Hi everyone,

First of all, I would like to say that I'm just getting started in learning
programming.  I can do alright figuring the stuff out, but just go easy on
me (don't laugh if I ask stupid questions).

So here is what I'm trying to do:  I'm currently working with a physics
group, and I'm trying to use povray to simulate a detector we're building
for dark matter (cool huh).  So far, it's doing alright, there's just a few
things that povray doesn't quite do for which I was hoping to be able to
tweak the source code. I need to add some parameters to the Rayleigh
Scattering function, and I also need to modify the absorption function to
match liquid xenon.  And if I get really ambitious, I might try to make
something that will intake a wavelength that is not necesarily in the
visible light spectrum (i.e. gamma rays), and change the functions that
depend on the type of light to account for the different wavelength.

So what I need help with:  I need to figure out how povray sends input from
the user to the source code.  For example, I can't quite find the
scattering function, so that makes it hard to change what input it can
take.  So far, I've found stuff in parstxtr.cpp on line 3149, stuff in
media.cpp on line 1219, and the bit of stuff in media.h.  So I just need to
find whatever comes between those files and povray (I think...).  I'll get
to the absorption stuff when I finish with Rayleigh.

And to whoever created this/is in charge of making povray:  I would be very
interested in working with you to make some sort of physics package for
future physicists.  Povray could be a really, really valuable resource for
this sort of thing, it would only take a few adaptations, and some extra
functions to make a dynamite package.

Thanks to whoever helps me!

Mary

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