Equalizer API Documentation

0.9.1

• 1. Introduction
• 1.1. Features
• 2. New in this release
• 2.1. New Features
• 2.2. Enhancements
• 2.3. Optimizations
• 2.4. Examples
• 2.5. Tools
• 2.6. API Changes
• 2.7. Documentation
• 2.8. Bug Fixes
• 2.9. Known Bugs
• 3. About
• 3.1. Operating System Support
• 3.2. Window System Support
• 3.3. Documentation
• 3.4. Support
• 4. Errata

1. Introduction

Welcome to Equalizer, the standard middleware to create and deploy parallel, scalable OpenGL applications. Equalizer 0.9.1 introduces reliable multicast data distribution and subpixel compounds for full-scene anti-aliasing and depth-of-field decomposition.

Equalizer 0.9.1 is a developer release, representing a stable snapshot of the development tree after the 0.9 release. Equalizer 0.9.1 can be retrieved by downloading the source code. , updating the subversion trunk to revision 4082 (svn up -r 4082) or by using:
svn co https://equalizer.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/equalizer/tags/release-0.9.1

1.1. Features

Equalizer provides the following major features to facilitate the development and deployment of scalable OpenGL applications. A detailed feature list can be found on the Equalizer website.

• Runtime Configurability: An Equalizer application is configured at runtime and can be deployed on laptops, multi-GPU workstations and large-scale visualization clusters without recompilation.
• Runtime Scalability: An Equalizer application can benefit from multiple graphics cards, processors and computers to scale rendering performance, visual quality and display size.
• Distributed Execution: Equalizer applications can be written to support cluster-based execution. The task of distributing the application data is facilitated by support for versioned, distributed objects.
• Support for Stereo and Immersive Environments: Equalizer supports both active and passive stereo rendering, as well as head tracking and head-mounted displays used in immersive Virtual Reality installations.

2. New in this release

Equalizer 0.9.1 contains the following features, enhancements, bug fixes and documentation changes:

2.1. New Features

• Subpixel compounds for full-scene anti-aliasing (FSAA) or depth-of-field (DOF) decomposition
• Data distribution and data updates using reliable UDP multicast
• Support for writing applications which are not using OpenGL

2.2. Enhancements

• Support for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
• Tile and range boundaries for the load equalizer
• New eq::util::Accum class for accumulation operations using an FBO or the OpenGL accumulation buffer
• Multiple windows on the same pipe can join the same software swap barrier
• Configurable message pump

2.3. Optimizations

• Configurable object serialization buffer size
• Performance optimization for image compression
• Reduce memory footprint for eq::net::Objects with change type DELTA

2.4. Examples

• EqPly: added anti-aliasing when the application is idle
• EqPly: recursively search directories for models
• EqPly: switch to faster VBO rendering on OSX

2.5. Tools

• No Changes

2.6. API Changes

The following changes breaking compatibility with Equalizer 0.6 source code were made:

• The utility classes Accum, AccumBufferObject, FrameBufferObject and Texture where moved from the eq to the eq::util namespace.
• eq::Window::getColorType has been changed to getColorFormat for consistency.
• The font handling provided by eq::Window has been refactored for non-OpenGL rendering support.

2.7. Documentation

The following documentation has been added or substantially improved since the last release:

• The Programming and User Guide has been extended to 91 pages and 53 figures.
• The Accumulation Buffer Object API has been added to the Programming Guide.
• The Subpixel compound provides FSAA and DOF decomposition
• Multicast Data Transfer

2.8. Bug Fixes

Equalizer 0.9.1 includes various bugfixes over the 0.9 release, including the following:

• 2873353: Usage of ext/hash_map and -Werror causes compiler error
• 2834063: eqPly and eVolve freezes on Mac with glX
• 2828269: eVolve depth compositing is broken
• 2642034: Win32: max 64 connections possible
• 2874188: Lockup at shutdown

2.9. Known Bugs

The following bugs were known at release time. Please file a Bug Report if you find any other issue with this release.

• 2934387: Ubuntu: GLX problem with PBuffer
• 2931913 eqPly: DFR + 2D + Idle AA does not work
• 2843849: 64-bit bug in eVolveConverter
• 2796444: Race during simultaneous node connect
• 2609161: zoom: depth readback does not work
• 2556940: zoom: FBO usage
• 2003195: Ortho frustra ignores eye offset
• 1854929: eqPly GLSL shader has artefacts

3. About

Equalizer is a cross-platform toolkit, designed to run on any modern operating system, including all Unix variants and the Windows operating system. A compatibility matrix can be found on the Equalizer website.

Equalizer requires at least OpenGL 1.1, but uses newer OpenGL features when available. Version 0.9.1 has been tested on:

3.1. Operating System Support

• Linux: Ubuntu 9.04, 9.10 (i386, x64)
• Windows: XP with Visual Studio 2005 (i386, x64)
• Mac OS X: 10.5, 10.6 (i386)

3.2. Window System Support

• X11: Full support for all documented features.
• WGL: Full support for all documented features.
• AGL: Full support for all documented features.

3.3. Documentation

The Programming and User Guide is available as a hard-copy and online. API documentation can be found on the Equalizer website.

As with any open source project, the available source code, in particular the shipped examples provide a reference for developing or porting applications. The Developer Documentation on the website provides further design documents for specific features.

3.4. Support

Technical questions can be posted to the Developer Mailing List, or directly to info@equalizergraphics.com.

Commercial support, custom software development and porting services are available from Eyescale. Please contact info@eyescale.ch for further information.

4. Errata

• Patch to fix occasional compilation errors on Windows when using EQ_IGNORE_GLEW.