WIRED3 Users Home Page

• Release Notes
• Introduction
• Installation
• Upgrading
• Starting
• Basic Operation
  • Main Toolbar
  • Orientation Toolbar
  • View Popup Menu
  • File Menu
  • Options Menu
  • Window Menu
  • Help Menu
• Advanced Features
  • Labels
  • Cuts
  • Selecting Server Data
  • Startup Options
• To Make Your Own Server
• Technical Details
• Additional Features Coming Soon
• For More Information
• Send us your Feedback
• For BaBar Users (but all of the above sections are for all users, not just BaBar):
  • In Case of BaBar Server Problems
  • BaBar Server Status Page

Release Notes

27 May 2005 - Version 3.14.1

Bug Fixes and Usability Improvements - details

18 March 2005 - Version 3.14.0

Major New Release - Many Improvements - details

4 November 2004 - Version 3.13.2

New feature - autoExport - details

24 September 2004 - Version 3.13.1

Minor improvements mostly related to special running modes - details

18 August 2004 - Version 3.13.0

Added Cut Feature, Overhauled Handling of Startup Options, Overhauled Menus and Controls, Changed Label Control, Remember Settings from Session to Session, and More (plus complete rewrite of home page) - details

8 July 2004 - Version 3.12.6

Handled HepRep Files that Have Undefined Attributes - details

7 July 2004 - Version 3.12.5

Added Label Feature, Added Control on Number of Significant Figures, Show Units, More Startup Options, Installation Fix for Mac and Many Small Fixes - details

9 June 2004 - Version 3.12.4

Added Startup Options to Control Initial Number and Content of Views, Added PickToTransform, Fixed Phi and Theta of Circles - details

Introduction

WIRED3 is a Java program that was developed to let physicsts visualize single event data on any platform. It has evolved into a browser for data from any source that either provides HepRep XML files or a HepRep-enabled HepEventServer. This data may be particle physics events, Geant4 detector geometries or some other hierarchical graphics data. The data source may be another process on the same computer as WIRED3 or it may be a server an ocean away.

• For the BaBar collaboration, WIRED3 communicates via CORBA architecture to a pool of Unix HepEventServers (written in C++) and managed by the JProcMan process management system.
• The GLAST collaboration has implemented their own HepEventServer (as a GUADI service), also using CORBA and C++.
• The Geant4 Simulation Tooklit provides HepRep file output as one of the standard visualization drivers (just use /vis/open HepRepFile, no special external libraries are needed). WIRED3 can then open these files either from the local filesystem or from a URL. Data read from servers can also be saved to this file format for later read-in without a server.

The client code is written as 100 percent pure Java to provide a true "runs anywhere" capability. This means that the desktop machine does NOT have to be one of your experiment's standard supported platforms; it can be any machine on which Java has been properly installed. WIRED3 is currently being used on all versions of Windows (from Windows 95 to XP), Linux, Unix and Mac OSX.

Users are encouraged to install and run WIRED3 on their desktop machines rather than running it via x-windows from central Unix systems. WIRED3 will work either way, but the best performance comes when it runs on the desktop (and this frees central Unix CPUs for more suitable work).

A few more historical and technical details are provided in a later section of this document.

Installation

Users are encouraged to install and run WIRED3 on their desktop machines rather than running it via x-windows from central Unix systems. Wired will work either way, but the best performance comes when it runs on the desktop (and this frees central Unix CPUs for more suitable work).

If you have the standard BaBar unix or linux setup, you can skip the WIRED installation - it is already installed for you. Just type "wired -exp babar".

Installing Java

You can check the version number by typing the following from a terminal window (or on Windows, a command or cygwin window):

   java -version

If the response includes the words "libgcj", watch out, this is not a real Java version. Rather, it is a minimal version that some Linux distributions include as a place-holder for a real Java. While it may be sufficient to run some simple web applets, it is not sufficient to run serious Java applications such as Wired3.

