Colleagues --

  OOF and PPM2OOF are programs being developed at NIST for the finite
element analysis of real and simulated microstructures.

Here is some recent OOF news:

1. New OOF and PPM2OOF releases are available now.

2. Workshop/tutorial for OOF users and developers to be held at NIST.

3. OOF manual available in postscript and html formats.

4. Some things we are still working on.

5. A new address for the OOF mailing list.

6. A questionnaire for OOF users. PLEASE fill out the questionnaire
   and return it to us.  It will help us to continue the OOF project.

See below for details.


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 ***  PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS NOTICE TO OTHERS  ***  
 ***     WHO YOU THINK MIGHT BE INTERESTED    ***

.....................................................................

ITEM #1 

 The OOF team is pleased to announce the release of OOF version 1.0
and PPM2OOF version 1.0.

 The latest version of the software can be obtained from the OOF
website at 
      http://www.ctcms.nist.gov/~wcraig/oof

 Here is a brief list of what's new in OOF and PPM2OOF:

* Adaptive meshing in PPM2OOF.
* Everything completely X Windows (no more GL).
* Simpler interface for picking parts of an image in PPM2OOF.
* More statistical evaluations and ASCII output of solution results.
* Memory much much more efficiently allocated in OOF!
* More results are graphically displayed in OOF.
* New color schemes to display results and editable color choices in OOF.
* Pictures can be saved directly as graphical images from OOF.
* Griffith energy based crack elements (still needs work).
* "Slave node groups' to tie degrees of freedom together in OOF.
* "Fire walls" to control burn algorithms in PPM2OOF.
* Many bugs have been fixed.

 Here are some things that have changed since previous versions:
   
* The behavior of single and double clicks on functions in the menus
  has been reversed. Single clicks now bring up the function window
  and double clicks execute the function immediately.
* The command line arguments have been changed. Type "oof -help" or
  "ppm2oof -help" to see the new arguments.

.....................................................................

ITEM #2

  We plan to hold a workshop on OOF at NIST, Gaithersburg in January
or February of 1999.  Among the discussion topics will be:

i) Tutorial on using OOF and PPM2OOF.
ii) Discussion with developers on new and planned features.
iii) Short research talks of projects that have used or are using OOF.
iv) Roundtable discussion on future directions of the OOF project.

Some funding will likely be available to support travel.  The workshop
is currently planned for late January or perhaps February 1999. Keep
your eye on
        http://www.ctcms.nist.gov/~wcraig/oof/
for details.

** IMPORTANT ** If you would be interested in attending, please fill
out and return the questionnaire in item #6 below.  Please fill out
the questionnaire anyway, actually.

.....................................................................

ITEM #3

 The OOF manual is now available. You can download a
postscript version by following links from:
      http://www.ctcms.nist.gov/~wcraig/oof
There is an html version as well.

  A PPM2OOF manual is still being written, hopefully the
interface is intuitive enough for you to get by without
it for a while.  Expected date on the PPM2OOF manual is
late June 1999.  In the meantime, we will keep a list of
hints on some of the less obvious features on the web page.


....................................................................

ITEM #4

As well as hunting down bugs in this version, here are some things
we plan to change or add in future releases:

* Movable ``smart'' nodes in PPM2OOF to improve adaptive meshing
  results.

* Periodic boundary conditions and embedding in an infinite
  homogeneous elastic body.

* Exaggerated distortions in graphical representations of solutions.

* New types of boundary conditions.

* Extensions beyond thermoelasticity.

.....................................................................

ITEM #5

The oof mailing list address has changed from oof@ctcms.nist.gov to
    oof@nist.gov
to take advantage of a more powerful list server.  PLEASE NOTE: MAIL
SENT TO THIS ADDRESS WILL BE BROADCAST TO EVERYBODY ELSE ON THE
LIST. If you wish to communicate with the OOF developers directly,
write to
    oof_manager@ctcms.nist.gov
as before.

If you were on the old mailing list, your name has already been added to
the new one. However, in most cases we only have your e-mail address,
and not your real name. Please fill out the questionnaire below so
that we know who you are!

.....................................................................

ITEM #6

For OOF to succeed we need feedback from users, and we need to be able
to tell our managers at NIST that OOF is being used in the real world.
Therefore, we ask that you fill out this questionnaire and mail it
back to us at

            oof_manager@ctcms.nist.gov

    ** DO NOT SIMPLY RESPOND TO THIS MESSAGE **
    **  AND DO NOT SEND IT TO OOF@NIST.GOV!  **

* Name:

* e-mail address:

* Affiliation:

* Position:

* Should we add you to the mailing list (if you're not already on it)?

* Would you be interested in attending a workshop on OOF at NIST,
  Gaithersburg, in January or February of 1999?

* Are you actively using OOF in your research?

* Are you thinking about using OOF in your research?

* In what research projects are you using OOF, or in which of your
  projects might OOF be used to advantage? (Please do not disclose any
  proprietary or classified information.)

* What papers have you published using results from OOF?

* What papers are in progress?

* What features of OOF have been most helpful?

* What features would you like to see added to OOF? Which would you
  find most important?

* Other comments, commendations, or critiques:

Thank you,
   Steve Langer
   W. Craig Carter
   Ed Fuller