Latest revision as of 10:51, 7 February 2021

Below are tasks that are a great starting point for anyone interested in contributing to BRL-CAD. Most tasks can be completed in just a couple hours! No prior experience with BRL-CAD is required.

Some tasks may take longer if you aren't set up or haven't done that type before, but all they all require about the same amount of experienced effort. Each task has a description, references, and list of files you'll probably need. Can we make it any easier? Let us know.

Get Set Up[edit]

We suggest you compile BRL-CAD yourself or, if you have trouble with that, there's a virtual image with everything preconfigured, ready to go:

Download our BRL-CAD Virtual Machine (VM) disk image.
Install VirtualBox.
Import the disk image, start the VM, and log in (password is "Brlcad!" without quotes).
Run "svn up brlcad-svn-trunk" and compile.

Pick a Task[edit]

Once set up, select any task that sounds interesting, read the references, and talk with us for help. Don't worry if some words are confusing. You got this. All tasks can be completed by anyone but are grouped into the following five interest categories:

Code (programming)
Documentation and Training (technical writing)
Outreach and Research (graphics, marketing)
Quality Assurance (testing)
User Interface (usability, design)

Code[edit]

Tasks related to writing or refactoring code

See the When You're Done section above for details on submitting your changes.

Close MGED only when both windows are closed[edit]

BRL-CAD has an interactive geometry editor called MGED. It's often the starting point for beginners and allows creation and manipulation of models using commands. When mged is run, it creates 2 windows: a text console for commands and an interactive graphics window. Currently, if you close the graphics window, it quits the application.

This task involves change behavior so that MGED exits only after closing both windows. Closing just the graphics window or text console should not quit MGED.

Code:

src/mged/mged.c
src/tclscripts/mged/openw.tcl
src/tclscripts/mged/bindings.tcl

Implement a primitive centroid function[edit]

BRL-CAD provides more than two dozen types of geometry "primitives" such as ellipsoids, boxes, and cones. Every primitive is described by a collection of callback functions, for example rt_ell_bbox() returns the bounding box dimensions for an ellipsoid. Wikipedia, Wolfram Mathworld, and various other math sites (and research papers) around the web include the equations for most of our basic primitives while others are more tricky to compute.

This task involves writing a new callback function that takes an rt_db_internal object and calculates its centroid (as a point_t 3D point). There are numerous examples in our code where we compute centroids for other primitives. The primitives that do not already have a centroid callback are itemized in following.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centroid
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/
include/raytrace.h: See ft_centroid callback defined in the rt_functab structure

Code:

src/librt/primitives/table.c
src/librt/primitives/[PRIMITIVE]/[PRIMITIVE].c

Implement a primitive curvature function[edit]

BRL-CAD provides more than two dozen types of geometry "primitives" such as ellipsoids, boxes, and cones each described by a collection of callback functions, for example rt_sph_bbox() returns the bounding box dimensions for a sphere. Wikipedia, Wolfram Mathworld, and various other math sites (and research papers) around the web include the equations for most of our basic primitives while others are a little more tricky to compute.

This task involves writing the callback function rt_xxx_curve() that computes the curvature at a given point on the surface of a primitive such as;

superell
cline
extrude
grip
metaball
hrt.

There are numerous examples in our code where we compute the curvature for other primitives like the ellipsoid, sphere, elliptical parabola, etc.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curvature
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radius_of_curvature_(mathematics)
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/
include/raytrace.h: See the data structure that holds the curvature of a surface at a point (from Line 296) as well as the prototype for ft_curve() callback function defined in the rt_functab structure ( Line 2078).

Code:

src/librt/primitives/table.c
src/librt/primitives/[PRIMITIVE]/[PRIMITIVE].c

Implement a primitive UV-mapping callback[edit]

BRL-CAD provides more than two dozen types of geometry "primitives" such as ellipsoids, boxes, and cones. Every primitive is described by a collection of callback functions, for example rt_ell_bbox() returns the bounding box dimensions for an ellipsoid. One of those functions describes a UV mapping of the object's surface, which is used for things like texture and bump mapping. An example of this is rt_ell_uv() in the src/librt/primitives/ell/ell.c source file for an ellipsoid. Several of our more complex primitive types (such as BoT, NMG, and BREP/NURBS) do not presently implement a UV-mapping function leading to unexpected runtime behavior.

This task involves implementing a UV-mapping callback for any of the primitives that do not already have a functional UV-callback defined. Note that this is an advanced task that might take you more than a couple hours if you don't have solid coding skills, but it's ultimately just a few lines of code. See other primitives that already implement a UV-mapping callback for reference.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UV_mapping
src/librt/primitives/[PRIMITIVE]/[PRIMITIVE].c, search for rt_*_uv() functions

Code:

src/librt/primitives/extrude/extrude.c
src/librt/primitives/table.c
include/rtgeom.h

Fix elliptical torus triangulation[edit]

BRL-CAD has many 3D object types, one of them being an "Elliptical Torus". If you create a new MGED database and run this sequence of commands, it'll crash due to excessive recursion:

make eto eto
tol norm 1
facetize eto.bot eto

This task's goal is to reproduce, identify, and fix the bug so that detailed eto tessellation completes successfully. To get started, see the rt_eto_tess() function in src/librt/primitives/eto/eto.c and the facetize command logic in libged.

Code:

src/librt/primitives/eto/eto.c, <- you'll probably need to modify this file
src/libged/facetize/facetize.cpp

Implement a function that evaluates volume with spherical sampling[edit]

Implement this function:

   int estimate_volume(struct db_i *dbip, 
                       struct directory *dp,
                       size_t min_samples,
                       double confidence);

For this function, you'll want to read up on some of BRL-CAD's basic data structures by looking at headers in the include/rt directory or by reading our API documentation. Calling rt_db_internal() and rt_bound_internal() will get you the bounding box around geometry from which you can calculate a bounding sphere. Once you have the bounding sphere, randomly generate a set of min_samples*2 points on the surface of the sphere. Shoot a ray through those points using rt_shootray(), as in the ray tracing example. Keep track of a volume estimate and keep shooting sets of min_samples rays until the estimate is less than the specified confidence value. Volume of a sphere is (4/3 * pi * r^3) so dividing that by num_samples will give a per-ray factor and multiplying all hit thicknesses by that factor will give a running volume estimate.

References:

Implement a function to return an object's color[edit]

CAD geometry can have colors specified in a number of ways including directly on that object, in a parent object, and in a lookup table. For this task, you're going to implement a function that reports the color of an object given a path to that object:

   int get_color(struct db_i *dbip, const char *path, struct bu_color *rgb);

You'll need to iteratively consider each object named on the specified path (e.g., "/car/wheel/tire.r/torus") starting with "car" and working your down the path (i.e., 'wheel', 'tire.r', and then 'torus') to 1) see if a color is set on that object and 2) see if that color overrides lower-level colors (i.e., is inherited down the path), and 3) if it's a region object, whether there is a color set in the region table. You'll need to db_lookup() each object on the path to get access to its data.

For this function, you'll want to read up on some of BRL-CAD's basic data structures by looking at headers in the include/rt directory or by reading our API documentation. This task may seem complicated if you're not familiar with C/C++ APIs, data structures, or hierarchical paths, so don't be shy asking questions.

References:

https://brlcad.org/docs/api/

Code References:

src/libged/display_list.c
src/libged/color/color.c
src/librt/prep.c

Stub in an OpenVDB object[edit]

BRL-CAD has dozens of distinct primitive object types. For this task, you're going to implement the bare minimum to necessary to create a new object with the "make" command in MGED.

The best way to achieve this task is by searching for a keyword for another primitive (e.g., 'grep -r -i superell .') and implementing your new object the same way. Start with the 'make' command itself in src/libged/make/make.c and add "vdb" alongside where you find one of the other primitive types (e.g., superell). To get that to compile, you'll have to add new symbols you've defined into header files (e.g., include/rt/rtgeom.h). You'll eventually need to implement barebones logic in src/librt/primitives/vdb too.

Code:

include/rt/defines.h <- needs an ID
include/rt/geom.h <- needs an "internal" i.e., in-memory structure
src/libged/make/make.c <- needs to recognize "vdb" as a valid type
src/librt/primitives/table.cpp <- needs an entry
src/librt/primtiives/vdb <- needs a dir
src/librt/primitives/vdb/vdb.c <- needs _import5/_export5 callbacks, maybe _describe too

Documentation and Training[edit]

Tasks related to creating/editing documents and helping others learn more about BRL-CAD

Add missing documentation (for any ONE command)[edit]

BRL-CAD is an extensive system with more than 400 commands and more than a million pages of documentation, but there are approximately 120 commands that are entirely undocumented:

a-d archer asc2g asc2pix bot-bldxf bottest brep_cube brep_simple brickwall btclsh burst bw-a bw-d bwish c-d chan_add clutter contours d-a damdf dauto dauto2 d-bw dconv ddisp d-f dfft d-i dmod double-asc dpeak dsel dsp_add dstat d-u dwin euclid_format euclid_unformat fbgammamod f-d fence fhor f-i g-adrt g-euclid1 g-jack globe g-off i-a i-d i-f ihist imod istat jack-g kurt lowp molecule nmgmodel nmg-sgp off-g pipe pipetest pix2g pix3filter pixcount pixelswap pixembed pixfields pixfieldsep pixflip-fb pixpaste pix-spm pix-yuv plstat pyramid rawbot remapid rlesortmap rletovcr room rtcell rtexample rtfrac rtrad rtsil rtsrv script-tab sketch solshoot sphflake spltest spm-fb ssampview syn tea tea_nmg testfree texturescale torii ttcp tube txyz-pl u-a u-bw u-d u-f umod ustat vcrtorle vegitation wall wdb_example xbmtorle xyz-pl yuv-pix

This task involves writing basic documentation for JUST ONE of those commands in the Docbook XML format. The command documentation should provide a one-sentence description, a detailed paragraph description (200+ words), explanation of all available command-line options, and one or more examples on how to use the command.

Code:

doc/docbook/system/man1/en/Makefile.am
doc/docbook/system/man1/en/*.xml

Complete our "Intro to BRL-CAD Modeling" tutorial and extend it[edit]

We've developed two short and simple tutorials for introducing new users to modeling with BRL-CAD.

This task involves doing one of the tutorials (they take about an hour) and then extending it with a new section or making some other improvement. At the end of the tutorial are several optional advanced "exercise left to the reader", for example. Write a half-page step-by-step for one of the exercises left to the reader. Include screenshots and images to make it look nice so the reader is not bored.

Reference:

Come talk with us to make sure you get a copy of the latest version.
https://brlcad.org/w/images/9/90/Intro_to_BRL-CAD.pdf
https://brlcad.org/w/images/c/cf/Introduction_to_MGED.pdf
... there's another new one, but you have to ask for it ...

Translate "Contributors Guide To BRL-CAD" To Any Language[edit]

People interested in improving BRL-CAD sometimes find themselves lost in a sea of information. In all, BRL-CAD has more than a million words of documentation across hundreds of manual pages, dozens of tutorials and examples, hundreds of wiki pages, dozens of technical papers, and other resources. There are literally thousands of features and this can sometimes pose problems.

In 2013, a team of contributors got to California and worked on an entire book titled "Contributors Guide To BRL-CAD" in just a few days. This great resource needs to be translated to other languages to attract developers from other lingual backgrounds (who don't read English ) to contribute to BRL-CAD.

This task involves translating the chapters/sections of the "Contributors Guide To BRL-CAD" into a language of your choice such as Mandarin, French, Chinese, Spanish, German, Hindi, Arabic, Russian, etc. Chapters/Sections include

Feature Overview
Working with our Code
What code to work on
How to contribute
.... (Just to name a few )

The output of this task can be a pdf, html, doc, odt or any other document file that contains the translated article.Images in the original document (see link in Reference below) should not be changed ! only text should be.

Reference:

http://en.flossmanuals.net/_booki/contributors-guide-to-brl-cad/contributors-guide-to-brl-cad.pdf

Write a "BRL-CAD Commands Quick Reference" document[edit]

There is already a command quick reference for BRL-CAD's MGED geometry editing tool, but there is not a similar document for BRL-CAD's 400+ command-line commands.

This task involves writing a quick reference document similar to the MGED quick reference but for BRL-CAD commands. The sheet should minimally include the following commands:

mged, rt*, *-g, g-*, fb*, *fb, nirt, remrt, rtsrv, asc2g, g2asc, dbupgrade, pix*, *pix, *-*, brlman, benchmark

References:

Doxygen cleanup[edit]

BRL-CAD uses Doxygen for most API documentation but the comment blocks are not optimally set up for Doxygen output.

This task involves cleaning up the Doxygen comments in the library so that useful reports and API documentation automatically generated (correctly, completely, and cleanly). Verify/fix any Doxygen syntax. Verify/fix groups so that functions are organized neatly and all contained within a group. Provide patches that give clean (PDF) output from Doxygen.

References:

... doxygen cleanup for LIBBU[edit]

There are approximately 300 documented API function calls in LIBBU.

Code:

include/bu.h
src/libbu
misc/Doxyfile

... doxygen cleanup for LIBWDB[edit]

There are approximately 100 documented API function calls in LIBWDB.

Code:

include/wdb.h
include/raytrace.h
src/libwdb
misc/Doxyfile

... doxygen cleanup for LIBRT[edit]

There are approximately 1000 documented API function calls in LIBRT.

Code:

include/raytrace.h
src/librt
src/librt/primitives
src/librt/comb
src/librt/binunif
misc/Doxyfile

Add images to our wiki page on Volumetric objects[edit]

BRL-CAD provides a couple dozen distinct primitives. Each primitive is defined by a set of parameters. Several of the more complex primitives have a wiki page describing them in more detail with an example on how to create them.

This task involves adding images to our page for the VOL primitive. You'll need to first complete the tutorial and save images for each step. Add the images to the wiki page.