If you don't already have the appropriate Java:

• you can obtain Windows, Sun or Linux versions of the complete Java Development Kit free from Sun at http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp

Additional notes for Linux users:

• Run the self extractor via:

     ./j2sdk....bin
  

• Add Java to your path:

     setenv PATH /usr/local/java/j2sdk.../bin:$PATH 
  

Installing WIRED3

To download WIRED3, copy a single file of about 6.5M to your own directory (it doesn't matter where you put it, the install procedure will later ask you where you really want to install WIRED3):
http://www.slac.stanford.edu/~wiredces/wired3_14_2beta4/install.class

Open a command window and go to the directory where you copied install.class. Before you actually run the installer, note one thing:

• You will be asked what directory you want to install WIRED3 to - do not specify a directory that has a space it its name (such as the very common Windows directory name "Documents and Settings" or "Program Files").

Now run the installer by typing the following command:

   java -cp . install

If you are running through x-windows, the install procedure may have trouble getting the correct fonts to show the install dialog boxes. You can instead just skip the dialog boxes by typing:

   java -cp . install /p

Upgrading

• Delete the entire file structure of the old WIRED3 copy (if you have taken the defaults, this will be the structure that begins with Wired).
• Download the new copy of install.class.
• Rerun the install procedure as described above.

Starting

   wired
or
   wired -exp babar
or
   wired -exp glast

If you have the standard BaBar unix or linux setup, you can just type "wired" from any directory.

The "-exp" value, and a large number of other startup options can also be provided as part of a user.properties file in your current directory, but this discussion is left for later.

Additional Notes for Cygwin, Linux, Windows ME, Windows 98 and Windows 95 Users

• Linux users who do not have the current directory in their Path will need to prefix this with a dot and a slash, as in:

    ./wired
  

• If you choose to add Wired's bin directory to your path, be sure to add it at the end, NOT at the beginning. Otherwise, some extra executables in wired's bin directory will take precedence over newer, better versions that most Linux users already have.
• Cygwin users may find that they first need to do:

     export WIRED_HOME=<your_top_level_wired_directory>
  

  Note that the Wired startup scripts don't understand the alias "cygdrive". The path should just be something like c:/mywired/Wired, not cygdrive/c/mywired/Wired.
  Or, simpler, run from a dos cmd window and skip the export step. Just do:

     cd c:/mywired/Wired/bin
     wired
  

• Windows ME users must first type:

     SET OS=Windows_NT
  

  yes, that's Windows_NT even though your actual system is Windows ME.

• Windows 98 or Windows 95 users must first type:

     SET OS=W98 (or W95)
     SET WIRED_HOME=<your_top_level_wired_directory>
  

  and then run by typing "sh wired.sh" instead of just "wired".

Wait a moment for WIRED3 to open its first view window. You will see a large black area with the title "no data loaded", and the "Open Data" icon, that looks like a file folder, will turn yellow to indicate that WIRED is ready.

If you would like to run with a step by step tutorial showing exactly what output you should see at each step, try the Tutorial that was developed for a recent Geant4 Users Workshop. Otherwise, read on below.

Basic Operation

The Main Toolbar

• To view data from a .heprep file (as opposed to a server), select either "Open HepRep File..." or "Open HepRep URL..." to open data on the local file system or over the web.
  For example, try the following URL to see some BaBar event data:

     http://www.slac.stanford.edu/~perl/heprep1xml/BaBar_Example1.heprep.gz
  

  or the following URL to see an EGS shower demo:

     http://www.slac.stanford.edu/~perl/heprep1xml/egsdemo.xml.gz
  

  If you are viewing other .heprep data files, you may find some in which there appears to be nothing in the view window. It may simply be that the data is off screen. Try right clicking on the view window to get the view pop-up window and then selecting "Orientation Actions"..."Fit to Window".

  You can specify an entire directory of HepRep xml files at one time. The files will all then appear in the Open Data Dialog (and you then select any one file by clicking on the file name).
  For URL files, the URL must end with a slash ("/") to indicate that this URL is a directory.
  For example, try the following URL to see a variety of example heprep files:

     http://www.slac.stanford.edu/~perl/heprep1xml/
  

  For Local files, just select the directory in the dialog box, and then hit OK.

