Vivio 5.1 release 12-01-2010 is a self-extracting zip archive containing the VC++ source code and binaries for the Vivio integrated development environment (IDE), Vivio ActiveX player, Vivio Mozilla Firefox plugin, Vivio installer and the source code for all the Vivio animations (and more!)  accessible via these web pages. All code is distributed under the terms of the GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 2.

The simplest option is to extract the zip archive to "C:\" so that the "C:\vivio 5.1" directory contains the following subdirectories:

Directory	Contents
vivio 5.1\bin	install.exe Vivio installer vivio.exe Vivio integrated development environment (IDE) vivio.ocx Vivio ActiveX control npvivio.dll Vivio Firefox plugin makewww.bat script for compiling animations, executing runtime tests and populating the www directory makerelease.bat script for making this distribution (run after makewww.bat)
vivio 5.1\demos	source code for ALL Vivio animations organised in a number of subdirectories
vivio 5.1\include	Vivio include files (.vin)
vivio 5.1\src	install VC++ source code for installer npvivio VC++ source code for the Vivio Firefox plugin vivio VC++ source code for the Vivio integrated development environment (IDE) vivioAX VC++ source code for the Vivio ActiveX control gecko-sdk header files for building the Vivio Firefox plugin zlib binary distribution of the zlib compression / decompression library version 1.2.3.0 Vivio was developed using Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 version 9.0. The solution file vivio 5.1\src\vivio.sln contains 4 projects that build vivio.exe, vivio.ocx, npvivio.dll and install.exe. Note that many of the files in the vivio 5.1\src\vivio subdirectory are also used in the build of vivioAX.ocx and npvivio.dll (ie. they are shared).
vivio 5.1\www	generated web pages to be copied to external web server; pages can also be accessed locally.

If the vivio installer has not been run, build vivioAX and npvivio before playing the Vivio animations in the www directory as this will ensure that vivioAX.ocx is registered and that npvivio.dll is copied to the Firefox PLUGINS directory.

Using the Vivio Integrated Development Environment (IDE)

The Vivio IDE (double click C:\vivio 5.1\bin\vivio.exe) allows Vivio programmes to be created, edited, compiled and executed. When vivio.exe is run for the first time, it associates the ".viv" extension with vivio.exe so that clicking on a ".viv" file automatically opens the file in the Vivio IDE. The image below gives a typical source file view of a Vivio animation.

Note the list of open files on the file name bar. Clicking on a file name brings the selected file into the foreground so that it can be edited. A red filename indicates the file is currently in the foreground, an "*" appended to a file name indicates that the file has been modified and a "-" indicates that the file is read ONLY. Right clicking on a file name displays a context menu with options "Open #include files", "Save", "Close" and "Close ALL files except ...". Notice also the info and rtlog status windows. The info window displays compilation errors, runtime errors and any runtime output generated by calls to the debug(formats, ...) function. The rtlog windows displays the runtime output generated by calls to the  rtlog(formats, ..) function. The rtlog function combined with the vivio.exe -r command line argument can be used to check that a Vivio animations run correctly (within reason).

If "run" on the left hand side of the file name bar is clicked, the program is compiled (if needed) and run as shown below.

Compilation errors are reported in the info status window. Clicking on an error in the status window, causes the IDE to switch to the source file containing the error and position the cursor on the line containing the error.

The animation is started and stopped (paused) by clicking the left mouse button on the animation background. Click here for further details on controlling animation playback.

Clicking on any item on the file name bar will stop animation playback and switch back to the source file view.

Right Click Context Menu

Right click on the animation window background to display the context menu.

Context Menu - when running an animation  - some items may be disabled depending on the context
Play forwards	Play animation forwards
Play backwards	Play animation backwards
Stop	Stop animation
Play to next checkpoint	Play animation forwards until the next checkpoint is reached. Checkpoint are added programmatically.
Play to previous checkpoint	Play animation backwards until the previous checkpoint is reached.
Snap to next checkpoint	Snap forward to the next checkpoint. Can be used to quickly position animation to a point of interest.
Snap to previous checkpoint	Snap backwards to the previous checkpoint.
Reset animation	Resets animation
Copy as enhanced metafile	Used to paste a copy of the animation (as a metafile)  into other applications (eg. Microsoft Word). The advantage of using a metafile is that the image is "vector based" and will scale correctly, unlike a bitmap. Note that some applications are still unable to handle enhanced metafiles correctly.
Full screen	Animation is displayed full screen. To return to the original view, right click for context menu and select "Normal screen". F11 can also be used to switch between full screen and normal screen
Show/Hide player tool tips	Show or Hide player tool tips which are displayed when the animation is started and stopped etc.
Show/Hide shuttle	Show or hide a circular shuttle that can be used to control animation playback (consult the following link for further details).
Vivio animations page	Display Vivio animations page (in default browser)
Vivio player help page	Display Vivio player help page (in default browser)
Vivio home page	Display Vivio home page (in default browser)
Vivio version	Shows Vivio version and build date

Menus

File Menu - some items may be disabled depending on the context
New	Create a new .viv or .vin file.
Open	Open existing .viv or .vin file.
Open #include files	Open all include files referenced by active file.
Close	Close active file.
Save	Save active file.
Save As...	Save active file with a different name.
Print	Print active source file or animation.
< recent files >	Lists last four .viv projects opened.
Exit	Exit.

