edu Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Corp.
BAXTER_A@wehi.dn.mu.oz (10/02/90)
In article <90273.105607UH2@psuvm.psu.edu>, UH2@psuvm.psu.edu (Lee Sailer) writes: > In article <1990Sep29.021658.26896@evax.arl.utexas.edu>, > hill@evax.arl.utexas.edu (Col. Ames and Pixel) says: > >> My wish list: > > >> 1) Plotting program. Ability to plot xy, scatter, polar, parametric. Plot as >> wire frame and ability to rotate (ala Calligari, and Lightwave with a >> cube, rectangle etc...) around all axes. Ability to figure volumes of >> closed solids, limited symbolic math, (find intersection of planes in >> y=mx+b format or others, min/max of f(x)'s. > > > Isn't there a freely distributable package that does some of this stuff? > It writes HPGL output, and includes a way to send HPGL to any preferences > printer. I think it is called MultiPlot, or PLPLOT:, or some such, or > maybe that is two different packages altogether. Both these packages do this. And a whole loy more. PLPLOT is a library of plotting functions and is enormously flexible, covering just about anything you can imagine. It is fairly complex to use. Multiplot is a simple X Vs Y plotting program with nice goodies like easy to use interface, click to edit, and heaps of output formats. The latest beta of Multiplot handles log axes, Y errors that vary in length above and below tha data point, postscript (including EPSF) and lots more. > > Perhaps the real problem is that it isn't commercial enough! There needs > to at least be that little ad in the back of Amiga World every month to > help people find it. Better yet, the ad should be in Science. > You want to advertise, you are going to have to give us money! Regards Alan
kent@swrinde.nde.swri.edu (Kent D. Polk) (10/02/90)
>terminal emulator that runs on the Amiga, that has VT100/Tek4010/Image-Display > >A point to note: PAWS/PAWSDisp runs over a serial line/modem. You can quite >happily do this at home/in the office with no Ethernet requirement ! > >To Kent: Do you think your above-mentioned 'fellow scientist' would be >interested in something like this ? From your description, it comes kinda >close...and might save him/her a lot of time. Looks interesting. I read the initial posting & sent it around. Question: Is there an easy way to disconnect the serial port connection from the rest of the program? We have very few serial connections - use Ethernet. I.e. How attached to the serial port is your system. If it is easy to use with ethernet (rsh, etc.) then we may have something here. > ^^^^^^^^ what do you research into ? "Have Brain, Will Travel" I'm in the Non-Destructive Sciences and Technology Division - UT, AE, ET, IR, Radiography, etc. (UltrasonicTech, AcousticEmission, EddycurrentTech, InfraRed) We look at things before they go boom!. Kent Polk: Southwest Research Institute (512) 522-2882 Internet : kent@swrinde.nde.swri.edu UUCP : $ {cs.utexas.edu, gatech!petro, sun!texsun}!swrinde!kent
sdl@linus.mitre.org (Steven D. Litvinchouk) (10/02/90)
In article <90273.104606UH2@psuvm.psu.edu> UH2@psuvm.psu.edu (Lee Sailer) writes: > Here's a different slant on the lack of Scientific Software on <insert machine > here>. The Unix community, and to a lesser extent the general Comp Sci > community have a tradition developed over the past 20 years of sharing > locally developed software.... > > On the other hand, this tradition is very rare in the sciences and engineering. > When some scientist develops a program that allows a user to view a data cloud > in N-dimensions, the *last* thing that occurs to him or her is to go on and > add a user interface and write a manual, and so on. However, there is a lot of scientific/mathematical software whose development was paid for by the government. Much of this software (including source) can be had for a nominal fee, and ported to other machines. Good sources include: NASA's "COSMIC" catalog, and all the government laboratories. Which brings me to one package I'd be interested in seeing run on the Amiga: The "APE 2.0" scientific visualization toolkit. Developed at the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC), it supports graphical visualization of N-dimensional data sets for such applications as fluid dynamics, etc. A visual programming paradigm lets the user invoke various filters and graphical rendering tools by connecting icons graphically. APE 2.0 is available from the OSC for $75. It currently runs on Unix platforms, so porting to Amiga Unix should be no problem. It might even be portable to AmigaDOS (as other Unix programs have been). Steven Litvintchouk MITRE Corporation Burlington Road Bedford, MA 01730 (617)271-7753 ARPA: sdl@mbunix.mitre.org UUCP: ...{att,decvax,genrad,necntc,ll-xn,philabs,utzoo}!linus!sdl "Where does he get those wonderful toys?" -- Steven Litvintchouk MITRE Corporation Burlington Road Bedford, MA 01730 (617)271-7753 ARPA: sdl@mbunix.mitre.org UUCP: ...{att,decvax,genrad,necntc,ll-xn,philabs,utzoo}!linus!sdl "Where does he get those wonderful toys?"
