Rayfront Update

Rayfront 1.0.2 Update

Changes from 1.0.1 to 1.0.2:

• The program version string is changed to "Rayfront 1.0.2".
• Generators in scene files could cause error messages.
• Luminaires using virtual light sources and seperate geometry didn't work correctly.
• The "Import Geometry..." file selection dialog in the luminaire editing dialog didn't list the correct files to select from.
• Spherical light sources didn't take the maintenance factor into account.
• The "Save as..." button in the image conversion dialog was active even without any image loaded, and caused an error message when clicked in this situation.
• There is now a new "Build Octree..." item in the "Variation" menu, which allows to generate the octree of the current variation without actually running a simulation. This feature is useful when using other programs that process octrees, such as rshow by Peter Apian-Bennewitz .
• Rayfront checks in more detail which parts of a project or variation have been changed before closing the main window or running a simulation.
• Importing DXF files didn't work correctly on Windows. We now write a temporary file to circumvent the limited inter-process communication functionality of most Windows systems.
• The DXF converter now supports polylines and meshes of unlimited size, given enough RAM. Some other problems with polylines are fixed as well.
• The simulation setup dialog should now always open in the correct size.
• There is a new entry type for the host configuration file, which allows to specify a different location for the system library.
• The sky and ground map functionality did not always work.
• Several updates and corrections to the online documentation.

Warning: Do NOT apply this update (or any other updates) to a demo version of Rayfront. You will not improve, but break your demo this way. In any case, the current demo is already on the version level 1.0.2.

Installing on Windows

The installer for Windows can be downloaded here (2728480 bytes).

Double click on the installer "rf102update.exe", and select the installation directory of your existing Rayfront 1.0 installation. The installer will then determine wich platforms your installation supports, and update all required components. The installer will refuse to proceed if no existing Rayfront installation is found.

Installing on Unix Systems

The installer for unix systems can be downloaded here (2435113 bytes).

You will need the GNU gunzip program to decompress the archive, and tar to extract the files from it:

 $> gunzip rf102update.tgz
 $> tar xf rf102update.tar

This will create a directory "rf102update". Cd into this directory, and run the "install.ksh" shell script. You can make this script executable with chmod(1) and run it directly, or run a ksh with the file name as argument:

 $> ksh install.ksh
 Please enter the directory of your existing
 Rayfront installation:
   [/usr/local/rayfront] :

The script will ask you for the location of your existing Rayfront installation. It will then determine wich platforms your installation supports, and update all required components after a final confirmation. The installer will refuse to proceed if no existing Rayfront installation is found.