ralcgm man page on DigitalUNIX

Man page or keyword search:  
man Server   12896 pages
apropos Keyword Search (all sections)
Output format
DigitalUNIX logo
[printable version]

RALCGM(1)							     RALCGM(1)

NAME
       ralcgm - translate, view or print Computer Graphics Metafiles.

ORIGIN
       Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

SYNOPSIS
       ralcgm [ -btcnpixfev ] [ -d driver name ] [ -g gdp types ]
	      [ -l profile name ] [ -o driver options ]
	      [ -a terminal string ]
	      [ infilename ] [ outfilename ] [ errfilename ]

AVAILABILITY
       This  is RALCGM release 3.0 (man version 2.7).  The source code of this
       program together with information on how to  install  it	 is  available
       from the University of Kent.

DESCRIPTION
       ralcgm is a program for:

	      - translation between CGM encodings;
	      - viewing CGM files on X Windows.
	      - hardcopy output of CGM files on PostScript printers.
	      - viewing CGM files on Silicon Graphics Iris 3130 or 4D
		workstation.
	      - viewing a CGM file on a Tektronix 4200 series
		Terminal.
	      - translating a CGM file to a Tektronix 4200 file.
	      - converting a CGM file to a HPGL file.
	      - viewing on an IBM PC or compatible with a VGA screen.

       On the translation side, four encoding methods exist in ralcgm:

	      - binary
	      - character
	      - clear text
	      - native character output (non-ASCII machines only)

       Any  input  CGM file can be translated to one of the above encodings by
       specifying options -b, -c, -t, -n respectively.	Binary, character, and
       clear  text encodings are as described in ISO 8632(1987) document.  The
       native character encoding is a variant of the character	encoding  with
       input  and  output being treated according to the host machine's native
       character set, i.e. EBCDIC for the IBM machines.

       The encoding method of the  input  CGM  is  automatically  detected  on
       entry.	If  an	output encoding is specified, the input file is trans‐
       lated accordingly.  If no output encoding option is specified, a system
       dependent  default (determined by the installer at the compilation time
       or by setting an environment variable) is chosen.  For instance,	 where
       X-windows has been selected as the system default, the CGM file will be
       viewed in an X window.  The normal default is clear  text  encoding  to
       standard output.

       All  of the filename arguments are optional, and they have to appear on
       the command line in the order described in the synopsis.	  If  none  of
       the filename arguments is present, ralcgm reads from standard input and
       writes to standard output, or sends the picture to the screen,  depend‐
       ing  on	whether	 translation or viewing is required.  On some non-unix
       systems (VMS and CMS) piping from stdin is not allowed.	 All  diagnos‐
       tics and error messages are sent to the standard error stream.

       If a number of filename arguments are given, the first argument will be
       taken to represent the input file name, second the  output  file	 name,
       and  the	 third the error file name.  An extension of cgm is assumed if
       no file extension is specified.

       To view a CGM file in a X Windows environment, GL Window or on a termi‐
       nal,  invoke ralcgm by selecting the option -d driver , where driver is
       the name of the output device as specified below.

ARGUMENTS
       infilename - optional input file name.
       outfilename - optional output file name.
       errorfilename - optional error file name.

OPTIONS
       Options may appear anywhere on the command line	and  single  character
       options	may be grouped together, as long as each set of options starts
       with a '-'.  If an option has an extra data string this must follow the
       option,	with  or  without  a  seperating space, and must terminate the
       group.  All single character options may be either upper or lower case.

       -b     translate input CGM into binary encoding.

       -c     translate input CGM into character encoding.

       -n     produce native character set version of  input  CGM's  character
	      encoding.

       -t     translate input CGM into clear text encoding.

       -p     convert  input  CGM to PostScript.  The PostScript output can be
	      directed to standard output or a named  file,  and  subsequently
	      printed  out  on	a  PostScript  printer.	 (This option has been
	      replaced by the -d ps option, but is  retained  for  compatabil‐
	      ity.)

       -i     display input CGM using the Iris Graphics Library (applicable to
	      the Silicon Graphics Iris Workstations only).  (This option  has
	      been replaced by the -d igl option, but is retained for compata‐
	      bility.)

       -x     display input CGM using X-windows (applicable to	the  X-windows
	      environment  only).  (This option has been replaced by the -d xw
	      option, but is retained for compatability.)

       -a terminal string
	      (Applicable to the X Windows  environment	 only).	  This	option
	      will pass the terminal string specifing the host and the default
	      display device for the X Window environment.  Note that the ter‐
	      minal string is case dependent.

