[gradsusr] * * * New Release of GrADS version 2.1.a1 * * *

[Jennifer Adams]

Dear All,
Brian Doty and I are delighted to announce a new release of GrADS, version 2.1.a1. This is an alpha-level release which uses the Cairo library for all the graphics rendering in the X display window and also for the image and hardcopy output. New features supported by Cairo include the use of fonts, transparent colors, anti-aliased lines, pattern filling, and some additional options for hardcopy output formats. We hope our users will be pleased with how the graphics look and all the additional capabilities, especially the fonts. 

The GrADS downloads web page (http://iges.org/grads/downloads.html) has been updated with links to the source code and pre-compiled binaries for 64-bit linux and Mac OS X. The full text from the ChangeLog is copied below, please read it carefully, and please look at the new and updated documentation pages, especially these:

http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/fontcontrol.html   (Everything you need to know about fonts)
http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdgxprint.html   (The new all-purpose printing command)
http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsettile.html   (How to create and use pattern fills)
http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/basemap.html   (How to use basemap with a transparent color)
http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/drawingtips.html   (Suggestions for making your graphics look their best)

If you are a Mac user, please be aware that there was long-standing bug in XQuartz that caused Cairo graphics to render improperly in an X window. GrADS 2.1 requires XQuartz 2.7.5 or a pre-2.7.0 release (the X11 Application for older versions of OS X). If you are a Windows user and will be running GrADS through a secure shell connection to a unix platform, I have heard that Xming works for the X display, but Xwin32 does not. 

If you are planning to build GrADS 2.1.a1 from source, please be aware that the code won't compile at all unless you have all the Cairo supplibs built and you get " + cairo enabled " from the configure script. Guidance on building from source is at http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/supplibs.html. 

If you have any questions or problems with the new release, please post them here. Positive feedback is also welcome. 
Enjoy! 
--Jennifer


Version 2.1.a1
    Features:	
    * All the graphics, including the interactive X window display and 
	all image and hardcopy output, are now handled by the Cairo library.
    * New command 'gxprint' -- all-purpose printing command that handles all output formats
    * New hardcopy output options with gxprint: PDF and SVG
    * External utilities gxps, gxeps, gxtran are obsolete
    * Commands 'enable print', 'print', and 'disable print' are obsolete
    * The 'printim' command is now an alias for 'gxprint'
    * Added options to 'set rgb' to support transparent colors and patterns	
    * Added options to 'set font' to define new fonts
    * New command 'set hershey' -- enables generic fonts that are analogs of Hershey fonts 
    * New command 'set lwid' -- defines a new line thickness setting 
    * New command 'set tile' -- enables pattern filling for shaded contours
    * New command 'set antialias' -- temporarily disables anti-aliasing (not recommended)
    * The interactive display is always in color mode. The 'set display' command 
      is now only for swapping the background and foreground colors
    * Major redesign of the graphics code to make graphics rendering more "pluggable"
    * The widgets (buttons, drop menus, and rubber bands) have been temporarily disabled
	
    Misc:
    * Added new mark #12, a closed diamond
    * Added check for hPa unit in sdfopen
    * Added thickness option to 'set grid' command
	
    Bugs:
    * Fixed templating and array-indexing bugs for dtype hdf5_grid
    * Checks for NaN retured by pow() function
    * New metabuffer structure handles shapefiles with a very large number of vertices
	
    New Documentation Pages:
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/ascii.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/basemap.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/drawingtips.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdgxprint.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsetantialias.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsethershey.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsetlwid.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsettile.html
	
    Updated Documentation Pages:
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/colorcontrol.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/font.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/fontcontrol.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomddisableprint.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomddrawmark.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdenableprint.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdoutxwd.html 
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdprint.html 
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdprintim.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsetannot.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsetbackground.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsetclopts.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsetcmark.html 
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsetcthick.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsetdisplay.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsetfont.html 
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsetgrid.html 
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsetline.html 
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsetmap.html 
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsetmpt.html 
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsetrgb.html 
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsetstring.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsetxlopts.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradcomdsetylopts.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradutilgxeps.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradutilgxps.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/gradutilgxtran.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/imageoutput.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/script.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/shapefiles.html
    * http://iges.org/grads/gadoc/supplibs.html

	
Supplib Updates:	
    * Linked with cairo-1.12.16, pixman-0.28.0, freetype-2.4.10, fontconfig-2.9.0, Xrender-0.9.6,
	hdf5-1.8.11, netcdf-4.2.1.1, g2clib 1.4.0.
	

--
Jennifer M. Adams
Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA)
111 Research Hall, Mail Stop 2B3
George Mason University
4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030 





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