HELP! * GREY=local Full HTML for

LOCAL foilset Overview of VRML

Given by NPAC Team at SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies on December 4,95. Foils prepared January 8 1996
Abstract * Foil Index for this file

See also color IMAGE
This describes VRML starting with its Open Inventor basis with examples of language and its nodes and actions
Some Tools and Browsers are summarized
Terrain Rendering is given as an example of use of VRML
The advantages of using a "real" database as a backend of VRML are given
Illustra is described as an example of an object oriented database backjend for VRML

Table of Contents for full HTML of Overview of VRML

1 Tutorial on Current and Future Web(NII) Technologies
-- VRML and Applications
2 Abstract of VRML Presentation
3 Open Inventor and VRML -- Introduction
4 Open Inventor -- Overview
5 Open Inventor -- Nodes
6 Open Inventor -- Database Structure
7 Open Inventor -- Typical Applications
8 VRML - Virtual Reality Modeling Language -- Overview
9 VRML Goals
10 VRML -- Specification
11 VRML - Language characteristics
12 Example I - Shapes
13 Example II - Properties
14 Example III - Group Nodes
15 Example IV - Textures
16 VRML - Nodes I
17 VRML - Nodes II
18 VRML - Nodes III -- Properties nodes
19 VRML - Nodes IV
20 VRML - Example
21 VRML - Tools
22 VRML - Browsers
23 VRML - Browsers II
24 VRML Browsers - Examples I -- WebSpace
25 VRML Browsers - Examples II -- SDSC WebView
26 VRML Browsers - Examples III -- VRWeb
27 VRML Browsers - Examples IV -- WebFX
28 Terrain rendering in VRML
29 Terrain rendering in VRML -- VRML modeling
30 Terrain rendering in VRML --
LOD - Level-Of-Detail
31 Terrain rendering in VRML
32 Terrain rendering in VRML -- Colors
33 Terrain rendering in VRML -- Creation of VRML files
34 Terrain rendering in VRML -- Optimization
35 Terrain rendering in VRML - Example I
36 Example II
37 Database Support for VRML
38 Database Support for VRML
39 Database Support for VRML
40 Illustra Database -- Overview
41 Illustra Database System -- Object-Relational DBMS
42 Illustra Database System --
2D Spatial DataBlade
43 Illustra Database System --
3D Spatial DataBlade
44 Illustra Database System --
Web DataBlade

This table of Contents Abstract

HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 1 Tutorial on Current and Future Web(NII) Technologies
-- VRML and Applications

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
Supercomputing 95
Monday December 4,1995
San Diego Convention Center
NPAC
Geoffrey Fox, Wojtek Furmanski, Marek Podgorny with
Gang Cheng, Roman Markowski
Syracuse University
111 College Place
Syracuse
NY 13244-4100
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 2 Abstract of VRML Presentation

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
This describes VRML starting with its Open Inventor basis with examples of language and its nodes and actions
Some Tools and Browsers are summarized
Terrain Rendering is given as an example of use of VRML
The advantages of using a "real" database as a backend of VRML are given
Illustra is described as an example of an object oriented database backjend for VRML
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 3 Open Inventor and VRML -- Introduction

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
Open Inventor is an object-oriented 3D toolkit to create interactive 3D graphics applications.
It is also a high-level object-oriented model for specifying, processing, rendering, archiving and managing complex, hierarchical structures such as encountered in 3D design.
VRML is intended to be a language for describing multi-participant interactive simulations - virtual worlds networked via global Internet and hyperlinked within the World Wide Web.
The first, existing VRML specification is based on the Open Inventor ASCII file format and is a minimal operational subset of Open Inventor extensive class library.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 4 Open Inventor -- Overview

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
The library was originally developed by Silicon Graphics, Inc. as the IRIS Inventor library but is now licensed to a number of implementors and is appearing for a range of platforms including Sun, IBM, HP, Windows, Mac and HP.
Open Inventor characteristics:
  • It's built on top of OpenGL.
  • It defines a standard file format for 3D data interchange.
  • It introduces a simple event model for 3D interaction.
  • It provides animation objects called ÔEngines'.
  • It is window system and platform independent.
  • It supports PostScript printing.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 5 Open Inventor -- Nodes

