The Annotated VRML 97 Reference

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Appendix E
VRML Compendium

This appendix lists a variety of interesting and useful VRML-related resources. Topics include browsers, general information guides, organizations, discussion groups, technical documents, and recommended reading on VRML.

E.1 VRML Browsers

Table E-1 contains known VRML browsers as of 1997. See the information sites for more current listings.

Table E-1 VRML 97 browsers
Browser Company URL
 Blaxxun  Blaxxun Interactive  http://www.blaxxun.com
Community Place Sony Corporation http://www.community-place.com
Cortona Parallel Graphics http://www.parallelgraphics.com
Cosmo Player Platinum Technology, Inc. http://www.cosmosoftware.com
Oz Virtual Oz Interactive, Inc. http://www.oz-inc.com
 Viscape Superscape http://www.superscape.com
 VR Wave (blaxxun?) IICM, Graz University http://www.iicm.edu/vrwave
WorldView Platinum Technology, Inc. http://www.intervista.com


E.2 VRML Information Sites

The URLs in Table E-2 refer to Web sites that contain general and specific information on VRML. This includes introductory tutorials, history, frequently asked questions (FAQs), lists of VRML worlds, and references to relevant information.

Table E-2 VRML 97 information sites                                                  
Site Who URL

About.com Guide

Sandy Ressler  http://web3d.about.com
Cosmo Site (dead?) Computer Associates  http://www.cosmosoftware.com
VRML Info Bob Crispen http://hiwaay.net/~crispen/vrml
VRML Test Suite NIST http://autumn.ncsl.nist.gov/vts/html/index.html
VRML 97 Standard org http://www.web3d.org/Specifications/VRML97
Web3D Consortium org http://www.web3d.org

E.3 VRML Email Lists and Newsgroups

Table E-4 lists the known email lists and newsgroups for VRML discussions groups. See the VRML Consortium's Working Group page for an update (http://www.web3d.org/WorkingGroups).

Table E-4 VRML email lists and newsgroups
Name Description
comp.lang.vrml Technical discussion ov VRML language issues (newsgroup)
www-vrml@vrml.org Primary VRML email discussion group
(see http://www.web3d.org/www-vrml)

E.4 Recommended Reading

The following books provide an excellent background on computer graphics:

  • Computer Graphics Principles and Practice by J. D. Foley, A. van Dam, S. Feiner, and J. F. Hughes (Addison-Wesley, 1990)
  • OpenGL Programming Guide by Mason Woo, Jackie Neider, and Tom Davis (Addison-Wesley, 1997)
  • The Inventor Mentor by Josie Wernecke (Addison-Wesley, 1994)
  • The following books provide complementary reading on VRML:

  • The VRML Handbook by Jed Hartman and Josie Wernecke (Addison-Wesley, 1996)
  • The VRML Sourcebook by Andrea Ames, David R. Nadeau, and John L. Moreland (Wiley Computer Publishing, 1996)
  • Teach Yourself VRML 2.0 in 21 Days by Chris Marrin and Bruce Campbell (Macmillan Computer Publishing, 1997)
  • The following books provide general information on the WWW and the Internet:

  • JavaScript: The Definitive Guide by David Flanagan (O'Reilley and Associates, Inc, 1998)
  • Webmaster in a Nutshell by Stephen Spainhour and Valerie Quercia (O'Reilley and Associates, Inc, 1997)
  • How to Set Up and Maintain a Web Site by Lincoln D. Stein (Addison-Wesley, 1997)
  • Web Weaving: Designing and Managing an Effective Web Site by Eric Tilton, Carl Steadman, and Tyler Jones (Addison-Wesley, 1996)
  • HTML for the World Wide Web: Visual Quickstart Guide by Elizabeth Castro (Peachpit Press, 1996)
  • HTML 3: Electronic Publishing on the World Wide Web by Dave Raggett, Jenny Lam, and Ian Alexander (Addison-Wesley, 1996)
  • Java in a Nutshell by David Flanagan (O'Reilly and Associates, Inc., 1996)
  • The Java Series of books (Addison-Wesley, 1996), http://www.aw.com/cp/javaseries.html