@M@b@cxfpovray

@cRobert S. Mallozzi
@c<mallozzir@cspar.uah.edu>
@chttp://cspar.uah.edu/~mallozzir/



USAGE

    xfpovray [-geometry +x+y]


PROLOGUE

    The On-Line Help for xfpovray is the complete manual that is part of
    the POV-Ray distribution.  Parts of this manual are incomplete.

    NOTE: The manual included here is a modified, unofficial version of the 
    original POV-Ray documentation.  The only modification was to divide 
    individual chapters of the original documentation into separate files to 
    facilitate display in the Help widget of xfpovray.  Do not contact the 
    POV-Ray team with questions regarding the documentation presented here, 
    as this is a modified version of the original, nor with questions 
    about xfpovray.  This software is in no way affiliated with the 
    POV-Ray team.
 
    If you have questions about how to use the functions available in 
    xfpovray, consult Chapter 6, which explains the POV-Ray options.
        
    Since POV-Ray runs on multiple operating systems, some of the text
    in the manual will not be applicable.
    

INTRODUCTION

    xfpovray is a graphical interface to the cool ray tracing program POV-Ray
    (http://www.povray.org).  It is written with the XForms library 
    (http://bragg.phys.uwm.edu/xforms), and supports most of the numerous 
    options of POV-Ray.   The interface was developed with POV-Ray version 3.0,
    but things should work OK for earlier versions...  

    Please read the documentation on POV-Ray before using xfpovray, 
    especially if you will be using the animation loop or antialiasing.

    E-mail me any comments, criticisms, bugs, etc., or links to your 
    pages of images developed with POV-Ray/xfpovray.
    
    The POV-Ray source code for the xfpovray startup image is provided
    in the file chains.pov.  The text was added to the image with the GIMP
    (http://www.xcf.berkeley.edu/~gimp/gimp.html).

    Some POV-Ray options are not implemented; see below for a list. 
    

NOTES

    You can execute external routines from the pulldown menu "Options".
    For example, you could start your modeling program.  Create the file
    $HOME/.xfpovray/external.routines and add lines of the following format:

       path name

    where path and name are separated by spaces (not tabs, my parser is
    pretty limited...).  path is the full path to the external program, and
    name is the text that will appear on the menu (use only a single word).
    For example, to start ac3d from the "Options" menu, add the line 

       /usr/local/bin/ac3d ac3d

    to the file $HOME/.xfpovray/external.routines.
       
    install.sh no longer asks for a personal .inc file library path when
    compiling xfpovray.  If you want to use a personal library, enter the
    path under the Parsing Options, and then save the xfpovray state
    using Save State under the Options pull-down menu.

    There is a minor bug in POV-Ray with Mosaic Preview under Linux.
    Some files render correctly, others give a segmentation fault.

    xfpovray lets POV-Ray output some text to the terminal from which xfpovray
    was invoked.  I suggest launching xfpovray from an xterm rather than an
    application launcher (i.e., a button on your desktop) so that this output
    text is visible.

    Do not invoke multiple instances of xfpovray.  The temporary files 
    written to $HOME/.xfpovray/ will probably be corrupted if multiple 
    instances of xfpovray are running.
        
        
    POV-Ray options not implemented:

    INI files
	o Labeled sections

    Output options
	o test_abort_count (not applicable, you can send SIGINT at any
	   time with the "Abort Render" function)
	o continue_trace
	o create_ini (see Config File->Save button)
	o video_mode
	o display_gamma
	o pause_when_done: Automatically on if you are displaying 
	   during rendering
	o draw_vistas
	o output_to_file: Output file is always based on the .pov filename
	o output_alpha
	o buffer_output
	o buffer_size
	o bits_per_color
	o CPU utilization histogram

    Scene parsing options
	o Shell-out commands to OS (pre_scene_command, etc.)
	o Text output streams are handled by the Verbose button.  They cannot
	  be output separately, nor output to files.
	o Help screen switches

    
    Click on the Options label to restore the .xpm image after you set
    your image options!
    
    Add your own image to xfpovray (320x240 .xpm)!
    
    
