Horizon Java Image Data Browser Package
=======================================

The Horizon package is a library of Java classes for browsing and
visualizing scientific image data.  It is made is made up of
Java classes and interfaces, as well as ready-to-use applets and
applications. The design is meant to (in principle) support any image
format originating either from the Web or local disk. Here are some of
the features we are working on:

     basic 2D visualization of multidimensional data 
     zooming, subsetting, animation 
     spreadsheet browsing 
     color fiddling 
     progressive image transmission 
     overlaying multiple images 
     support for collaborative sessions facilitate by the 
         NCSA Habanero Collaborative Tool 
     Easy adaptability and extensibility 

Please note that this is beta software, provided primarily as a
preview of what the Horizon package will be able to do when it is
released in its final form.  While you are welcome to make use of
these classes now, please note that the API is still under development
and may be subject to changes incompatible with this beta release.  
THIS IS THE LAST RELEASE COMPATIBLE WITH JAVA JDK 1.0.2; except for a
few possible bug fix releases, future release will be compatible with
Java 1.1.x. 

This package should have come with full copyright statements and
conditions for use, as well as, possible, API documentation.  If not,
copies may be obtained by accessing our Web site
(http://imagelib.ncsa.uiuc.edu/imagelib/Horizon/) or by sending email
to horizon@ncsa.uiuc.edu.

Contents
========

This distribution contains some or all of the following files and
directories:

   README             This file
   examples           directory containing runnable demonstrations of
                  	 applets built from Horizon objects
     examples/data    directory containing data used with examples
   docs               directory containing documentation
     docs/articles    directory containing manual
   src                directory containing the Horizon source code
   COPYRIGHT          copyright statement and conditions for use
   COPYING.GNU        GNU Public License Agreement (applying to the
                  	  FITSWCS package)
   COPYRIGHT.contrib  copyright statement for non-Horizon software
                          distributed with it.

Binary distributions also include:
   classes            directory containing the Horizon class files
   docs/api           directory containing API documentation
    

Distributions containing all of the above items can be obtained from
our Web site (http://imagelib.ncsa.uiuc.edu/imagelib/Horizon/).

Overview of Horizon Sub-Packages Included in This Release
=========================================================

ncsa.horizon.viewable    -- a visualization interface into a dataset
ncsa.horizon.viewer      -- viewers for displaying 2D visualizations
                            of data
ncsa.horizon.coordinates -- classes mapping voxels to world coordinates.
ncsa.horizon.awt         -- other GUI helper classes
ncsa.horizon.util        -- non GUI helper classes
ncsa.horizon.modules     -- GUI components that can drive applications
ncsa.horizon.data        -- classes associated with reading data; includes
			    format-specific readers
 
ncsa.fits                -- an adaptation of a FITS reader by Tom
			    McGlynn of NASA/GSFC.

FITSWCS                  -- library implementing the FITS proposal for
                            supporting astronomical world coordinates
Acme                     -- a few classes from Jef Poskanzer's Acme
                            package for printing floating point
                            numbers with arbitrary precision.
CoolBeans                -- a Layout Manager 
misc                     -- miscellaneous borrowed code

Running the Example Demos
=========================

To run the example demos, you should:

  * have the standard Java libraries installed on your system.  This
    could in the form of Sun's Java Developer's Kit (JDK), version 
    1.0.2 or later.  To run the demos as applets, we recommend you use
    the appletviewer that comes with JDK.

  * have the Horizon package installed on your system.  If you are
    reading this, it is probably already installed.  

  * properly set you CLASSPATH environment to include both the 
    standard Java libraries, the Horizon library, and the current 
    directory.  On a Unix system in the C-shell, one might do this by
    typing something like: 

      setenv CLASSPATH <std_classpath>:<horizon_path>/classes:.

    where <std_classpath> is path to the standard Java libraries and 
    <horizon_path> is the directory containing the Horizon
    distribution.  For example, on an SGI system, it may look like:

      setenv CLASSPATH /usr/java/classes:$HOME/Horizon/classes:.

    or under Bourne shell or K-shell:

      CLASSPATH=/usr/java/classes:$HOME/Horizon/classes:.; export CLASSPATH

See the README files in the individual sub directories here for
details about running the specific demos.  

This demos can also be run from our Web site,
http://imagelib.ncsa.uiuc.edu/imagelib/Horizon/examples.  

Acknowledgements
================

Project Horizon would like to thank the following people:  
  * Mark Calabretta for providing the original WCSLIB software 
  * Jef Poskanzer for his open distribution of the Acme.Fmt class 
    distributed with the FITSWCS package.  
  * Kul Bhatt for misc classes (in the misc package).
  * Danno Ferrin for the PositionLayout from the Cool_Beans package

The Horizon Java package is supported in part by Project Horizon, a
cooperative agreement between NASA and the University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign.  It is also supported by the NASA Office of Space
Science via the Applied Information Systems Research Program
(96-OSS-10).  

Copyright
=========

NCSA Horizon Image Browser
Project Horizon
National Center for Supercomputing Applications
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
605 E. Springfield, Champaign IL 61820
horizon@ncsa.uiuc.edu

Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, Board of Trustees of the University 
of Illinois

NCSA Horizon software, both binary and source (hereafter, Software) is
copyrighted by The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
(UI), and ownership remains with the UI.

You should have received a full statement of copyright and
conditions for use with this package; if not, a copy may be
obtained from the above address.  Please see this statement
for more details.