[Edu-sig] VisAd anyone ?

[Jason Cunliffe]

Hello

Just checked a link to Bill Hubbard's good work on VisAD and was delighted
to find there is now a JPython module...

I thought Art and others here might appreciate really this:

http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~billh/visad.html
and in particular
http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~billh/README.python

<quote>
VisAD is a Java component library for interactive and collaborative
visualization and analysis of numerical data. The name VisAD is an acronym
for "Visualization for Algorithm Development". The system combines:
The use of pure Java for platform independence and to support data sharing
and real-time collaboration among geographically distributed users. Support
for distributed computing is integrated at the lowest levels of the system
using Java RMI distributed objects.
A general mathematical data model that can be adapted to virtually any
numerical data, that supports data sharing among different users, different
data sources and different scientific disciplines, and that provides
transparent access to data independent of storage format and location (i.e.,
memory, disk or remote). The data model has been adapted to netCDF, HDF-5,
FITS, HDF-EOS, McIDAS, Vis5D, GIF and JPEG file formats.
A general display model that supports interactive 3-D, data fusion, multiple
data views, direct manipulation, collaboration, and virtual reality. The
display model has been adapted to Java3D and Java2D and used in an
ImmersaDesk virtual reality display.
Data analysis and computation integrated with visualization to support
computational steering and other complex interaction modes.
Support for two distinct communities: developers who create domain- specific
systems based on VisAD, and users of those domain-specific systems. VisAD is
designed to support a wide variety of user interfaces, ranging from simple
data browser applets to complex applications that allow groups of scientists
to collaboratively develop data analysis algorithms.
Developer extensibility in as many ways as possible.

The visad.python package defines a Python-based language for using
VisAD.  The classes in this package are:

  JPythonEditor - an editor for VisAD Python scripts that can be
                  incorporated in application programs
  JPythonFrame - a program and GUI for editing and running
                 VisAD Python scripts
  JPythonMethods - a set of functions for accessing VisAD that can
                   be called from VisAD Python scripts
</quote>

cheers
Jason
________________________________________________________________
Jason CUNLIFFE = NOMADICS['Interactive Art and Technology'].DesignDirector