Research Systems Inc. in Boulder, Colo., has introduced IDL version 5.0, its fourth-generation programming language for building data-analysis and data-visualization applications. The latest edition of the Interactive Data Language makes programming easier and does not require the traditional edit-compile-link-debug cycle of other languages.

Previous versions of the language required builders to learn syntax and write code to create their applications. IDL 5.0, however, features an object-oriented prebuilt graphic user interface for direct access to common language functions.

IDL 5.0 also supports the use of OpenGL, a graphics library of three-dimensional standards that helps speed the language"s interactive graphics operations. (The Mesa 3D graphics library is included for systems not supported by OpenGL.) Enhanced graphics capabilities enable users to spin a surface, for example, much faster than they could in earlier versions. Graphic elements such as surfaces and images are represented as "persistent objects" in IDL"s new object-oriented graphics architecture, so property changes can be made without re-creating each graphic.

Another added feature, the IDL Object System, supports the language"s new interface and architecture, and helps provide users with a consistent set of abilities through a common syntax among objects. The system supports encapsulation, polymorphism, multiple inheritance, and persistence.

This update of IDL is available for many operating systems: Windows 3.1, 95, and NT; Apple Macintosh and Power Macintosh; Unix; Linux; and OpenVMS.

Research Systems also released the IDL DataMiner, a product option that enables users of the language update to easily access data stored in commercial databases. Additional information concerning IDL 5.0 and DataMiner can be found on the company"s home page at www.rsinc.com.

Through Bentley Select, users issue enhancement requests and priorities via the company"s Select World Wide Web page. The resulting enhancements--which range from additional capabilities all the way to major upgrades--are delivered quarterly via CD-ROM. Users can also download software from Bentley"s Select Stream Web page on the day they"re certified.

MicroStation Modeler not only simplifies the process of managing a CAD/CAM/CAE installation but adds improved data-management, enhanced assembly-modeling, and integrated motion-simulation tools as well. For example, integration with MicroStation TeamMate--the vendor"s software for managing data and work flows--enables users to access all document and work-flow-management functions from within MicroStation"s graphic user interface. This provides the flexibility needed to perform top-down or bottom-up assembly-modeling functions.

Moreover, MicroStation Modeler now includes ADAMS/MS Motion from Mechanical Dynamics Inc. in Ann Arbor, Mich., which enables users to certify and evaluate the motion path of an assembly model from within MicroStation Modeler. Users can also locate lock-up positions, simulate assembly motion realistically, and detect interferences between parts. Other applications include detecting and correcting design errors before physical prototypes are built.

The latest release adds support for release 2.1 of the ACIS solid-modeling kernel from Spatial Technology Inc. in Boulder, Colo. This version of ACIS enhances the blending and shelling capabilities currently available with MicroStation Modeler. Bill-of-materials enhancements, such as automated ballooning, also have been added.

MicroStation Modeler runs on Windows 95- and Windows NT-based computers as well as Apple Power Macintosh, Digital Equipment Corp. Alpha, Hewlett-Packard, Silicon Graphics, and Sun SPARC platforms. It costs $5,325 ($4,975 for Bentley Select subscribers). As an upgrade to MicroStation 95, the product costs $1,650. Additional information can be obtained via e-mail at jen.mcwilliams@bentley.com or from Bentley"s World Wide Web site at www.bentley.com.

CADMAX Corp. in Baltimore has unveiled its new solid modeler, designed for the midrange production market, that enables users to work with hidden-line and shaded images as their designs progress rather than rely on more ambiguous wire-frame designs.

Based on the CADMAX TrueSurf Master three-dimensional modeling software, CADMAX Solid Master offers such capabilities as comprehensive surfacing, fully associate detailing, and full-featured 3-D construction and detailing. The software is built around the Parasolid modeling kernel from EDS Unigraphics in Maryland Heights, Mo.

The software"s hidden-line design feature gives a clear visual presentation of the model, so users can avoid the many lines involved with conventional wire-frame displays. This feature also provides full associativity through an integrated database between design, assembly, and manufacturing drawings. A change in one, according to the company, changes the others automatically, eliminating 2-D takeoffs of the model.

In Solid Master, free-form surfaces can be created using a variety of methods, including translation, revolution, and fixed and variable radius fillets. In addition, wire-frame geometry from any CAD program can be converted automatically into surfaces. Engineers can then change topology from 2-D to 3-D--from surfaces to solids and back again--as the program checks the model"s integrity and redundant geometry.

Other features include independent working planes that speed geometry creation and a single user interface, so tasks such as applying a fillet to a solid model use the same commands in both 2-D and 3-D.

CADMAX recommends that Solid Master be installed on a Pentium or Pentium Pro platform running Windows 95 or NT, with 32 megabytes of memory and 30 megabytes of hard-disk space. More information on the software, which is priced at $5,000, is available on the World Wide Web at www.cadmax.com.