  You can also use the "-file" startup option to have WIRED start right off with a particular heprep file (either from local disk or from the web). Examples might be:

     wired -file c:\jp\slac\geant4\G4VisTutorial\G4WIREDTutorial\G4Data1.heprep
     wired -file /afs/mydir/mysubdir/G4Data1.heprep.gz
     wired -file http://www.slac.stanford.edu/~perl/heprep1xml/G4Data1.heprep.gz
  

• If you are using the "-exp babar" version, you will also have a set of servers available. The open data dialog will contain the line "Event Display Servers for BaBar at SLAC". Click on the plus sign to the left of this line. The list of known servers will then appear.
  • Click on the plus sign next to a server description to select a server of that type. As a first example, try "Legacy (CM1) Mini Data HepEventServer".
  • The tree should open to reveal that this server has a "Default Event ID". That first event will then be selected.
  • Some servers have no default event ID. In their case you will see no event until you specify an event yourself using the "Specify Event ID..." button. We provide a default event ID wherever possible so that when the first user tries to use the server, it has already undergone much of the slow startup phase of the first event reconstruction. The first event that you load may take up to five minutes to appear (depending on whether the relevant event databases were already in cache or whether they need to be staged). Subsequent events will load more quickly.
  • Other features of the Open Data Dialog are discussed in the Selecting Server Data section of this document.

Use the reload button to reread data that may have changed.

• If reading from a file, the data will be reread from the file.
• If reading from a server, the server will be asked to resend the data.

The previous and next event buttons read the next data from your chosen data source.

• If reading from a file, this will be the next or previous file in the directory. (Geant4 users will find this a quick way to see each new picture as they generate it).
• If reading from a server, this will tell the server to go to the next or previous data (if the server does not support one or both of these options, the relevant button will be greyed out).

The up and down buttons navigate up and down lists of specific event IDs.

• These buttons are enabled only when you are
  • getting data from a server
  • AND have imported an event id list
• Event ID lists are discussed in the section on Selecting Server Data.

The AutoUpdate button lets you continually update to new data.

• If reading from a file, new data will be continuously read from the current directory.
• If reading from a server, new data will be continuously requested from the server.
• The autoUpdate rate can be adjusted by going to the "Options" menu's "Update Rate...".

The New View button creates a new view window.

• You can then adjust the layout of the various windows by clicking and dragging on their corners or by using the Window Menu.
• The new window will initially be a clone of whatever window was selected previously.
• Thereafter, changes to one of these windows (orientation, visibility, etc.) will not affect the other.
• When you go to new data, all windows will update to the new data.

The Data Visibility Control button turns on and off the data visibility tree (which is turned on by default).

• The tree appears at the right side of the main window.
• Click on the plus signs to expand the tree.
• Click on the check marks to toggle items visible or invisible.
• If you see no change when you turn an item on, expand that part of the tree and turn on the items deeper within the tree.
• To see a popup menu with more tree manipulation options, position the cursor over a part of the tree and hit the right mouse button (Macintosh users, hit control and mouse button).
  
  The popup menu includes options to expand or turn on an entire tree structure with a single action. But be careful of using this in the "detailed" part of the BaBar detailed detector geometry tree. Turning on the entire tree loads far more geometry than most users will want, and takes significant time and memory (up to 198M of memory and about 4 CPU minutes to load on a PentiumII 400 MHz).
• The popup menu includes options to select which items should be highlighted in the view windows (one can also have the inverse effect, picking objects in the view window to have them highlighted in the Data Visibility Tree).
• The data visibiliity popup menu also includes options to add new data types, control labels and control cuts (all discussed later).

The Orientation Toolbar

• Fit To Window adjusts scaling to make the entire image fit the window. Try this right away to make the entire G4 example fit the current window. You should then see the following:
• Zoom In and Zoom Out.
• Center the image.
• Rotate the image around the axis perpendicular to the screen.
• Translate the image left, up, down or right.
• Rotate the image around the screen's vertical axis. You can either click on the little arrows on either side of the slider or you can click and drag the slider.
• Another rotation tool to the right allows rotation around the screen's horizontal axis.
• Orientation can also be controlled by the mouse, which controls various parameters depending on what mouse function you have specified from the View Popup menu discussed below.