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
The node is the basic building block used to create three- dimensional scenes in Open Inventor. Each node holds a piece of information, such as a surface material, shape description, geometric information, light or camera.
The Open Inventor nodes can be grouped as follows:
  • Shape nodes - representing 3D geometric objects
  • Property node - representing appearance and other qualitative characteristics of the scene such as material, lighting model, textures, or environment
  • Group nodes - containers collecting nodes into groups
  • Engines - can be attached to other nodes and drive animation or impose constraints
  • Sensors - detect changes in the scene database and invoke suitable notification/callback functions
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 6 Open Inventor -- Database Structure

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
Open Inventor maintains a database of objects.
The database contains information representing one or more 3D scenes.
The database consists of scene graphs.
A scene graph is an ordered collection of nodes.
A number of actions can be applied to a scene graph.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 7 Open Inventor -- Typical Applications

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
Geophysical Visualization,
Commercial Database Visualization,
CAD,
Desktop Publishing,
Modeling and Industrial Design,
Computer-based Training,
Collaborative Work,
Animation,
Visual Simulation,
Interactive 3D games,
Scientific Data,
Visualization Presentations,
Virtual Reality
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 8 VRML - Virtual Reality Modeling Language -- Overview

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
Mission Statement:
VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) is an interpreted language for describing multi-participant interactive simulations - virtual worlds networked via global Internet and hyperlinked within the World Wide Web.
History:
VRML concept was proposed by Tim Berners-Lee and David Ragget in spring Ô94 during the first WWW conference in Geneva. After the conference the VRML forum was created by Mark Pesce to discuss the development of a specification. In May Ô95 the first version of specification was available.
Current status:
  • VRML is still under development.
  • The currently available specification describes version 1.0.
  • Next version - 1.1 will specify only small changes.
  • Version 2.0 is expected in May Ô96.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 9 VRML Goals

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
The current form of VRML has been strongly influenced by the following requirements:
  • - Platform independence
  • - Extensibility
  • - Ability to work over low-bandwidth connections
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 10 VRML -- Specification

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
The current version of VRML specification - 1.0 is a minimal starting point for a much larger concept.
The specification is based on Open Inventor ASCII file format.
VRML 1.0 is a subset of Open Inventor with some additions that allow linking the objects with another VRML or HTML sites on the Web. The linking concept is similar to HREF in HTML.
VRML 1.0 provides only mechanisms for synthetic 3D "clickable worlds" and does not specify yet any constructs for object animation, behavior and interaction. These issues are currently under intense discussion by the VRML forum and will be included in version 2.0 of the language.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 11 VRML - Language characteristics

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
Basics:
  • VRML defines a set of objects that can describe 3D graphics - nodes.
  • Nodes are arranged in hierarchical structures - scene graphs
  • Scene graphs define the ordering for the nodes - the state of the scene graph depends on the earlier and affects later nodes.
  • Separators can limit the effects allowing parts of the scene to be isolated from other parts.
Nodes are characterized by the following information:
  • Kind of object: cube, sphere, texture map, transformation, etc.
  • The parameters that describe the object,
  • The optional name of the object,
  • For some types of nodes - group nodes - the child nodes can be specified
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 12 Example I - Shapes

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * Critical Information in IMAGE
Full HTML Index
Shape nodes (Cube, Sphere) define the geometry of the objects in the scene.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 13 Example II - Properties

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * Critical Information in IMAGE
Full HTML Index
The Material node defines the current surface material properties for all subsequent shapes.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 14 Example III - Group Nodes

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * Critical Information in IMAGE
Full HTML Index
Separator node isolates its children from the rest of the scene graph.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 15 Example IV - Textures

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * Critical Information in IMAGE
Full HTML Index
Texture node defines the texture map used to subsequent shapes.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 16 VRML - Nodes I