References:

Fix Image Formatting in BRL-CAD's DocBook Documentation (any ONE large document or 4 smaller documents)[edit]

The majority of BRL-CAD's documentation is defined as DocBook files, from which other formats (HTML, PDF, man page, etc.) can be generated. PDF files present a particular challenge, and have some very specific requirements to achieve "good" formatting.

BRL-CAD's DocBook files need to uniformly use a style of image inclusion that is aware of what "role" the image is supposed to serve. A "basic" image inclusion example looks like this:

 <mediaobject>
   <imageobject>
     <imagedata align="center" fileref="../../lessons/en/images/img.png" format="PNG"/>
   </imageobject>
   <caption>
     <para>
       Caption goes here.
     </para>
   
 </mediaobject>

This task involves switching image inclusions that use the above style to something like the following:

 <mediaobject>
   <imageobject role="html">
     <imagedata align="center" fileref="../../books/en/images/img.png" format="PNG"/>
   </imageobject>
   <imageobject role="fo">
     <imagedata align="center" fileref="../../books/en/images/img.png" format="PNG"/>
   </imageobject>
   <caption>
     <para>
       Caption goes here.
     </para>
   
</mediaobject>

The "role" flag to imageobject provides the opportunity to specify different image formatting options when the output is HTML (role="html") or PDF (role="fo").

The captions should be preserved as above on mediaobjects that have them, but mediaobjects without a caption should also be converted and there is no need to add a caption in such cases.

Any patch that makes changes to the DocBook sources should result in a successful "make doc" build test. This won't generate PDF documents, but it will validate the XML files and produce HTML - remember that introducing breakage means the patch won't be accepted.

Remember, the tasks are simply to do the above conversion for all images in the file or files, not to introduce PDF specific formatting. Formatting fixes will be needed, but they are very much "case by case" and will take both additional time and a working Apache FOP installation, as well as knowledge of how to enable PDF generation. If all image inclusions have been converted successfully and a student is interested in actually fixing the formatting, please discuss it with us on IRC or the mailing list.

References:

doc/docbook/books/en/BRL-CAD_Tutorial_Series-VolumeIII.xml

Code:

doc/docbook

Find 5 bugs in OGV[edit]

Online Geometry Viewer is a web based application with which you can see 3D .g models in browser without the use of any plugins. Your task will be to deploy OGV locally and find 5 bugs or errors in it.

Links: https://github.com/BRL-CAD/OGV-meteor/

Outreach and Research[edit]

Tasks related to community management, outreach/marketing, studying problems, and recommending solutions

Profile NURBS prep performance[edit]

BRL-CAD implements support for rendering of NURBS representation geometry. If you import a solid 3DM or STEP format model into BRL-CAD, it will import as BREP/NURBS geometry. Opening that geometry in BRL-CAD's MGED editor will tell you what objects are available and our 'rt' tool will raytrace it. When geometry is ray traced, it first goes through a "prep" phase and then it starts shooting rays. Our prep phase is entirely unoptimized so we'd like to know where all the time is presently being spent during prep..

This task involves importing some NURBS geometry into BRL-CAD and ray tracing that geometry with a profiler watching our prep performance. Any profiler will do, including gprof, but a performance monitor like oprofile or the Mac "Instruments" application (or Shark) are preferred.

Learning how to use a profiler is beyond the scope of this task, so it make take you considerably longer to provide us with useful information if you've never run a profiler before.

To capture prep performance, you will need to import some fairly complex geometry. You should be able to search google with "filetype:3dm" or "filetype:step" or find something on grabcad.com to import

Running "tops" within mged will tell you what geometry is available for rendering.

Running "rt -o file.png -s32" on the system command line (not inside mged) should minimize the ray overhead or you can specifically isolate the prep phase we care about. Prep is the time between when rt is run where it opens a window until the first pixels are fired and pixels start filling in.

Continue investigating GMP integration[edit]

BRL-CAD uses a fastf_t typedef for most all math operations that is usually a "double" floating point type. We would like to provide the option for resorting to exact arithmetic if possible by merely redefining fastf_t to a C++ type sufficiently overloaded to behave the same. You should be proficient with C++ operator overloading to take this work on. This task is a continuation of a prior GCI task (read it in full!):

http://www.google-melange.com/gci/task/view/google/gci2012/7946218

This task involves testing compilation with a C++ class with overloaded operators such that vmath macro calls still work as well as a sampling of LIBBN API function calls without major changes to the original code. A perfect example case study would be creating the class then testing whether bn_dist_pt3_pt3() and bn_mat_determinant() compute correctly for values that cannot be exactly represented with floating point arithmetic.

Building on the previous GCI task work, take it to the next step. Try setting a vector to 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 and 0.1, 0.1, 0.1 and get proper values to print. Change the V3ARGS() macro if needed. If that all works, try to get bn_dist_pt3_pt3() to work. Report and discuss your progress.

Upgrade OpenNURBS, report issues[edit]

BRL-CAD uses a customized OpenNURBS library for advanced geometry but it's out of date. For this task, you're going to download the latest OpenNURBS code and upgrade the sources we bundle. The easiest way is probably to move src/other/openNURBS to src/other/openNURBS.backup, and then put the latest OpenNURBS release into src/other/openNURBS.

Once that's done, you'll need to add the src/other/openNURBS.backup/CMakeLists.txt file and make sure the list of files it has matches the files in src/other/openNURBS. Last but not least, re-run cmake and make sure it compiles. You may need to consult the newer openNURBS makefile to see if there are other edits needed in the CMakeLists.txt file.

Save output from any commands you run because you'll probably encounter an error, and that's okay. Just submit logs of all output so we can figure out next steps.

References:

https://github.com/mcneel/opennurbs

Code:

src/other/openNURBS <- replace existing with latest openNURBS from github

Design a T-Shirt for BRL-CAD[edit]

This task involves designing a T-Shirt for BRL-CAD. Use your designing skills to design a T-Shirt for BRL-CAD. You can use the current BRL-CAD logo, or you may tweak it. Be creative while designing this T-Shirt. It would be good if the design has some special meaning.

Logo References

BRL-CAD Logo

Design a coffee mug for BRL-CAD[edit]

This task involves designing a coffee mug for BRL-CAD. Make it look good or at least interesting, and make it in BRL-CAD. Look over some coffee mug designs before starting to work on this. Verify that your mug is valid geometry by running the "rtcheck" command.

Logo References

BRL-CAD Logo

Design BRL-CAD sticker[edit]

This task involves designing a BRL-CAD sticker. The design should be simple and sleek. The concept of sticker should be clear and also it should be creatively presented. Get inspired from some sticker designs but choose your own imagination while designing the sticker. There is no bound for shape of sticker, it can be rectangular, circular or even irregular. The only thing that matters is that it should look good.

Logo References

BRL-CAD Logo

Design a wallpaper / desktop image for BRL-CAD[edit]

This task involves designing a desktop background for BRL-CAD enthusiasts. The main idea of your wallpaper should be to showcase one or more features of BRL-CAD. Be intentional and able to defend/describe your choice of color, layout, and other aspects of the wallpaper design.

Try to make sure the wallpaper works across a broad selection of screen resolutions.

Search the web for wallpapers inspiration such as:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/tag/wallpapers/

Logo References

BRL-CAD Logo

Model a Lightcycle in BRL-CAD using CSG[edit]

The movie Tron is an iconic computer graphics film that used CSG primitives for a majority of the movie's 3D virtual world. The film is famous for "lightcycle" vehicles that were allegedly modeled using 57 primitives and/or Boolean operations. For this task, see if you can recreate the masterpiece in BRL-CAD.

See this lightcycle discussion thread

http://www.tron-sector.com/forums/default.aspx?a=top&id=336281

Quality Assurance[edit]

Tasks related to testing and ensuring code is of high quality

Fix single-precision floating point crash[edit]

By default, all of BRL-CAD compiles using double-precision floating point arithmetic. We provide a simple typedef, however, that converts almost the entire system over to single-precision floating point. This compilation mode was recently cleaned up and tested, but a bug was found. The problem is reproduced very simply by compiling in single precision mode and running our "rt" ray tracer tool.

To compile in single precision, edit the include/bn.h header file and change the fastf_t typedef from double to float. To reproduce the bug, compile BRL-CAD and write this out to a text file named star.view:

viewsize 2.500000000e+05;
eye_pt 2.102677960e+05 8.455500000e+04 2.934714650e+04;
viewrot -6.733560560e-01 6.130643360e-01 4.132114880e-01 0.000000000e+00
        5.539599410e-01 4.823888300e-02 8.311441420e-01 0.000000000e+00
        4.896120540e-01 7.885590550e-01 -3.720948210e-01 0.000000000e+00
        0.000000000e+00 0.000000000e+00 0.000000000e+00 1.000000000e+00 ;
start 0;
end;

Then run rt feeding it that view script as input. This is an example how to run within the gdb debugger:

gdb path/to/bin/rt
...
(gdb) run -F/dev/X -M .cmake/share/db/star.g all < star.view

At this point, rt should crash due to an infinite recursion. A backtrace in the debugger will show lots and lots of calls to rt_shootray() and light_hit().

This task involves investigating and preventing the crash. Provide a patch that fixes the bug.

References:

man gdb
brlman rt

Code:

src/librt/shoot.c
src/liboptical/sh_light.c

Fix closedb[edit]

BRL-CAD geometry editor application (mged) has several hundred commands including two very simple commands for opening and closing a geometry database file. While the user rarely ever needs to close the file, as all changes are always immediately saved, it can be of use to scripting applications. However, at some point in the recent past, the closedb command was horked. It's undoubtedly something very simple but we haven't bothered to look due to other priorities. You can fix it. If you run these simple steps within graphical mged, you should see how commands stop working after calling closedb:

 mged> opendb test.g y
 mged> make sph sph
 mged> l sph
 mged> closedb
 mged> make sph sph
 mged> opendb test.g
 mged> l sph
 mged> exit

Provide a patch that fixes the bug or tell us which SVN revision introduced the bug. Make sure you can reproduce the bug before claiming this task, which presumes you know how to download/install BRL-CAD from a source distribution.

Code:

src/mged/mged.c

Create a utility library (LIBBU) API unit test[edit]

There are more than 300 library functions in our core LIBBU library. As a core library used by nearly every one of BRL-CAD's tools, testing those functions for correct behavior is important.

This task involves implementing new unit tests for any of LIBBU's source files that do not already have a unit test defined. The test should run all of the public functions and be hooked into our build system. We have lots of existing unit tests to follow as examples.

References:

include/bu.h
src/libbu/*.c
src/libbu/tests/*.c

Code:

src/libbu/tests/[TEST].c
src/libbu/tests/CMakeLists.txt

Create Numerics library (LIBBN) API unit tests[edit]

There are more than 300 library functions in our core LIBBN library. As a core library used by nearly every one of BRL-CAD's tools, testing those functions for correct behavior is important.

This task involves implementing new unit tests for any of LIBBN's source files that do not already have a unit test defined. The test should run all of the public functions and be hooked into our build system. We have lots of existing unit tests to follow as examples.

References:

include/bn.h
include/plot3.h
include/vmath.h
src/libbn/*.c
src/libbn/tests/*.c <-- check this directory for examples
src/libbu/tests/*.c <-- Note: Also check this too for more examples.

Code:

src/libbn/tests/[TEST].c
src/libbn/tests/CMakeLists.txt

Note A valid task will constitute writing a basic test for each function in the following libbn/ files.

... unit tests for LIBBN anim.c[edit]

... unit tests for LIBBN axis.c[edit]

... unit tests for LIBBN qmath.c[edit]

... unit tests for LIBBN rand.c[edit]

... unit tests for LIBBN vector.c[edit]

Find, reliably reproduce, and report any bug in Archer[edit]

Archer is our new modeling interface and a soon to merge with our long-standing MGED geometry editor. It undoubtedly has bugs. It's your job to find one, but do so in a manner that is so obvious that one of the other devs will be able to instantly reproduce the bug given your specific instructions. Find a way to make archer crash, become unresponsive, or otherwise behave incorrectly. You will have to explore the tool with minimal documentation.

This task involves filing a bug report with verifiable and reproducible steps that clearly demonstrate the bug. It can't be a bug already reported or otherwise documented nor can it be merely behavior you don't like.

References:

archer
Introduction to MGED at http://brlcad.org/wiki/Documentation (many of the mged commands are available in some fashion within archer)
BUGS file in any source/binary distribution
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=640802&group_id=105292&func=browse

Reproduce any 10 unconfirmed open bug reports[edit]

BRL-CAD presently has approximately 75 open bug reports of which 50 are unassigned. Read the comments and status to see if the bug has been confirmed/reproduced.

This task involves going through those reports and REPRODUCE at least 10 of the ones that have not been confirmed. When you can reproduce the issue being reported, you'll comment on the thread to state as much and attach any data you used to reproduce the crash.

References:

https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?limit=100&func=&group_id=105292&atid=640802&assignee=100&status=1&submit=Filter

User Interface[edit]

Tasks related to user experience research or user interface design and interaction

Create an ISST screenshot or animation[edit]

Everyone loves to see screenshots and animations of software in action. We use both in our marketing and outreach. See some of the examples below that we already have.

Create an awesome screenshot and/or animation of our 'isst' tool in action. It's an interactive geometry viewer interface. It should be graphically interesting and give some sense of capability. You should import a visually complex and interesting model with LOTS of polygons and detail. Note you may have to go through some or the MGED tutorials (see Docs on our website).

References:

https://brlcad.org/gallery/index.php?/category/12

Categorize commands into a spreadsheet[edit]

BRL-CAD is a suite of more than 400 commands, processing tools, image tools, geometry converters, and more. MGED also has a command-line with hundreds of commands too. Help us reorganize one of those command sets.

This task involves creating a spreadsheet that lists all commands and groups them together into a finite set of categories or labels. This spreadsheet will help us identify places where commands can be consolidated, commands we might want to consider removing, common groupings for documentation, etc.

