From octave-maintainers-request at bevo dot che dot wisc dot edu Sat Dec  6 18:44:34 2003
Subject: Re: 3D plotting solutions
From: N Smethurst <nick dot smethurst at free dot fr>
To: Johan Jansson <johanjan at math dot chalmers dot se>,    octave-maintainers@bevo.che.wisc.edu
Date: Sun, 7 Dec 2003 01:46:56 +0100

Hi all

Sorry (to Ole) for the abrupt end to our previous discussion.. I have been 
tied up with a job over the past few weeks. When things settle down, I'll 
endevour to write the initial idea for the Octave graphics types based on the 
ideas discussed so far.

In the meantime, I have a few comments on Johan's email:

In designing KVisualiser, an idea integral to the design was to enable 
advanced users to write their own plugin visualisation objects - either low 
level VTK type objects, or higher level plotting objects, both of which could 
be controlled via the xml based internal/external comms.

For example, coming from an acoustics background, one of my personal interests 
is to create KV objects which could be used for acoustical analysis:

http://kvisualiser.free.fr/images/mode618.0Hz.jpg
http://kvisualiser.free.fr/images/modes3D.jpg

The grand plan in KV would be to provide the library and program 
infrastructure to empower advanced users to create KV plugin objects that 
have an associated dynamic loadable Octave graphics object type, thereby 
providing pretty much that which Johan expresses.

This extendable mechanism is of course not yet complete - I am still in the 
process of finalising the structure of KV. Once the API is stable and the new 
Octave graphics objects system is in place, I hope that writing new 
visualisation objects will be the relatively easy task of writing new KV and 
associated Octave object types.

In the short term, I can not offer any quick fix since the KV code base is not 
at a stage where the API is fixed, and also Ole + brother and I (and anyone 
else interested) need to finalise the Octave graphics type system. In the 
long term, I hope KV will provide an extendable system where advanced users 
can contribute their new objects back to the KV code base and thus allow 
others to benefit from their work.

Nic