The Computerized Application and Reference System software offers online access to the American Iron and Steel Institute"s Automotive Steel Design Manual (ASDM). Among the features in the latest version are DXF data input that allows users to transfer information from CAD software into AISI/CARS and better printing abilities.

The program includes three modules in addition to ASDM: the Key to Automotive Design, an interactive expert system that helps users identify proper design procedures; Geometric Analysis of Sections; and the Material Archive Program, a database of more than 75 steel material combinations.

The A/SP, a coalition of the Big Three automakers and 13 steel companies, also offers tutorials for AISI/CARS called driving schools.

Many of the innovative programs developed to perform these applications, however, dramatically increase the processing burden on computer hardware. Devising strategies to manage the huge data sets associated with digital prototypes and complex analyses is also taxing software developers" resources, which typically are better spent advancing the vendor"s core competency--CAD or finite-element analysis, for instance--and exploiting new features of next-generation hardware.

These developments have led a group of engineering software developers and computer manufacturers to join with Silicon Graphics Inc. in Mountain View, Calif., to define an open, standard application programming interface (API) for rendering large CAD and analysis data sets. Silicon Graphics has already offered its OpenGL Optimizer software--which is based on the industry-standard OpenGL graphics API--to serve as the basis for the interface. The group includes Compaq, Computational Engineering International, Computervision, Dassault Systemes, Deneb Robotics, Division Inc., EDS Unigraphics, Engineering Animation, Inc., Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Parametric Technology Corp., Prosolvia Clarus AB, SolidWorks, Structural Dynamics Research Corp. (SDRC), and Template Graphics.

For end users, OpenGL Optimizer improves graphics performance, increasing the interactivity of tasks involving the manipulation of large data sets (such as identifying part interferences in assembly models and communicating analysis results). The software also runs on the full spectrum of hardware already in use, from Windows-based personal computers to workstations and supercomputers using Unix.

For software developers, OpenGL Optimizer promises to reduce or eliminate the need to reinvent the wheel when CAD or analysis data are rendered. The API will provide a set of ready-to-use tools that all vendors can use to deliver complex data through a computer"s graphics pipeline to the end user"s terminal. By using these tools instead of developing their own from scratch, software developers such as SDRC in Milford, Ohio, estimate that they can reduce research budgets by as much as 10 percent.

OpenGL Optimizer doesn"t just provide a plain-vanilla tool set, however. Companies with special graphics expertise can still implement their technology on top of the API. Moreover, the software automatically recognizes opportunities to use the parallel-processing capabilities of host hardware, reducing developers" work to customize their products for such hardware.

With these capabilities, OpenGL Optimizer appears likely to help both end users and software developers focus on what they do best. Engineers will be able to manipulate large data sets more interactively and solve engineering problems more productively, while software developers can focus on further developing the technologies that made them successful in the first place.

Additional information on OpenGL Optimizer can be obtained from Silicon Graphics" World Wide Web site at www.sgi.com.

The National Academy Press in Washington, D.C., has made thousands of books available for online reading at its reading room on the World Wide Web (www.nap.edu/readingroom). Books cover engineering, environmental issues, computer science, mathematics, and materials science, among many other topics. (A short list of engineering titles includes An Assessment of Techniques for Removing Offshore Structures, Computer-Aided Materials Selection During Structural Design, and Human Factors in the Design of Tactical Display Systems for the Individual Soldier.) Many studies commissioned by Congress or government agencies can also be accessed. Publications are available in a variety of formats, including DocuWeb, HTML, and Adobe Acrobat; books can be purchased online for delivery in the traditional paper form.

An advance listing of computer-related trade shows and conferences to be held in North America in the coming year can be browsed at the World Wide Web site of Mentor Marketing Services in San Jose, Calif. (www.best.com/~mentorms/tradshow.htm). Each entry has a hot link so users can obtain additional information. Conference subjects range from semiconductors to the Windows operating system.

The Japan Biztech home page provides overviews of advances in information technology achieved by businesses and research organizations in Asia (www.japanbiztech.com). The site, created by Nikkei Business Publications in Tokyo, includes news briefs and technology reports and can be searched.

Manufacturing and Consulting Services Inc. (MCS) in Scottsdale, Ariz., has licensed the Parasolid solid-modeling kernel from EDS Unigraphics in Maryland Heights, Mo. Parasolid will be incorporated in MCS's next-generation CAD/CAM software.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn., has dismantled and measured the individual parts of an entire Ford Explorer so researchers can develop a computer model of the sport utility vehicle. The model is designed to help automakers meet or exceed safety standards for a future 80-miles-per-gallon vehicle. The lab, which performed similar tests on a computerized Ford Taurus automobile in 1995, is using an Intel Paragon XP/S 150 supercomputer for the model and crash simulations.

Aspect Development in Mountain View, Calif., has integrated its Aspect Explore component and supplier management system with Pro/ENGINEER CAD/CAM/CAE software from Parametric Technology Corp. in Waltham, Mass. The integrated programs improve designers' ability to store, classify, find, and reuse part and assembly designs.

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