andrea@hp-sdd.UUCP (andrea) (03/11/85)
Egads! Let me try to throw a little information at this maelstrom, and see if it subsides a bit! ;-)... >/***** hp-sdd:net.graphics / cadovax!keithd / 3:16 pm Mar 4, 1985*/ >I'm trying to find out what the least painless method of obtaining >information on GKS language bindings for 'C', Pascal, and (gasp) Basic >or at least what state they are now in, if not the specific bindings >themselves. The Basic binding is being handled in the Basic language committee, with liaison from X3H3. The Pascal binding is under development in X3H3 and is going forward in the ISO arena as well (with significant participation from the British Standards Institute and other countries); likewise the Ada language binding. A FORTRAN binding was the first to be done, and is packaged with the GKS standard. The C binding is being developed, but cannot be promoted to the status of a standard until C becomes a standardized language! I suggest you contact the chairman of X3H34, the Language Bindings task group in X3H3. She can give you an idea of when to expect these bindings to be released on the world. Ms. Madelein Sparks Systems Development Corp. 4810 Bradford Blvd. NW Huntsville, Alabama 35805 > GKS appears to have gone through so many different hands, >it seems as if no one standards commitee is carrying the ball. What gave you that impression? It started out being developed as an ISO standard, where it has persisted. Work began to adopt it as an ANSI standard as well, and the coordination between ANSI and ISO has been very tight ever since. (For example, there are quite a few Americans on the GKS Control Board, and we filter comments received here and turn them into the US vote on ISO GKS ballots.) ANSI is our national standards body, and our representative on the International Standards Organization. You can always find out which committee is handling a standard by contacting ANSI! (eventually) >I have no idea what it is like to deal with any of the commitees, or >where I can get in touch with who I'd need to contact to get copies >of the standards. It's not as bad as you think. See below! > >In addition, I'm also trying to get whatever information I can on VDI, which >I heard rumored is being re-named VDM. I do get the definite impression that >it is not cast in concrete yet, which may mean all I could obtain is >preliminary specs. Anything would help at this stage though. dpANS (draft proposed American National Standard) X3.122 is now named CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile). This is the one that was called VDM (Virtual Device Metafile) through most of its development. It is being developed simultaneously as an ISO standard, and has passed its 2nd public review in America and its 2nd dpIS ballot world-wide. The final (editorial cleanup) ballots start this summer, at which point you can fairly safely assume that it is "technically frozen". Copies are available from CBEMA (see below). The VDI (Virtual Device Interface) started development at the same time as CGM, but was shelved for a while until CGM was pretty well completed. It was reactivated about a year ago, and is about to come out for its second letter ballot within X3H3 as well as a New Work Item ballot in ISO SC21. The output primitives (such as polygons and text) and their attributes (such as fill styles and text alignment) are IDENTICAL to those in CGM; in addition, the VDI has rasterops/bitblt type commands, a full input model, segmentation, device control, and inquiries. A copy of the December 1984 version is available from CBEMA (see below). Ask for the "X3H33 VDI document and information packet". (By the way, the VDI is sometimes referred to as the CGI, paralleling the renaming of VDM to CGM, but it isn't clear if this rename has stuck!) The VDI is not frozen in concrete (except for the part inherited from CGM, which will be frozen when CGM is), and your reactions, criticisms, proposals, and requests for clarification are all welcome. (The basic envelope of functionality to be considered are pretty well set at this point, though). ********** Schedule notifications********** : There is a publication called "Standards Action" which is put out every two weeks. In it, there are notifications of the important milestones of standards (from the outsiders point of view) - mainly announcing work beginning on a new standard, and announcing when a standard hits the public review stage. Try writing them at Board of Standards Review American National Standards Institute 1430 Broadway New York, NY 10018 If you are as interested and/or dependent on standards as your posting indicates, starting a subscription to Standards Action is a requirement!;-) ********** Documents contact********** : The X3 Secretariat (CBEMA) maintains information packets on standards under development; once they are adopted as full-fledged standards, you can purchase them from ANSI. Information packets may contain a draft of the standard or just an overview paper; they often contain an issues log as well, and are always supposed to have a [reasonably current] schedule of when the standard is expected to pass its various milestones. X3 Secretariat/CBEMA Attention: Documents Clerk 311 First Street, N.W. Suite 500 Washington, DC 20001 There is a charge which is basically xerox+postage; they price per page, and most documents run $20-35. ********** Presentations **********: There is a full day of standards presentations scheduled for NCGA in mid-April; if you can make it, you'll see presentations on all of the graphics standards under development which will bring you up to date. (In case you were wondering how I know all this stuff --) I have participated in X3H3 and X3H33 for several years, am now one of 12 members on the ISO CGM Control Board, and am the document editor for the VDI. Professional background is in plotter firmware and graphics software, but now I spend basically all of my time doing standards work. X3H3 is still growing - it wouldn't surprise me if it was the largest ANSI technical committee at this point. If you work for a company that is concerned about graphics standards and can contribute some expertise (hardware or software, implementor or user), you might want to consider getting involved on the committee. For membership questions, contact the X3H3 Vice Chairman: Dr. Barry Shepherd IBM Corporation D32/803 11400 Burnet Road Austin, TX 78758 Thanks for your interest! Hope this was of some help. Andrea Frankel, Hewlett-Packard (San Diego Division) (619) 487-4100 x4664 net: {allegra|ihnp4|decvax|ucbvax}!hplabs!hp-sdd!andrea ...searchlights casting for faults in the clouds of delusion
warner@orca.UUCP (Ken Warner) (03/21/85)
Andrea, I've been a member of X3H2 for about a year now. Your article on the status of gks was the most complete statement on the matter I've read (or heard) yet. Nice job! Yours is the kind of article that makes the net valuable. Ken Warner
robertd@tektronix.UUCP (Bob Dietrich) (03/22/85)
> ... The Pascal binding is under development in > X3H3 and is going forward in the ISO arena as well (with significant > participation from the British Standards Institute and other > countries); likewise the Ada language binding. ... > > Andrea Frankel, Hewlett-Packard (San Diego Division) (619) 487-4100 x4664 > net: {allegra|ihnp4|decvax|ucbvax}!hplabs!hp-sdd!andrea For the sake of credit where credit is due, Mel Slater of Queen Mary College, London, UK, is the author of the Pascal-GKS binding. He has been doing (in my opinion) a fantastic job of coordinating changes with the ANSI X3H34 Language Bindings task group. I have been representing the interests of the ANSI X3J9/IEEE Joint Pascal Committee (JPC) as official liason to X3H3 (and X3H34), and have participated at the ISO level. There will be a meeting in London April 1-3 to resolve comments on the recent ISO ballot on the Pascal-GKS binding. Although I have not heard anything about how all the various countries voted, it appears the major issue will be the use of variant record parameters for some of the GKS procedures. I will be attending, so if you want any comments passed along, please contact me. Bob Dietrich Tektronix, Inc. (503) 629-1727 {ucb or dec}vax!tektronix!robertd uucp address robertd@tektronix csnet address robertd.tektronix@rand-relay arpa address P.S. The Ada binding has indeed been developed by X3H3 members (primarily Geri Cuthbert).