wescott@LNIC1.HPRC.UH.EDU (Andrew M. Wescott) (04/23/89)
I have heard much talk about X-Windows in this discussion
group, but I must say I have never worked with X, and I would
like your help getting started.
We have purchased Open Dialogue for our DN 3500s, and of course
now that we have it I need the current version of X for a 3500
running SR 10.1 and BSD4.3. Okay, so what is the current version,
and where do I get it (ADUS ?) ? I had heard rumors that Apollo was
bringing out a supported X product for Open Dialogue. Is this
true? Should I wait for it?
We also have a DN 10000 running SR 10.0.p and BSD 4.3. When will
Open Dialogue and a supported X be available for the 10k ? In
the meantime, is there a non-supported X available? Also, we
will be installing the 40 plane VS upgrade within a couple of
months...is anyone porting X to this configuration?
My next to last question centers around crping ("creeping") to
our DN 10000. All our users on the 3500s crp to the 10000 to
run BIG reservoir simulation codes that would bring a 3500
to its knees. Problem is ... I have found crp windows to be
very unfriendly except for running remote processes. I
always instruct people to have a local window up for editing,
but what about graphics? Is is smarter to run a local graphics
code synchronously with the simulation on the 10000 with NCS
(i.e. like the ncs_mandelbrot demo) or should we use an X-Window? .
And since all our codes are color...is X color? When will X be 3d ?
Okay, my last question may be really dumb, but I have to ask.
Several of our users run from home (on the DN 10000) over 9600
bps links with reasonable '386/VGA machines. Is there some kind
of run-time Open Dialogue interface and X available for these machines.
I seem to remember a run-time Domain Dialogue interface for the
RT, but that doesn't mean I can extrapolate so much.
I'm sorry that I'm soo... ignornant about this, but I've got to
start somewhere. I just hope someone out there is patient
enough to answer all of these questions.
Sincerely,
Andrew Wescott
University of Houston
Department of Chemical Engineeringoj@apollo.COM (Ellis Oliver Jones) (04/24/89)
In article <8904221754.AA00121@lnic1.hprc.uh.edu> wescott@LNIC1.HPRC.UH.EDU (Andrew M. Wescott) writes: >I had heard rumors that Apollo was >bringing out a supported X product for Open Dialogue. Is this >true? Should I wait for it? Yes, it's true. There's a released version for sr9.7. Domain/X will be bundled in SR10.2 (midsummer I believe). If you don't want to wait that long you can obtain the "borrow-mode" stuff by ordering a set of tapes from the MIT X consortium, or from ADUS. However, you'll probably need a couple of weeks of hacking to get the unsupported stuff up and running. Others in this newsgroup may have other opinions about this ... :-) >We also have a DN 10000 running SR 10.0.p and BSD 4.3. When will >Open Dialogue and a supported X be available for the 10k ? Again, at sr10.2, which is coming midsummer. >In the meantime, is there a non-supported X available? There may be a borrow-mode X available for the DN10k soon; with any luck we'll get to it after sr10.1.p freezes (tomorrow?). >Also, we >will be installing the 40 plane VS upgrade within a couple of >months...is anyone porting X to this configuration? Yep. X will work on all DN10Ks at SR10.2. However, it will run in single-buffered pseudocolor mode, which means X is suitable primarily for user-interface, or DN3500-compatible, applications. If you wish to use double-buffering or true color, GMR3d or GPR are your best bets. >Is is smarter to run a local graphics >code synchronously with the simulation on the 10000 with NCS >(i.e. like the ncs_mandelbrot demo) or should we use an X-Window? . Well, either approach works. If your code is written for GMR3d, run a local graphics program synchronously; it'll be a year or so before PEX (PHIGS Extensions to X) are ready to go. If your code is written for GPR/GSR, you have a choice; either run it locally or port it to X. It should be a simple matter of compilation to get the X client code (Xlib, etc) to run on the DN10000. You will need X server code on your DN3500s. Porting to X can be laborious. Various trade shows have X tutorials. There are also a couple of consulting companies that help with this task. >Is X color? Yes. >When will X be 3d ? In a year or so, via PEX; see above. >I seem to remember a run-time Domain Dialogue interface for the >RT, but that doesn't mean I can extrapolate so much. Something to keep straight: X uses a client-server model, in which your application is considered a client, and the server is a program (usually, but not necessarily, provided by your vendor) which draws on the screen. Open Dialogue is a bunch of software you use on the CLIENT side of your operation to help implement applications. Open Dialogue speaks X, and can use any X server to draw things. This X server can run on your DN3500, your DN10000, your PC, or whatever. The client and the server can be on the same node (e.g. both on a DN3500). Alternatively the client can be on a big computer (DN10000, Connection Machine, you name it) and the server can be on a DN3500 or a PC. Most fast PC X implementations are server-only ... they make the PC into an X "terminal," but you still need a host to run applications. Hope these answers help. /Ollie Jones (speaking for myself, not necessarily for Apollo Computer, Inc.)