Xplode Help: Xplode basics
Xplode Version 2.1
by Franco Milicchio milicchio@dia.uniroma3.it
© D.I.A. Università degli Studi Roma Tre
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The main window
The Xplode window is divided into two main areas, the upper part is the editor, and the
lower part relates with the Plasm interpreter. This division is evident in the image below.
In the editor part are shown all the open files. A small attach near the file name indicates that
the file has been modified since the last save.
As is possible to see in the image, Xplode has syntax highlighting capabilities: this means
that different things in the editor are shown in different colors. A keyword (such as
AA, CUBOID, ...) is shown in blue, a number in
red, a string in cyan, and finally a
comment is shown in gray. All other characters are black.
Another useful feature implemented since Xplode 2.0 is the parentheses matching. When the
cursor reached the beginning or the end of an expression closed by a parenthesis, Xplode shows the
expression highlighted with a light green background. Plasm
parenthesis are round ( ), square [ ] and angled < >.
In case of error, Xplode shows the mismatched parenthesis in a magenta
background.
The lower part of Xplode's main window is related with the Plasm interpreter and it's divided into
two parts. The right part, the widget with the black background, is the Plasm interpreter's
output. The right part shows all the exported objects in the current session (see below).
Xplode has a status bar, the lowest widget in the main window. This widget contains some useful
informations: the current status (such as Ready, Searching...) and the current
cursor location (line and column). Other two objects are located in the status bar: the
Abort button and a progress bar. These objects are related to Plasm operations, see
below for more informations.
Working with Xplode
Plasm is a language designed for geometric evaluations: the main task of Xplode is so making
geometric evaluations as simple as possible. All the actions possible with a Plasm program are
stored in the Plasm menu:
There are two methods of evaluation: expression and buffer. The Evaluate Expression
menu item evaluates a selection in the current editor (nothing is evaluated if there's no
selected text). The second menu item, Evaluate Buffer, evaluates the entire editor content.
It's possible to use a keyboard shortcut as displayed on the right side of the Plasm menu.
When Plasm is evaluating an expression, the two widget on the right side of the status bar are
enabled:
The progress bar on the right side indicates that Plasm is still working, so any other operation
regarding Plasm (such as exporting objects and other evaluations) are currently disabled. The
left side widget makes Xplode abort the current operation. For more informations about the
abort button, see the Advanced use section.
Don't press the abort button unless you really know what you're doing and
what it means.
The output of any evaluation is shown in the listener widget.
Exporting objects
Geometric objects must be exported in some kind of external format in order to be viewed. Plasm
currently supports three exporting formats:
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VRML (.wrl)
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VRML stands for Virtual Reality Modeling Language and it's the oldest 3-D format
by the W3C organization. In order to be viewed a VRML file must be opened with
an appropriate viewer. Under Linux and Windows the Plasm binary package includes
VRMLView, a stand-alone viewer. Under MacOSX the most common way is to download a plugin
for your favorite browser. One of the most common VRML plugins is the Cortona
plugin.
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SVG (.svg)
-
SVG stands for Scalable Vector Graphics and it's the new 2-D vector graphics
format by the W3C organization, designed to be the future image standard for the
web. In order to be viewed a SVG file must be opened with a viewer. No viewer is provided
with the Plasm binary package. The most simple way of viewing SVG files is through a
SVG plugin for your favorite browser. The Adobe Corporation provides a plugin for
many browsers.
-
Shockwave Flash (.swf)
-
The Shockwave Flash is a propietary 2-D format with animation capabilities. This
format is copyrighted by the MacroMedia society. This file format can be viewed
only with the Flash plugin for your browser. See the Macromedia web site
http://www.macromedia.com/.
To export a polyhedral complex, use the Plasm menu item Export and fill in the export
dialog box. If some text is selected, then the object to export will be set automatically to the
highlighted text.
The default export format is set to be driven by the given file name suffix. When a new format
is selected, the file name will automatically change appending the proper suffix and the user
will be prompted for the file name. The default target directory is left to the Plasm interpreter
settings. If you want to select a particular directory, click on the button located on the right
of the target directory.
Plasm Bug: When exporting an object leaving the directory choice to
Plasm, the exported file name could be wrong. It's recommended to select a particular
target directory: in this case the shown file name corresponds to the real file name and
path.
When the export phase in the listener appears the Plasm output:
On the right part, in the exported objects list appears the file path. An arrow on the
left indicates that the file is newly exported and still not viewed.
Double-clicking on the file name, Xplode starts the appropriate viewer, and the arrow disappears:
When exporting an object to a suffix-driven format and using a non standard suffix, such as
exported.a, Xplode asks the user whether to export it to a VRML format:
Xplode will fix the suffix appending the correct one. When viewing an exported file with a
non standard suffix, Xplode will ask if the file can be viewed with the VRML viewer.
As seen in the previous paragraph, the VRML format is Plasm preferred external format. Xplode
provides a fast way of exporting objects to VRML: the Plasm menu item VRML Export
provides this feature. Xplode asks for an object name and then for a file name.
Note: When exporting an object, if some text is selected in the
editor, Xplode will automatically complete the object name with the selection. If no text is
highlighted, then the default object name is set to last_value.