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. XCode users can download a Documentation Set.

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.