Configuring the ORAC-DR display system

The display is configured via the oracdisp tool and the disp.dat file found in ORAC_DATA_OUT. The oracdisp tool provides a graphical front-end to the display system and can be used to control where images are displayed, what type of display is used and how the data should be displayed. oracdisp runs independently of the pipeline, the only interaction between the pipeline and oracdisp is via a configuration file. Each time a primitive requests that a data file should be displayed the pipeline compares the graphics ID generated by the frame itself (usually the last suffix) with the list of suffixes stored in the display configuration file. If they match, the configuration file is read (including information such as where to display it, the type of device and the bounds) and the corresponding display engine is instructed to display the data file using the supplied option. If multiple matches are made, then multiple display requests are processed. In this way a single display request from a primitive can be used to display multiple images (e.g. load an image into GAIA and display a slice using KAPPA).

Figure: The ORACDISP display configuration tool.

The oracdisp tool is shown in figure . The tool is split into 3 major sections:

• A set of `pages' corresponding to each display type. This is where the display details can be modified or details.
• A lower window containing the current display definition. Double-clicking on any line will select the entry and load the information into the top frame. This can be used to copy an entry (e.g. by modifying the page details and pressing the `Add' button) or modify the existing entry (pressing the `Modify' button will change the highlighted entry - note that choosing a new page will reset the selection). A single click on an entry will select it for deletion (see next item).

• The lower frame contains buttons for saving and modifying the definition visible in the lower selection frame. The buttons do the following:

  Configure:

  This writes the current definition to disk (in ORAC_DATA_OUT/disp.dat). No backup is made of the original file.

  DeleteAll:

  Delete all entries in the selection frame

  DeleteSelection:

  Delete all selected entries (entries are selected by a single click - they are then highlighted in blue).

  Undo:

  Undo a deletion

  ClearSelection:

  Clear all selections.

The string that should be placed in the `File Suffix' entry widget is discussed in the next section.