Design a Cover Photo for Facebook (and other social media)[edit]

BRL-CAD website and marketing materials are constantly undergoing change. Effective marketing requires well designed and attractive imagery. Imagery ideally should showcase some feature of BRL-CAD, some highlight, something visually interesting and compelling.

References:

https://www.facebook.com/brlcad

Create a video for BRL-CAD[edit]

Watching someone else use software is incredibly helpful to some. Create a screen-cast video for BRL-CAD that showcases some feature, goes over steps involved in creating some model, or shows how to accomplish some other task.

You'll need to install BRL-CAD on your computer and use it in the video. Create or import some model and make a recording.

When You're Done[edit]

For non-code, just send us your file(s). For code changes, you will be expected to provide a patch file. Make sure you read your patch file before submitting it. Make sure your patch file will apply cleanly to an unmodified checkout of BRL-CAD:

svn co https://brlcad.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/brlcad/brlcad/trunk brlcad.edit
cd brlcad.edit
# make changes
svn diff > ~/my.patch
# read ~/my.patch file with text editor
cd ..
svn co https://brlcad.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/brlcad/brlcad/trunk brlcad.fresh
cd brlcad.fresh
patch -p0 < ~/my.patch
# submit your patch file to our patches tracker

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-This is a list of succinct tasks that are expected to take most people less than two hours to complete.  It's a great starting point for anyone interested in contributing to BRL-CAD.
+Below are tasks that are a great starting point for anyone interested in contributing to BRL-CAD.  Most tasks can be completed in just a couple hours!  '''''No prior experience with BRL-CAD is required.'''''
-The tasks are all roughly the same complexity with '''''no prior BRL-CAD experience expected'''''.  A description is provided along with a list of references and files you'll probably need to edit.  Can we make it any easier?
+Some tasks may take longer if you aren't set up or haven't done that type before, but all they all require about the same amount of experienced effort.  Each task has a description, references, and list of files you'll probably need.  Can we make it any easier?  [https://brlcad.zulipchat.com Let us know].
-= Getting Started =
+= Get Set Up =
-Please do contact us (via [[IRC]] or [[Mailing_Lists|brlcad-devel mailing list]]) if you have any questions, corrections, comments, or ideas of your own that you'd like to suggest.
+We suggest you [[Compiling|compile BRL-CAD]] yourself or, if you have trouble with that, there's a virtual image with everything preconfigured, ready to go:
-We've made a really awesome virtual disk image that has everything you need included, preconfigured, and ready to be edited.  Here's what you do:
+# [https://sourceforge.net/projects/brlcad/files/BRL-CAD%20for%20Virtual%20Machines/ Download our BRL-CAD Virtual Machine (VM) disk image.]
-# [https://sourceforge.net/projects/brlcad/files/BRL-CAD%20for%20Virtual%20Machines/ Download our image]
+# [https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads Install VirtualBox.]
-# [https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads Download and run VirtualBox]
+# Import the disk image, start the VM, and log in (password is "Brlcad!" without quotes).
-# Get started [[Compiling|compiling]]!
+# Run "svn up brlcad-svn-trunk" and [[Compiling#Configure_your_Build|compile]].
-__TOC__
+= Pick a Task =
-----
+Once set up, select any task that sounds interesting, read the references, and [https://brlcad.zulipchat.com talk with us] for help.  Don't worry if some words are confusing.  You got this.  All tasks can be completed by '''''anyone''''' but are grouped into the following five interest categories:
-= Code =
+* Code (programming)
-----
+* Documentation and Training (technical writing)
-''Tasks related to writing or refactoring code''
+* Outreach and Research (graphics, marketing)
+* Quality Assurance (testing)
+* User Interface (usability, design)
-All of the code tasks require making changes to BRL-CAD's source code.  You will be expected to [[Patches|provide a patch file]] of all changes.  Make sure you ''read'' your patch file before submitting it.  Make sure your patch file will apply cleanly to an unmodified checkout of BRL-CAD:
+__TOC__
- svn co https://brlcad.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/brlcad/brlcad/trunk brlcad.edit
- cd brlcad.edit
- # make changes
- svn diff > ~/my.patch
- # read ~/my.patch file with text editor
- cd ..
- svn co https://brlcad.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/brlcad/brlcad/trunk brlcad.fresh
- cd brlcad.fresh
- patch -p0 < ~/my.patch
- # submit your patch file to our patches tracker
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
+== Code ==
-|
+''Tasks related to writing or refactoring code''
-== Move comments from source to header files ==
-BRL-CAD uses Doxygen source code comments to document the API.  The comments need to be '''''moved''''' from .c source code files to the corresponding .h API header file.  Note that this is a REALLY easy task, it is just cut-and-paste after all, so it just might take you more than a couple hours if you're inefficient with a text editor.  Regardless, you ''must'' make sure you compile before and after to make sure you didn't introduce a typo because you're changing so many files.
-This is a collection of tasks.  Each task involves editing source code to move comments and verifying compilation wasn't broken in the process.  See each entry below for details.
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... move LIBBN comments ===
-There are less than 150 API comments across 17 files in LIBBN that need to be moved.  This will find most of them:
- grep -n -r -E '^/\*\*$' src/libbn | grep -v svn | grep -v '\*\*\*' | grep -v '@'
-ONLY move comments on functions that have a corresponding BN_EXPORT declaration in the include/bn.h header.  It should take less than 30 seconds to review each one.
+See the When You're Done section above for details on submitting your changes.
-Code:
-* include/bn.h
-* src/libbn/*.c
-|}
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
-&nbsp;
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
+=== Close MGED only when both windows are closed ===
-|
-=== ... move LIBRT comments for files beginning with the letter 'd' ===
-There are approximately 143 public API comments in LIBRT files starting with a 'd' (e.g., src/librt/db_tree.c) that need to be moved.  This will find most of them:
+BRL-CAD has an interactive geometry editor called MGED.  It's often the starting point for beginners and allows creation and manipulation of models using commands.  When ''mged'' is run, it creates 2 windows:  a text console for commands and an interactive graphics window.  Currently, if you close the graphics window, it quits the application.
-  grep -n -r -E '^/\*\*' src/librt | grep -v svn | grep -v '\*\*\*' | grep -v '@' |grep 'librt/d'
-ONLY move comments on functions that have a corresponding RT_EXPORT declaration in the include/raytrace.h header.  It should take less than 30 seconds to review each one.
+This task involves change behavior so that MGED exits only after closing ''both'' windows.  Closing just the graphics window  or text console should not quit MGED.
 Code:
-* include/raytrace.h
+* src/mged/mged.c
-* include/db.h
+* src/tclscripts/mged/openw.tcl
-* include/db5.h
+* src/tclscripts/mged/bindings.tcl
-* src/librt/d*.c
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... move LIBRT comments for files beginning with a-c and e-o ===
-There are approximately 150 public API comments in LIBRT files starting with 'a', 'b', 'c', (notice we skip 'd' files) 'e', 'f', ... 'n', and 'o'.  This will find most of them:
- grep -n -r -E '^/\*\*' src/librt | grep -v svn | grep -v '\*\*\*' | grep -v '@' |grep 'librt/[abcefghijklmno]'
-ONLY move comments on functions that have a corresponding RT_EXPORT declaration in the include/raytrace.h header.  It should take less than 30 seconds to review each one.
-Code:
-* include/raytrace.h
-* include/db.h
-* include/db5.h
-* src/librt/[abcefghijklmno]*.c
-* src/librt/comb/*.c
-* src/librt/binunif/*.c
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... move LIBRT comments for files beginning with 'q' through 'z' ===
-There are approximately 106 public API comments in LIBRT files starting with 'q' through the letter 'z'  This will find most of them:
- grep -n -r -E '^/\*\*' src/librt | grep -v svn | grep -v '\*\*\*' | grep -v '@' |grep 'librt/[q-z]'
-ONLY move comments on functions that have a corresponding RT_EXPORT declaration in the include/raytrace.h header.  It should take less than 30 seconds to review each one.
-Code:
-* include/raytrace.h
-* include/db.h
-* include/db5.h
-* src/librt/[q-z]*.c
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... move LIBWDB comments ===
-There are approximately 60 public API comments in LIBWDB files.  This will find most of them:
- grep -n -r -E '^/\*\*' src/libwdb | grep -v svn | grep -v '\*\*\*' | grep -v '@'
-ONLY move comments that have a corresponding WDB_EXPORT declaration in the include/wdb.h header AND stub in placeholder /** */ comments for any declarations in the header still lacking a comment block.  ALSO, remove any 'F U N C T I O N' names that are spaced out from the comments.
-Code:
-* include/wdb.h
-* src/libwdb/*.c
-|}
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Implement runtime detection of SSE ==
-BRL-CAD will optionally leverage SSE instructions for some operations but SSE-support is set at compile-time.  If you attempt to perform SSE instructions on non-SSE hardware, it'll basically halt the application with an illegal instruction exception.  That's a fancy way of saying it crashes.
-This task involves implementing a function (that will go into our LIBBU utility library) to reports whether SSE support is available at runtime.  The most prevalent method for doing this is demonstrated by the Mesa folks where you set up an exception handler for SIGILL and attempt an SSE instruction.  That's obviously a non-solution for Windows platforms, but is better than nothing and more useful than a Windows-only solution.  Even better if you can handle both or implement a cross-platform solution.  You'll implement a bu_sse_init() function that returns an error if SSE is not available at runtime.
-Code:
-* include/bu.h
-* src/libbu/sse.c
-|}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Fix bounding box function for our polygonal mesh (BoT) primitive ==
-BRL-CAD provides functions for its geometric primitives that define a bounding box - a box that completely encloses the volume described by the primitive.  Ideally, these boxes are as small as possible while still enclosing the primitive.  Currently the routine for BoTs is incorrect.  You can use stl-g, obj-g, or any of our other *-g converters to import BoT geometry for testing.
-This task involves studying the current code for the function rt_bot_bbox() and determining what is causing the current inaccuracies (the mged 'bb' command is a good way to visualize primitive bounding boxes).  Make changes to produce a more optimal bounding box.  Reimplement it from scratch if you like.  The raytracing prep code in rt_bot_prep does prepare a better bounding box, so that is one place to check.
-Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/bot/bot.c
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Make mged 'tables' command not call system() ==
-BRL-CAD's geometry editor (MGED) provides hundreds of functions that users can call on the command line.  One of our oldest commands writes data out to text files and calls the unix "sort" command to sort a list of items..  That's really bad.
-This task involves replacing the three calls to system() with a call to quicksort() or any other simple in-memory sorting mechanism.
-Code:
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
-* src/libged/tables.c
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+=== Implement a primitive centroid function ===
-|}
+BRL-CAD provides more than two dozen types of geometry "primitives" such as ellipsoids, boxes, and cones.  Every primitive is described by a collection of callback functions, for example rt_'''ell'''_bbox() returns the bounding box dimensions for an '''ell'''ipsoid.  Wikipedia, Wolfram Mathworld, and various other math sites (and research papers) around the web include the equations for most of our basic primitives while others are more tricky to compute.
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Separate LIBNURBS files into one class per file ==
-BRL-CAD has a recently implemented a new library that isn't very well organized.  The files for that library are a haphazard collection of classes and functions.  It's a bit of a mess.
+This task involves writing a new callback function that takes an rt_db_internal object and calculates its centroid (as a point_t 3D point).  There are numerous examples in our code where we compute centroids for other primitives.  The primitives that do not already have a centroid callback are itemized in following.
-This task involves making sure there is no more than one struct or class per source file.  Class/struct declarations should be in header files.  Class/struct method and functions should be in source files.  Headers should be fully self-sufficient and include proper #ifdef wrappers (see include/*.h for examples).  Make sure new files are named to match their enclosing class/struct.  Be sure to update the CMakeLists.txt build file too and test compilation.
-Code:
-* src/libnurbs/*
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Implement mutex locking for Windows ==
-BRL-CAD implements support for running in parallel on computers with multiple CPUs or cores.  However, there are lots of ways to run in parallel.  BRL-CAD runs on Windows, but presently only in a single-threaded mode.  To make it work in parallel, we need to define how threads acquire a mutex lock.
-This task involves implementing the necessary logic to acquire and release a mutex or semaphore on Windows.  You can use either, but probably want to call CreateMutex().  This requires a ''very'' minor source code modification to just one file, but make sure it works with a simple test program.  Make your test program call bu_semaphore_init()+bu_semaphore_acquire()+bu_semahpore_release(), see include/bu.h for API docs.
 References:
-* http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms686927(v=vs.85).aspx
+* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centroid
-* http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms686946(v=vs.85).aspx
+* http://mathworld.wolfram.com/
-* Mark Walmsley: "Multi-Threaded Programming in C++", Springer, 2000 (although it has C++ in its title the basic functionality there is pure C)
+* include/raytrace.h: See ft_centroid callback defined in the rt_functab structure
-* include/bu.h
 Code:
-* src/libbu/semaphore.c
+* src/librt/primitives/table.c
+* src/librt/primitives/[PRIMITIVE]/[PRIMITIVE].c
-|}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Implement thread creation for Windows ==
-BRL-CAD implements support for running in parallel on computers with multiple CPUs or cores.  However, there are lots of ways to run in parallel.  BRL-CAD runs on Windows, but presently only in a single-threaded mode.  To make it work in parallel, we need to define how threads are created.
-This task involves implementing the necessary logic to create a new thread in bu_parallel().  This requires a ''very''  minor source code modification to just one file, but make sure it works with a simple test program.  Make your program call bu_parallel(), see include/bu.h for API docs.
-References:
-* http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms682453(v=vs.85).aspx
-* Mark Walmsley: "Multi-Threaded Programming in C++", Springer, 2000 (although it has C++ in its title the basic functionality there is pure C)
-* include/bu.h
-Code:
-* src/libbu/parallel.c
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Decouple LIBDM from LIBGED ==
-BRL-CAD has a 3D display manager library (LIBDM) and a geometry editor command library (LIBGED).  For clean encapsulation and library management, it's desirable to keep library dependencies to a minimum.  LIBGED presently makes direct calls to LIBDM for a "screengrab" command.  Properly fixed, it should be possible to remove the LIBDM linkage from LIBGED's build file and the command still work as expected.
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+=== Implement a primitive curvature function ===
-This task involves breaking the dependency of LIBGED on LIBDM by making LIBGED not directly call any LIBDM functions.  To do this, LIBGED will need to introduce a callback mechanism in the "ged" struct so that the screengrab command can capture an image without directly calling a LIBDM function.  This task is a little tricky, so you'll need to be somewhat proficient with C if you want any chance of completing this within a couple hours.
+BRL-CAD provides more than two dozen types of geometry "primitives" such as ellipsoids, boxes, and cones each described by a collection of callback functions, for example rt_'''sph'''_bbox() returns the bounding box dimensions for a '''sph'''ere.  Wikipedia, Wolfram Mathworld, and various other math sites (and research papers) around the web include the equations for most of our basic primitives while others are a little more tricky to compute.
-Code:
+This task involves writing the callback function rt_xxx_curve() that computes the curvature at a given point on the surface of a primitive such as;
-* include/ged.h
+* superell
-* include/dm.h
+* cline
-* src/libged/screengrab.h
+* extrude
-* src/libged/CMakeLists.txt
+* grip
+* metaball
-|}
+* hrt.
-&nbsp;
+There are numerous examples in our code where we compute the curvature for other primitives like the ellipsoid, sphere, elliptical parabola, etc.
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Implement a function to convert triangle meshes to solid polygon mesh ==
-BRL-CAD implements numerous "primitive" 3D entity types.  The Bag of Triangle (BoT) primitive implements simple triangle mesh geometry.  Our N-manifold geometry (NMG) primitive implements solid polygonal mesh geometry.  While we have a routine that converts an NMG to a BoT (mk_bot_from_nmg()), we do not have the reverse (mk_nmg_from_bot()).
-This task implements the missing mk_nmg_from_bot() function so that the input triangle mesh is converted into the NMG data structures and stitched together appropriately.
 References:
-* src/librt/primitives/nmg
+* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curvature
-* src/librt/primitives/bot
+* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radius_of_curvature_(mathematics)
+* http://mathworld.wolfram.com/
+* include/raytrace.h: See the data structure that holds the curvature of a surface at a point (from Line 296) as well as the prototype for ft_curve() callback function defined in the rt_functab structure ( Line 2078).
 Code:
-* src/libwdb/nmg.c
+* src/librt/primitives/table.c
+* src/librt/primitives/[PRIMITIVE]/[PRIMITIVE].c
-|}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Close MGED when both windows are closed ==
-BRL-CAD has an interactive geometry editor called MGED.  It's often the starting point for beginners and allows creation and manipulation of models using commands.  When ''mged'' is run, it creates 2 windows:  a text-console command window and an interactive graphics window.  When the user closes one of those windows, there is a bug.  Closing the graphics window closes the command window.
