Hi Netoids,
In response to:
>> Subject: NCSA Image crashes after inverting image
>>>> A faculty member in this department is trying to use NCSA image for
>> some analysis of restriction gels (I guess). He's running it on a Mac
>> II, no floating point chip, 3MB. It will read the image from the
>> Apple scanner (4 bit , yecch) fine, but the colors are reversed. So,
>> when they try the Invert function, the machine hangs.
>>>> Is there some clean way to invert the image *before* putting it into
>> NCSA Image or is there an alternative?
>>>> Thanks,
>> dan davison
>> --
>> dr. dan davison/dept. of biochemical and biophysical sciences/univ. of
>> Houston/4800 Calhoun/Houston,TX 77204-5934/davison at uh.edu/DAVISON at UHOU
Part 1:
I don't know if it's true for NCSA Image, but it's true for NIH Image
(which might be a better choice for analyzing restriction maps, as some
Gel-related macros are included), that it requires a floating point chip for
correct operation. Mac II's used to include FPUs as standard, but that common
sense was broken with the IIsi and LC. NIH Image will detect the lack of a
FPU and refuse to open, but NCSA Image might not and just crash trying to use
it. In both cases (if indeed this is the case) the problem can be solved
by adding the FPU (available on NUBUS card adapters) for about $170, or if
you don't require the FPU for most of the things you do, FTP the excellent
and widely available PseudoFPU which will trap the errant calls and redirect
them to software emulation. In my hands, it solved the NIH Image (and MS
Excel) problem on a Mac IIsi and in fact, when I got the real FPU, I was
disapointed at the small increase in overall speed.
Part2:
You might also suggest that the person (if he hasn't already) also try
out the latest incarnation of NCSA GelReader (2.0), which does do restriction
size mapping as well as pseudo-densitometry. Also, Kay Hofmann's COMAP, if
he has access to a PC.
Part3:
This might be a good place to bring up the availability of the San Diego
Supercomputer Center's Image Tools which is a set of software tools for
converting and manipulating just about any bitmap format to just about any
other bitmap format (GIF, HDF, IFF, MacPaint, PBM, PGM, PIC, PICT, PICT2,
PIX, Postscript (sort of), PPM, RAS, etc, etc, etc). It supports
AlliantFX/2800, AUX, Cray UNICOS, ULTRIX, AIX, NeXTstep, IRIX, Sun OS, and
now more. Unfortunately, left out of that list is native MacOS, which they
say is just too weird to bother with. However, if you can get your image to
one of the supported architectures, you can more or less do what you want.
Available by anonymous FTP to sdsc.edu (132.249.20.22).
Despite their insistence that the MacOS is not worth supporting for their
image tools, they have also put together a very nice demo/teaching aid called
"Interactive Color" which is, as it sounds, a very nice guide to color in
Computer Graphics. It's on the LARGE side (about 3.5 megs, I seem to
remember) so get it at night. It is also at SDSC.EDU in
[.sdscpub.applemac.graphics] as interactive_color_sit.hqx. A color monitor
is suggested....
Harry Mangalam Vox:(619) 453-4100, x250
Biocomputing Fax:(619) 558-6207
Salk Institute mangalam at salk-sc2.sdsc.edu
Box 85800 mangalam at salk-sgi.sdsc.edu
San Diego, CA, 92186-5800
