Hi, I've just joined the list, having downloaded, installed and played
around with VisAD this afternoon. I'm searching for an easy way to create
images based on scientific data (mass spectra) in Jython. I've searched the
mailing list archives in answer of this question to no avail, so I thought
I'd ask it here:
I want to be able to quickly prototype software that will draw 2D graphs,
histograms, etc. Sounds (and looks) like VisAD is what I need. I don't know
much about 3D graphics though, and have no need for them right now. The
docs for VisAD say that I can do things in 2D, and that I only need java3d
if I want 3D graphics (at least that's how I understood it). But I'm
finding that even a simple jython script wants java3d:
from graph import *
a=[0, 7, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1, 0]
b = field(a) # Is this the right thing to do?
histogram(b,40)
gives this error message
Traceback (innermost last):
File "/d0/home/fgibbons/cvs/VisAD/quick_graph.py", line 6, in ?
File "/d0/home/fgibbons/cvs/VisAD/./graph.py", line 62, in histogram
java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: javax/media/j3d/Behavior
at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass0(Native Method)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(ClassLoader.java:493)
I've gone to Blackdown's page, checked out the docs for Mesa3d, etc, and to
be honest it scares me - I don't want to know about hardware! Is there any
way that I can use VisAD without installing java3d?
If I could play around with VisAD for a week or two, and can convince
myself that it's really what I need, I might even invest the time in java3d
(the images are so cool - I'm sure I could find a way to use them in my work!).
I did find one message from 1999
(http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/staff/russ/visad/msg09429.html) discussing
building VisAD without java3d, but the solution seems to be adding jars
from 3d? I don't understand this, perhaps someone who has used this trick
could elaborate?
On the other hand, maybe VisAD is overkill for what I want to do (it sure
looks good though).
Thanks for your help. I'm blown away by VisAD's capabilities, especially
when hooked up to Jython!
Frank Gibbons
PhD, Computational Biologist,
Harvard Medical School BCMP/SGM-322, 250 Longwood Ave, Boston MA 02115, USA.
Tel: 617-432-3555 Fax:
617-432-3557 http://llama.med.harvard.edu/~fgibbons