-This task involves fixing this behavior so that ONLY closing ''both'' windows terminates the process properly and that closing either window does not take the other along with it.
-Code:
-* src/mged/mged.c
-* src/tclscripts/mged/openw.c
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Add MGED key-binding to reopen the command window ==
-BRL-CAD has an interactive geometry editor called MGED. It's often the starting point for beginners and allows creation and manipulation of models using commands. When MGED is invoked, it creates 2 windows:  a text-console command window and an interactive graphics window.  If the user closes the text-console command window, they are left with the interactive graphics window.  There is presently no way (correct us if we're wrong) to get the text-console back without restarting mged.  A good way to test this is to run in classic mode and run the 'gui' command:
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+=== Implement a primitive UV-mapping callback ===
- sushi:~ morrison$ mged -c test.g
+BRL-CAD provides more than two dozen types of geometry "primitives" such as ellipsoids, boxes, and cones.  Every primitive is described by a collection of callback functions, for example rt_'''ell'''_bbox() returns the bounding box dimensions for an '''ell'''ipsoid.  One of those functions describes a UV mapping of the object's surface, which is used for things like texture and bump mapping.  An example of this is rt_ell_uv() in the src/librt/primitives/ell/ell.c source file for an ellipsoid.  Several of our more complex primitive types (such as BoT, NMG, and BREP/NURBS) do not presently implement a UV-mapping function leading to unexpected runtime behavior.
- BRL-CAD Release 7.22.0  Geometry Editor (MGED)
-     Fri, 24 Aug 2012 00:02:42 -0400, Compilation 6
-     morrison@sushi.local:/usr/brlcad/rel-7.22.0
- attach (nu|X|ogl)[nu]?
- mged> gui
-This task involves adding some mechanism, perhaps a simple key binding, to the graphics window so that you can get the command window back on-demand.
+This task involves implementing a UV-mapping callback for any of the primitives that do not already have a functional UV-callback defined.  Note that this is an advanced task that might take you more than a couple hours if you don't have solid coding skills, but it's ultimately just a few lines of code.  See other primitives that already implement a UV-mapping callback for reference.
-Code:
-* src/mged/mged.c
-* src/tclscripts/mged/openw.c
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Implement a primitive surface area function ==
-BRL-CAD provides more than two dozen types of geometry "primitives" such as ellipsoids, boxes, and cones.  Every primitive is described by a collection of callback functions, for example rt_ell_bbox() returns the bounding box dimensions for an ellipsoid.  Wikipedia, Wolfram Mathworld, and various other math sites (and research papers) around the web include the equations for most of our basic primitives while others are a little more tricky to compute.
-This task involves writing a new callback function that takes an rt_db_internal object and calculates the surface area (units are mm^2).  There are numerous examples in our code where we compute surface area for other primitives.  The primitives that do not already have a centroid callback are itemized in following.
 References:
-* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_area
+* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UV_mapping
-* http://mathworld.wolfram.com/
+* src/librt/primitives/[PRIMITIVE]/[PRIMITIVE].c, search for rt_*_uv() functions
-* http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=AD0274936
-* include/raytrace.h: See ft_surf_area callback defined in the rt_functab structure
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... surface area function for elliptical hyperboloids (EHY) ===
 Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/ehy/ehy.c
+* src/librt/primitives/extrude/extrude.c
+* src/librt/primitives/table.c
+* include/rtgeom.h
-|}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... surface area function for right hyperbolic cylinders (RHC) ===
-Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/rhc/rhc.c
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... surface area function for hyperboloids of one sheet (HYP) ===
-Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/hyp/hyp.c
-|}
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
-&nbsp;
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
+=== Fix elliptical torus triangulation ===
-|
-=== ... surface area function for polyhedron with 4 to 8 sides (ARB8) ===
-Code:
+BRL-CAD has many 3D object types, one of them being an "Elliptical Torus".  If you create a new MGED database and run this sequence of commands, it'll crash due to excessive recursion:
-* src/librt/primitives/arb8/arb8.c
-|}
+<pre>
-&nbsp;
+make eto eto
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
+tol norm 1
-|
+facetize eto.bot eto
-=== ... surface area function for N-faced polysolid (ARBN) ===
+</pre>
-Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/arbn/arbn.c
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... surface area function for extruded bitmaps (EBM) ===
-Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/ebm/ebm.c
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... surface area function for gridded volumes (VOL) ===
-Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/vol/vol.c
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... surface area function for super ellipsoids (SUPERELL) ===
-Code:
+This task's goal is to reproduce, identify, and fix the bug so that detailed eto tessellation completes successfully.  To get started, see the rt_eto_tess() function in src/librt/primitives/eto/eto.c and the facetize command logic in libged.
-* src/librt/primitives/superell/superell.c
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... surface area function for polygonal meshes (NMG) ===
 Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/nmg/nmg.c
+* src/librt/primitives/eto/eto.c, <- you'll probably need to modify this file
+* src/libged/facetize/facetize.cpp
-|}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... surface area function for triangle meshes (BOT) ===
-Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/bot/bot.c
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... surface area function for NURBS objects (BREP) ===
-Code:
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
-* src/librt/primitives/brep/brep.cpp
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+=== Implement a function that evaluates volume with spherical sampling ===
-|}
+Implement this function:
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Implement a primitive volume function ==
-BRL-CAD provides more than two dozen types of geometry "primitives" such as ellipsoids, boxes, and cones.  Every primitive is described by a collection of callback functions, for example rt_ell_bbox() returns the bounding box dimensions for an ellipsoid.  Wikipedia, Wolfram Mathworld, and various other math sites (and research papers) around the web include the equations for most of our basic primitives while others are a little more difficult to compute.
+    int estimate_volume(struct db_i *dbip,
+                        struct directory *dp,
+                        size_t min_samples,
+                        double confidence);
-This task involves writing a new callback function that takes an rt_db_internal object and calculates the volume (units are mm^3).  There are numerous examples in our code where we compute volume for other primitives.  The primitives that do not already have a volume callback are itemized in following.
+For this function, you'll want to read up on some of BRL-CAD's basic data structures by looking at headers in the include/rt directory or by reading our [https://brlcad.org/docs/api/ API documentation].  Calling rt_db_internal() and rt_bound_internal() will get you the bounding box around geometry from which you can calculate a bounding sphere.  Once you have the bounding sphere, randomly generate a set of min_samples*2 points on the surface of the sphere.  Shoot a ray through those points using rt_shootray(), as in the ray tracing [[Example_Application|example]].  Keep track of a volume estimate and keep shooting sets of min_samples rays until the estimate is less than the specified confidence value.  Volume of a sphere is (4/3 * pi * r^3) so dividing that by num_samples will give a per-ray factor and multiplying all hit thicknesses by that factor will give a running volume estimate.
 References:
-* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volume
+* https://brlcad.org/docs/api/
-* http://mathworld.wolfram.com/
+* https://brlcad.org/wiki/Example_Application
-* http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=AD0274936
+* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9600801/evenly-distributing-n-points-on-a-sphere
-* include/raytrace.h: See ft_volume callback defined in rt_functab structure
+* https://karthikkaranth.me/blog/generating-random-points-in-a-sphere/
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... volume function for right hyperbolic cylinders (RHC) ===
-Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/rhc/rhc.c
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... volume function for elliptical hyperboloids (EHY) ===
-Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/ehy/ehy.c
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... volume function for hyperboloids of one sheet (HYP) ===
-Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/hyp/hyp.c
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... volume function for superellipsoids (SUPERELL) ===
-Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/superell/superell.c
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... volume function for extruded bitmaps (EBM) ===
-Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/ebm/ebm.c
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... volume function for gridded volumes (VOL) ===
-Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/vol/vol.c
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... volume function for triangle meshes (BOT) ===
-Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/bot/bot.c
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... volume function for solid polygonal meshes (NMG) ===
-Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/nmg/nmg.c
-|}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... volume function for extruded sketches (EXTRUDE) ===
-Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/extrude/extrude.c
-|}
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Implement a primitive centroid function ==
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
-BRL-CAD provides more than two dozen types of geometry "primitives" such as ellipsoids, boxes, and cones.  Every primitive is described by a collection of callback functions, for example rt_ell_bbox() returns the bounding box dimensions for an ellipsoid.  Wikipedia, Wolfram Mathworld, and various other math sites (and research papers) around the web include the equations for most of our basic primitives while others are a little more tricky to compute.
+=== Implement a function to return an object's color ===
-This task involves writing a new callback function that takes an rt_db_internal object and calculates its centroid (as a point_t 3D point).  There are numerous examples in our code where we compute centroids for other primtiives.  The primitives that do not already have a centroid callback are itemized in following.
+CAD geometry can have colors specified in a number of ways including directly on that object, in a parent object, and in a lookup table.  For this task, you're going to implement a function that reports the color of an object given a path to that object:
-References:
+    int get_color(struct db_i *dbip, const char *path, struct bu_color *rgb);
-* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centroid
-* http://mathworld.wolfram.com/
-* include/raytrace.h: See ft_centroid callback defined in the rt_functab structure
-Code:
+You'll need to iteratively consider each object named on the specified path (e.g., "/car/wheel/tire.r/torus") starting with "car" and working your down the path (i.e., 'wheel', 'tire.r', and then 'torus') to 1) see if a color is set on that object and 2) see if that color overrides lower-level colors (i.e., is inherited down the path), and 3) if it's a region object, whether there is a color set in the region table.  You'll need to db_lookup() each object on the path to get access to its data.
-* src/librt/primitives/table.c
-* src/librt/primitives/[PRIMITIVE]/[PRIMITIVE].c
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
+For this function, you'll want to read up on some of BRL-CAD's basic data structures by looking at headers in the include/rt directory or by reading our [https://brlcad.org/docs/api/ API documentation].  This task may seem complicated if you're not familiar with C/C++ APIs, data structures, or hierarchical paths, so don't be shy [https://brlcad.zulipchat.com asking] questions.
-|
-=== ... centroid function for elliptical hyperboloids (EHY) ===
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... centroid function for right hyperbolic cylinders (RHC) ===
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... centroid function for hyperboloids of one sheet (HYP) ===
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... centroid function for polyhedron with 4 to 8 sides (ARB8) ===
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... centroid function for extruded bitmaps (EBM) ===
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... centroid function for gridded volumes (VOL) ===
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... centroid function for N-faced polysolids (ARBN) ===
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... centroid function for extruded sketches (EXTRUDE) ===
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... centroid function for superellipsoids (SUPERELL) ===
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... centroid function for solid polygonal meshes (NMG) ===
-|}
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Implement a primitive UV-mapping callback ==
-BRL-CAD provides more than two dozen types of geometry "primitives" such as ellipsoids, boxes, and cones.  Every primitive is described by a collection of callback functions, for example rt_ell_bbox() returns the bounding box dimensions for an ellipsoid.  One of those functions describes a UV mapping of the object's surface, which is used for things like texture and bump mapping.  An example of this is rt_ell_uv() in the src/librt/primitives/ell/ell.c source file for an ellipsoid.  Several of our more complex primitive types (such as BoT, NMG, and BREP/NURBS) do not presently implement a UV-mapping function leading to unexpected runtime behavior.
-This task involves implementing a UV-mapping callback for any of the primitives that do not already have a functional UV-callback defined.  Note that this is an advanced task that might take you more than a couple hours if you don't have solid coding skills, but it's ultimately just a few lines of code.  See other primitives that already implement a UV-mapping callback for reference.
 References:
-* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UV_mapping
+* https://brlcad.org/docs/api/
-* src/librt/primitives/[PRIMITIVE]/[PRIMITIVE].c, read the rt_*_uv() function
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... UV-mapping for extruded bitmaps (EBM) ===
-Code:
+Code References:
-* src/librt/primitives/ebm/ebm.c
+* src/libged/display_list.c
-* src/librt/primitives/table.c
+* src/libged/color/color.c
-* include/rtgeom.h
+* src/librt/prep.c
-|}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... UV-mapping for extruded sketches (EXTRUDE) ===
-Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/extrude/extrude.c
-* src/librt/primitives/table.c
-* include/rtgeom.h
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... UV-mapping for gridded volumes (VOL) ===
-Code:
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
-* src/librt/primitives/vol/vol.c
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
-* src/librt/primitives/table.c
-* include/rtgeom.h
-|}
+=== Stub in an OpenVDB object ===
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... UV-mapping for N-faced arbitrary polyhedrons (ARBN) ===
-Code:
+BRL-CAD has dozens of distinct primitive object types.  For this task, you're going to implement the bare minimum to necessary to create a new object with the "make" command in MGED.
-* src/librt/primitives/arbn/arbn.c
-* src/librt/primitives/table.c
-* include/rtgeom.h
-|}
+The best way to achieve this task is by searching for a keyword for another primitive (e.g., 'grep -r -i superell .') and implementing your new object the same way.  Start with the 'make' command itself in src/libged/make/make.c and add "vdb" alongside where you find one of the other primitive types (e.g., superell).  To get that to compile, you'll have to add new symbols you've defined into header files (e.g., include/rt/rtgeom.h).  You'll eventually need to implement barebones logic in src/librt/primitives/vdb too.
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... UV-mapping for superellipsoids (SUPERELL) ===
 Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/superell/superell.c
+* include/rt/defines.h <- needs an ID
-* src/librt/primitives/table.c
+* include/rt/geom.h <- needs an "internal" i.e., in-memory structure
-* include/rtgeom.h
+* src/libged/make/make.c <- needs to recognize "vdb" as a valid type
+* src/librt/primitives/table.cpp <- needs an entry
+* src/librt/primtiives/vdb <- needs a dir
+* src/librt/primitives/vdb/vdb.c <- needs _import5/_export5 callbacks, maybe _describe too
-|}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... UV-mapping for triangle meshes (BOT) ===
-Code:
-* src/librt/primitives/bot/bot.c
-* src/librt/primitives/table.c
-* include/rtgeom.h
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... UV-mapping for solid polygonal meshes (NMG) ===
-Code:
+== Documentation and Training ==
-* src/librt/primitives/nmg/nmg.c
-* src/librt/primitives/table.c
-* include/rtgeom.h
-|}
-|}
-----
-= Documentation and Training =
-----
 ''Tasks related to creating/editing documents and helping others learn more about BRL-CAD''
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
-|
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
-== Add missing documentation (for any ONE command) ==
+=== Add missing documentation (for any ONE command) ===
 BRL-CAD is an extensive system with more than 400 commands and more than a million pages of documentation, but there are approximately 120 commands that are entirely undocumented:
@@ Line 682: / Line 229: @@
 * doc/docbook/system/man1/en/*.xml
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Write a tutorial on compiling BRL-CAD with XCode on Mac OS X ==
-BRL-CAD uses the CMake build system to generate outputs for a variety of platforms.  It will output Makefiles, Microsoft Visual Studio build files, XCode project files, Eclipse build files and more.
-This task involves generating an XCode project with our build and verifying that it successfully compiles all of BRL-CAD.  Document the process on our wiki as a tutorial.  Include screen shot images when referring to visual actions within XCode.