The View Popup Menu

• Orientation Actions
  lets you select standard views or reset to the initial view.
  • Auto Rotate causes the view to continuously rotate around the vertical screen axis. Startup options can be used to control the rotation speed and to constrain the rotation within a particular set of angles.
  • Auto Fly rotates just like Auto Rotate but also makes the view continuously zoom and unzoom, creating a continuous flying effect. Startup options can be used to control the flight speed and minimum and maximum zoom.
• Orientation Toolbar
  lets you turn off and on the toolbar at the bottom of the view window.
• Projection
  lets you control what sort of projection is done.
  The WIRED3 HepRep Browser can perform many specialized projections that distort the detector space in useful ways. Some of the most useful projections in addition to the default Parallel projection are
  • FishEye
    a projection in which you can select what percentage of the screen space is given to the inner versus the outer detectors. The mouse will default to control this new variable, known as "alpha", and the Mouse Function menu will now show more options, such that the mouse can control either this new "alpha" variable or can control any of the standard variables (scaling, translation, rotation).
  • Z-FishEye
    a projection in which you can control what percentage of screen space is given to low Z versus high Z parts of the detector (no effect will be visible from the beam view, select side or top views instead). The mouse will default to control this new variable, known as "alpha", and the Mouse Function menu will now show more options, such that the mouse can control either this new "alpha" variable or can control any of the standard variables (scaling, translation, rotation).
  • Rho-Z
    the detector is cut along a plane of constant phi angle. All elements above this plane are collapsed together on the top half of the display, all elements below this plane are collapsed together on the bottom half of the display. The mouse will default to control this new variable, known as "phi0", and the Mouse Function menu will now show more options, such that the mouse can control either this new "phi0" variable, or a degree of FishEye projection, or any of the standard variables (scaling, translation, rotation).
• Mouse Function
  lets you control what the mouse will do.
  • By default, the mouse controls scaling (click near the center of the picture and drag outward to zoom in, do the opposite to zoom out), but the mouse can also be set to control translation, rotation or to work as a pick (in which case a pop-up will appear with the attributes of the picked objects and the Data Visibility Tree will expand and highlight to show you what objects have been picked).
  • To pick more than one object at a time (for example to highlight two different tracks), pick the first one normally, then hold down the control key while you pick the second one.
  • Highlighting can also be controlled from the Data Visibility Tree. Right click on items in that tree to see these highlighting options. They include the ability to highlight a picked item in all views rather than just one view.
  • Mouse Function...Show Attributes
    uncheck this to turn off the attribute popup feature.
  • Mouse Function...Highlight in Data Visibility Tree
    uncheck this to make picked items no longer highlight in the data visibility tree.
  • Mouse Function...Transform View (if object has info
    if this if checked, picking on an object that contains view angle attributes (hints about the best angle to view that item) will cause the view to transform appropriately. If you pick an object that contains no such special view attributes, the view will be left unchanged.
• Drawing Options
  • Show Shadows
    controls whether objects are drawn with contrasting drop shadows.
  • AntiAlias
    applies a smoothing algorithm that reduces the "stair-step" effect on angled lines.
  • Always use FastMode
    gives faster redrawing performance at the expense of some features. All lines will be drawn at single pixel width. Filled areas will be left unfilled. AntiAlias will be turned off. If this option is not selected, FastMode is only used while you are in the middle of a drag operation.
  • Show Status
    draws a status box in the top right corner of the view window. This box contains view information that varies depending on the current mouse mode (scaling, translation, rotation).