eric@eklektik.UUCP (/dev/tty000) (10/02/90)
In article <90273.105607UH2@psuvm.psu.edu> UH2@psuvm.psu.edu (Lee Sailer) writes: >In article <1990Sep29.021658.26896@evax.arl.utexas.edu>, >hill@evax.arl.utexas.edu (Col. Ames and Pixel) says: >> My wish list: >> 1) Plotting program. Ability to plot xy, scatter, polar, parametric. Plot as >Isn't there a freely distributable package that does some of this stuff? >It writes HPGL output, and includes a way to send HPGL to any preferences >printer. I think it is called MultiPlot, or PLPLOT:, or some such, or >maybe that is two different packages altogether. > >Perhaps the real problem is that it isn't commercial enough! There needs >to at least be that little ad in the back of Amiga World every month to >help people find it. Better yet, the ad should be in Science. Well, perhaps it's time the folks on the net got together and set up some sort of informal organization to deal with this. Maybe it could start out as a mailing list for discussions/requests/collaborations/etc. It could even be used to apply concerted pressure on software houses to port/develop software that meets certain needs, if we can agree on what those needs are and show the potential market. I would be willing to help with such an undertaking, *if* I can get some help setting it up (I've never done anything like that...) and if it's okay with this system owner (it's a small private system). What say you all? If you would be interested in such a mailing list or other such idea, please send me email so I can get an idea of the number of people who might want to be involved. In addition to posting any comments on the net, of course. -- Eric Kennedy eric@eklektik.pgh.pa.us BIX: ekennedy ...pitt!idis!eklektik!eric Pittsburgh Commodore Group BBS: (412) 434-5483
jnmoyne@lbl.gov (Jean-Noel MOYNE) (10/03/90)
Just an idea .. I'm not a scientific, but as I read all these messages,
I'm wondering:
Why doesn't anybody try to setupa list of all the scientific software
actually available on the Amiga ? Like if it's PD: where to get it using
ftp (since I beleive, most of the scientifics have access to the net one
way or another), and if it's commercial: price & where to get it.
I don't know, but looking at all these messages: "I'm looking for
....." and the answer " there is allready a program doing it, it's called
XYZMaths ...". Looks like the information isn't very spreaded.
Of course I just try to express my opinions, and I'm not concerned (
(-: )
JNM
--
I write (badly) only my own opinions.
" Just make it ! "
Bo, in 'Bo knows UNIX'ronkko@cc.helsinki.fi (10/03/90)
Here is a list of a few scientific programs I would like to see on Amiga:
1) A Bibliographic database (This is a MUST, every scientist need this!)
It has to be flexible and able to communicate properly with other Amiga
programs (Word processing, DTP)
2) A multimedia style laboratory protocol book/edatabase/experimet planning/
report generator/etc./etc. -utility
3) Two/Three dimensional drawing tool for biochemical/biological structures
(With animation of course!)
4) Genetic sequence analysis (DNA, RNA) softaware (something like PC-gene, but
better!)