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+=== Complete our "Intro to BRL-CAD Modeling" tutorial and extend it ===
-References:
+We've developed two short and simple tutorials for introducing new users to modeling with BRL-CAD.
-* http://www.cmake.org/
-* http://brlcad.org/wiki/
-|}
+This task involves doing one of the tutorials (they take about an hour) and then extending it with a new section or making some other improvement.  At the end of the tutorial are several optional advanced "exercise left to the reader", for example.  Write a half-page step-by-step for one of the exercises left to the reader.  Include screenshots and images to make it look nice so the reader is not bored.
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Write a tutorial on compiling BRL-CAD with Eclipse on Linux ==
-BRL-CAD uses the CMake build system to generate outputs for a variety of platforms.  It will output Makefiles, Microsoft Visual Studio build files, XCode project files, Eclipse build files and more.
+Reference:
+* Come [https://brlcad.zulipchat.com talk with us] to make sure you get a copy of the latest version.
+* https://brlcad.org/w/images/9/90/Intro_to_BRL-CAD.pdf
+* https://brlcad.org/w/images/c/cf/Introduction_to_MGED.pdf
+* ... there's another new one, but you have to ask for it ...
-This task involves generating an Eclipse project with our build and verifying that it successfully compiles all of BRL-CAD.  Document the process on our wiki as a tutorial.  Include images/screen shots when referring to visual actions within Eclipse.
-References:
-* http://www.eclipse.org/
-* http://cmake.org
-* http://www.cmake.org/Wiki/Eclipse_CDT4_Generator
-* http://brlcad.org/wiki/
-|}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Document MGED's 'saveview' command options ==
-BRL-CAD's primary geometry editor (MGED) provides hundreds of commands.  Two of those commands are the savewview and loadview commands that write current view settings out to a text file and read them back in.  The saveview command provides -e -i -l and -o options, but they are not documented.
-This task involves writing documentation for those missing options.  Consult the source code to see what they do and add the corresponding sections into our Docbook XML doc just like we do in our other documentation files.  Test compilation to make sure your XML syntax is correct.
-References:
-* src/libged/saveview.c
-* doc/docbook/system/mann/en/*.xml
-Code:
-* doc/docbook/system/mann/en/saveview.xml
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Write "MGED Interface" reference document==
-BRL-CAD's primary geometry editor is called MGED.  MGED's documentation is extensive but incomplete without a concise 1 or 2 page document that details MGED's interface.
-This task involves writing an interface reference document that gives a brief descriptive overview of the key bindings, mouse bindings, and primary GUI elements.  The [http://brlcad.org/w/images/8/8c/Shift_Grips_Quick_Reference_Guide.pdf shift grips reference] should be incorporated, albeit much more concisely and organized.  It should minimally include the command window, the graphics window, the raytrace control panel, the combination editor, the geometry tree view, and overview graphics window key bindings.
-References:
-* http://brlcad.org/wiki/Documentation
-* http://brlcad.org/w/images/c/cf/Introduction_to_MGED.pdf
-* http://brlcad.org/w/images/8/8c/Shift_Grips_Quick_Reference_Guide.pdf
-Examples:
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
-* http://www.tuxmagazine.com/system/files/Touring_The_GIMP.pdf
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
-* http://izatxamir.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/visio-2007-quick-reference-1.jpg
-* http://www.thefloatingfrog.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/ColorTheory_Screen_White.jpg
-* http://wiki.blender.org/uploads/7/7c/BlenderHotkeysEditMode.png
-* http://blogs.wandisco.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/refcard1.png
-* http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ref-card.jpg
-* http://code.google.com/p/sketchyphysics2/downloads/detail?name=SketchyPhysics%20-%20Quick%20Reference%20Card%20v2B1.pdf
-|}
+=== Translate "Contributors Guide To BRL-CAD" To Any Language ===
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Convert 43 src/conv man pages to ''valid'' Docbook ==
-BRL-CAD is in the process of converting its documentation in order to enable automatic generation of output in different formats (html, pdf, man) from a single source.  We need to convert our existing UNIX man pages to the Docbook XML format.  There is a [http://www.catb.org/~esr/doclifter/ doclifter conversion tool] available to help automatically convert files, then just a little bit of cleanup is needed.  This will find all of them:
+People interested in improving BRL-CAD sometimes find themselves lost in a sea of information. In all, BRL-CAD has more than a million words of documentation across hundreds of manual pages, dozens of tutorials and examples, hundreds of wiki pages, dozens of technical papers, and other resources. There are literally thousands of features and this can sometimes pose problems.
- find src/conv -name \*.1
+In 2013, a team of contributors got to California and worked on an entire book titled "Contributors Guide To BRL-CAD" in just a few days. This great resource needs to be translated to other languages to attract developers from other lingual backgrounds (who don't read English ) to contribute to BRL-CAD.
-The simplest way to confirm the files are successfully converted is to incorporate them into BRL-CAD's build logic (edit CMakeLists.txt) and view the output using brlman and an html viewer.  It is recommended to use the Emacs editor with the nxml mode in order to more easily identify and fix errors, but this is not a requirement.
+This task involves translating the chapters/sections of the "Contributors Guide To BRL-CAD" into a language of your choice such as Mandarin, French, Chinese, Spanish, German, Hindi, Arabic, Russian, etc. Chapters/Sections include
-This task involves using the doclifter tool to perform a rough conversion to Docbook of all man pages in the '''src/conv''' subdirectory of the BRL-CAD source tree (about 43 files), then performing whatever manual corrections are needed to the autogenerated XML files to make them valid Docbook (some conversions have already been done and can serve as guides).  Add new files to the doc/docbook/system/man1/en directory (via ''svn add''), edit the CMakeLists.txt file in that same directory, verify no errors by [[Compiling|compiling]], and make a [[Patches|patch]].
+* Feature Overview
+* Working with our Code
+* What code to work on
+* How to contribute
+* .... (Just to name a few )
-References:
+The output of this task can be a pdf, html, doc, odt or any other document file that contains the translated article.Images in the original document (see link in Reference below) should not be changed ! only text should be.
-* doc/docbook/system/
-* Doclifter conversion tool: http://www.catb.org/~esr/doclifter/
-* Docbook documentation: http://www.docbook.org/tdg/en/html/docbook.html
-* Emacs editor: http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/emacs.html
-* nxml Emacs mode: http://www.thaiopensource.com/nxml-mode/
-Code:
+Reference:
-* src/conv/*.1
+* http://en.flossmanuals.net/_booki/contributors-guide-to-brl-cad/contributors-guide-to-brl-cad.pdf
-* doc/docbook/system/man1/en/CMakeLists.txt
-* doc/docbook/system/man1/en/
-|}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Convert 38 src/fb man pages to ''valid'' Docbook ==
-BRL-CAD is in the process of converting its documentation in order to enable automatic generation of output in different formats (html, pdf, man) from a single source.  We need to convert our existing UNIX man pages to the Docbook XML format.  There is a [http://www.catb.org/~esr/doclifter/ doclifter conversion tool] available to help automatically convert files, then just a little bit of cleanup is needed.  This will find all of them:
- find src/fb -name \*.1
-The simplest way to confirm the files are successfully converted is to incorporate them into BRL-CAD's build logic (edit CMakeLists.txt) and view the output using brlman and an html viewer.  It is recommended to use the Emacs editor with the nxml mode in order to more easily identify and fix errors, but this is not a requirement.
-This task involves using the doclifter tool to perform a rough conversion to Docbook of all man pages in the '''src/fb''' subdirectory of the BRL-CAD source tree (about 38 files), then performing whatever manual corrections are needed to the autogenerated XML files to make them valid Docbook (some conversions have already been done and can serve as guides).  Add new files to the doc/docbook/system/man1/en directory (via ''svn add''), edit the CMakeLists.txt file in that same directory, verify no errors by [[Compiling|compiling]], and make a [[Patches|patch]].
-References:
-* Current Docbook man pages: http://brlcad.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/brlcad/brlcad/trunk/doc/docbook/system/
-* Docbook documentation: http://www.docbook.org/tdg/en/html/docbook.html
-* Doclifter conversion tool: http://www.catb.org/~esr/doclifter/
-* Emacs editor: http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/emacs.html
-* nxml Emacs mode: http://www.thaiopensource.com/nxml-mode/
-Code:
-* src/fb/*.1
-* doc/docbook/system/man1/en/CMakeLists.txt
-* doc/docbook/system/man1/en/
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Convert 24 other man pages to ''valid'' Docbook ==
-BRL-CAD is in the process of converting its documentation in order to enable automatic generation of output in different formats (html, pdf, man) from a single source.  We need to convert our existing UNIX man pages to the Docbook XML format.  There is a [http://www.catb.org/~esr/doclifter/ doclifter conversion tool] available to help automatically convert files, then just a little bit of cleanup is needed.  This will find all of them:
- find src/[glnrt]* -name \*.1
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
-The simplest way to confirm the files are successfully converted is to incorporate them into BRL-CAD's build logic (edit CMakeLists.txt) and view the output using brlman and an html viewer.  It is recommended to use the Emacs editor with the nxml mode in order to more easily identify and fix errors, but this is not a requirement.
+=== Write a "BRL-CAD Commands Quick Reference" document ===
-This task involves using the doclifter tool to perform a rough conversion to Docbook of all man pages in the '''src/gtools''', '''src/lgt''', '''src/nirt''', '''src/remrt''', '''src/rt''', '''src/rttherm''', and '''src/tab''' subdirectories of the BRL-CAD source tree (about 24 files), then performing whatever manual corrections are needed to the autogenerated XML files to make them valid Docbook (some conversions have already been done and can serve as guides).  Add new files to the doc/docbook/system/man1/en directory (via ''svn add''), edit the CMakeLists.txt file in that same directory, verify no errors by [[Compiling|compiling]], and make a [[Patches|patch]].
-References:
-* Current Docbook man pages: http://brlcad.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/brlcad/brlcad/trunk/doc/docbook/system/
-* Docbook documentation: http://www.docbook.org/tdg/en/html/docbook.html
-* Doclifter conversion tool: http://www.catb.org/~esr/doclifter/
-* Emacs editor: http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/emacs.html
-* nxml Emacs mode: http://www.thaiopensource.com/nxml-mode/
-Code:
-* src/fb/*.1
-* doc/docbook/system/man1/en/CMakeLists.txt
-* doc/docbook/system/man1/en/
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Write a "BRL-CAD Commands Quick Reference" document ==
 There is already a command quick reference for BRL-CAD's MGED geometry editing tool, but there is not a similar document for BRL-CAD's 400+ command-line commands.
@@ Line 849: / Line 291: @@
 * http://brlcad.org/wiki/Documentation
 * http://brlcad.org/w/images/5/52/MGED_Quick_Reference_Card.pdf
-* http://appletree.or.kr/quick_reference_cards/CVS-Subversion-Git/git-cheat-sheet-large.png
+* [http://appletree.or.kr/quick_reference_cards/CVS-Subversion-Git/git-cheat-sheet-large.png git example]
-* http://www.stdout.org/~winston/latex/latexsheet-0.png
+* [http://www.stdout.org/~winston/latex/latexsheet-0.png latex example]
-* http://img.docstoccdn.com/thumb/orig/524314.png
+* [http://img.docstoccdn.com/thumb/orig/524314.png another example]
-* http://www.inmensia.com/files/pictures/internal/CheatSheetDrupal4.7.png
+* [http://www.inmensia.com/files/pictures/internal/CheatSheetDrupal4.7.png drupal example]
-* http://www.phpmagicbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/php-reference-card.jpg
+* [http://www.phpmagicbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/php-reference-card.jpg php example]
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
-== Doxygen cleanup ==
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+=== Doxygen cleanup ===
 BRL-CAD uses Doxygen for most API documentation but the comment blocks are not optimally set up for Doxygen output.
@@ Line 870: / Line 315: @@
 * http://www.stack.nl/~dimitri/doxygen/
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
+&nbsp;
-|
-=== ... doxygen cleanup for LIBBU ===
+{| style="background-color:#efefef; border-style: solid; border-width: 2px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 10px;" |
+==== ... doxygen cleanup for LIBBU ====
 There are approximately 300 documented API function calls in LIBBU.
@@ Line 881: / Line 328: @@
 * misc/Doxyfile
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... doxygen cleanup for LIBBN ===
-There are approximately 300 documented API function calls in LIBBN.
+{| style="background-color:#efefef; border-style: solid; border-width: 2px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 10px;" |
-Code:
+==== ... doxygen cleanup for LIBWDB ====
-* include/bn.h
-* include/plot3.h
-* include/vmath.h
-* src/libbn
-* misc/Doxyfile
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... doxygen cleanup for LIBWDB ===
 There are approximately 100 documented API function calls in LIBWDB.
@@ Line 910: / Line 344: @@
 * misc/Doxyfile
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
+{| style="background-color:#efefef; border-style: solid; border-width: 2px;" width="100%"
-=== ... doxygen cleanup for LIBRT ===
+| style="padding: 10px;" |
+==== ... doxygen cleanup for LIBRT ====
 There are approximately 1000 documented API function calls in LIBRT.
@@ Line 925: / Line 361: @@
 * src/librt/binunif
 * misc/Doxyfile
+&nbsp;
 |}
+&nbsp;
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Write a "BRL-CAD Ray Tracing Shaders" tutorial ==
-BRL-CAD includes numerous shaders that let you specify different optical effects during ray tracing.
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+=== Add images to our wiki page on Volumetric objects ===
-This task involves writing a brief tutorial that describes what shaders are and how one specifies them for geometry.  How shaders are specified is already described in detail in the [http://brlcad.org/w/images/c/cf/Introduction_to_MGED.pdf Introduction to MGED] document.
+BRL-CAD provides a couple dozen distinct primitives.  Each primitive is defined by a set of parameters.  Several of the more complex primitives have a wiki page describing them in more detail with an example on how to create them.
-Code:
+This task involves adding images to our page for the VOL primitive.  You'll need to first complete the tutorial and save images for each step.  Add the images to the wiki page.
-* src/liboptical/sh_*.c  (for available shader names and corresponding options)
 References:
-* http://brlcad.org/w/images/2/2c/Optical_Shaders.pdf
+* http://brlcad.org/wiki/VOL
-* http://brlcad.org/w/images/c/cf/Introduction_to_MGED.pdf
+* http://brlcad.org/wiki/DSP
+* http://brlcad.org/wiki/Sketch
+* http://brlcad.org/wiki/EBM
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== NURBS BibTeX reference file ==
-BRL-CAD maintains a bibliography file that keeps track of published articles and reports pertaining to BRL-CAD, but it would be useful to have similar files that keep track of other topics.  There are commonly two ways to create and maintain a .bib file.  One way is manually (using any text editor) and the other is using a GUI such as JabRef.  The rule of thumb is generally to use the text editor approach when building a .bib file of references that are pre-packaged (such as those often provided by publishers of journal articles) and to use a tool like JabRef when you have to create the entire entry from scratch.
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+=== Fix Image Formatting in BRL-CAD's DocBook Documentation (any ONE large document or 4 smaller documents) ===
-This task involves creating a NURBS.bib file that documents BRL-CAD's various paper references contained in the bibliographics of the following papers (include these papers and what they reference):
+The majority of BRL-CAD's documentation is defined as DocBook files, from which other formats (HTML, PDF, man page, etc.) can be generated.  PDF files present a particular challenge, and have some very specific requirements to achieve "good" formatting.
-Practical Ray Tracing of Trimmed NURBS Surfaces
+BRL-CAD's DocBook files need to uniformly use a style of image inclusion that is aware of what "role" the image is supposed to serve.   A "basic" image inclusion example looks like this:
-http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.35.7126
-Direct and Fast Ray Tracing of NURBS Surfaces
+  <mediaobject>
-http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.90.7500
+    <imageobject>
+      <imagedata align="center" fileref="../../lessons/en/images/img.png" format="PNG"/>
+    </imageobject>
+    <nowiki><caption></nowiki>
+      <para>
+        Caption goes here.
+      </para>
+    </caption>
+  </mediaobject>
-Watertight Trimmed NURBS
+This task involves switching image inclusions that use the above style to something like the following:
-http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.146.3590
-The best route is probably assembly of pre-existing .bib entries from either the citeseerx website or from the sites of the journal actually publishing the article.
+  <mediaobject>
+    <imageobject role="html">
+      <imagedata align="center" fileref="../../books/en/images/img.png" format="PNG"/>
+    </imageobject>
+    <imageobject role="fo">
+      <imagedata align="center" fileref="../../books/en/images/img.png" format="PNG"/>
+    </imageobject>
+    <nowiki><caption></nowiki>
+      <para>
+        Caption goes here.
+      </para>
+    </caption>
+ </mediaobject>
+The "role" flag to imageobject provides the opportunity to specify different image formatting options when the output is HTML (role="html") or PDF (role="fo").
+The captions should be preserved as above on mediaobjects that have them, but mediaobjects without a caption should also be converted and there is no need to add a caption in such cases.
+Any patch that makes changes to the DocBook sources should result in a successful "make doc" build test.  This won't generate PDF documents, but it will validate the XML files and produce HTML - remember that introducing breakage means the patch won't be accepted.
