I only had a few responses to my request to run "radcollisions.csh" on different machines. If you missed this message and are still willing to help, I have attached the script (slightly modified) to look for command name conflicts between Radiance on your machine. This will help me determine what command need renaming for the next release.
It seems certain that we need to rename "rview," and from the responses I received, also "gencat," "lam," "neat," and "calc." Here are my suggestions for these others, along with my reasoning:
"gencat" -> "gencatenary"
This is a little-used, optional generator for catenaries. I see nothing against making the name longer and more explicit. I don't think anyone expected it to generate a feline, but I imagine quite a few users wondered what the heck it did generate, as there's no man page for it. (Saba Roufchaie wrote this little gem, and I find it invaluable for making certain objects, like hanging chains and ropes.)
"lam" -> "rlam"
The other Unix program called "lam" fulfills the same function with a different syntax, and isn't found on all systems, so we can't rely on it as a replacement. I refer to it in a bunch of my C-shell scripts, which of course will be updated with the new release to contain the new name. (FYI, the "rlam" is meant to stand for "record laminator," not "Radiance laminator," since it isn't a function specific to the needs of Radiance in any way.)
"calc" -> "icalc"
Calc is a very useful, interactive version of rcalc, and I don't want to lose it or make it's name harder to remember or much longer to type. If anyone has a better idea, I'm all ears.
"neat" -> "neaten"
I also thought to rename it to "tidy," but that seemed a too big change for an obscure little utility. If you've never checked this one out, you might give it a look. I thought it was a cute little program, which is how I named it.
This brings us to the biggie, renaming "rview." This is a tough one, because it's a frequently used command, and one of the first commands issued by new users as well. Besides "rad" and "objview," I probably type "rview" more than any other Radiance command. Making it longer would be annoying, but not terrible because by the time you've typed in a few arguments, the finger-investment in the command name itself drops to insignificance. At the same time, the tendency towards long commands makes it that much worse to alter its name, because it means that you'll have to start all over again when you end up opening "vim" by mistake in the next Radiance release.
I'm thinking we'll want to include a symbolic link from the new name back to "rview," for two reasons. First, old users like me are going to have trouble with whatever we name it to because "rview" has become so familiar to my fingers that they type it automatically. Second, "Rendering with Radiance" and all the other documentation that's floating about has only "rview" in it and will probably never be updated with the new command name unless Radiance somehow outlasts us all... I'm not particularly concerned about hiding people's use of vim's "rview" link, since they can also type "rvim," "rgvim," or "rgview" to get exactly the same behavior, and it's not a behavior most users would want, anyway. (For the lucky users who don't have vim on their system, I can tell you that "rvim" is a restricted version prohibiting shell escapes for calling scripts and programs that provide an editor for untrustworthy users. As such, it's probably always executed by its explicit path as a security measure, so there would never have been a conflict if it had been put somewhere else, like /usr/etc -- or /dev/null!) Vim is such a command-name hog -- here are the other names linked to it:
vi
ex
view
gvim gview
The first three are historical and therefore expected. Why they had to add six other links is beyond me, especially when only two of them have any different functionality. Grrrr....
OK, finally to the subject of this message, which is coming up with a new name for an old friend. Below are listed some numbered alternatives. I want you to write back with your favorite (pick just one, please) and explain your reasoning. Consider it a chance to contribute to the next release even if you've never written a line of C code. Here are the candidates.
1. "rvu"
Possibly my favorite, because it's short and unique, and if you say the letters, you get back the original.
2. "radview"
I'm less fond of this one, mostly because it's longer, but also because it makes it sound like it's a subcommand of "rad," which it's not.
3. "rviewer"
This is better, because it stays close to the original meaning of the command, which is "ray viewer," and also has the two extra letters added at the end rather than the beginning, so you can remember the new command name at the last minute, right as your fingers are leaving the word and saying, "Hey -- you forgot something!"
4. "radiance_viewer_86FQ19GZ15"
Guaranteed never to have (Alias to "r" in your ~/.cshrc file.)
5. "your_name_here"
Your own suggestion if you don't like any of the others. (Not really your personal moniker -- we aren't naming the command after you, sorry.)
Well, those are my ideas. They're all included in the new "radcollisions.csh" attached to this message. If you haven't run it on your system yet, please do so and send me the output. It would be a real shame to rename a command to conflict with yet another Unix program, so even if you ran the last one, please indulge me again. (Do it quickly, before "vim" takes over the world!)
And thanks!
-Greg
radcollisions.csh (1.52 KB)