       -e     ignore error count limit (16 by default).

       -f     sends  diagnostic	 and  error  messages  to a file.  If no error
	      filename is given the default is to send to a file with the root
	      of the input file and a suffix of .err.

       -v     use  verbose mode.  This causes diagnostic messages to appear on
	      the standard error stream.

       -g gdp types
	      Generalized Drawing Primitive Identifiers may be non-negative or
	      negative.	 Non-negative values are reserved for ISO registration
	      and future use, and negative values are  available  for  private
	      use.   No	 GDP  identifiers have been registered yet, hence non-
	      negative GDP identifiers are illegal.  A number of packages gen‐
	      erate negative GDPs.  At present ralcgm can only interpret those
	      that have been generated by RAL-GKS.  Specifying -g  RAL	or  -g
	      ral  will	 turn  this feature on.	 By default, negative GDPs are
	      treated as errors.

       -l profile name
	      This flag is used to define a profile.

	      At present the only profile supported is oldbin ,	 which	allows
	      ralcgm  to read Binary CGMs produced by RAL-CGM version 2.00 and
	      earlier.	These CGMs have wrongly coded negative integers.  Only
	      use  this	 flag  if there are problems reading a CGM as not many
	      CGMs contain negative integers.

       -d driver name
	      To allow for a larger range of drivers than are allowed by  sin‐
	      gle character codes, drivers may be specified by name.  The fol‐
	      lowing names are recognised where capital letters	 indicate  the
	      minimum abbreviation:

	      CHaracter
		     Character encoding

	      Native Character encoding (native)

	      CLear Text or TEXt
		     Clear Text encoding

	      Binary Binary encoding

	      Postscript or PS
		     PostScript

	      Xwindows or X11
		     X-Windows (release 11.4)

	      Igl or IRIS
		     Iris Graphics Library (GL2)

	      Hpgl   HPGL

	      TEKtronix
		     Tektronix 4200 series (including EMU-TEK)

	      Vga    PC VGA screen

       -o driver options
	      This  option  allows driver dependent options to be specified as
	      as single string which is	 interpreted  by  the  output  driver.
	      Options  may  be case dependent for some drivers.	 Currently the
	      following options are recognised:

	      Applicable to PostScript driver only.

	      -o[BFCMENIVPLQ]
		     where any combination of single characters (case indepen‐
		     dent)  can be specified, from each of the following pairs
		     of mutually exclusive options:

		     B	    Ignore Background Colour setting.  This is	needed
			    when  a  black  background	is  put in the CGM for
			    screen output and the  foreground  colour  is  not
			    set,  which	 would	normally  result in the output
			    consisting of a Black square with all drawing done
			    in black.

		     F	    Respect Background Colour setting (default).

		     C	    Colour PostScript.

		     M	    Monochrome PostScript (default).

		     E	    EPSF (Encapsulated PostScript).

		     N	    Normal PostScript (default).

		     V	    Add Picture border.

		     I	    Do not print Border (default).

		     P	    Portrait mode (default).

		     L	    Landscape mode.

		     Q	    Output  for	 extended  A4  on a QMS plotter.  This
			    gives a larger plotting area than the default.

	      Applicable to Iris Graphics Library only

	      -o[DSBMCFTVP]
		     where any combination of single characters (case indepen‐
		     dent) can be specified.

		     D	    Use double buffer mode for graphics display.  This
			    means that the process  of	updating  the  graphic
			    screen  is	done  off-screen  and will only become
			    visible when a picture is complete.

		     S	    Use	 single	 buffer	 mode  for  graphics   display
			    (default).	Also stop after each frame.

		     M	    Movie  mode.   Do not pause between frames and use
			    double buffered mode.

		     C	    Continuous mode.  Do not pause between frames, but
			    do not use current buffered mode, unless D is also
			    set.

		     B	    Single Buffer mode.	 Same as S  option,  but  does
			    not disable movie mode.

		     F	    Full screen mode.  In full screen mode no textport
			    is displayed.  This prevents  diagnostic  messages
			    appearing on the screen.

		     T	    Textport  on.  In full screen mode the textport is
			    displayed to the right of the screen.

		     V	    Virtual  24-bit  Colour  mode  for	 Iris	Indigo
			    (Default for direct colour)

		     P	    Pseudocolour  mode for direct colours, rather than
			    Virtual 24-bit mode.

	      Applicable to HPGL only

	      -o[34PLCN]
		     where any combination of single characters (case indepen‐
		     dent) can be specified.