5) All-in-one file converter utility (Conversion of all major file types from
PC, Mac and amiga to help communication between different Machines; this is a
must!)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reijo Ronkko University of Helsinki, Dept. of General Microbiology,
Mannerheimintie 172, 00300 Helsinki, FINLAND
Fax +358-0-4735426
Ronkko@cc.helsinki.fi
---------------------------------------------------------------------------ronkko@cc.helsinki.fi (10/03/90)
> 2) A multimedia style laboratory protocol book/edatabase/experimet planning/
Sorry, this line was ment to be:
2) A multimedia style laboratory diary/protocol database/experiment planning/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reijo Ronkko University of Helsinki, Dept. of General Microbiology,
Mannerheimintie 172, 00300 Helsinki, FINLAND
Fax +358-0-4735426
Ronkko@cc.helsinki.fi
---------------------------------------------------------------------------kjm100@csc.anu.oz.au (10/03/90)
In article <28519@swrinde.nde.swri.edu>, kent@swrinde.nde.swri.edu (Kent D. Polk) writes: > > Looks interesting. I read the initial posting & sent it around. Question: > Is there an easy way to disconnect the serial port connection from the > rest of the program? We have very few serial connections - use Ethernet. > I.e. How attached to the serial port is your system. If it is easy to use > with ethernet (rsh, etc.) then we may have something here. > PAWS could be modified to display data sent via Ethernet just replace the serial port reader with an Ethernet reader. Not that I could do it mind you since I don't have access to Ethernet but it should not be all that difficult. Clearly you would need the PAWS source code to hack up. Please write to me at Mt. Stromlo Observatory. Best regards, Ken Mighell +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Kenneth John Mighell | | Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories | | Private Bag, Post Office Weston Creek, ACT 2611, AUSTRALIA | | email: mighell@mso.anu.oz.au (INTERNET) phone: 06-249-0234 fax: 06-249-0233 | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
new@ee.udel.edu (Darren New) (10/03/90)
In article <3265.270916da@cc.helsinki.fi> ronkko@cc.helsinki.fi writes: >1) A Bibliographic database (This is a MUST, every scientist need this!) > It has to be flexible and able to communicate properly with other Amiga > programs (Word processing, DTP) This is a program I have been designing in the background :-). With my Ph.D. work, not much gets done on it in any given week. I would be interested in hearing what people would like to see in such a program, to see if I've missed anything. -- Darren -- --- Darren New --- Grad Student --- CIS --- Univ. of Delaware --- ----- Network Protocols, Graphics, Programming Languages, Formal Description Techniques (esp. Estelle), Coffee -----
duncan@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Shan D Duncan) (10/04/90)
From article <3265.270916da@cc.helsinki.fi>, by ronkko@cc.helsinki.fi: > Here is a list of a few scientific programs I would like to see on Amiga: > > 1) A Bibliographic database (This is a MUST, every scientist need this!) > It has to be flexible and able to communicate properly with other Amiga > programs (Word processing, DTP) > > 2) A multimedia style laboratory protocol book/edatabase/experimet planning/ > report generator/etc./etc. -utility > > 3) Two/Three dimensional drawing tool for biochemical/biological structures > (With animation of course!) > > 4) Genetic sequence analysis (DNA, RNA) softaware (something like PC-gene, but > better!) Not having seen PC-gene but having used a freely distributed program that does do Genetic sequence analysis. I can at least add my: Here is a program that is available and can do what you wish. Anybody want to start a database of sci. programs under various categories such as graphics, output, text, stats, and so forth? Best place would be to skim the fish library and see what you might land. Phylip is a set of programs for doing genetic sequence analysis. Be forwarned that 1) The source and docs are large (about 1 mb). 2) Written in Pascal. I have converted old versions of some of the programs to "C" using the p2C program posted to newxanth and c.b.a/c.s.a. The source is a fairly standard version of pascal but is not as fast as it could be. Joe would REALLY love to have someone run his test data on an Amiga with a pascal compiler. Since I am told every day that molecular biology is the wave of the future I am sure there are thousands, no millions (well maybe tens of thousands) who have been waiting for just this set of programs to fun but did not know about them. Well wait no more! In there somewhere should be a :-) I am sure. Here is Joe's introductory message to phylip 3.3. He does outstanding support!