QteVtk - a Multi-Platform, Object-Oriented Visualization Environment Extending VTK

Abstract

In this study, we present a new comprehensive visualization environment, based on the VTK-library. We first introduce a window system independent graphical interface for the VTK-classes and it's object-oriented design, then we describe a set of viewer and editor classes for displaying and editing different data types available in the VTK-library. The described library (QteVtk) provides a graphical user interface (GUI) to ease creating VTK-visualization pipelines with graphical appearance. Furthermore, it implements saving, loading, and adjusting of objects and object parameters, while supporting VTK-concepts like object oriented design and ``demand driven'' update of the visualization pipeline for data-flow control. QteVtk provides for the first time an easy to use combination of a free object oriented visualization with multi-platform GUI elements. The presented work came into being, because in the authors' opinion the visualization still lacks a free, well designed, in terms of object oriented data structures and algorithms, but powerful and easy to use visualization library for implementing visualization applications with the latter, as well as adding new data structures and techniques to it.