Starting and Quitting Partiview
Starting and Quitting Partiview
Start Scripts
Partiview can, of course, be run without loading data by either double-clicking on the executable or running it in a shell window. However, we prefer to initialize Partiview with a config file which then loads data and sets their display characteristics. This is accomplished using a start script that takes the form (without the square brackets):
[path to partiview] [path to config file]
For example, if we were using Windows, the start script for the Test Data would look like
partiview ./data/mandata/test.cf
This infers that the start script is located in the same directory as the Partiview executable. If this is so, then Partiview should start, then read the test.cf file which is located two folders down from the executable (i.e., inside the folder with the executable is a folder called data, inside of which is a folder called mandata where the test.cf file resides).
The .partiviewrc File
Once Partiview is executed, it first looks for a file called .partiviewrc. This optional file must be in the same directory as the Partiview executable and contains configure options for Partiview. Typically, this file contains information about the overall characteristics of Partiview that you would want to apply to all sessions of Partiview, whether you run the Test Data or the Milky Way Atlas. A typical file may have these commands:
winsize 1280 1024
eval detach
inertia on
telling Partiview to set the size of the Graphics Window to 1280 x 1024, detaching the GUI from the OpenGL Graphics Window, and setting the inertia feature on, which allows drift in flight (the inertia command is not really necessary since it is on by default, but it is included here as an example). If you want the same field of view for all sessions, then you could include the fov command here too.
Once the .partiviewrc file has been read, then the data config file (i.e., test.cf) is processed. These files typically read in data files and configure the display. By looking at the config files supplied, you will quickly learn what commands are appropriate and how you can use these files to tailor the display to your liking.
Quitting Partiview
There are several ways to quit Partiview. These are:
- Clicking on the top-level window button that your operating system supplies. For Windows this is the “x” button on the upper right, for Macs this is the red button on the upper left side of the window border.
- Hitting the [ESC] key in the Graphics Window. (If you use the escape key in the GUI first, you may have to use it again in the Graphics Window if the two are detached.)
- Typing exit in Partiview's Command Line.
© 2002-2005 American Museum of Natural History
Last Modified: 2006-04-28 by Brian Abbott