VisAD is a pure Java system for interactive and collaborative visualization and analysis of numerical data. It is described in detail in the:
VisAD Java Class Library Developers Guide
available from the VisAD web page at:
http://visad.ssec.wisc.edu
This README file primarily consists of installation instructions.
The only dependency not included with VisAD is Java3D. To use or compile VisAD you must have Java3D installed and accessible to your Java SDK. Please see https://java3d.dev.java.net for download and install instructions.
To download the VisAD source code, first make sure the current directory is a directory in your CLASSPATH (which we will refer to as '/parent_dir' through the rest of this README file). Then get:
ftp://ftp.ssec.wisc.edu/pub/visad/visad_src.jar
If you have previously downloaded the VisAD source you should run 'make clear' in your visad directory to clear out the old source files before you unpack the new source.
Unpack the jar file by running:
jar xvf visad_src.jar
Unpacking VisAD will create the following sub-directories:
examples // small VisAD application examples visad // the core VisAD package visad/ss // VisAD Spread Sheet visad/formula // formula parser visad/java3d // Java3D displays for VisAD visad/java2d // Java2D displays for VisAD visad/util // VisAD UI utilities visad/collab // collaboration support visad/cluster // data and displays distributed on clusters visad/python // python scripts for VisAD visad/browser // connecting applets to VisAD servers visad/math // math (fft, histogram) operations visad/matrix // JAMA (matlab) matrix operations visad/data // VisAD data (file) format adapters visad/data/units // VisAD Units subsystem visad/data/fits // VisAD - FITS file adapter visad/data/netcdf // VisAD - netCDF file adapter visad/data/netcdf/in // netCDF file adapter input visad/data/netcdf/out // netCDF file adapter output visad/data/netcdf/units // units parser for netCDF adapter visad/data/hdfeos // VisAD - HDF-EOS file adapter visad/data/hdfeos/hdfeosc // native interface to HDF-EOS visad/data/vis5d // VisAD - Vis5D file adapter visad/data/mcidas // VisAD - McIDAS file adapter visad/data/gif // VisAD - GIF file adapter visad/data/tiff // VisAD - TIFF file adapter visad/data/visad // VisAD serialized object file adapter visad/data/hdf5 // VisAD - HDF-5 file adapter visad/data/hdf5/hdf5objects // VisAD - HDF-5 file adapter visad/data/amanda // VisAD - F2000 file adapter (neutrino events) visad/data/text // VisAD - text file adapter visad/data/in // VisAD - data input pipeline visad/data/jai // VisAD file adapter for images using JAI visad/data/ij // VisAD file adapter for images using ImageJ visad/data/gis // VisAD - ArcGrid and USGS DEM file adapters visad/data/dods // VisAD - DODS object adapter visad/data/bio // VisAD - Bio-Formats adapter visad/install // VisAD-in-a-box installer visad/paoloa // GoesCollaboration application visad/paoloa/spline // spline fitting application visad/aune // ShallowFluid application visad/benjamin // Galaxy application visad/rabin // Rainfall estimation spread sheet visad/bom // wind barb rendering for ABOM visad/jmet // JMet - Java Meteorology package visad/aeri // Aeri data visualization visad/georef // specialized earth coordinates visad/meteorology // meteorology visad/gifts // GIFTS visad/sounder // atmospheric sounding package nom/tam/fits // Java FITS file binding nom/tam/util // Java FITS file binding nom/tam/test // Java FITS file binding ucar/multiarray // Java netCDF file binding ucar/util // Java netCDF file binding ucar/netcdf // Java netCDF file binding ucar/tests // Java netCDF file binding edu/wisc/ssec/mcidas // Java McIDAS file binding edu/wisc/ssec/mcidas/adde // Java McIDAS file binding ncsa/hdf/hdf5lib // Java HDF-5 file binding ncsa/hdf/hdf5lib/exceptions // Java HDF-5 file binding gnu/regexp // GNU Regular Expressions for Java gnu/regexp/util // GNU Regular Expressions for Java HTTPClient // Jakarta Commons HttpClient loci/formats // LOCI Bio-Formats package loci/formats/in // Bio-Formats - read image formats loci/formats/out // Bio-Formats - write image formats loci/formats/gui // Bio-Formats - GUI components loci/formats/codec // Bio-Formats - codecs
These directories correspond to the packages in distributed with VisAD, except that the classes in examples are in the default package (i.e., they do not include a package statement).
The source jar includes the VisAD source, the required dependencies source files, the source for the examples, and a simple And build file.
