Figure 1.

Schematic of data representation and model coupling in Helios. The Context manages model geometry and associated data structures. Model geometry consists of elemental polygons: either triangles, patches (rectangles), or voxels (parallelepiped). Each element may have varying types of associated data called “primitive data,” and there may be additional data structures not mapped to individual elements called “global data.” Model plug-ins are coupled by operating on common data structures within the context.