		     3	    Use A3 paper

		     4	    Use A4 paper (default)

		     P	    Portrait mode (default)

		     L	    Landscape mode

		     C	    Output printer initialisation controls (default)

		     N	    Do not output printer initialisation controls

	      Applicable to Tektronix 4200 Terminal only

	      -o[NC] where any combination of single characters (case indepen‐
		     dent) can be specified.

		     N	    Use 16 colours ie 4 bit-planes (default)

		     C	    Use 256 colours rather than default of  16.	  This
			    only  applies  to  terminals with more than 4 bit-
			    planes.

	      Applicable to PC (VGA) only

	      -o[HL] where a single characters (case independent) can be spec‐
		     ified.

		     H	    Use	 High Resolution mode (default) - 760x480 pix‐
			    els with 16 colors

		     L	    Use Low Resolution mode - 480x360 pixels with  256
			    colors

ENVIRONMENT
       Ralcgm  recognises  various  environment	 variables to override default
       options.	 The following Environment variables are recognised:

       CGMDATA pathname
	      A directory name to overridew the default data  directory	 path‐
	      name  (specified at installation time).  Note that the name must
	      include the trailing delimiter ('/' on Unix systems).

       CGMMENUFONT font (X-Windows only)
	      Override default font used by X-Window menus.

       CGMOUTPUT driver name
	      A text string specifying the Output driver as listed in the '-D'
	      option  above,  plus  the	 'CHaracter',  'Native',  'CLeartext',
	      'Text' or 'Binary' for translators.

       CGMERRCOUNT num
	      A number to indicate the number of errors before	RALCGM	aborts
	      processing.  Setting CGMERRCOUNT to 0 will prevent aborting.

       CGMPSOPT option list
	      PostScript options.  See '-O' option above.

       CGMIGLOPT option list
	      Iris Graphics Library options.  See '-O' option above.

       CGMHPGLOPT option list
	      HPGL driver options.  See '-O' option above.

       CGMTEKOPT option list
	      Tektronix 4200 driver options.  See '-O' option above.

       CGMVGAOPT option list
	      VGA Screen driver options.  See '-O' option above.

       CGMGDP gdptype
	      A text string to set a default GDP type.	See option '-G' above.

       CGMVERBOSE on | off
	      See option '-V' above.

       CGMHPGLn + 4 floating point numbers
	      where n is a pen number.	HPGL Pen description (red, green, blue
	      values in range 0.0 to 1.0 plus pen width in mm).

       CGMPROFILE profile type
	      specify a Profile type.  see option '-L' above.

X WINDOWS VIEWER COMMANDS
       To display a CGM file in an X window, invoke the ralcgm program (with X
       running) selecting the appropriate option and passing the CGM file name
       as the first argument, e.g.
	      ralcgm -d xw map.cgm

       This displays the picture in a window with the current frame number and
       title  printed  in  the title window (the invoking X terminal acts as a
       console for ralcgm interpreter messages).  There are four title	window
       buttons	for  controlling  the display sequence, a pop-up button box to
       manipulate scaling and translation of any part of  the  picture	within
       the window, and a pop-up keypad to display a randomly chosen frame.

       The title window buttons are:

	 nx	display next frame

	 pr	display previous frame

	 cu	re-display current frame

	 ab	abort current frame

	      The buttons set and the keypad are invoked by clicking different
	      mouse buttons.  Here, the mouse button will be  referred	to  as
	      button  1, button 2 and button 3 for left, middle and right but‐
	      ton respectively.	 To move through the CGM file frame by	frame,
	      pick appropriate title window button and click mouse button 1.

	      To  select  a random frame, click button 1 on the picture window
	      to raise the keypad.  Select frame number	 by  clicking  on  the
	      appropriate  digits,  and then pick D.  Picking D with no number
	      selected	drops  the  window.   Picking  C  clears  the	number
	      selected.

	      If  a  frame  beyond  the	 end of the file is selected, the last
	      frame will be displayed.	If a frame before the first  frame  in
	      the file is selected, the first frame will be displayed.

	      The set of pop-up buttons is invoked by clicking button 2 in the
	      picture window.  To select any of the items in  the  set,	 click
	      button 1.

	      The set of items includes:

		     copy    Creates  new  display  windows  showing  the same
			     frame as the present window.  New windows can  be
			     used  independently in the same way as the origi‐
			     nal ones.

		     bigger  Makes the	picture	 bigger.   Use	the  mouse  to
			     define  two  points at opposite corners of a rec‐
			     tangle which is then expanded as much as possible
			     (see note on dragging the mouse below).

		     smaller Makes  the	 picture  smaller.   Use  the mouse to
			     define two points at opposite corners of  a  rec‐
			     tangle.   The  picture  will  then	 be compressed
			     into the defined rectangle.

		     move    Moves the frame in the window.  Define two points
			     - the first is moved to the second.

		     normal  Restore picture to normal size and position.

		     close   Remove this window but leave others.

		     finish  Close  all windows and terminate program.

		     drop    Remove the menu with no action.

