Developers – 2/1/2013

Present (on skype): Jenny, Judy, Kirsten, Lee, Nik, Vir.  Mike absent due to candidate interview.

During this session, we did the following (action items are in red):

  1. review the current vistas .exe.  Judy has NOT been able to see it because it will not run on her laptop.   Look at the system together, checking the major functionality, BEFORE we give it to Bob and BEFORE Kirsten starts testing.  This list will morph into a regression test for new releases.  Options panel now working (where a user sets min and max for attributes, specifies if stats are to be calculated, etc.).  Lee sent Vir some VELMA files in the new format.   a) Loaded VELMA data (in old format) and apparently it loads OK but does not display quite correctly:  z-buffer issue (Vir ?investigating.  b) flicker on Windows (Nik investigating) b)  tried to load VELMA data in new format, but it would load only the DEM ?, not the attribute file.  This works in Lee’s version, he is checking to see if .exe behaves differently and why, and will check if he merged with Vir’s code correctly.
  2. review minimum VISTAS requirements to run the .exe.   How does this compare  with what we WANT.    s/w:  at least OpenGL v3 (likely depends on how old the computer is, e.g., Judy’s 5 year-old machine is too old, and she might have to load a new driver?.  h/w:  enough memory to load the data set of interest (we’ll have to give user more to go on).  Judy will add item on VISTAS’ links page to mention minimum requirements.
  3. Review user dialog/interface for qsetup install of vistas….  qsetup now does not mention VISTAS when a user restarts his/her machine and asks if user wants to install updates.  Vir will fix this.
  4.  look at new (bitbucket) code repository – OK to cutover now.  Thanks to Nik for moving things over.  Judy will update VISTAS’ links to show this, and everyone will start using the bitbucket repository, rather than google source.
  5. review action items (in red above), and add to desired features:  1) give quick descriptive stats (min, max, median, histogram?) of attribute data when selected so user can make intelligent choice about min/max setting, 2) show date of data (if known) even if only 1 timestep, i.e., no animation, 3) show legend for ENVISION (and indicate what attribute is being viewed for VELMA?)
  6. Plan for upcoming VISTAS meetings:
  • 2/8:  All hands.  review abstracts for upcoming conference submissions (ISSRM – kirsten, NWSA:  fox/judy/evan), confirm 3/1 All Hands Meeting Agenda, VISTAS .exe demo and quick test of Lee’s code for Bob.
  • 2/15:  Reading Group.  Paper by our third collaborator, Christoph Thomas.  Jerilyn will show MATLAB visualizations of Christoph’s and her HJA micromet work.  if time, we’ll briefly talk about visualizing wind….
  • 2/22:  Developers Session – plan for 3/1 All Hands Meeting, with Bob and John demo’s and reviews.