CRAY RESEARCH DEBUTS HANDY TOOLKITS FOR
PROGRAMMERS

New Cray Product Embodies Six Visualization Standard
Toolkits, Simplifies Supercomputer Applications
Development

EAGAN, Minn., March 18, 1993 -- A new product announced
today by Cray Research will help programmers create easy-
to-use applications software for Cray Research
supercomputing systems.  The product, Cray Visualization
Toolkit 2.0 (CVT 2.0), consists of the most recent releases
of six emerging standard windowing and graphics tools used
by software programmers to create the user interface for
their programs.  The product also makes it easy for
applications that use these standards to be ported to Cray
Research systems.

The CVT 2.0 tools consist of libraries and toolkits used to
create common elements of user interfaces -- windows and
graphics elements such as menus and icons.  The
components included are: the X Window System Release 5
(X11 R5), Sun Microsystem's XView Toolkit 3.0, Open
Software Foundation's (OSF) Motif Toolkit 1.2, Silicon
Graphics' Distributed Graphics Library (DGL), the PEXlib
library, and the Tk/Tcl toolkit command interpreter.
Programmers can use these components as building blocks
to quicken applications development.  For example, familiar
components like buttons, menus, and scrollbars can be
created with a minimum of library calls.  All that is needed
by the programmer is to customize the button for the
application.

Cray Research has ported each of the standard toolkits in
CVT 2.0 to the company's entire product line.  With this Cray
Research-supported product, customers can choose from
these toolkits to produce portable applications software for
Cray Research system users.

"To be the most productive, developers require the latest
software tools to build easy-to-use applications," said Cal
Kirchhof, manager of Cray Research's visualization group.
"With these emerging industry standard tools and graphics
libraries in CVT 2.0 -- all of which are fully supported by
Cray Research -- developers can create visual interfaces
that give applications the same look and feel, whether they
are running on supercomputers or workstations."

X11 R5 provides CVT 2.0 with an essential foundation.  This
release supports diverse client applications and allows
users to run X11 R5 applications on their Cray Research
system and connect to any workstation, PC, or terminal
running the corresponding X Window System server.

The other standard toolkits provide the following
advantages: XView Toolkit 3.0 allows XView applications to
be easily ported to Cray Research systems; Motif 1.2 Toolkit
provides a library of graphical objects like menus, scroll
bars, push buttons, and text windows; DGL delivers
interactive three-dimensional graphics to the workstation
and allows users to rotate, zoom, and transform their on-
screen images; the Tk/Tcl toolkit and command interpreter
provides high-level access to X Window System
programming, which is much like writing shell scripts; and
the PEXlib library of low level graphics routines gives
programmers access to the PEX protocol, allowing end-
users to display and interact with 3-D graphics from any
workstation that has an X Window System server with the
PEX 5.1 protocol extension.

CVT 2.0 forms a base for Cray Research's extensive
visualization capabilities.  With CVT 2.0, programmers can
more quickly port existing visual applications and build
easy-to-use application software programs for Cray
Research users.  Other visualization products available on
Cray Research systems include application building
environments like Cray Research IRIS Explorer, AVS, and
Khoros; end-user products such as
postprocessing/visualization packages like Multipurpose
Graphic System (MPGS); and software packages for new
application areas with the use of CRI/TurboKiva,
Electromagnetic Design System (EMDS), and UniChem.

"Visualization enriches the process of scientific discovery
and is a revolutionary way for scientists and engineers to
do their work," said Kirchhof.  "With CVT 2.0, programmers
can more quickly develop more intuitive user interfaces for
applications on a wide range of platforms from a variety of
workstations to our full product line, including the world's
fastest, the CRAY Y-MP C90 system."

Cray Research creates the most powerful, highest-quality
computational tools for solving the world's most
challenging scientific and industrial problems.

Mardi Schmieder, 612/683-3538