+Remember, the tasks are simply to do the above conversion for all images in the file or files, not to introduce PDF specific formatting.  Formatting fixes will be needed, but they are very much "case by case" and will take both additional time and a working Apache FOP installation, as well as knowledge of how to enable PDF generation.  If all image inclusions have been converted successfully and a student is interested in actually fixing the formatting, please discuss it with us on IRC or the mailing list.
 References:
-* doc/BRL-CAD.bib
+* doc/docbook/books/en/BRL-CAD_Tutorial_Series-VolumeIII.xml
-* http://jabref.sourceforge.net
-* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BibTeX
 Code:
-* doc/NURBS.bib
+* doc/docbook
+&nbsp;
 |}
+&nbsp;
-----
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+=== Find 5 bugs in OGV ===
-= Outreach and Research =
+Online Geometry Viewer is a web based application with which you can see 3D .g models in browser without the use of any plugins. Your task will be to deploy OGV locally and find 5 bugs or errors in it.
-----
-''Tasks related to community management, outreach/marketing, studying problems, and recommending solutions''
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
+Links:
-|
+https://github.com/BRL-CAD/OGV-meteor/
-== Write solicitation for new website designer ==
-The BRL-CAD website is in need of a design overhaul.
-This task involves writing up a brief article soliciting new contributor(s) to work on designing a new website.  The article needs to be detailed and specific to our particular website requirements (Drupal+Mediawiki+CSS) to ensure the contributor can design the appropriate stylesheet(s), updated graphics, and new layout.  Provide a title, an image, a short summary (<200 words), and the detailed write-up (>400 words).
-References:
-* http://brlcad.org
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Model a "B" using BRL-CAD ==
-Create an uppercase letter "B"  geometry model using BRL-CAD.  You can use the mged or archer geometry editor tools or write a script.  The model should be roughly 1000mm tall, about 500mm wide, and about 100mm deep.  Create it using CSG or other methods, but it cannot be an imported model, polygonal mesh (BOT, NMG), or extruded bitmap (EBM).  It should be free of modeling errors (no overlaps, run "rtcheck" to verify).
+==Outreach and Research ==
+''Tasks related to community management, outreach/marketing, studying problems, and recommending solutions''
-References:
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
-* Introduction to MGED at http://brlcad.org/wiki/Documentation
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
-|}
+=== Profile NURBS prep performance ===
-&nbsp;
+BRL-CAD implements support for rendering of NURBS representation geometry.  If you import a solid 3DM or STEP format model into BRL-CAD, it will import as BREP/NURBS geometry.  Opening that geometry in BRL-CAD's MGED editor will tell you what objects are available and our 'rt' tool will raytrace it.  When geometry is ray traced, it first goes through a "prep" phase and then it starts shooting rays.  Our prep phase is entirely unoptimized so we'd like to know where all the time is presently being spent during prep..
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Model a "R" using BRL-CAD ==
-Create an uppercase letter "R"  geometry model using BRL-CAD.  You can use the mged or archer geometry editor tools or write a script.  The model should be roughly 1000mm tall, about 500mm wide, and about 100mm deep.  Create it using CSG or other methods, but it cannot be an imported model, polygonal mesh (BOT, NMG), or extruded bitmap (EBM).  It should be free of modeling errors (no overlaps, run "rtcheck" to verify).
+This task involves importing some NURBS geometry into BRL-CAD and ray tracing that geometry with a profiler watching our prep performance.  Any profiler will do, including gprof, but a performance monitor like oprofile or the Mac "Instruments" application (or Shark) are preferred.
-References:
+Learning how to use a profiler is beyond the scope of this task, so it make take you considerably longer to provide us with useful information if you've never run a profiler before.
-* Introduction to MGED at http://brlcad.org/wiki/Documentation
-|}
-&nbsp;
+To capture prep performance, you will need to import some fairly complex geometry.  You should be able to search google with "filetype:3dm" or "filetype:step" or find something on grabcad.com to import
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Model a "L" using BRL-CAD ==
-Create an uppercase letter "L"  geometry model using BRL-CAD.  You can use the mged or archer geometry editor tools or write a script.  The model should be roughly 1000mm tall, about 500mm wide, and about 100mm deep.  Create it using CSG or other methods, but it cannot be an imported model, polygonal mesh (BOT, NMG), or extruded bitmap (EBM).  It should be free of modeling errors (no overlaps, run "rtcheck" to verify).
+Running "tops" within mged will tell you what geometry is available for rendering.
-References:
+Running "rt -o file.png -s32" on the system command line (not inside mged) should minimize the ray overhead or you can specifically isolate the prep phase we care about.  Prep is the time between when rt is run where it opens a window until the first pixels are fired and pixels start filling in.
-* Introduction to MGED at http://brlcad.org/wiki/Documentation
-|}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Model a "C" using BRL-CAD ==
-Create an uppercase letter "C"  geometry model using BRL-CAD.  You can use the mged or archer geometry editor tools or write a script.  The model should be roughly 1000mm tall, about 500mm wide, and about 100mm deep.  Create it using CSG or other methods, but it cannot be an imported model, polygonal mesh (BOT, NMG), or extruded bitmap (EBM).  It should be free of modeling errors (no overlaps, run "rtcheck" to verify).
-References:
-* Introduction to MGED at http://brlcad.org/wiki/Documentation
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Model a "A" using BRL-CAD ==
-Create an uppercase letter "A"  geometry model using BRL-CAD.  You can use the mged or archer geometry editor tools or write a script.  The model should be roughly 1000mm tall, about 500mm wide, and about 100mm deep.  Create it using CSG or other methods, but it cannot be an imported model, polygonal mesh (BOT, NMG), or extruded bitmap (EBM).  It should be free of modeling errors (no overlaps, run "rtcheck" to verify).
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+=== Continue investigating GMP integration ===
-References:
+BRL-CAD uses a fastf_t typedef for most all math operations that is usually a "double" floating point type. We would like to provide the option for resorting to exact arithmetic if possible by merely redefining fastf_t to a C++ type sufficiently overloaded to behave the same. You should be proficient with C++ operator overloading to take this work on.  This task is a continuation of a prior GCI task (read it in full!):
-* Introduction to MGED at http://brlcad.org/wiki/Documentation
-|}
-&nbsp;
+http://www.google-melange.com/gci/task/view/google/gci2012/7946218
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Model a "D" using BRL-CAD ==
-Create an uppercase letter "D"  geometry model using BRL-CAD.  You can use the mged or archer geometry editor tools or write a script.  The model should be roughly 1000mm tall, about 500mm wide, and about 100mm deep.  Create it using CSG or other methods, but it cannot be an imported model, polygonal mesh (BOT, NMG), or extruded bitmap (EBM).  It should be free of modeling errors (no overlaps, run "rtcheck" to verify).
+This task involves testing compilation with a C++ class with overloaded operators such that vmath macro calls still work as well as a sampling of LIBBN API function calls without major changes to the original code. A perfect example case study would be creating the class then testing whether bn_dist_pt3_pt3() and bn_mat_determinant() compute correctly for values that cannot be exactly represented with floating point arithmetic.
-References:
+Building on the previous GCI task work, take it to the next step.  Try setting a vector to 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 and 0.1, 0.1, 0.1 and get proper values to print.  Change the V3ARGS() macro if needed.  If that all works, try to get bn_dist_pt3_pt3() to work.  Report and discuss your progress.
-* Introduction to MGED at http://brlcad.org/wiki/Documentation
-|}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Model new BRL-CAD Logo using BRL-CAD ==
-The winner of the recent BRL-CAD Logo contest is a clean depiction of two interlocked components. Modeling the new Logo in BRL-CAD in CSG (without NURBS, without polygons) requires some careful arrangement, but can provide an attractive three dimensional rendering.
-The output of this task would be a .g file of BRL-CAD logo. The two segments should overlap at the join, but this is your opportunity as an artist and 3D magician to come up with an interesting or faithful interpretation.
-References:
-* http://brlcad.org/images/angelov_256.png
-* http://brlcad.org/d/node/92
-* Introduction to MGED at http://brlcad.org/wiki/Documentation
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Write BRL-CAD News article on .deb/.rpm builds ==
-BRL-CAD's maintainer, Jordi Sayol, manages the .deb and .rpm builds.  Interview the developer, obtain details on how the releases are produced, what platforms are supported, etc, and write up an article for our Community Publication Portal (CPP)
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+=== Upgrade OpenNURBS, report issues ===
-The output of this task is an article added to our CPP wiki page in a final production-quality review state.
+BRL-CAD uses a customized OpenNURBS library for advanced geometry but it's out of date.  For this task, you're going to download the latest OpenNURBS code and upgrade the sources we bundle.  The easiest way is probably to move src/other/openNURBS to src/other/openNURBS.backup, and then put the latest OpenNURBS release into src/other/openNURBS.
-References:
+Once that's done, you'll need to add the src/other/openNURBS.backup/CMakeLists.txt file and make sure the list of files it has matches the files in src/other/openNURBS.  Last but not least, re-run cmake and make sure it compiles.  You may need to consult the newer openNURBS makefile to see if there are other edits needed in the CMakeLists.txt file.
-* http://brlcad.org/wiki/Community_Publication_Portal
-|}
+Save output from any commands you run because you'll probably encounter an error, and that's okay.  Just submit logs of all output so we can figure out next steps.
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Write a BRL-CAD showcase article ==
-BRL-CAD has several ongoing development activities developed by community members that showcase the power and applicability of BRL-CAD to various domains.  For this task, you'd be expected to interview one or more individuals to obtain information and pictures about their project, write up a descriptive overview of their model, the goals of the project, and any interesting ancillary information that may be relevant.  There are presently several candidate topics listed in our Community Publication Portal (CPP).
+References:
+* https://github.com/mcneel/opennurbs
-The output of this task is an article added to our CPP wiki page in a final draft review state.
+Code:
+* src/other/openNURBS <- replace existing with latest openNURBS from github
-References:
-* http://brlcad.org/wiki/Community_Publication_Portal
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Design a "Commercial CAD Comparison" diagram ==
-New users frequently ask how BRL-CAD compares to other major commercial CAD systems such as CATIA, Unigraphics/NX, Pro/ENGINEER, Solidworks, and AutoCAD.  BRL-CAD has many of the same features and it would be very useful to visualize the feature overlap graphically with a diagram.
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+=== Design a T-Shirt for BRL-CAD ===
-This task involves identifying core significant features of relevance and describing BRL-CAD along with the various major CAD vendors.  The diagram should fit on one page.
+This task involves designing a T-Shirt for BRL-CAD. Use your designing skills to design a T-Shirt for BRL-CAD. You can use the current BRL-CAD logo, or you may tweak it. Be creative while designing this T-Shirt. It would be good if the design has some special meaning.
-References:
+Logo References
-* http://brlcad.org/Industry_Diagram.png
+* [https://brlcad.org/img/logo_color.png BRL-CAD Logo]
-* Example feature comparisons (although not a diagram): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_3D_computer_graphics_software
-* Additional feature comparisons (also not a diagram): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_CAD_editors_for_CAE
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Investigate performance of setting thread affinity ==
-BRL-CAD's raytrace library (LIBRT) is pervasively multithreaded using routines defined in our basic utility library (LIBBU) for detecting an using multiple CPUs/cores/threads.  On Linux, BSD, or Mac OS X, you can set the affinity of a process to stay on a processor.
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+=== Design a coffee mug for BRL-CAD ===
-This task involves making minor modifications to the LIBBU parallel interface using sched_setaffinity and/or pthread_attr_setaffinity_np (or similar affinity mechanism depending on the platform) and then evaluating the performance impact using our BRL-CAD Benchmark suite ('benchmark' command).
+This task involves designing a coffee mug for BRL-CAD. Make it look good or at least interesting, and make it in BRL-CAD. Look over some coffee mug designs before starting to work on this.  Verify that your mug is valid geometry by running the "rtcheck" command.
-Code:
+Logo References
-* src/libbu/parallel.c
+* [https://brlcad.org/img/logo_color.png BRL-CAD Logo]
-* src/libbu/semaphore.c
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Determine why solids.sh fails on 64-bit ==
-BRL-CAD has a regression test script called solids.sh that creates a bunch of primitives, renders an image of those primitives, and then compares that image to a reference image.  On (most?) 64-bit platforms, the test is off by several RGB values for exactly 3 pixels.
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+=== Design BRL-CAD sticker ===
-This task involves figuring out why, exactly, this is occurring.  It may be helpful to compare intermediate computation results from a 32-bit environment to see where the computations diverge, however slightly.  Ultimately, the goal is to identify the cause and a recommended course of action to fix the divergence problem.
+This task involves designing a BRL-CAD sticker. The design should be simple and sleek. The concept of sticker should be clear and also it should be creatively presented. Get inspired from some sticker designs but choose your own imagination while designing the sticker. There is no bound for shape of sticker, it can be rectangular, circular or even irregular. The only thing that matters is that it should look good.
-Code:
+Logo References
-* regress/solids.sh
+* [https://brlcad.org/img/logo_color.png BRL-CAD Logo]
-* src/librt
-* src/liboptical
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Investigate permuted vertex lists from g-iges + iges-g ==
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+=== Design a wallpaper / desktop image for BRL-CAD ===
-BRL-CAD has a geometry exporter and importer for the International Graphics Exchange Standard (IGES) file format.  If you run our g-iges exporter on some geometry, then run iges-g on that same geometry to import it back to BRL-CAD format, the geometry will have permuted vertex lists.  Particularly for geometry already in polygonal format, such as our NMG or BoT geometry, this conversion should result in identical geometry but presently does not.
+This task involves designing a desktop background for BRL-CAD enthusiasts.  The main idea of your wallpaper should be to showcase one or more features of BRL-CAD.  Be intentional and able to defend/describe your choice of color, layout, and other aspects of the wallpaper design.
+Try to make sure the wallpaper works across a broad selection of screen resolutions.
-This task involves investigating why this occurs, reporting (in detail) why it occurs, and if obvious, making a recommendation on how to fix the problem.
+Search the web for wallpapers inspiration such as:
+* http://www.smashingmagazine.com/tag/wallpapers/
-Code:
+Logo References
-* src/conv/iges
+* [https://brlcad.org/img/logo_color.png BRL-CAD Logo]
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Investigate GMP integration ==
-BRL-CAD uses a fastf_t typedef for most all math operations that is usually a "double" floating point type.  We would like to provide the option for resorting to exact arithmetic if possible by merely redefining fastf_t to a C++ type sufficiently overloaded to behave the same.  You should be proficient with C++ operator overloading to take this task on.
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+=== Model a Lightcycle in BRL-CAD using CSG ===
-This task involves testing compilation with a C++ class with overloaded operators such that vmath macro calls still work as well as a sampling of LIBBN API function calls without major changes to the original code.  A perfect example case study would be creating the class then testing whether bn_dist_pt3_pt3() and bn_mat_determinant() compute correctly for values that cannot be exactly represented with floating point arithmetic.
+The movie Tron is an iconic computer graphics film that used CSG primitives for a majority of the movie's 3D virtual world.  The film is famous for "lightcycle" vehicles that were allegedly modeled using 57 primitives and/or Boolean operations.  For this task, see if you can recreate the masterpiece in BRL-CAD.
-References:
+See this lightcycle discussion thread
-* http://gmplib.org/
+* http://www.tron-sector.com/forums/default.aspx?a=top&id=336281
-Code:
-* include/vmath.h
-* include/bn.h
-|}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Research status of compiling BRL-CAD on MINGW ==
-BRL-CAD compiles on a number of platforms but is rarely compiled under mingw.  A cygwin compilation was last successfuly performed a few years ago with relatively minor effort, but mingw hasn't been tested.
-This task involves attempting to compile BRL-CAD under mingw (AFTER successfully compiling with MSVC).  Follow the CMake documentation and edit our build system accordingly.  Report on what fails and write up a tutorial on the BRL-CAD wiki.
-References:
-* http://brlcad.org/wiki/
-* http://www.mingw.org/
-* http://www.cmake.org/Wiki/CmakeMingw
-Code:
-* CMakeLists.txt
-* misc/CMake/*
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Create an awesome screenshot ==
-Everyone loves to see screenshots of software in action.  We use screenshots in our marketing and outreach.  See some of the examples below that we already have.
+== Quality Assurance ==
-Create an awesome screenshot of either mged or archer.  It should be graphically interesting, show wireframe and/or raytraced geometry and give some sense of capability.
-References:
-* http://brlcad.org/gallery/d/19-4/MGED.jpg
-* http://brlcad.org/tmp/archer.png
-* http://brlcad.org/gallery/s/screenshots/
-|}
-----
-= Quality Assurance =
-----
 ''Tasks related to testing and ensuring code is of high quality''
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
-|
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
-== Fix single-precision floating point crash ==
+=== Fix single-precision floating point crash ===