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
VRML nodes can be classified into three categories:
  • shape nodes - define the geometry in the scene,
  • property nodes - define the way shape nodes are rendered,
  • group nodes - gather other nodes into collections treated as single objects.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 17 VRML - Nodes II

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
Shape nodes
  • AsciiText a string of text characters
  • Cone a simple cone along y-axis
  • Cube a cuboid aligned with coordinate axes
  • Cylinder a cylinder along y-axis
  • IndexedFaceSet a polygonal shape
  • IndexedLineSet a polyline shape
  • PointSet a set of points in 3D space
  • Sphere a simple sphere
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 18 VRML - Nodes III -- Properties nodes

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
Coordinate3 a set of 3D coordinates e.g. for IndexedFaceSet
FontStyle font style for AsciiText
Info information node
LOD - Level-Of-Detail switches between various object representations
Material surface material properties
MaterialBinding specifies how materials are bound to shapes
Normal a set of 3D surface normals, e.g. for IndexedFaceSet
NormalBinding specifies how normals are bound to shapes
Texture2 texture map and parameters for that map
Texture2Transform 2D transformation applied to texture coordinates
TextureCoordinate2 a set of 2D coordinates used by textures
ShapeHints topology hints for surface rendering
MatrixTransform a geometric 3D transformation matrix
Rotation 3D rotation (axis and angle)
Scale 3D scaling factor
Transform a full 3D transform (scale, rotation, translation)
Translation a translation by 3D vector
OrtographicCamera a parallel projection from a viewpoint
PerspectiveCamera a perspective projection from a viewpoint
DirectionalLight a light source with rays parallel to a 3D vector
PointLight a light source at a fixed 3D location
SpotLight a light source with rays inside a cone
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 19 VRML - Nodes IV

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
Group nodes
Group base class for all group nodes
Separator encapsulates traversal state by push/pop
Switch restricts traversal to one of its children
TransformSeparator separator for transformation subspace
WWWAnchor attaches URL link to a node or group of nodes
Inline node
WWWInline URL to a scene graph to be "inlined"
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 20 VRML - Example

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * Critical Information in IMAGE
Full HTML Index
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 21 VRML - Tools

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
Browsers:
The browser is a program which reads and renders the VRML file. There are multiple available VRML browsers. Some of them are listed below:
AmberGL VRML Browser v1.0, Fountain (AKA Caligari worldSpace), GLView, i3D, NAVFlyer, Pueblo Beta Client, Virtus Voyager, VR Scout, VRealm, VRweb, WebFX, WebOOGL, WebSpace, WebView
Modelers:
The modeler is a program which can be used to create three-dimensional objects or scenes. List of available modelers supporting VRML includes:
ClayWorks, Ez3d Modeler, Fountain/Caligari worldSpace, G Web, Home Space Builder, Medit, Spinner, STRATA StudioPro Blitz, TriSpectives, Virtus WalkThrough Pro, WebSpace Author, World Builder
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 22 VRML - Browsers

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
VRML browser adopts VRML ascii file (gz compressed) as the communication medium and renders the scene. The MIME type for VRML is x-world/x-vrml
The data may be received by the VRML browser itself or by the HTML browser.
Possible methods of VRML browser integration:
  • helper application - data is received by HTML browser and is sent to the VRML viewer.
  • stand-alone application - the viewer is able to receive the data itself.
  • integrated application - the HTML and VRML browsers are integrated
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 23 VRML - Browsers II

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
History
  • The very first 3D-Web browser was written by Tony Parisi & Mark Pesce in early 1994.
  • The first commercial browser: WebSpace - by Silicon Graphics
  • The publication of source code for VRML parsers by Silicon Graphics in late 1994 caused involvement of multiple companies in the process of developing VRML browsers.
Current status
  • Commercial and public domain browsers are currently available for almost all platforms
Limitations
  • Browsers differ in their support of VRML features such as LOD, Texture-Mapping, and WWW-Anchor. As the result not all VRML worlds can be viewed on all browsers.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 24 VRML Browsers - Examples I -- WebSpace