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! From CLASS-L@ccvm.sunysb.edu Tue Jun 12 19:19:26 1990 Received: by csd4.csd.uwm.edu; id AA25727; Tue, 12 Jun 90 19:19:21 -0500 Message-Id: <9006130019.AA25727@csd4.csd.uwm.edu> Received: from SBCCVM.BITNET by ccvm.sunysb.edu (IBM VM SMTP R1.2.2MX) with BSMTP id 0487; Tue, 12 Jun 90 20:19:25 EDT Received: by SBCCVM (Mailer R2.07) id 0413; Tue, 12 Jun 90 20:19:24 EDT Date: Tue, 12 Jun 90 17:09:01 PDT Reply-To: "Classification, clustering, and phylogeny estimation" <CLASS-L@SBCCVM> Sender: "Classification, clustering, and phylogeny estimation" <CLASS-L@SBCCVM> From: Joe Felsenstein <joe@GENETICS.WASHINGTON.EDU> Subject: PHYLIP 3.3 Released X-To: CLASS-L%SBCCVM.BITNET@uwavm.acs.washington.edu To: 'Shan Duncan' <duncan@CSD4.CSD.UWM.EDU> Status: RO Version 3.3 of PHYLIP, a free package of programs for inferring phylogenies from various kinds of data, was released last weekend. Source code, documentation, and PCDOS executables are available for free from me as usual on diskette, by anonymous ftp from evolution.genetics.washington.edu, by e-mail, or on tape. Below I have appended the PHYLIP general information notice which describes details of distribution. There are many changes from the previous version. Here is a summary of the major changes since 3.2. 1. DNA and protein sequences now input in "interleaved" or "aligned" format instead of all on one sequence followed by all of the next. This means one can more easily use output of alignment programs. 2. The DNA distances program will now bootstrap sequences, and the distance matrix programs will analyze the resulting multiple-data- set input files. Thus one can do bootstrapping on DNA distance trees. 3. A DNA maximum likelihood program assuming a molecular clock is added. 4. Two new interactive menu-driven tree drawing programs are added (the old ones are removed), which allow preview of the trees to be plotted on IBM PC graphics or DEC or Tektronix graphics terminals. They plot to plotters, Postscript laser printers, dot matrix printers. 5. More detection of input file errors, more informative error messages. 6. Programs that infer trees that have branch lengths now print them out in a different format (phenogram-style) that allows approximate branch lengths to be seen. 7. The compatibility program CLIQUE and the consensus tree program CONSENSE now print trees in a more easily interpretable way. 8. Programs printing out hypothetical states at interior nodes now do so in an interleaved format that makes it easier to see all the states of one character as they form a single column. 9. Improvements of the interactive tree rearrangement programs. 10. Correction of a problem in the discrete character programs that had led to them having trouble running even moderate size data sets on PCDOS machines. I will shortly post a notice listing other packages currently available from others. Here is the PHYLIP information sheet. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- PHYLIP - Phylogeny Inference Package (version 3.3) This is a FREE package of programs for inferring phylogenies and carrying out certain related tasks. At present it contains 28 programs, which carry out different algorithms on different kinds of data. The programs in the package are: ---------- Programs for molecular sequence data ---------- PROTPARS Protein parsimony DNAPARS Parsimony method for DNA DNAMOVE Interactive DNA parsimony DNAPENNY Branch and bound for DNA DNABOOT Bootstraps DNA parsimony DNACOMP Compatibility for DNA DNAINVAR Phylogenetic invariants DNAML Maximum likelihood method DNAMLK DNAML with molecular clock DNADIST Distances from sequences RESTML ML for restriction sites ----------- Programs for distance matrix data ------------ FITCH Fitch-Margoliash and least-squares methods KITSCH Fitch-Margoliash and least squares methods with evolutionary clock -------- Programs for gene frequencies and continuous characters ------- CONTML Maximum likelihood method GENDIST Computes genetic distances ------------- Programs for discrete state data ----------- MIX Wagner, Camin-Sokal, and mixed parsimony criteria MOVE Interactive Wagner, C-S, mixed parsimony program PENNY Finds all most parsimonious trees by branch-and-bound BOOT Bootstrap confidence interval on mixed parsimony methods DOLLOP, DOLMOVE, DOLPENNY, DOLBOOT same as preceding four programs, but for the Dollo and polymorphism parsimony criteria CLIQUE Compatibility method FACTOR recode multistate characters ---------- Programs for plotting trees and consensus trees ------- DRAWGRAM Draws cladograms and phenograms on screens, plotters and printers DRAWTREE Draws unrooted phylogenies on screens, plotters and printers CONSENSE Majority-rule and strict consensus trees The package includes extensive documentation files that provide the information necessary to use and modify the programs. COMPATIBILITY: The programs are written in a very standard subset of Pascal, a language that is available on most computers (including microcomputers). The programs require only trivial modifications to run on most machines: for example they work with only minor modifications with Turbo Pascal, and without modifications on VAX VMS Pascal. Pascal source code is distributed in the regular version of PHYLIP: compiled object code is not. To use that