tcamp@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Ted A. Campbell) (05/24/91)
Users of the AT&T Unix PC/3b1 may find the notice below of interest because I have spent some time implementing the software on the 3b1. The implementation utilizes the TAM and wrastop() libraries, and implements a good deal of the functionality of the VDI interface. The system includes a user interface (ui) with menus, windows, slider bars and elevators, icon-based file selection, and the like. There is also a rather brain-dead MGR implementation, and MGR gurus out there may be able to work some magic on it. See the notice for further details. This offers us (users of the 3b1) with a potential platform for developing graphics-based programs for PCs and X-based Unix systems concurrently. Beta Testers Solicited for Space Flight Simulation Software ----------------------------------------------------------- Bywater Software will soon release source code and PC-compatible binaries for its Space Flight Simulator, and seeks persons interested in beta testing the software. The Space Flight Simulator utilizes graphics-based animation to depict orbital flight. With map data on the earth (and more limited data on other orbital foci), it can depict in real time how the orbital focus appears from the spacecraft, and can display simultaneously a ground track of the orbit or a "distant perspective" showing the orbit around the focus. The program can track up to sixteen orbits or spacecraft simultaneously. Version 1.00 (beta) is available for testing. Users should apply to the address below indicating their interest in testing the software, and stating that they don't intend to distribute this version. (We anticipate that a version 1.01 will be ready for full release in a couple of months, and will be available on a more or less "freeware" basis.) Beta testers, it should be noted, will need to have ftp access to obtain the program. PC compatible binaries for the program are available. Implemen- tations for Unix-based machines are available for the X windows system, and for the AT&T 3b1/Unix PC. Those interested in implementing the software on other computers will be able to work with specification files for the graphics (and mouse), keyboard, and directory subsystems. The Space Flight Simulator is based on the Bywater graphical user interface (ui). Some testers may be interested in working simply with the user interface, since it promises a fairly transparent means of developing graphics-based programs for PC and X based platforms (and the 3b1) simultaneously. Direct applications to: tcamp@uncecs.edu Ted A. Campbell Bywater Software