	      For  bigger,  smaller and move you must define two points on the
	      screen.  To do this, depress button 3 at	one  point,  drag  the
	      mouse  to	 the other point and then release the button.  Move is
	      operated in a similar manner, with first	point  as  the	anchor
	      point  and  the second point as the destination of the specified
	      anchor point.

	      Note: There is no rubber banding when dragging the mouse button,
	      so the user has to estimate the result of the scaling and moving
	      while dragging the mouse with button 3 depressed.

IGL VIEWER COMMANDS
       On the Silicon Graphis Iris 3130, there are two modes of working,  Full
       screen mode or Window mode (mex).  The RAL-CGM interpreter will work in
       either mode, but the control is slightly different.   On	 the  Iris  4D
       only the Window mode is used.

       In  both modes the left mouse button is used to pause the current frame
       and if the middle mouse button is pressed while the left button is held
       down  then  the	frame  is aborted, otherwise a second left button will
       continue processing.

       In full screen mode, unless in movie mode, at the end of each  frame  a
       'beep' will sound and pressing the left button will advance to the next
       frame.  Pressing the middle button will	prompt	for  a	frame  number,
       unless the left button is held down at the same time, in which case the
       program will be aborted.	 In movie mode, a left	button	will  interupt
       the program, which can then be controlled as above.

       In  window  mode	 at  the  end of each frame a pop-up menu will appear,
       which is controlled by the right mouse button.  This menu give you  the
       options:

       Next    next frame

       Redraw  redraw current frame

       Last    return to last frame

       Find    displays a second menu to choose a frame number

       Quit    exit program

       To  use	the  second menu click the right mouse on each digit until the
       required number is displayed  in	 the  'Frame'  box,  then  select  the
       'Frame' box.  Use the 'undo' box to delete the last digit.

TEKTRONIX VIEWER
       The  Tektronix  has only a very basic control, which issues a prompt at
       the end of each picture.	 The allowable replies are  'Q'	 to  quit,  or
       anything else to continue.

EXAMPLES
       ralcgm ship.bin -t clear
	      will  create  a CGM file clear which will contain the clear text
	      encoding version of the input CGM ship.bin.

       ralcgm -d xw ship.clear
	      will view ship.clear in an X window.

       ralcgm -d ps ship laser.ps
	      will produce a PostScript version of ship.cgm, in file laser.ps.

DIAGNOSTICS
       As soon as the input encoding is recognized, a message to  that	effect
       is  sent	 to standard error if verbose mode is chosen.  Three levels of
       error severity exist.  Fatal errors abort the program; errors and warn‐
       ings do not.  Messages are sent to the standard error stream.

BUGS
       Some  CGM Metafile Descriptor elements are ignored.  Particularly Poly‐
       gon Set and Auxillary colour are not handled on most drivers.   Correct
       Pattern Filling for User defined patterns is not yet supported.
       Complicated  Polygon  Sets may hit the ceiling of available memory when
       processed by the PostScript interpreter.
       The Tektronix does not support Hatch fill and HPGL will currently  only
       Hollow fill.
       Convex  Polygons	 are  not  displayed correctly using the Iris Graphics
       Library.	 Also Direct colours are  not  support	if  less  than	24-bit
       planes  are  available, except on an Iris Indigo which uses the Virtual
       24-bit system.

AUTHORS
       R T Platon ( RAL CCD ) is  the  original	 author.   Contributors:  C  D
       Osland,	A  R Mayhook, C D Seelig, K E V Palmen, N M Hill, W M Lam (all
       from RAL CCD ); P L Popovic and W K Lui ( RAL ID ); A H Francis (  Page
       Description ).

User Command			     Local			     RALCGM(1)
[top]

List of man pages available for DigitalUNIX

Copyright (c) for man pages and the logo by the respective OS vendor.

For those who want to learn more, the polarhome community provides shell access and support.

[legal] [privacy] [GNU] [policy] [cookies] [netiquette] [sponsors] [FAQ]
Tweet
Polarhome, production since 1999.
Member of Polarhome portal.
Based on Fawad Halim's script.
....................................................................
Vote for polarhome
Free Shell Accounts :: the biggest list on the net