version, you must have a Pascal compiler. DISKETTE DISTRIBUTION: The package is distributed in a variety of microcomputer diskette formats. You should send FORMATTED diskettes, which I will return with the package written on them. Unfortunately, I cannot write any Apple formats. See below for how many diskettes to send. The programs on the magnetic tape or electronic network versions may of course also be moved to microcomputers using a terminal program. PRECOMPILED VERSIONS: Precompiled executable programs for PCDOS systems are available from me. Specify the "PCDOS executable version" and send the number of extra diskettes indicated below. An Apple Macintosh version with precompiled code is available from Willem Ellis, Instituut voor Taxonomische Zoologie, Zoologisch Museum, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Plantage Middenlaan 64, 1018DH Amsterdam, Netherlands, who asks that you send 5 800K diskettes. HOW MANY DISKETTES TO SEND: The following table shows for different PCDOS formats how many diskettes to send, and how many extra diskettes to send for the PCDOS executable version: Diskette size Density For source code For executables send in addition 3.5 inch 1.44 Mb 2 1 5.25 inch 1.2 Mb 2 2 3.5 inch 720 Kb 4 2 5.25 inch 360 Kb 7 4 Some other formats are also available. You MUST tell me EXACTLY which of these formats you need. The diskettes MUST be formatted by you before being sent to me. Sending an extra diskette may be helpful. NETWORK DISTRIBUTION: The package is also available by distribution of the files directly over electronic networks, and by anonymous ftp from evolution.genetics.washington.edu. Contact me by electronic mail for details. TAPE DISTRIBUTION: The programs are also distributed on a magnetic tape provided by you (which should be a small tape and need only be able to hold two megabytes) in the following format: 9-track, ASCII, odd parity, unlabelled, 6250 bpi (unless otherwise indicated). Logical record: 80 bytes, physical record: 3200 bytes (i.e. blocking factor 40). There are a total of 71 files. The first one describes the contents of the package. POLICIES: The package is distributed free. I do not make it available or support it in South Africa. The package will be written on the diskettes or tape, which will be mailed back. They can be sent to: Joe Felsenstein Electronic mail addresses: Department of Genetics SK-50 Internet: joe@genetics.washington.edu University of Washington BITNET/EARN: FELSENST@UWALOCKE Seattle, Washington 98195 UUCP: ... uw-beaver!evolution.genetics!joe U.S.A. ***********Now back to our previous poster********************* > > 5) All-in-one file converter utility (Conversion of all major file types from > PC, Mac and amiga to help communication between different Machines; this is a > must!) > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Reijo Ronkko University of Helsinki, Dept. of General Microbiology, > Mannerheimintie 172, 00300 Helsinki, FINLAND > Fax +358-0-4735426 > > Ronkko@cc.helsinki.fi > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
mwm@raven.pa.dec.com (Mike (My Watch Has Windows) Meyer) (10/04/90)
In article <3265.270916da@cc.helsinki.fi> ronkko@cc.helsinki.fi writes:
Here is a list of a few scientific programs I would like to see on Amiga:
1) A Bibliographic database (This is a MUST, every scientist need this!)
It has to be flexible and able to communicate properly with other Amiga
programs (Word processing, DTP)
[Edited as indicated by author in <3266.27092713@cc.helsinki.fi>.]
2) A multimedia style laboratory diary/protocol database/experiment
planning/report generator/etc./etc. -utility
For these two, you might take a look at Thinker, which is sold as a
hypertext system, but is best described as a hyperoutliner. The basic
structure is that of an outliner, but it has the ability to create
links to statements elsewhere in that document, or in in other
documents. It also includes the ability to include pictures in a
variety of forms, import/export text, launch other applications, and
an ARexx interface. It comes with a simple drawing program that
manipulates objects and interfaces with Thinker. Since the Thinker
manual was written as a Thinker document, you can do some report
writing it it. Cost is usually around $80.
If you're in the SF Bay Area (I know, Reijo isn't likely to be) on
October 18th, there's a demo (among other things) of Thinker scheduled
for the BADGE meeting that night.
Note: I have no financial interest in the success of thinker; I just
find it very usefull.
<mike
--
Can't buy happiness no matter what you do Mike Meyer
Can't get to heaven on roller skates mwm@relay.pa.dec.com
Can't take a taxicab to Timbuktu decwrl!mwm
Life is hard.walterg@cs.athabascau.ca (Walter Gray) (10/05/90)
You may want to check out the MAPLE program from the University of Waterloo, ON, Canada. The program is available on a variety of OS platforms and does a good job of many mathematical procedures such as integration, linear alegbra, plotting etc. I am at home but will forward you an e-mail address from work tomorrow.