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * Critical Information in IMAGE
Full HTML Index
WebSpace was released as the first commercial browser. It is joint project of Silicon Graphics, Inc. and Template Graphics Software, Inc.
It is built on the Open Inventor platform.
It supports dynamic render culling, Level-Of-Detail, WWW-inlines, and texture mapping.
The WWW-inline nodes can be local files or URL-s.
Texture mapping is fully supported including in-file texture data and URL pointers. The graphics accepted file formats are RGB, JPG, and GIF.
The source code of this browser is not available
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 25 VRML Browsers - Examples II -- SDSC WebView

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * Critical Information in IMAGE
Full HTML Index
This browser has been developed by the San Diego Supercomputer Center. This is a publicly available VRML browser for SGI and UNIX platforms. It is based on Open GL and Open Inventor formats. It supports most of the VRML 1.0 specification. The source code is publicly available.
It cannot handle Textures as URL. The only texture format that it recognizes is SGI RGB. There are also problems with Level-Of-Detail nodes.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 26 VRML Browsers - Examples III -- VRWeb

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * Critical Information in IMAGE
Full HTML Index
This browser was developed in a joint effort involving IICM (Austria), NCSA, and the University of Minnesota.
It is publicly available for Unix, SGI, & Windows platforms.
The source code for this browser is available.
These browsers mostly run on the Mesa Library which is of OpenGL type. However, there are OpenGL versions of VRWeb for SGI, DEC Alpha, and Windows NT.
This browser supports most of the VRML 1.0
WWW Inline is not supported on the WWW Version, although is supported in the Hyper-G version.
Textures as URL are not supported
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 27 VRML Browsers - Examples IV -- WebFX

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * Critical Information in IMAGE
Full HTML Index
Developed by Papersoftware Inc., WebFX plug-in allows rendering of VRML images as embedded objects in Web Browsers such as Netscape.
The stand-alone VRML browser for the Windows - WebFX explorer is also available.
It supports most of the features of VRML 1.0.
Multiple texture formats are supported: GIF, JPG, BMP, RGB, and RAS.
Provides extensions for collision detection, sound, and animated textures.
WebFX is currently available only for the Windows platform and in the near future it is not expected to support any other platform except Macintosh.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 28 Terrain rendering in VRML

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
Data used:
  • 30 meters DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data
  • 30 meters color data - satellite image
The whole surface is divided into parts covering areas 20 x 20 points.
Each part is modeled in VRML separately. Only lighting is common in the main file.
The main file is an "index" that indicates the parts of world that should be loaded.
While moving the viewpoint above the surface the areas that are no longer necessary disappear and new areas are loaded.
The rendering resolution of the an area depends on the distance from the user viewpoint.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 29 Terrain rendering in VRML -- VRML modeling

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
The following VRML structures are used to model the terrain data:
  • - IndexedFaceSet - basic shape representing the surface,
  • - Multivalued Material nodes - define colors of points,
  • - LOD - Level-Of-Detail node - specifies portions of data to be
  • loaded with different resolution levels depending on the
  • distance from the viewpoint,
  • - WWWInline enables loading of scene in portions,
  • - WWWAnchor - allows linking with HTML description pages
  • - DirectionalLight - lighting in the scene.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 30 Terrain rendering in VRML --
LOD - Level-Of-Detail

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
LOD - Level-Of-Detail is a group node used to allow applications switching between various representations of objects.
The child nodes of LOD represent the same object at varying levels of detail.
Which child node is used for the representation of specified object depends on the distance between this object and camera.
The representations for higher distances have lower resolution.
Use of LOD reduces the number of polygons to be displayed and increases the rendering speed.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 31 Terrain rendering in VRML

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * Critical Information in IMAGE
Full HTML Index
Level-Of-Detail - Example
Different detail levels are achieved by creating separate VRML files for each part of the surface using different resolutions (see pics).
The left picture shows an area of 21x21 points in full resolution. The right picture shows the same area with resolution 5x5 points.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 32 Terrain rendering in VRML -- Colors