The File Menu

• Open Data...
  • is the same as hitting the Open Data button discussed above.
• Reload Data...
  • is the same as hitting the Reload Data button discussed above.
• Save as Local Data...
  • is useful when you have been reading data from a server, but would like to keep the data on your local disk for server-free access in the future. The HepRep data that came from the server is stored as a HepRep XML file suitable for reading back in using the Open Data dialog's "Open HepRep File..." or "Open HepRep URL.." options.
  • All parts of the data that have been read from the server will be written out to this file, whether they are currently visible or not. Parts of the data that you have never viewed will not be in memory (data is downloaded from the server only as needed), so these parts will not be written to the HepRep XML file.
  • HepRepXML files can be greatly compressed using gzip (they typically compress down to about five percent of original size). There is no need to unzip the files before reading them back in to WIRED.
• Export Graphics...
  • saves the view to various common graphics formats:
  • Vector Graphics Formats:
    • Encapsulated PostScript (.eps)
    • Portable Document Format (.pdf)
    • Windows Enhanced Metafile (.emf)
    • PostScript (.ps)
    • Computer Graphics Metafile (.cgm)
    • Scalable Vector Graphics (.svg)
  • Bitmapped Graphic Formats:
    • GIF Image
    • PNG Image
    • PPM Image
  • Preferred formats for publication quality images are the first three vector formats.
  • Startup options autoExport, autoExportFormat and autoExportFileName can be used to cause exports to happen automatically as each new event is displayed. When coupled with autoUpdate, this can allow you to have WIRED3 continuously save new images. You can see the complete set of available options by looking at your wired3/source/default.properties file. Copy the relevant properties into your user.properties file and then start Wired3.
    • Encapsulated PostScript is suitable for viewing with a wide variety of viewers (GSView, Adobe Illustrator, etc.). (note that the Encapsulated PostScript option and the PostScript option currently produce identical output - the distinction will become apparent only if at some future date we move to support of multi-page output).
    • Portable Document Format is suitable for viewing with Adobe Acrobat.
    • Windows Enhanced Metafile is convenient for insertion into Microsoft Office products such as Word and PowerPoint on Windows (using Word or PowerPoint's "Insert...Picture" option).
      • Use this format only for Windows NT, 2000, ME or XP. Window 95 and 98 machines have serious problems handling these files (can make the system unstable). For PowerPoint on the Macintosh, use PDF instead.
      • When you insert an emf file into an Office application, the image first appears as a single image (vector graphics, resizable), but if you then double-click on the image, you are offered the opportunity to have the object converted into individual lines, points, etc. which can then be further edited in great detail.
• Print...
  • sends the selected view directly to a printer (as a bitmapped image). Your regular system printer selection dialog will then take over. If you want more flexibility, including the ability to save your view as true vector graphics, use the "Export Graphics..." menu item instead.
• Exit...
  • ends your WIRED3 session. Various properties such as the current size and position of your WIRED3 window will be saved to your the file user.properties for reuse at your next session.

The Options Menu

• Visibility Tree
  • toggles on and off the Data Visibility Tree discussed earlier.
• Label Control ...
  • brings up the Label Control Dialog discussed later.
• Cut Control ...
  • brings up the Cut Control Dialog discussed later.
• Toolbar
  • controls whether the main toolbar is shown and whether it should contain images, text or both.
• Update Rate...
  • lets you control the rate at which the auto update feature discussed above loads new data.
• Look and Feel
  • lets you select which Java "look and feel" is used.
• GrayScale/Color
  • controls whether displays are shown in grayscale or color.
• Console Output
  • controls how much information is written to the console.

The Window Menu

• New View
  • creates a new view window.
  • You can then adjust the layout of the various windows by clicking and dragging on their corners or by using other options in this Window Menu.
  • The new window will initially be a clone of whatever window was selected previously.
  • Thereafter, changes to one of these windows (orientation, visibility, etc.) will not affect the other.
  • When you go to new data, all windows will update to the new data.
• Tile
  • arranges all existing windows in a way that the entire available space is covered with no windows overlapping.
• Cascade
  • arranges all existing windows in a way that each window partially overlaps the previous window.
• Close
  • closes the currently selected window.
• Widen
  • expands the width of the currently selected window the maximum width available.
• Iconize All
  • iconizes all windows.
• Restore All
  • restores all iconized windows.
• Arrange Icons
  • arranges the icons.

The Help Menu

• Quick Guide...
  • takes you to the WIRED3 Basic Operation Guide.
• WIRED3 Home Page...
  • takes you to this page, the WIRED3 Home Page.
• BaBar Server Logs...
  • takes you to the BaBar server log page. This option appears only when you are running with the "-exp babar" option. You may want to view these logs if you are having problems (see the problems section later in this document).

