To Run:
To run the application, the viewer.py script from cgkit (http://cgkit.sf.net) must be used.  Configuration is done using environment variables.  There is one configuration parameter:

INFILE: The input filename.  Defaults to 'infile'.

Two sample input files are provided.

infile: Moves around a bit.
extents: Moved the coment to +/- 100 on all axes.

A sample execution is:

$ INFILE=extents viewer.py assign3.py

The script responds to a number of keypresses:
Up Arrow: Increase average generation rate by 5.
Down Arrow: Decrease average generation rate by 5.
Left Arrow: Decrease average lifetime by 1.
Right Arrow: Increase average lifetime by 1.
Space Bar: Pause particle births.
S Button: Toggle particle sizes shrinking over time.
V Button: Toggle burst mode.  Particles will only be created when there are
    no existing particles.
R,G,B Button: Toggle the color of a new born particle.

Particle generation rates and lifetime are determined using a normal variate random number.  The emission cone angle is expressed as a multiple of pi.  A initial particle number can also be specified to preload the system with some particles.

To Build:
There is no build step for the code I've written.  Installing the cgkit library (http://cgkit.sf.net) that I used to interface with renderman is a bit of a pain though.  I'm using a CVS version of cgkit, which can be downloaded from the website.  The Boost libraries must be installed for cgkit, but only the Boost.python module.  I have this working on my office and laptop macs, so if needed, I can show you the operation on either one of those or assist in installation on your machine.