Edit Menu - some items may be disabled depending on the context
Undo	Undo last edit operation.
Redo	Redo last undone edit operation.
Copy	Copy selection to clipboard.
Cut	Cut selection.
Paste	Paste selection.
Add code template	Add code template into file.
Find	Find text string in active file.
Replace	Replace text string in active file.
Find in Files	Find text string in all open files.
Replace in Files	Replace text string in all open files.
Increase indent	Increase indentation of selected text.
Decrease indent	Decrease indention of selected text.
Comment	Comment selected text.
Uncomment	Uncomment selected text.

View Menu - some items may be disabled depending on the context
Vcode	Show .dec file containing the source code and decoded vcode. Only available after animation has been compiled.
JIT	Show .x86 file containing the source code, decoded vcode and disassembled generated x86 code. Only available after animation has been compiled and JITted (or run).
Compile and JIT	Compile and JIT (just-in-time compile) animation.
Debug	not yet implemented.
Run	Compile, JIT and run animation.

Options Menu - some items may be disabled depending on the context
Line numbers	Display line numbers in editor.
Font size	Set font size.
Window size	Set window size.
Always compile when run	Always compile animation when run. If this is not set, then the animation is ONLY re-compiled if one of the source files is changed
Clear args when run	Vivio has arguments that can persist between animation runs. If set, the arguments are cleared before each animation run.
SSE2	Generate SSE2 floating point code if CPU supports it.
Runtime array bounds checking	JIT compiler generates code for runtime array bounds checking (NB. the Vivio ActiveX player and Firefox plugin never generates array bound checking code as it is assumed that the possibility of such errors would have been removed during development).
Compressed	Generate a compressed vcode file.
Use RDTSC for statistics	Use x86 RDTSC (read time stamp counter) instead of QueryPerformanceCounter(...) to collect real-time statistics. QueryPerformanceCounter() works across all CPUS, but is quite inefficient and can, in some cases, slow the animation and perturb the collected statistics.  RDTSC is more efficient, but does not work consistently across all CPUs, particularly older mobile CPUs such as the Pentium M where the rate at which the time stamp counter is clocked slows with the CPU clock as it enters power save modes. Use of RDTSC is known to work on a 2.16GHz T2600 Core Duo and a 3.00GHz Pentium 4.
Show/Hide update rectangles	Shows/Hides the display area updated from frame to frame during animation playback. Can help determine if additional layers might improve playback performance.
Show/Hide player tool tips	Shows/Hides player tool tips which are displayed when the animation is started and stopped etc.
Include directories...	Sets the directories that compiler searches when accessing include files. By default, the path ..\vivio 5.1\include is searched.
Layers	Allows individual layers in a multi-layer animation to be hidden or displayed.
Shuttle	Show/Hide a circular shuttle that can be used to control animation playback (click here for further details).
Statistics	Show/Hide the real-time statistics window.

 

Help Menu
Vivio animations page	Display Vivio animations page (in default browser)
Vivio help page	Display Vivio player help page (in default browser)
Vivio home page	Display Vivio home page (in default browser)
About Vivio	Show copyright dialog

Command Line Arguments

Vivio.exe can be executed with command line arguments - normally via a batch file (for an example see vivio 5.1\bin\makewww.bat). The following command line arguments are allowed.

vivio [-args x=1 y=2] fn.viv	open fn.viv with the args passed as name value pairs
vivio [-args x=1 y=2] -c fn.viv	compile fn.viv; vivio.exe will compile the source file silently without showing the application window unless there is a compilation error when it will show the application window and report the error.
vivio [-args x=1 y=2] -c *.viv	compile *.viv; vivio.exe will compile all matching source files; the application window is not shown unless there is a compilation error.
vivio [-args x=1 y=2] -cd fn.viv	compile fn.viv and generate decode file fn.dec; the application window is not shown unless there is an error.
vivio [-args x=1 y=2] -c 23 24 25 fn.viv	compile fn.viv and check that compiler errors 23, 24 and 25 are generated in order; the application window is shown ONLY if the errors numbers do not match.
vivio [-args x=1 y=2] -r s0 s1 s2 s3 fn.viv	compile, run and check run time log generated at runtime by calls to the rlog(formats, ...) function matches the concatenation of string arguments s0 s1 and s2;  the application window is shown ONLY if they do not match.

Finally

It is possible to drop files (with extension .viv or .vin) directly into the Vivio IDE.

This Vivio release was developed in C++ using Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Version 9.0.21022.8

This Vivio release is work in progress. Vivio is far from an industrial strength piece of software, but it should be a more than a useful trouble free tool if kept within the scope and complexity of the existing examples. Enjoy!