[vtkusers] Announce; Insight (ITK) Segmentation and Registration Toolkit

[Will Schroeder]

Hi Folks-

The National Library of Medicine Insight Segmentation and Registration 
Toolkit (ITK) is available for public download (this is an initial beta 
release). ITK is open-source like VTK, and is currently under active 
development. Go to http://www.itk.org for more information. Download the 
software at http://www.itk.org/HTML/Download.php. Some additional 
information is included at the end of this email.

Since ITK is relatively young, expect some rough edges. Any feedback that 
you can provide to the ITK developer community at this point in time is 
extremely valuable. There is a user mailing list available at 
http://www.itk.org/mailman/listinfo/insight-users.

Will
-----------------------------


Welcome to the Insight Registration and Segmentation Toolkit (ITK)
-----------------------------------------------------------------

This is the first public (beta) release of ITK. The ITK developer
community appreciates any feedback that you may have regarding
this software. Join the ITK user mailing list (instructions later)
and post your feedback there. Warning: since the software is young,
and this is a beta release, the API to the software will likely change
in the future.

Here are suggested steps for the ITK beginner. Please refer to
http://www.itk.org for more information.

1) Get the software. We strongly suggest that you obtain the pre-packaged
    source code distributions (binaries/executables are not yet available).
      + http://www.itk.org/HTML/Download.php

    You may also obtain CVS access. (This requires the CVS executable and
    access to ITK's source code through your repository.) To check out the ITK
    beta, use the following procedure:

      cvs -d :pserver:anonymous at www.itk.org:/cvsroot/Insight login
          (respond with password "insight")
      cvs -d :pserver:anonymous at www.itk.org:/cvsroot/Insight co \
             -r release-0_5-beta-branch Insight

    The current development version of ITK is available using the
    following process. Please realize that the development version is
    inherently less stable than the beta release. If you access the
    development version, you will want to monitor code quality at the
    ITK Dashboard http://public.kitware.com/dashboard.php?name=itk.

      cvs -d :pserver:anonymous at www.itk.org:/cvsroot/Insight login
          (respond with password "insight")
      cvs -d :pserver:anonymous at www.itk.org:/cvsroot/Insight co Insight


2) The software is compiled using CMake http://www.cmake.org. CMake
    generates Makefiles on Unix platforms, and Windows workspaces (or
    appropriate) build files according to your compiler, operating
    system, and other system variables.

    If at all possible, obtain the pre-compiled CMake binaries. Binaries
    for Windows and various Unix flavors are available from
    http://www.cmake.org/CMake/HTML/Download.html. On Windows, run the
    CMSetup.exe to install CMake. On Unix, uncompress and untar the
    package and place the executable in a location in your path.

    On Windows, run CMake by clicking on CMakeSetup.exe. You have to point
    CMake to the source directory (e.g., Insight), a build directory (where
    the binaries and object files go), and choose the compiler. The GUI allows
    you to choose build options and configure the build. Rerun CMake (by
    selecting "Configure") until all "red" entries disappear. Then select
    "Ok". This will produce a compiler workspace in the directory that you
    selected.

    On Unix, run "ccmake". This simple, curses-based GUI to CMake allows
    you to configure the build process. First create a build directory
    in which to generate object code and executables. Cd into this
    directory and specify your C and C++ compilers with the environment
    variables

         setenv CC your-c-compiler
         setenv CXX your-c++-compiler

    Next invoke "ccmake ../Insight" assuming that your build
    directory is a sibling directory to Insight/. While running
    ccmake, changes are made using the arrow keys to move over an
    option, and the "Enter" key to edit it. Type "C" to configure
    the build. As long as "*" appear next to any entries, keep
    running CMake until none exist. Then type "G" to generate
    makefiles and exit. Then run "make" in the build directory.

    If you have difficulty with CMake, please refer to http://www.cmake.org
    for additional instructions. It is possible to obtain CVS access and
    compile CMake if absolutely necessary.


3) Join the mailing list. Go to
    http://www.itk.org/mailman/listinfo/insight-users and follow the
    instructions there. You may choose to receive a digest version of the
    mail to minimize traffic.


4) Learn the system. Start by looking at the examples in
    http://www.itk.org/HTML/Examples.htm. The source code is found in the
    Insight/Examples source code directory. (To build the examples, make sure
    the CMake flag "BUILD_EXAMPLES" is on.) You may also wish to peruse the
    many tests found in Insight/Testing/Code.

ITK resources are available at the following locations.
   + http://www.itk.org - main web page
   + http://www.itk.org/mailman/listinfo/insight-users - mailing list
   + Insight/README.html - in the source code distribution
   + Insight/Documentation/InsightStart.pdf - oriented towards developers
     but contains useful information about compiling and building ITK.
   + http://public.kitware.com/dashboard.php?name=itk - the ITK software
     quality dashboard
   + http://public.kitware.com/Dart - what manages the testing process in ITK
   + http://public.kitware.com/Cable - the automated C++ wrapping system