Advanced Features

Labels

WIRED3 can label any object with any of its HepRep attributes. For example, the label could appear as follows:

Labelling follows the flexible scheme envisioned in the HepRep standard. For example, if there is a Track that has a Transverse Momentum of 3.143 GeV, you can choose to

• have no label
• have the label "P_T 3.143 Gev"
• have the label "Transverse Momentum 3.143 GeV"
• or even just "3.143".

Labels are anchored to whatever point of the object appears closest to a screen edge. This has the desireable affect that when you zoom in on a track, while the end of the track may fall off the screen, the label will slide along the track, remaining on the screen, unless the track falls completely off the screen.

Labels can be controlled from a Label Control Dialog or from startup options.

• To get to the Label Control Dialog:
  • Select "Label Control..." from the Options Menu.
  • Or, to see a version of the label control dialog that is focused on just a particular data type, pick on an object in the main view window (while the View Popup Menu's "Mouse Function"..."Show Attributes" option is on). Then, from the resulting attribute popup, select "Label Control..."
    
    The label control dialog will appear.
  • Or, right click on an object in the Data Visibility Tree, and from the resulting menu, select "Label Control..."
  Either way, the Label Control Dialog will appear.
• To control labels from a startup option:
  wired -label "KalmanTrk:nSvt:13;KalmanTrk:nDch:13;" -exp babar -server cm1data
  where the syntax is "TypeName:AttributeName:Flag;" and the flag is an integer bitmap composed by adding up:
  • 1 for the short name (such as P_T)
  • 2 for the long name (such as Transverse Momentum)
  • 4 for the value
  • 8 for the units (such as GeV)
  So, for example:
  • 13 would give "P_T 3.124 GeV"
  • 14 would give "Transverse Momentum 3.124 GeV"
  • 4 would give "3.124"
  You can always override this initial label setting by the interactive label control.
• Some servers or HepRep xml data can already contain flags to control labelling.
  You can always override this server default by specifying a startup option or by the interactive label control.

Cuts

Cuts can be controlled from a Cut Control Dialog or from startup options.

• To get to the Cut Control Dialog:
  • Select "Cut Control..." from the Options Menu.
  • Or, to see a version of the cut control dialog that is focused on just a particular data type, pick on an object in the main view window (while the View Popup Menu's "Mouse Function"..."Show Attributes" option is on). Then, from the resulting attribute popup, select "Cut Control..."
    
  • Or, right click on an object in the Data Visibility Tree, and from the resulting menu, select "Cut Control..."
  Either way, the Cut Control Dialog will appear.
  • Type in a cut value in either the "equals" area or the "min" or "max" area,
  • Then, while the cursor is still in that area, hit the "enter" key.
  • To remove a cut, remove the value and again hit the "enter" key.
• To set cuts from a startup option:
  wired -cut "EmcCluster:E>0.5;"
  where the syntax is one of either:
  • "TypeName:AttributeName>MinValue;"
  • "TypeName:AttributeName<MaxValue;"
  • "MinValue<TypeName:AttributeName<MaxValue;"
  • "TypeName:AttributeName=Value;"
  You can always override this initial cut by the interactive cut control.

Whenever cuts are in force, the cut will be listed in the lower right corner of the view window, and this list will be included in any exported graphics.