 By default, all of BRL-CAD compiles using double-precision floating point arithmetic.  We provide a simple typedef, however, that converts almost the entire system over to single-precision floating point.  This compilation mode was recently cleaned up and tested, but a bug was found.  The problem is reproduced very simply by compiling in single precision mode and running our "rt" ray tracer tool.
@@ Line 1,249: / Line 620: @@
 * src/liboptical/sh_light.c
+&nbsp;
 |}
+&nbsp;
-&nbsp;
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
-|
+=== Fix closedb ===
-== Fix closedb ==
 BRL-CAD geometry editor application (mged) has several hundred commands including two very simple commands for opening and closing a geometry database file.  While the user rarely ever needs to close the file, as all changes are always immediately saved, it can be of use to scripting applications.  However, at some point in the recent past, the ''closedb'' command was horked.  It's undoubtedly something very simple but we haven't bothered to look due to other priorities.  You can fix it.  If you run these simple steps within graphical mged, you should see how commands stop working after calling closedb:
@@ Line 1,272: / Line 644: @@
 * src/mged/mged.c
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Create geometry database with one of every primitive ==
-BRL-CAD implements 40 different types of 2D, 3D, and non-geometric objects that get stored in a ".g" geometry database file.  For numerous debugging and testing purposes, it'd be useful to have a database with all object types included.  Our ''csgbrep'' procedural geometry database tool creates 21 of them.  Our ''mged'' geometry editor application lets users create them manually using the "make" and "in" commands via the command-line interface.
-This task involves running the csgbrep to create a starting set of objects and then creating the remaining ones manually.  Provide a .g file that contains every possible object type.
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
-References:
+=== Create a utility library (LIBBU) API unit test ===
-* http://brlcad.org/wiki/Documentation
-* http://brlcad.org/wiki/EBM
-* http://brlcad.org/wiki/DSP
-* src/librt/primitives <-- lists all object types except comb, binunif, and attribute objects
-* csgbrep <-- creates half of what you need
-* mged <-- can create the other half
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Create an utility library (LIBBU) API unit test ==
 There are more than 300 library functions in our core LIBBU library.  As a core library used by nearly every one of BRL-CAD's tools, testing those functions for correct behavior is important.
-This task involves implementing a new unit test for any of LIBBU's source files that do not already have a unit test defined.  The test should run all of the public functions and be hooked into our build system.  We have lots of existing unit tests to follow as an example.
+This task involves implementing new unit tests for any of LIBBU's source files that do not already have a unit test defined.  The test should run all of the public functions and be hooked into our build system.  We have lots of existing unit tests to follow as examples.
 References:
@@ Line 1,310: / Line 665: @@
 * src/libbu/tests/CMakeLists.txt
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... unit test for LIBBU argv.c ===
-|}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... unit test for LIBBU avs.c ===
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... unit test for LIBBU backtrace.c ===
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... unit test for LIBBU badmagic.c ===
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-=== ... unit test for LIBBU bomb.c ===
-|}
-|}
-&nbsp;
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
-|
-== Create numerics library (LIBBN) API unit test ==
+=== Create Numerics library (LIBBN) API unit tests ===
 There are more than 300 library functions in our core LIBBN library.  As a core library used by nearly every one of BRL-CAD's tools, testing those functions for correct behavior is important.
-This task involves implementing a new unit test for any of LIBBN's source files that do not already have a unit test defined.  The test should run all of the public functions and be hooked into our build system.  We have lots of existing unit tests to follow as an example.
+This task involves implementing new unit tests for any of LIBBN's source files that do not already have a unit test defined.  The test should run all of the public functions and be hooked into our build system.  We have lots of existing unit tests to follow as examples.
 References:
@@ Line 1,350: / Line 683: @@
 * include/vmath.h
 * src/libbn/*.c
-* src/libbu/tests/*.c <-- note libbu, not libbn for examples
+* src/libbn/tests/*.c <-- check this directory for examples
+* src/libbu/tests/*.c <-- Note: Also check this too for more examples.
 Code:
@@ Line 1,356: / Line 690: @@
 * src/libbn/tests/CMakeLists.txt
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
+<b> Note </b>
-|
+A valid task will constitute writing a basic test for each function in the following libbn/ files.
-=== ... unit test for LIBBN list.c ===
+&nbsp;
+{| style="background-color:#efefef; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+==== ... unit tests for LIBBN anim.c ====
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
+{| style="background-color:#efefef; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
-=== ... unit test for LIBBN axis.c ===
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+==== ... unit tests for LIBBN axis.c ====
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
+{| style="background-color:#efefef; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
-=== ... unit test for LIBBN complex.c ===
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+==== ... unit tests for LIBBN qmath.c ====
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
+{| style="background-color:#efefef; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
-=== ... unit test for LIBBN qmath.c ===
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+==== ... unit tests for LIBBN rand.c ====
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#222222;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
+{| style="background-color:#efefef; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
-=== ... unit test for LIBBN rand.c ===
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+==== ... unit tests for LIBBN vector.c ====
+&nbsp;
 |}
+&nbsp;
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Create a COMPREHENSIVE unit test for bn_dist_pt3_pt3() ==
-There are more than 300 library functions in our LIBBN numerics library.  Creating a comprehensive unit test involves exhaustively exploring all possible inputs to the function, testing them for proper behavior, and characterizing the output in a PASS/FAIL fashion.
-Unlike the other testing framework tasks, the goal of this task is comprehensiveness.  The task must cover all possible inputs including NULL, -inf, +inf, NaN, real numbers, and other values in most if not all possible combinations.
-Code:
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
-* include/bn.h
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
-* src/libbn/plane.c
-* src/libbn/tests/CMakeLists.txt
-* src/libbn/tests/bn_plane.c <-- you write this
-|}
+=== Find, reliably reproduce, and report any bug in Archer ===
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Find, reliably reproduce, and report any bug in Archer ==
 Archer is our new modeling interface and a soon to merge with our long-standing MGED geometry editor.  It undoubtedly has bugs.  It's your job to find one, but do so in a manner that is so obvious that one of the other devs will be able to instantly reproduce the bug given your specific instructions.  Find a way to make archer crash, become unresponsive, or otherwise behave incorrectly.  You will have to explore the tool with minimal documentation.
@@ Line 1,413: / Line 749: @@
 * http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=640802&group_id=105292&func=browse
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Reproduce any 10 unconfirmed open bug reports ==
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+=== Reproduce any 10 unconfirmed open bug reports ===
 BRL-CAD presently has approximately 75 open bug reports of which 50 are unassigned.  Read the comments and status to see if the bug has been confirmed/reproduced.
@@ Line 1,426: / Line 763: @@
 References:
 * https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?limit=100&func=&group_id=105292&atid=640802&assignee=100&status=1&submit=Filter
+&nbsp;
 |}
+&nbsp;
-----
+== User Interface ==
-= User Interface =
-----
 ''Tasks related to user experience research or user interface design and interaction''
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
-|
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
-== Design an MGED command spreadsheet ==
+=== Create an ISST screenshot or animation ===
-BRL-CAD's primary solid geometry modeling application is called MGED.  MGED contains a comprehensive set of more than 700 commands for manipulating, viewing, and inspecting geometry.  There is a need to more effectively manage those commands, characterize them all, and get a "big picture" of the command landscape so that usability may be addressed.
+Everyone loves to see screenshots and animations of software in action. We use both in our marketing and outreach. See some of the examples below that we already have.
-This task involves designing a spreadsheet that will be used to characterize all of MGED's commands.
+Create an awesome screenshot and/or animation of our 'isst' tool in action. It's an interactive geometry viewer interface.  It should be graphically interesting and give some sense of capability.  You should import a visually complex and interesting model with LOTS of polygons and detail.  Note you may have to go through some or the MGED tutorials (see Docs on our website).
 References:
-* An existing spreadsheet already being used for BRL-CAD (i.e., non-MGED) commands is available.
+* https://brlcad.org/gallery/index.php?/category/12
+&nbsp;
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Create prototype 2D CAD drawing(s) ==
-BRL-CAD provides limited services for drafting features including the production of 2D CAD drawings (blueprints).
-This task involves designing a 2D CAD drawing prototype that effectively captures a set of design requirements and follows industry conventions.  Basically, this requires identifying one or more style(s) of drawings that should be supported along with critical elements to be included on each drawing.
-References:
-* http://brlcad.org/design/drafting
-* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_128
-* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASME_Y14.41-2003
-* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometric_Dimensioning_and_Tolerancing
-* http://www.ptc.com/WCMS/files/45691/en/4307_FoundationXE_DS.pdf
-|}
-&nbsp;
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
-|
-== Create prototype CAD GUI layout diagram ==
-BRL-CAD's usability is notoriously complex and "expert friendly".  MGED and Archer are the main geometry editors, with drastically different user interfaces.
+=== Categorize commands into a spreadsheet ===
-This task involves evaluating the features provided by MGED and Archer, then designing a new GUI layout that encompasses their features while improving usability.  Rationale for design decisions and layout should be provided.
+BRL-CAD is a suite of more than 400 commands, processing tools, image tools, geometry converters, and more.  MGED also has a command-line with hundreds of commands too.  Help us reorganize one of those command sets.
-References:
+This task involves creating a spreadsheet that lists all commands and groups them together into a finite set of categories or labels.  This spreadsheet will help us identify places where commands can be consolidated, commands we might want to consider removing, common groupings for documentation, etc.
-* http://brlcad.org/design/gui
-|}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Reorganize MGED menu ==
-BRL-CAD's main graphical user interface, MGED, is heavily menu-driven but not exceptionally well organized.   This task involves performing an exhaustive review of MGED's various menus, including temporary menus when in a given editing state, reorganizing them for logical groupings, and rewording them for clarity.  It's necessary to learn the basics of the MGED interface in order to understand what the various options do.
-For this task, you'll provide a description of the existing menus and mapping to a new organization including basic rationale behind any new groupings or rewording.
-References:
-* Introduction to MGED at http://brlcad.org/wiki/Documentation
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Categorize all of BRL-CAD's commands into a spreadsheet ==
-BRL-CAD is a suite of more than 400 processing tools, image tools, geometry converters, and more.  There is an existing spreadsheet that characterizes all of the available commands in terms of inputs, outputs, and options, but there is insufficient characterization of BRL-CAD's commands as to how they logically group and work together.
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
-This task involves building up a spreadsheet that lists all of our commands, describing a finite set of command categories, and characterizing all commands into those categories while filling in the spreadsheet with details for each command.
+===  Design a Cover Photo for Facebook (and other social media) ===
-References:
+BRL-CAD website and marketing materials are constantly undergoing change.  Effective marketing requires well designed and attractive imagery. Imagery ideally should showcase some feature of BRL-CAD, some highlight, something visually interesting and compelling.
-* A spreadsheet template will be provided.
-|}
-&nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Upgrade Drupal website ==
-A portion of the BRL-CAD website runs on Drupal, but it's out of date.  Migrating to newer versions will require incrementally updating the website database per Drupal's upgrade instructions along with all of our modules.  Access to a copy of our webserver files will be provided.  Experience working on a command-line is a must, ideally with prior Drupal experience if you hope to complete this within a couple hours.
-This task involves getting the Drupal portion of our website cleanly migrated to the latest version of Drupal.  All installed modules should also be updated.
 References:
-* http://brlcad.org/d/
+* https://www.facebook.com/brlcad
-* http://drupal.org
-|}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Upgrade Mediawiki website ==
-A portion of the BRL-CAD website runs on Mediawiki, but it's out of date.  Migrating to newer versions will require incrementally updating the website database per Mediawiki's upgrade instructions along with all of our extensions.  Access to a copy of our webserver files will be provided.  Experience working on a command-line is a must, ideally with prior Mediawiki experience if you hope to complete this within a couple hours.
-This task involves getting the Mediawiki portion of our website cleanly migrated to the latest version of Mediawiki.  All installed extensions should also be updated.
-References:
-* http://brlcad.org/w/
-* http://mediawiki.org
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Upgrade Gallery website ==
+{| style="background-color:#fefefe; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px;" width="100%"
+| style="padding: 20px;" |
+=== Create a video for BRL-CAD  ===
-A portion of the BRL-CAD website runs on Gallery, but it's out of date.  Migrating to a newer version will require incrementally updating the website database per Gallery's upgrade instructions.  Access to a copy of our webserver files will be provided.  Experience working on a command-line is a must.
+Watching someone else use software is incredibly helpful to some.  Create a screen-cast video for BRL-CAD that showcases some  feature, goes over steps involved in creating some model, or shows how to accomplish some other task.
-This task involves getting the Gallery portion of our website cleanly migrated to the latest version of Gallery.  All images and view statistics should be preserved.
+You'll need to install BRL-CAD on your computer and use it in the video.  Create or import some model and make a recording.
-References:
-* http://brlcad.org/gallery/
-* http://gallery.menalto.com/
-|}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Set up StatSVN ==
-BRL-CAD's Subversion repository is the oldest open source repository on the planet and we love statistics.  A decade ago, we used to run a little tool called StatCVS that gave pretty graphs of commit activity.  When we converted to Subversion, a comparable tool didn't exist but now there are several and we want to try them out.  We'll set you up with an account on our web server.
-This task involves running the latest version of StatSVN on our repository, providing the output, and providing instructions for running it again so we can keep the output up to date.  You may need to normalize the results if StatSVN has the same bug that StatCVS used to have if the line counts are incorrect, but hopefully not.
-References:
-* http://brlcad.org/OLD/statcvs.normalized/
-* http://statsvn.org/
 |}
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Set up SvnPlot ==
-BRL-CAD's Subversion repository is the oldest open source repository on the planet and we love statistics.  A decade ago, we used to run a little tool called StatCVS that gave pretty graphs of commit activity.  When we converted to Subversion, a comparable tool didn't exist but now there are several and we want to try them out.  We'll set you up with an account on our web server.
+= When You're Done =
-This task involves running the latest version of SvnPlot on our repository, providing the output, and providing instructions for running it again so we can keep the output up to date.
+For non-code, just send us your file(s).  For code changes, you will be expected to [[Patches|provide a patch file]].  Make sure you ''read'' your patch file before submitting it.  Make sure your patch file will apply cleanly to an unmodified checkout of BRL-CAD:
-References:
-* http://brlcad.org/OLD/statcvs.normalized/
-* http://code.google.com/p/svnplot/wiki/Introduction
-|}
+ svn co https://brlcad.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/brlcad/brlcad/trunk brlcad.edit
+ cd brlcad.edit
+ # make changes
+ svn diff > ~/my.patch
+ # read ~/my.patch file with text editor
+ cd ..
+ svn co https://brlcad.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/brlcad/brlcad/trunk brlcad.fresh
+ cd brlcad.fresh
+ patch -p0 < ~/my.patch
+ # submit your patch file to our patches tracker
 &nbsp;
-{| style="background-color:#666666;" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" border="2" width="100%"
-|
-== Convert Gallery to Piwigo ==
-A portion of the BRL-CAD website runs on Gallery, but it's been difficult to maintain.  We'd like to see what our gallery would look like in Piwigo.  Access to a copy of our webserver files will be provided.  Experience working on a command-line is a must.
-This task involves getting the Gallery portion of our website cleanly migrated to Piwigo.  All images should be preserved.  Bonus points if you can preserve the image view counts.
-References:
-* http://brlcad.org/gallery/
-* http://piwigo.org/
-|}

