./README_solaris

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* README for IBM Visualization Data Explorer for Suns running Solaris 2
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The information contained in this file consists of hints for using the
system, help with functions that may not be apparent, and last minute updates
to the existing documentation.  It is advisable to review this file any time
Data Explorer updates are applied.
 
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CONTENTS
 
    To go directly to an item, search for the item number beginning
    at the left margin.
 
    1. System Configuration 
       A. Default Keyboard Mappings
       B. Memory Usage in Solaris 
       C. Memory Usage in Solaris 10
       D. Error message "cannot get shared memory segment"
    2. Hardware Rendering Considerations
       A. Shared Library Support for Hardware Rendering 
       B. Hardware Rendering Not Available Message
       C. Transparency for Hardware Rendering
       D. Lines are redrawn in black
    3. On Line Help Path Menu
    4. Runtime-loadable modules 
 
 
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1. System Configuration 
 
A. Default Keyboard Mappings
On the Sun SPARCstations, Ctrl+Delete is Ctrl+Del.  "Del" is found
on the numeric keypad.  Data Explorer responds to the "End" key and arrow
keys found on the numeric keypad.  The mnemonic key to pull down the menus
uses the diamond key as the modifier, instead of the Alt key.
 
B. Memory Usage in Solaris 7, 8, 9
Under Solaris, Data Explorer uses shared memory in 256 megabyte segments.
The default configuration for Solaris only allows 1 megabyte shared memory
segments.  To allow Data Explorer to run in Solaris 7, 8, 9, log in as root,
and follow these steps:
 
    1)  Copy /etc/system to /etc/system.pre-dx
    2)  edit /etc/system
    3)  add the line "set shmsys:shminfo_shmmax = 0x10000000"
    4)  reboot the system

If this cannot be done, see the DXSHMEMSEGMAX environment variable, described
in Appendix C of the User Guide.
 
C. Memory Usage in Solaris 10
For Solaris 10, this process has changed significantly. Instead of a per
machine limits on shared memory, it is now set per user. 

To increase the shared memory available to a given user on Solaris 10.

    1   Find out which project the user is in
    2   Use prctl to raise the limit e.g. to 2000mb, using the project ID 
        returned by id -p.
	
example:

juno $ id -p
uid=1318(dthompso) gid=1002(students) projid=3(default)
juno $ su
Password: 
# prctl -n project.max-shm-memory -r -v 2000mb -i project 3

The amount of memory that dx wants initially is determined by the amount of 
physical RAM in the machine. If you set the memory limit too small, the error
will still continue (unless you fix the amount of memory dx initially requests
with the -memory flag).

D. Error message "cannot get shared memory segment"
This error message is caused by one of two problems:
    1)  The system hasn't been configured for 256 megabyte shared memory
        segments.  Follow the rules above under Memory Usage.
    2)  There is insufficient swap space available on the workstation.
        Type "swap -l" to determine available space.  You must either
        increase swap space or run Data Explorer with the -memory option
        to reduce its use of memory.  For example, type "dx -memory 32" to
        restrict Data Explorer to 32 megabytes of memory.
 
 
2. Hardware Rendering Considerations
 
A. Shared Library Support for Hardware Rendering
When hardware rendering is requested for the first time, the executive
dynamically loads /usr/lpp/dx/bin_solaris/DXhwdd.so and the xgl shared
libraries.  If one of these is not present then hardware rendering will
be disabled.
 
B. Hardware Rendering Not Available Message
When the message 'Hardware rendering not available: /usr/lib/libxgl.so not
found' appears, then xgl shared library or run-time support has not been
installed.
 
C. Transparency
Transparency is not handled by the Sun Hardware Renderer.
 
D. Lines are redrawn in black
When using direct interactors which draw lines on the image (e.g. zoom
box), the lines will be redrawn in black.  They will persist until
the image is redrawn.
 
 
3. On Line Help Path Menu
In the current implementation of Data Explorer, the pop-up menu
providing the current help path is not supported.
 
4. Runtime-loadable modules 
You need to use -mdf flag on dx to load runtime modules from the
command line if you are using more than 1 processor. That is,
you cannot use the "Load Module Description" option of the File menu
to load them after Data Explorer has started.
 
 
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The following trademarks apply to this information:
 
IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.
IBM Visualization Data Explorer is a trademark of International
    Business Machines Corporation.
SPARCstation is a trademark of SPARC International.
Sun, Sun-4, XGL, and OpenWindows are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc.