simple display program for surface data

[steve at wrc.unr.edu]

Does anybody know of, or have a simple GL program that
will take, as input, a file that looks like:

x1 y1 z1
x2 y2 z2
.
.
.
xn yn zn

where z = f(x,y), that is, z is the height of some
dependent variable at the point (x,y)? Please note
that it would be ok if the solution required regularly
gridded (i.e. even spacing in x,y) data points; I have
programs will provide the regularly gridded data,
even if the original data are irregularly spaced.

I'm thinking of something that would work more or less
like the SGI demo program wave, where you could
manipulate the surface in real time, perhaps even
changing lighting models from menus, as in the SGI flip
demo.

Yes, I have NCSA's hcvis, and I am on the list to receive
apE 2.0. NCSA's hcvis requires formatting the data in
their hdf format; a daunting task for a beginner who just
wants to plot some simple x,y,z data; moreover it has
a static display (no real time manipulation of the displayed
surface). apE 2.0 may do what I want, but I don't know
yet. It also has a required data format (flux format),
and will undoubtedly require a fair amount of initial
effort to just get to the point to do what I want.

The simplest solution (it seems to me) would be a program that
would turn the (x,y,z) data into the polygonal data
format needed by flip, or perhaps a simple modifcation
of the wave demo program.

Please note that I'm new to the SGI world; I've had my
PI 4D-25TG only a couple of weeks. I regularly program
in fortran, and have started programming more recently
in c. I plan to take the GL course one of these days,
but it would sure be nice if someone out there has
already done what I'm thinking of.

I will summarize useful information sent directly to
me in a follow up posting, if you want to save bandwidth.

Thanks in advance for your help.


Steve Wheatcraft                Internet: steve at olympus.wrc.unr.edu
Desert Research Institute       Bitnet  : steve at unsvax.bitnet
University of Nevada System
P.O. Box 60220                  AT&T    : (702) 673-7393
Reno, NV 89506                  FAX     : (702) 673-7397