GAMGI(1)

📦 version 0.17.5, in debian bookworm, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble

👑 GAMGI — the manual, but make it cute 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because this is the GAMGI(1) manual page and it's genuinely iconic. GAMGI stands for the general atomistic modelling graphic interface, and no cap, it's the whole package for building, looking at, and analysing atomic structures. ✨

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

gamgi [file_1.xml] ...  [file_n.xml]

like... you literally just hand it some files and it goes. periodt. 🫶

💅 OPTIONS 💅

file_n.xml is a fullname, bestie — a full name, not a nickname. It can look like any of these:

../dat/molecule/flavors/garlic.xml
~/gamgi/dat/molecule/flavors/garlic.xml
http://www.gamgi.org/dat/molecule/flavors/garlic.xml
ftp://ftp.gamgi.org/gamgi/dat/molecule/flavors/garlic.xml

okay so here's the tea ☕: object data and config data can be mixed together in the same pile. So file_1.xml might actually be a preferences file that gets loaded before all the other object files. to automate that whole situation, just add a line like this to ~/.bashrc:

alias gamgi='gamgi ~/gamgi/my_defaults.xml'

and boom, your defaults load themselves every single time. main character energy fr fr. 🎀

🌈 ENVIRONMENT 🌈

  • GAMGI_HELP — set this variable so GAMGI knows where the Help documentation files are living. for example, add a line like this to ~/.bashrc:
GAMGI_HELP=~/gamgi/gamgi/doc; export GAMGI_HELP
  • GAMGI_TEXT — set this variable so GAMGI knows where those .ttf DejaVu files are at, so it can render solid fonts. for example, add a line like this to ~/.bashrc:
GAMGI_TEXT=~/gamgi/gamgi/src/io/fonts; export GAMGI_TEXT
  • BROWSER — set this variable so GAMGI knows which browser to launch, in case that's the route chosen for reading Help. for example, add a line like this to ~/.bashrc:
BROWSER=firefox; export BROWSER

🦋 HELP 🦋

read the introductory info with Help->Start. you can browse the documentation at http://www.gamgi.org/ or its local copy at gamgi/doc/. use all the help mechanisms reunited (yes, reunited 💖) under the Help button. and subscribe the mailling list <gamgi-users@gamgi.org>. (that's how the original spells it, we don't fix, we respect.)

contact the author at <jcgp07@gmail.com>.

okay important one: throughout all interfaces and formats, lengths are in angstrom, angles are in degrees, and decimal numbers are represented with dots. and the glow-up? every parameter that can be defined in an interface can also be defined in a file — and vice-versa. symmetric queen. 👑

🫶 INTERFACES 🫶

rotate, move, scale the selected object by pressing the left, middle, right mouse button. export the selected object by choosing File->Export. the statusbar shows the selected object (on the left) and layer (on the right). 💅

to select an object, choose Object->Select and press over the object. or choose the object class on the menu above, with the middle button, before pressing on the object. or press twice on Layer, Window or GAMGI on the menu above. and when the object has no visual representation? press the mouse over the graphic area to pop up a menu. iconic behaviour honestly.

to select a layer, choose Layer->Select and press the mouse over the graphic area to pop up a menu. or choose the layer class on the menu above, with the middle button, before pressing the mouse over the graphic area to pop up a menu.

now lighting, and this part matters: solid objects usually require lights with diffuse and specular components to be properly represented in 3D space — otherwise they look flat. 😭 wired objects don't have a 3D representation, so diffuse and specular lights are not reflected, which makes them poorly visible when using lights, unless a significant ambient component is used. often it's worth drawing solid and wired objects in different layers, with and without lights. trust. 🔥

when a task dialog is open and you want to learn how it works, just select Help->Current and another dialog will pop up explaining the meaning of all the parameters in the task dialog. so helpful, so demure.

to see detailed explanations of GAMGI interfaces, consult the reference manual at http://www.gamgi.org/interfaces/reference.html, doc/interfaces/reference.html or Help->Topic->Interfaces.

💜 FORMATS 💜

GAMGI can import files in .xyz and .xml native format, selected automatically by the file extension. GAMGI can export files in .ps, .ppm, .jp[e]g, .png, .tif[f], .x3d and native .xml formats, also selected automatically by the file extension. the extensions do the choosing, you just vibe. ✨

in GAMGI native XML format, a water molecule can be described as:

<gml>
  <molecule>
    <atom element="O"  x="0.000" y="0.000" z="0.000" id="O1"/>
    <atom element="H"  x="0.776" y="0.540" z="0.000" id="H1"/>
    <atom element="H" x="-0.776" y="0.540" z="0.000" id="H2"/>

    <bond parent1="O1" parent2="H1"/>
    <bond parent1="O1" parent2="H2"/>
  </molecule>
</gml>

to see detailed explanations of GAMGI formats, consult the reference manual at http://www.gamgi.org/formats/reference.html, doc/formats/reference.html or Help->Topic->Formats.

🍓 EXAMPLES 🍓

choose Help->Tutorials to get a list of fully described procedures, exemplifying most aspects of the work with GAMGI. it's giving guided tour, it's giving we got you. 🌸

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

💖 AUTHOR 💖

written by Carlos Pereira <jcgp07@gmail.com>, helped by Steffen Moeller <moeller@debian.org> and Daniel Leidert <daniel.leidert@wgdd.de>, from the Debian project. legends only, honestly. 👑

and that's the whole page bestie — this is GAMGI 0.14.3, dated November 30 2009, and it's still serving. slay, stay atomic, and don't forget to export your variables. 💅✨🦋

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