This is the XTANGO algorithm animation package. In particular, this
is the variable arguments version which should be the version of
choice for machines like HPs, DECstations, and Alphas. We use the
varargs macros throughout the package to deal with uncertain parameter
types. The important difference in this version from the regular
xtango version is that this version does not use the TANGOalgoOp call
to send messages to the animation component. Rather, this version
calls animation routines directly. If you are on a Sun, IBM, or SGI,
you can probably use the plain (non-varargs) version. It's a little
cleaner all-in-all.
This distribution consists of a number of important subdirectories:
src - source code for the package
include - include file (.h) for compiling with the package
lib - library (.o) to be bound in for using the package and
widget resource files (.res)
bitmaps - bitmaps used with the Athena Widgets version
doc - various doc files and documents
anims - sample algorithm animations using the package
animator - ascii command-based front end for xtango
You can build XTANGO using either the Athena widget set (Xaw) or the
HP X widget set (Xw) or the Motif widget set (Xm). In order to install
XTANGO at your site, do the following:
A. Using Athena widgets:
1. Issue the command INSTALL here in this directory. (It's as easy as that.)
OR
B. Using Motif widgets:
1. XTango expects the Motif include files to be in
/usr/include/X11/Xm and the library Xm.a to be in /usr/lib. If
yours are not there, you may have to
change the XINCLUDE variable in src/Makefile and the XLIBDIR
variable in anims/Makefile to point to your local installation.
(If you get installation problems complaining about Xm, then
this is probably the problem.)
And if you don't understand these directions, ask a local X
expert who will.
2. Issue the command INSTALL here in this directory. (It's as easy as that.)
OR
C. Using HP widgets:
1. If your HP widget set is not located in the standard
/usr/include/X11/Xw and library in /usr/lib then you need to
edit src/Makefile and change the variable
XINCLUDE to your local Xw include path. You also need to edit
anims/Makefile and add your local Xw lib path to the variable XLIBDIR.
(If you get installation errors complaining about Xw, this is
the problem.)
And if you don't understand these directions, ask a local X
expert who will.
2. Issue the command INSTALL here in this directory. (It's as easy as that.)
In the example animations subdirectory (anims), to compile an example
animation named xxx, just do "make PROG=xxx". We have included a
large number of sample animations there. (There is also a "doscript"
file which makes all the programs. This could potentially use a lot
of space, however.) There is also a very useful README file in the
anims subdirectory. Please make sure to read it also. If you go to
run a window and it seems all "squished up" together with buttons on
top of each other, you forgot to add the xtango resources to your X11
resource data base. To find out how to do that, read RECOMMEND.
To build the animator front-end for xtango that reads an ascii file,
one command per line, go into the anims/Animator subdirectory, edit
the Makefile if you aren't using Motif (it's the default), and then
issue the "make" command.
NOTE that you can always go into the src directory and reinstall
xtango by simply giving the command "make athena" or "make hp" or
"make motif". You can also go into the anims directory and type
"make PROG=xxx" to do an individual animation named xxx.
If you choose not to use the INSTALL script or for some reason it did
not work, it's still easy to build the system manually. Do the
following steps:
1.
% cd src
2.
If you're using athena widgets
% make athena
or if you're using hp widgets
% make hp
or if you're using motif widgets
% make motif
3.
% make install
4.
% cd ..
5.
If you're using Athena widgets, edit the file xtango.res
in this directory. Look at line 47. Set the final field
to this current directory. If you're using HP or Motif
widgets, you don't have to do anything at this step.
6.
% cd anims
7.
You may need to fix which widget library will get bound
into the xtango animations. Edit the Makefile in this (anims)
directory and uncomment the appropriate line and make sure the
other two are commented out. (There are directions on how to
do this at the top of the Makefile.)
8.
That should be it--you're ready to make individual animations, i.e,
% make PROG=bpack
Nevertheless, we do recommend Using the INSTALL script because
it does a lot of these things (plus a little more) manually.
In return for using this software, we make one simple request. We
would like if you keep us updated on how you use it, whether you found
it helpful, what improvements you would like to see, any bugs that you
find, etc., etc. This will allow us to keep in touch with how the
software is being utilized. If you would like to be added to the
xtango mail list to hear about new versions, bugs, new animations,
etc., please drop a note to stasko@cc.gatech.edu with your email
address in it. Thank you.
**********************************************************************
POSSIBLE PROBLEMS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
* Probably the biggest bugaboo are X library and include directories
that aren't in the standard places. Xtango expects standard
placement. So if you can't find something like the Motif include or
the Athena library, go find them, then edit your Makefiles and change
the variables XINCLUDE and XLIB appropriately.
* If on a SPARCstation, when you compile an animation, you get a message like
Unable to find
__get_wmShellWidgetClass
__get_applicationShellWidgetClass
then go to the Makefile in the anims directory and change the line
XLIB = -L$(XLIBDIR) -l$(WIDGETS) -lXmu -lXext -lXt -lX11
to be
XLIB = -L$(XLIBDIR) -l$(WIDGETS) -Bstatic -lXmu -Bdynamic -lXext -lXt -lX11
This is a bug between SUN OS 4.1.2 and X11R4.
* You may need to comment out a line with a # starting it from
the xtango.res file that is generated.
* If your machine can't find routines like bcopy or select, just
comment them out. The UNIX select call is critical for using the
speed control bar, which is critical for the new animation
methodology. If you have to comment out the select call in
xtangotrans.c, then uncomment another little piece of code there that
fakes doing what the select does.
* You may need to comment out the #include of sys/time.h in xtangotrans.c
and then some code that uses that stuff (lower in the file).
* XTANGO (the basic version) doesn't run right on certain machines
such as DECstation 5000s, Alphas, and certain HP machines. This is
because of a stupid way that we pass parameters in xtango. If this is the
case for you, get the varargs version of the system from the ftp.
* DECstations don't seem to like the fonts that we use in xtango. I
have #defined around this as of version 1.43, so hopefully this
shouldn't be a problem.
***********************************************************************
These ftp files are located in pub/people/stasko/xtango.tar.Z on
ftp.cc.gatech.edu.
--John Stasko
Associate Professor
College of Computing
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0280
(404) 894-5617
stasko@cc.gatech.edu
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/people/Faculty/John.T.Stasko.html
