Welcome to Xj3D codebase.  

This are notes for the 4 Oct 2002 dev release of Xj3D. 

Since last Dev Release:
-----------------------

    LOD is back functional again - really, we mean it this time.

    Billboard node is there. Displays but does not rotate to face the viewer as 
        required yet.

    ECMAScript debugging. 
		- Constructor on MFNode corrected, but not 100% sure it works in all 
		corner cases yet.
		- Events during initialize() and shutdown() are now correctly issued.

    Overlays back supported again. The mouse handling is not quite correct, and the
	   	They tend to wander vertically if you resize the window. 
        
	Added workaround for memory leak due to Java3D bug with heavily replaced textures.

	LoadSensor is now spec compliant. Only missing set_url handling of a previously
	    completely loaded node.

	Text node correctly renders. Still no vertical text support and the horizontal 
	   	scaling is a bit off for some reason. 

    Fixed missing JAR file for org.web3d.vecmath that would cause transforms to crash

	Added JAR files for the mobile renderer (xj3d-mobile.jar and xj3d-mobile-sg.jar)

    SAI classes tracking of spec changes. 

    Moving about of EAI code to allow the SAI-External implementation to sit along
		side it and make use of the same mechanisms. 

    SAI continual tracking of the latest draft specifications

Major changes since M5:
-----------------------
    Complete rewrite of all of the event model evaluation code. It is now 
        fully specification compliant. It is also much more efficient and 
        generally renderer-independent. The only time it dips into renderer
        dependent code is for navigation and view-dependent actions. 
        (ie sensors) No garbage generated and only updates all objects once
        per frame rather than after every eventIn recieved. 

    Initial implementation for a mobile-capable browser/renderer

    Full runtime support for an in-memory VRML scene with no rendered output. 
       Not all works yet, no navigation or any sensors, just basics. 

    Vector math library following OpenGL conventions

    ProximitySensors now support position_changed and orientation_changed

    VisibilitySensors more accurate about when they are detected. Combination of 
        this with ProxSensor changes means the old-style VRML97 HUDs work now. 

    Protos and Externprotos coming and going from the scene graph work correctly
      for the inclusion of sensors and bindables.

    Hex encoding of integer values works for all SF/MFInt32 fields.

    MultiTexturing. Modified version of the Blaxxun proposal but more VRML-like.

    OpenGL renderer supports IFS and more efficient vector maths. Viewpoints movable
        and bindable. Multi-pass rendering available for handling output devices like
        Elumens Dome & VisionStations. 

    LOD is back functional again.

    ECMAScript debugging. 
        - Was not previously updating the field values on successive calls to 
        the same script instance. 
		- EventOuts generated by user code in initialize and shutdown were not 
		being sent.

    SAI code is brought up to date with last draft of spec. Next dev 
        release should have it back parallel with the ISO CD Text. SAI is not 
        implemented, however. You can just compile against it. 

    H-Anim support is working fully now, including 2001 spec. Matt Beitler has 
        offered to test against full test suite for complete conformance checking. 

Known Issues:
-------------
    General:
        Huge amounts of garbage generated internally within Java3D's picking 
        subsystem using Cone-based objects. Both PickConeRay and PickConeSegment
        are generating upwards of 2MB of garbage a second on a moderately 
        complex scene! There are bug reports in for both of these. 

    browser
        Viewing files with the Java3D-based renderers are causing stuttering 
            problems when dragging the mouse. This appears to be some issue 
            between Java3D and Swing as debugging shows that the J3D behaviours
            are still executing internally, but are not blitting the pixels to 
            screen. There's nothing we can do about it. Suggest you try using 
            AWT-based UI and see if that helps. 
        Reloading a file with multiple inlines using the same URL but not DEFed 
            will cause a multi_parent exception. Switching to a 
            SimpleLoadManager instead of a MemCacheLoadManager will resolve.
        GeoVRML and UMEL local resolution not supported in pre-compiled code,
            you need to specify the local installation path in DIYBrowser.java
            and recompile.
           
    DOMViewer
        Does not support scripts or protos in XML documents.
        Since it sets every field of a node it can uncover bugs that DIYBrowser
        won't.
        
    Loader
        Works as advertised. Removed old loader example as the true one is 
        supposed to be LoaderDemo.

License
-------
 This source is licensed under the GNU LGPL v2.1
 Please read http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lesser.html for more information
 
 This software comes with the standard NO WARRANTY disclaimer for any 
 purpose. Use it at your own risk. If there's a problem you get to fix it.