Selecting Server Data

• "Specify Server..." lets you specify additional servers. These can be individual servers or can be additional pools of servers managed similarly to the "Process Manager for the BaBar Collaboration at SLAC". Individual servers should follow the HepEventServer event server protocol, while pools of servers should be manged using the JProcMan process management system. An overview of how all of these components fit together can be seen at A Component Approach to HEP Event Displays. However you start your servers, what WIRED needs to know about is the URL of a particular file that is created by this HepEventServer or JProcMan. That one file tells WIRED everything else it needs to know to connect to these servers. See details later on how to run your own server.
• "Specify Event ID..." lets you specify a particular event ID. For BaBar, this takes the form of a collection name, then a space, then an event number (either an ordinal number or a hex event ID).
  Here's a little more background on BaBar Event IDs:
  • The BaBar Event ID shown by wired has three parts:
    CollectionName OrdinalNumber HexID
  • The HexID (referred to within BaBar as the real EventID) is the most persistent form of event id. It encodes the time that the event was detected by the BaBar online. A given event may then appear in one or more event collections (a raw form of the event, a later reconstruction collection, a re-reconstruction collection, and so forth). Thus to uniquely identify a particular reconstruction version of an event, one needs both the CollectionName and the HexID.
  • The OrdinalNumber is just the ordinal position at which this event appears in the given collection. Thus the event from some particular collision may appear as ordinal number 505 in one collection, ordinal number 101 in some more refined collection, etc.
  • You can tell wired to go to a particular event either by
    • CollectionName OrdinalNumber (the fastest way, since the database allows random access by this method) or by
    • CollectionName HexID (slower in practice, since the WIRED server has to actually start at the head of the collection and read through the tag part of every event until it finds a match for this HexID).
  • WIRED will always show all three parts when it comes back with the actual event.
• "Import ID List File..." and "Import ID List URL..." let you specify a list of Event IDs to bring into the open data dialog. Each line of such a list is a single event ID such as you would supply to the "Specify Event ID..." dialog described above. You then just click on a specific event ID to view that event or use the up and down arrows in the main WIRED menu to go up or down one event in this list. The left and right arrows continue to work as usual, going to the next or previous event in the normal data sequence as opposed to going up or down the event ID list.
• "Search DataCat..." lets you search various forms of data catalogs to find useful data collection names. The search may work through a search servlet or may just search for matches within a particular file (found as a local file or a URL).
  • If an appropriate servlet exists for the current server, the servlet option will already be checked in the above dialog. Just enter a search term and hit OK (for example, for the BaBar analboot2 server, try entering "isMulti").
  • If no servlet is known for the current server, you will have to first select one of the three search method options. Another dialog will then ask you to specify a search servlet, a local file or a URL to search.
  • Once you have specified the search method, enter a term in the main search dialog and hit OK.
  • The BaBar data catalogs are not very well maintained. Most BaBar users will get better results by building their own Event ID lists and then using "Import ID List File..." or "Import ID List URL...".
• "Copy ID to User List..." appends the current event ID to a new Event ID list. This list is saved to your current directory under the name "UserEventIDList.txt". When you complete your WIRED session, you can rename this list and bring it back into WIRED later using the "Import ID List File..." or "Import ID List URL..." options.
• "Mark ID for Deletion" is used to remove an event ID from your user event ID list. The next time you change events, this marked event will be deleted from the list.

Startup Options

   wired -fullScreen true

Each option is preceded by a dash and follwed by a value. You may string together as many of these options as you wish (there is no order-dependence).

Options provided as part of the WIRED command are in effect only for the current session. To set options in a more permanent way, put them in your "user.properties" file.

The first time you start WIRED3, a properties file is created:

   user.properties

WIRED3 stores various values in this file so that it can remember some of your settings (size and location of the main WIRED window, directory from which you last read a HepRep file, etc.). You can edit this file to add addtional startup options.

The complete list of available startup options, along with their default values and explanatory comments is contained in the file included with your WIRED3 installation:
    wired/source/default.properties

To change any of those defaults, copy the corresponding line into your user.properties file. Your value will override the default. Take care not to modify the default file itself (if you find that you have done that, replace it with a fresh copy from the above link).

Note that some option values are case sensitive (for example, projection name must be Perspective, not perspective).

One special option which can be used only from the command line is "-opt". Use this to specify an alternate properties file (instead of user.properties), as in:

   wired -opt myspecial.properties

To Make Your Own Server

Although BaBar already has many production WIRED servers, individual BaBar users may want to run their own servers to look at a special database, to run special reconstruction code or to develop the server itself. Due to BaBar's Computing Model 2 conversion, the HOWTO for this is currently in transition. The general sense of how this is done can be seen from Customized Servers for BaBar WIRED, but before starting ask for more recent information from the BaBar WIRED maintainers at wiredces@slac.stanford.edu.

