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From: agraps@netcom.com (Amara Graps)
Subject: Re: Opinions on IDL sought
Message-ID: <agrapsD3HtEx.4t3@netcom.com>
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
References: <Melissa.Hines-2901951743140001@128.253.229.125> <JCSCHULTZ.95Feb3155052@frostpile.mmm.com>
Date: Sat, 4 Feb 1995 20:40:08 GMT
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Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu comp.sys.mac.scitech:3881 sci.image.processing:12412

jcschultz@mmm.com (John C. Schultz) writes:

>In article <Melissa.Hines-2901951743140001@128.253.229.125> Melissa.Hines@Cornell.edu (Melissa A. Hines) writes:

>   I am in the market for a program to perform (scientific) image analysis.
>...

>My image processing environment is Khoros which I have not seen
>represented in the threads to date so my comments are included below.

>First, IMHO Khoros and either IDL and MATLAB are complimentary rather
>than duplicative as I first thought.

Yes, Yes, Yes!  RSI, makers of IDL realized this too, and so they 
have built a set of routines to link IDL with AVS, a boxes-and-wires
type of visualization system similar to Khoros. I've seen and heard
alot about Khoros- it seems to have far more useful data-analysis
routines than SGI's Explorer, IBM's Data Explorer, or AVS.

If I were you I'd write IDL (survey@rsinc.com) or post in the 
comp.sys.lang.idl-pvwave newsgroup your desire to get a set
of links between IDL and Khoros. They are fairly responsive to 
suggestions.

Unfortunately, Khoros doesn't exist on the Mac! About 1 1/2 years ago
my spouse and I saw Khoros and had a long conversation with one of the
developers about them creating a Mac version. They weren't that
interested in it, and even if they were, they didn't have funding to
do it. Since my spouse and I were working on Apple's Scientist's
Workbench project at the time (another boxes-and-wires visualization
system), we thought that maybe some kind of collaboration between
Apple and Khoral Research might be in order to get a Mac version. But
unfortunately the dialog never got very far. We passed the word on to
the Scientist's Workbench managers and the idea ended. (Probably
because Scientist Workbench then was having funding problems of its
own. I don't know what the funding situation is with Apple's
"Scientific Solutions Builder" now).

Aside: Does anyone care to comment on what they saw of the Scientific
Solutions Builder demo at the SEAM conference?  That demo was at the same
time as the session that I was moderating and talking in, so I missed it.

My gut feeling is that a very useful collaboration can be built
between IDL and boxes-and-wires visualization software, if/when it
exists on the Macintosh.

>I personnally have not decided between using IDL or MATLAB in addition
>to Khoros and look forward to more discussion on this topic.

Me too!

>--
>John C. Schultz                     EMAIL: jcschultz@mmm.com


Amara

-- 

*************************************************************************
Amara Graps			email: agraps@netcom.com
Computational Physicist         vita: finger agraps@sunshine.arc.nasa.gov
Intergalactic Reality           bio: finger -lm agraps@netcom.com
*************************************************************************
"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands
explained."  --Mark Twain