maxc0849@ucselx.sdsu.edu (InnerTangent) (10/05/90)
ypcazabon@tiger.uwaterloo.ca (Yvan Cazabon) writes: >I agree there is a shortage of good scientific programming, but you might >want to take a look at MATLAB, which is a port of the original Unix version >(written in Fortran). It does almost everything you would like to do w.r.t. >matrix algebra, and has some 2D and 3D plotting abilities. It's available >via FTP, although I forget which site I got my copy from :-). >Regards, >Yvan Cazabon MATLAB is in the fred fish collection. 296 or something. You can find a COMPLETE collection of fish disks at the FTP site: 128.8.10.14 (disk 1-370) Good luck. -- [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] [] Only Amiga makes it Possible.. | InnerTangent: maxc0849@ucselx.sdsu.edu [] [] Mind is the basis of reality. | In Real Life: Bill Chiu []
sdl@linus.mitre.org (Steven D. Litvinchouk) (10/09/90)
Another class of scientific/engineering programs I would like to see
on the Amiga is simulation programs.
At least two simulation tools have been specially developed for the
Macintosh: Extend and Perspective. They employ the Mac's graphical
interface to support graphical model construction. Surely a
comparable tool could do the same thing on the Amiga.
On the Amiga, you could do something even nicer: If the simulation
executive had an AREXX port, it could output a stream of simulation events
via the AREXX port to any other Amiga application that also had an
AREXX port. This would enable you to interface a variety of
AREXX-capable "back-ends" to the simulation executive:
-- animation tools
-- data analysis and data reduction tools (could conceivably use
spreadsheets or DBMS's)
-- business and/or scientific graphics tools
Steven Litvintchouk
MITRE Corporation
Burlington Road
Bedford, MA 01730
(617)271-7753
ARPA: sdl@mbunix.mitre.org
UUCP: ...{att,decvax,genrad,necntc,ll-xn,philabs,utzoo}!linus!sdl
"Where does he get those wonderful toys?"
--
Steven Litvintchouk
MITRE Corporation
Burlington Road
Bedford, MA 01730
(617)271-7753
ARPA: sdl@mbunix.mitre.org
UUCP: ...{att,decvax,genrad,necntc,ll-xn,philabs,utzoo}!linus!sdl
"Where does he get those wonderful toys?"bbs@bluemoon.UUCP (BBS login) (10/09/90)
> Well, perhaps it's time the folks on the net got together and set up > some sort of informal organization to deal with this. Maybe it could > start out as a mailing list for discussions/requests/collaborations/etc. > It could even be used to apply concerted pressure on software houses > to port/develop software that meets certain needs, if we can agree > on what those needs are and show the potential market. I would > be willing to help with such an undertaking, *if* I can get some > help setting it up (I've never done anything like that...) and if > it's okay with this system owner (it's a small private system). > > What say you all? If you would be interested in such a mailing > list or other such idea, please send me email so I can get an > idea of the number of people who might want to be involved. In > addition to posting any comments on the net, of course. > I amsomewhat new to the Amiga (since Feb.) and especially this net. I have been follwing this and related threads due to what I originally bought my Amiga for, scientific research. It had the best graphical display for under $2000 (I am in the fields of Chaotic Attractors) and could crunch some numbers in a fair amount of time, and I since I had a C128, I knew quite a lot about the machine. I am just starting out in C and have been desperately been looking for at least the source for a program to graph 10,000 coordinates in 3d, and be able to zoom in and out an rotate without too bad a recalc time. I guess what I am long-windedly trying to say here, is that if this group does happen, I would like very much to be a part of it and in general think it would be a great idea and would help promote some serious scientific programs to pop up. Thanks (sorry bout no sig yet s
swarren@convex.com (Steve Warren) (10/09/90)
In article <SDL.90Oct8153631@lyra.linus.mitre.org> sdl@linus.mitre.org (Steven D. Litvinchouk) writes: [...discussion of simulation on Macs deleted...] >On the Amiga, you could do something even nicer: If the simulation >executive had an AREXX port, it could output a stream of simulation events >via the AREXX port to any other Amiga application that also had an >AREXX port. This would enable you to interface a variety of >AREXX-capable "back-ends" to the simulation executive: [...] Absolutely. In addition to the "visualization" aspect, you could also do interesting things with dynamic systems which require different types of simulators for components of the system. You could run multiple simulations time-synchronised, and use AREXX as the interface between the components of the simulation. Example: A flight simulating system in which one simulator produces new terrain and weather patterns, and a second simulator "flies" within this world. Of course this could be accomplished within the same piece of software, but there are times when you want the components seperate; for example, when developing the software for a guidance system, you don't want the "world simulator" that you use in development imbedded in your guidance code. -- _. --Steve ._||__ DISCLAIMER: All opinions are my own. Warren v\ *| ---------------------------------------------- V {uunet,sun}!convex!swarren; swarren@convex.COM
