GIG reference manual

Preface

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Section contents

• Intended Audience
• Organization of this Reference Manual
• Conventions
• Nomenclature
• Global Links

Intended Audience
This Reference Manual has been designed for all users of GIG who require detailed information on the GIG software. For specific examples of how to work with GIG, users are referred to GIG Tutorials (avalilable only in printed form). For specific examples of how to work with the GIG Tools, users are referred to the GIG Tutorials within the Tools sections.

Organization of this Reference Manual
This Reference Manual consists of an Introduction which contains general information about GIG software (including the use of menus and buttons), followed by Sections that cover in detail specific menus derived from the Main and Tool menus of GIG.

The Sections for the Main menu of GIG all follow the same basic construction. Every section has a local Table of Contents linked to the listed subjects. Following is an Introduction, which contains an overview of the menu. Then there is information on each menu item along with explanations of correct procedures for their use. References are then provided to help you find related information elsewhere in the Reference Manual.

Tutorials for the Main GIG menus can be found in the GIG Tutorial Manual (avalilable only in printed form). The sections for the Tools menu of GIG also include Tutorials to help you getting started with specific Tools such as Nurbs, Particles, and the Texture Editor.

Conventions
The following conventions are used in this Reference Manual:

• Keyboard keys are indicated by pointed brackets. Between these brackets the name of a key is shown, for example: <enter>. Some keys are abbreviated as found on the keyboard, for example: <ctrl>.

• The names of system functions are indicated in bold face. A system function can be the name of a command, button, or data input box. For example: file or tag. Every occurance of a system function name is also a link to its explanation.

• When it is necessary to enter text or numerical values (data) using the keyboard, it is enclosed in single quotes. For example, to enter the word "cube," the instruction would read:
  
  Type 'cube' and press <enter>.

  Whenever a prompt from GIG is written, it will shown in a typewriter font. For example:
  

  Please enter a tag name:

Nomenclature

object/solid:

a part or all of the CSG (Constructive Solid Geometry) tree

subsolid:

a part of the CSG tree below some node

primitive/single solid:

a leaf

operation:

a node

transformation level:

a node with one branch

Global Links
All the documents in the Reference Manual carry the buttons below. Clicking the left button takes you to the Table of Contents for the Reference Manual. The middle brings you to the local contents for the particular section you are reading. The right button is a link to the interactive Index. When you are browsing subsections further buttons will appear which link to the parent section.