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
The demonstration uses 24-bit color.
The color is information is obtained from the satellite images.
The color is defined for each point separately using Material node.
The color of a surface connecting points of different colors is interpolated.
This solution is 2-5 times faster than the texture mapping.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 33 Terrain rendering in VRML -- Creation of VRML files

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
The creation of VRML files is automatic - a special translator has been developed.
The elevation data is transformed to a set of points.
The color data defines colors of particular points.
The points are linked to obtain surfaces.
For each area two VRML files are created: with higher and lower resolution for use with LOD nodes.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 34 Terrain rendering in VRML -- Optimization

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
Initially files are created in VRML format.
To achieve better performance an Open Inventor optimization program - ivfix - is used.
It creates an equivalent Open Inventor file.
Most of Inventor based VRML viewers accept the full Open Inventor syntax.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 35 Terrain rendering in VRML - Example I

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * Critical Information in IMAGE
Full HTML Index
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 36 Example II

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * Critical Information in IMAGE
Full HTML Index
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 37 Database Support for VRML

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
Goal: Enable dynamic data, scene contents and object behavior, and dynamic object interaction to support GIS
Current VRML: flat files storage
Disadvantages:
  • - static data;
  • - no user information;
  • - virtual worlds chopped into non-interacting fixed-size sections;
  • - no semantic object description, hence limited query possibilities;
Proposed extension:
use of an object-oriented database system to store VRML data
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 38 Database Support for VRML

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
The use of database to store data has several advantages:
  • ability to select only the relevant information
  • incremental world delivery to the browser
  • world objects dynamic
  • ability to introduce users to the world
  • ability to support multiversioning
  • objects behavior can be stored as a scripting language
As the database system the Illustra ORDBS is used
  • gives support for spatial data,
  • enables introducing new data types,
  • provides an interface to WWW servers.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 39 Database Support for VRML

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * Critical Information in IMAGE
Full HTML Index
System architecture
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 40 Illustra Database -- Overview

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
The Illustra Server is an Object-Relational DBMS (ORDBMS)
It supports Object-Oriented management of rich data
types, and at the same time provides an efficient query language based on extensions to industry-standard SQL.
Object extensions, called DataBlade modules, define specific kinds of data, extending the SQL.
DataBlade modules can be self-contained or can take advantage of data types and functions defined by other DataBlade modules.
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 41 Illustra Database System -- Object-Relational DBMS

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
The features typical of Relational DBMS:
  • Data access via standard SQL
  • Standard security controls
  • Full server-enforced data integrity
  • Transactions and recovery
  • Performance and scalability
Features typical of object-oriented database technologies:
  • Ability to create any data types
  • Optimized access to rich data types
  • Encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism
  • Direct data access through Object IDs
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 42 Illustra Database System --
2D Spatial DataBlade

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
The 2D Spatial DataBlade module defines 10 new data types that describe planar geometric shapes and polygons.
The following objects can be represented:
    • - circle
    • - directed graph
    • - ellipse
    • - line segment
    • - path
    • - point
    • - polygon
    • - polygon set
    • - quadrangle
    • - square/rectangle
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 43 Illustra Database System --
3D Spatial DataBlade

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
The 3D Spatial DataBlade module adds support for data in three dimensional space.
It defines 18 new data types:
    • - 3D unit vector
    • - 3D vector
    • - 3D box
    • - circle
    • - circular arc
    • - ellipse
    • - line segment
    • - path
    • - point and ECS point
    • - polycurve
    • - polygon
    • - polygon set
    • - polyface
    • - polyline and polyarc
    • - polymesh
    • - polysurface
    • - quadrilateral
    • - rectangle
HELP! * GREY=local HTML version of LOCAL Foils prepared January 8 1996

Foil 44 Illustra Database System --
Web DataBlade

From Overview of VRML SC95 Tutorial on Web Technologies -- December 4,95. * See also color IMAGE
Full HTML Index
The Web DataBlade module enables use of HTML viewer to access data in the Illustra database,
Provides interfaces to WWW server software,
Defines the HTML anchor as a data type,
Provides remote authoring capabilities.
Northeast Parallel Architectures Center, Syracuse University, npac@npac.syr.edu

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