Historical and Technical Details

WIRED3 can communicate via CORBA or XML architectures to a variety of servers which provide HepRep format data through the HepEventServer event server protocol. Pools of such servers may be managed using the JProcMan process management system. An overview of how all of these components fit together can be seen at A Component Approach to HEP Event Displays.

WIRED3 uses its own unique projection engine (rather than a conventional hardware graphics engine) to allow creation of specialized, often non-linear, projections of interest to physicists. A special layering model insures that certain data such as raw hits are always layered on top of their associated found tracks no matter what orientation the view is presented in. The work is analogous to how a cartographer layers data on a map to maximize the presentation of useful information.

Additional Features Coming Soon

Some highlights of work going on at this moment are:

• Richer set of cut controls
• Change color based on attributes
• Complete support for HepRep Version 2
• Edit or annotate the display

For a complete description of the functionality we eventually intend to achieve, see:

• Requirements Document for the New BaBar Event Display, presented at the HEPVis workshop in Janary 1998.
• HepRep: a Generic Interface Definition for HEP Event Display Representables

For More Information

• HepRep: a Generic Interface Definition for HEP Event Display Representables
  How SLAC WIRED asks for information about an event.
• HepEventServer: a Generic Design for HEP Event Data Servers
  How SLAC WIRED attaches to a server and advances that server to a particular event.
• JProcMan: a Java-Based Process Management System
  Used to manage pools of HepEventServers in a production environment.
• A Component Approach to HEP Event Displays
  Shows how WIRED, HepRep, HepEventServer and JProcMan work together to provide flexible solutions.
• Screen Shots of the SLAC WIRED Event Display
• PowerPoint talk on How to Extend the BaBar WIRED Server
  This is a little out of date, but is a good introduction to the general ideas. (Run the presentation in slide show mode, use mouse clicks to move through the animations, click on any hyperlinks that appear)
• Requirements Document for the New BaBar Event Display
  Very little of this document is actually specific to BaBar. Most experiments will have similar requirements, and it is these requirements which HepRep and HepEventServer ultimately meet.
• Architecture Considerations for BaBar WIRED

Send us your Feedback

• General questions about the WIRED3 client or HepRep, HepEventServer or JProcMan should be sent to
  perl@slac.stanford.edu.
• Specific issues about BaBar WIRED Servers should go to the BaBar WIRED maintainers:
  wiredces@slac.stanford.edu.
• BaBar users may also post issues to the HyperNews group
  BaBar Graphics
• Geant4 users may also post issues to the HyperNews group
  Geant4 Visualization

In Case of BaBar Server Problems

If a server goes down, you will be given the option to browse the server logs. The tail of the log should show you something about why the server failed. You can also check the server logs at any time by clicking on the Help menu's "Browse Server Logs" option or directly viewing the Server Status Page.

You can ask for a new server of the same kind by first clicking on the minus sign next to the server description (which closes that part of the tree) and then again clicking on the plus sign next to the server description.

Please consider the following possible problems before assuming this is a problem with the WIRED3 system itself:

• Server Machines: these standard SLAC interactive machines may be having system problems
• BaBar Database Problems: the databases may be down for a scheduled outage or may be having other problems
• BaBar Missing Data: the data you have requested may not be on disk and may require a significant amount of time to stage
• BaBar Reconstruction Version Differences: the event display may show a different number of tracks or clusters than you have seen in some other track or cluster lists. Keep in mind that the results will be specific to the particular release that was used in this reconstruction. The specific releases can be seen by checking the Server Status Page.

• SLAC Computing Outages and Changes
• BABAR Computing Environment
• Preliminary/unconfirmed bugs, problems, frustrations, fixes
• Physics Analysis
• BdbSOS
• KanSOS

Most suspected BaBar WIRED server crashes turn out to actually be crashes that would occur in any equivalent BaBar interactive analysis job. So please, if you have the time, try an equivalent analysis job (using the same release as the server) to check if this problem is really specific to the WIRED servers.

Having said all that, we really do want to hear from you if there are any problems. Please contact us through the above feedback links.