[info-3dldf] Announcement: GNU 3DLDF Pre-Alpha Versions

[Laurence Finston]

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Announcement: GNU 3DLDF Pre-Alpha Versions

GNU 3DLDF is a package for three-dimensional drawing with
MetaPost output.  It is free software and part of the GNU
Project of the The Free Software Foundation.
http://www.gnu.org
http://www.gnu.org/software/3dldf/LDF.html

I am currently preparing an alpha (i.e., experimental)
release of GNU 3DLDF.  This will be the first release to
include an input routine, thus making GNU 3DLDF an
interactive program.  Until now, it has been necessary to
write user code in C++ and continually rebuild the
executable in order to make drawings.

The new version implements a language modelled on Donald
Knuth's Metafont and John Hobby's MetaPost languages, so it
should seem familiar to users of those packages.  For
example, this is a simple but complete 3DLDF program:

beginfig(1);
point p[];
p0 := (2, 0, 10);
dodecahedron d;
d := unit_dodecahedron rotated (15, 15, 15) scaled 5 shifted p0;
draw d;
dotlabel.top("$p_0$", p0);
endfig;
end;

There is quite a bit of work left to do, both on the program
itself and on the documentation.  However, both are far
enough along so that people could start using the package.

I am making my development versions available on the CVS
repository of the 3DLDF project on the GNU Savannah site:
http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/3dldf/3dldf/Group/

I have taken steps to make it easier for people to download
and install the package.  The compressed archive file
`3DLDFsnp.tar.gz' in the directory
http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/3dldf/3dldf/Group/SNAPSHOTS/
contains all the files needed to install the package.
Alternatively, CVS users can download the entire repository from Savannah.
Instructions for doing this can be found at
http://savannah.gnu.org/cvs/?group=3dldf

Instructions for installing and using GNU 3DLDF can be found
in the files `00INSTALL', `INSTALL', `00README', and
`README' in
http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/3dldf/3dldf/Group/
I am currently in the process of updating these files, so if
anything in them is confusing, please don't hesitate to
ask for assistance.  Please post queries to the
address@hidden' mailing list (see below).

I have started rewriting the _3DLDF User and Reference
Manual_ to account for my changes.  These files can be found
in
http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/3dldf/3dldf/Group/DOC/TEXINFO
The files are Texinfo input files, however readers should
pretend for the present that they are plain text and ignore
the markup, because it is not yet possible to generate
output from them.

I will be updating my sources and documentation
regularly and checking them into the repository.  If anyone
has questions, he or she is welcome to post them to the
address@hidden mailing list.  To subscribe, please visit
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-3dldf or send an
email with `subscribe <address>' in the subject to
address@hidden

Constructive feedback and reports on problems installing or
using the program would be very welcome.  Please address
them to the address@hidden mailing list.

Laurence Finston
GNU 3DLDF maintainer
Fingerprint: 0007 566D B0E0 96AE 3F4A EBE5 6213 D0F0 7376 08BA





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