The build file should allow you to compile all the source files in-place, as well as run the Java rmic compiler to generate stubs:
ant build jar
This will create a jar that can be used to run any application requiring the VisAD library. For example, to run the examples make sure the visad.jar and the compiled examples are on your CLASSPATH:
java -cp visad.jar:examples DisplayTest
If you want to write applications for VisAD but don't want to compile VisAD from source, you can dowload a jar file that includes the VisAD classes. This file is:
ftp://ftp.ssec.wisc.edu/pub/visad/visad.jar
Once you've got visad.jar simply add:
/parent_dir/visad.jar;.
to your CLASSPATH. Then you can compile and run applications that import the VisAD classes. However, if your application uses the HDF-EOS or HDF-5 file format adapters, then you will need to compile the native code as described in Section 4 of this README file. The visad.jar file includes the classes from these packages:
visad // the core VisAD package visad/ss // VisAD Spread Sheet visad/formula // formula parser visad/java3d // Java3D displays for VisAD visad/java2d // Java2D displays for VisAD visad/util // VisAD UI utilities visad/collab // collaboration support visad/cluster // data and displays distributed on clusters visad/python // python scripts for VisAD visad/browser // connecting applets to VisAD servers visad/math // math (fft, histogram) operations visad/matrix // JAMA (matlab) matrix operations visad/data // VisAD data (file) format adapters visad/data/units // VisAD Units subsystem visad/data/fits // VisAD - FITS file adapter visad/data/netcdf // VisAD - netCDF file adapter visad/data/netcdf/in // netCDF file adapter input visad/data/netcdf/out // netCDF file adapter output visad/data/netcdf/units // units parser for netCDF adapter visad/data/hdfeos // VisAD - HDF-EOS file adapter visad/data/hdfeos/hdfeosc // native interface to HDF-EOS visad/data/vis5d // VisAD - Vis5D file adapter visad/data/mcidas // VisAD - McIDAS file adapter visad/data/gif // VisAD - GIF file adapter visad/data/tiff // VisAD - TIFF file adapter visad/data/visad // VisAD serialized object file adapter visad/data/hdf5 // VisAD - HDF-5 file adapter visad/data/hdf5/hdf5objects // VisAD - HDF-5 file adapter visad/data/amanda // VisAD - F2000 file adapter (neutrino events) visad/data/text // VisAD - text file adapter visad/data/in // VisAD - data input pipeline visad/data/jai // VisAD file adapter for images using JAI visad/data/gis // VisAD - ArcGrid and USGS DEM file adapters visad/data/dods // VisAD - DODS object adapter visad/data/bio // VisAD - Bio-Formats adapter visad/install // VisAD-in-a-box installer visad/paoloa // GoesCollaboration application visad/paoloa/spline // spline fitting application visad/aune // ShallowFluid application visad/benjamin // Galaxy application visad/rabin // Rainfall estimation spread sheet visad/bom // wind barb rendering for ABOM visad/jmet // JMet - Java Meteorology package visad/aeri // Aeri data visualization visad/georef // specialized earth coordinates visad/meteorology // meteorology nom/tam/fits // Java FITS file binding nom/tam/util // Java FITS file binding nom/tam/test // Java FITS file binding ucar/multiarray // Java netCDF file binding ucar/util // Java netCDF file binding ucar/netcdf // Java netCDF file binding ucar/tests // Java netCDF file binding edu/wisc/ssec/mcidas // Java McIDAS file binding edu/wisc/ssec/mcidas/adde // Java McIDAS file binding ncsa/hdf/hdf5lib // Java HDF-5 file binding ncsa/hdf/hdf5lib/exceptions // Java HDF-5 file binding gnu/regexp // GNU Regular Expressions for Java gnu/regexp/util // GNU Regular Expressions for Java HTTPClient // Jakarta Commons HttpClient loci/formats // LOCI Bio-Formats package loci/formats/in // Bio-Formats - read image formats loci/formats/out // Bio-Formats - write image formats loci/formats/gui // Bio-Formats - GUI components loci/formats/codec // Bio-Formats - codecs
In order to run the examples with visad.jar, download:
ftp://ftp.ssec.wisc.edu/pub/visad/visad_examples.jar
Unpack this jar file by running:
jar xvf visad_examples.jar
Change to that directory and run the appropriate example application. Make sure that '.' is in your CLASSPATH.
If you have problems, send an email message to the VisAD mailing list at:
visad@unidata.ucar.edu
Join the list by filling out the subscribe form at:
http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/support/mailinglist/mailing-list-form.html
Please include any compiler or run time error messages in the text of email messages to the mailing list.