ARROWOOD@cc.usu.edu (10/12/90)
In article <3265.270916da@cc.helsinki.fi>, ronkko@cc.helsinki.fi writes: > Here is a list of a few scientific programs I would like to see on Amiga: > > 1) A Bibliographic database (This is a MUST, every scientist need this!) > It has to be flexible and able to communicate properly with other Amiga > programs (Word processing, DTP) > (Stuff deleted) > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Reijo Ronkko University of Helsinki, Dept. of General Microbiology, > Mannerheimintie 172, 00300 Helsinki, FINLAND > Fax +358-0-4735426 > > Ronkko@cc.helsinki.fi > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just thought I'd let you know of a set of AREXX-based utilities I've put together for just such a purpose. Called, simply enough, Citation_Base. The set includes two versions of the macros, the first work with Software Visions Incorporated's MicroFiche Filer Plus, a database program with full AREXX support. My example database file has all of the necessary fields pre-set and the AREXX macros can be called by selection from the included pull down menus. The macros allow the user to import biblio- graphic citations from other bibliographic databases: ProCite, EndNote, Refer, BibIx, and from the USDA's Agricola CDROM and online databases, as well as from ISI's Current Contents databases run on MacIntoshes or PC's. Bibliographic databases may also be exported in most of these formats. The most useful macro, however, is called LAYOUT. LAYOUT allows selected citations (in Citation_Base stock format) to be exported in virtually any journal format, which can then be included as the bibliography or literature cited section of your manuscript. All necessary formatting is incorporated (e.g. italics, bold face, underline...). The output file can be in one of two formats: WordPerfect or Rich Text Format (RTF). The latter can be transfered to MicroSoft Word (Mac or PC) as well as UNIX RTF-compatible programs. Journal style templates are easily customized for those journals not already included in the Citation_Base package. For those users who cannot afford to purchase MFF+ (right away), a second set of AREXX macros are included which can be executed via icon or from the CLI or SHELL. These macros work on text files of citations constructed with a text editor (e.g. the public domain QED or the commercial CygnusEd). All of the features in the MFF+ version of the AREXX macros are available in the text-file version. The macros are not particularly speedy, but get the job done. After all, I'm a parasitologist, not a programmer. I'd love to see a product like EndNote (for the MacIntosh) on the Amiga, but I doubt Niles and Associates would consider a port. In the mean time, if anyone is interested in the Citation_Base package, send me E-mail or write to me directly. I'm new to the Mail/FTP process, but if there is enough interest I'll try to get one of my more knowledgeable colleagues to upload it to a FTP'able site. Internet: ARROWOOD@CC.USU.EDU "LIFEFORCE: Sixteen breasts, 24 dead Bitnet: ARROWOOD@USU dead bodies, 17 quarts blood, 57 Turtle Mail: Mike Arrowood beasts, 3 gratuitous vampire attacks, Utah State Univ. UMC 5600 kung fu, lip fu, exploding actors... Logan, UTAH 84322 FOUR stars: Joe Bob says check it out"
BAXTER_A@wehi.dn.mu.oz (10/12/90)
> I amsomewhat new to the Amiga (since Feb.) and especially this net. I > have been follwing this and related threads due to what I originally > bought my Amiga for, scientific research. It had the best graphical > display for under $2000 (I am in the fields of Chaotic Attractors) and ^^^^ okay, not a 68030 > could crunch some numbers in a fair amount of time, and I since I had a > C128, I knew quite a lot about the machine. starts me worrying.. I am just starting out in C > and have been desperately been looking for at least the source for a > program to graph 10,000 coordinates in 3d, and be able to zoom in and out ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > and rotate ^^^^^^^^^^^ Plot on an middling early fish disk can do this. Also check out the PLPLOT libarary. without too bad a recalc time. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 10,000(points) *3 (dimensions) integer (at best) calculations, then hidden line removal, then pixel pushing. It will have a terrible recalc time! I guess what I am long-windedly > trying to say here, is that if this group does happen, I would like very > much to be a part of it and in general think it would be a great idea and > would help promote some serious scientific programs to pop up. > Regards Alan