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Difference between revisions of "Deuces"

Latest revision as of 10:51, 7 February 2021

Get Set Up[edit]

Pick a Task[edit]

Contents

Code[edit]

Close MGED only when both windows are closed[edit]

Implement a primitive centroid function[edit]

Implement a primitive curvature function[edit]

Implement a primitive UV-mapping callback[edit]

Fix elliptical torus triangulation[edit]

Implement a function that evaluates volume with spherical sampling[edit]

Implement a function to return an object's color[edit]

Stub in an OpenVDB object[edit]

Documentation and Training[edit]

Add missing documentation (for any ONE command)[edit]

Complete our "Intro to BRL-CAD Modeling" tutorial and extend it[edit]

Translate "Contributors Guide To BRL-CAD" To Any Language[edit]

Write a "BRL-CAD Commands Quick Reference" document[edit]

Doxygen cleanup[edit]

... doxygen cleanup for LIBBU[edit]

... doxygen cleanup for LIBWDB[edit]

... doxygen cleanup for LIBRT[edit]

Add images to our wiki page on Volumetric objects[edit]

Fix Image Formatting in BRL-CAD's DocBook Documentation (any ONE large document or 4 smaller documents)[edit]

Find 5 bugs in OGV[edit]

Outreach and Research[edit]

Profile NURBS prep performance[edit]

Continue investigating GMP integration[edit]

Upgrade OpenNURBS, report issues[edit]

Design a T-Shirt for BRL-CAD[edit]

Design a coffee mug for BRL-CAD[edit]

Design BRL-CAD sticker[edit]

Design a wallpaper / desktop image for BRL-CAD[edit]

Model a Lightcycle in BRL-CAD using CSG[edit]

Quality Assurance[edit]

Fix single-precision floating point crash[edit]

Fix closedb[edit]

Create a utility library (LIBBU) API unit test[edit]

Create Numerics library (LIBBN) API unit tests[edit]

... unit tests for LIBBN anim.c[edit]

... unit tests for LIBBN axis.c[edit]

... unit tests for LIBBN qmath.c[edit]

... unit tests for LIBBN rand.c[edit]

... unit tests for LIBBN vector.c[edit]

Find, reliably reproduce, and report any bug in Archer[edit]

Reproduce any 10 unconfirmed open bug reports[edit]

User Interface[edit]

Create an ISST screenshot or animation[edit]

Categorize commands into a spreadsheet[edit]

Design a Cover Photo for Facebook (and other social media)[edit]

Create a video for BRL-CAD[edit]

When You're Done[edit]

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