planting@uwvax.UUCP (W. Harry Plantinga) (11/06/84)
Does anyone know of packages which will run on (preferrably 4.2) Unix, which are designed to use some particular graphics terminal, and which implement the ACM Core graphics specification? I know that the Sun has SunCore, but I would like a package to run on the Vax with some graphics terminal. If possible, I would appreciate information about price, availability, contact address, completeness, speed, etc. -Harry Plantinga arpa: planting@wisc-rsch.arpa use: {inhp4, seismo}!uwvax!planting
herbie@watdcsu.UUCP (Herb Chong, Computing Services) (11/10/84)
I may be wrong, but doesn't ISSCO support the CORE graphics specifications? We have it here running on IBM VM/CMS, 4.2bsd, VMS, and Honeywell GCOS8. It suppports some 200 different devices and we develop and provide some device drivers that ISSCO adopts. Their address is: ISSCO Graphics 4186 Sorrento Valley Blvd. San Diego, CA 92121-1486 (714)452-0170 Telex: 697810 If you're doing any animation or solid modelling, this probably isn't what you want, but if display grapphics are all that you are after, we have found this package to be pretty good. Herb Chong... I'm user-friendly -- I don't byte, I nybble.... UUCP: {decvax|utzoo|ihnp4|allegra|clyde}!watmath!watdcsu!herbie CSNET: herbie%watdcsu@waterloo.csnet ARPA: herbie%watdcsu%waterloo.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa NETNORTH, BITNET: herbie@watdcs, herbie@watdcsu
dhs@iddic.UUCP (David H. Straayer) (11/13/84)
- Question on the net recently: Doesn't ISSCO support ACM CORE Standard? Answer: No. Core was a proposal of ACM/SIGGRAPH. ANSC X3H3 was established under ANSI procedures to adopt Core as an American National Standard in 1979. That goal has been abandoned in favor of adopting GKS, the Graphical Kernel System instead. (If you translate "Core Graphics System" into German, and then translate the result back into English, you get Graphical Kernel System.) GKS is very similar in intent to the Core proposal. Chief differences: GKS is 2D (3D GKS as a standard planned in about 12 months), and loss of the "current position" inherent in Core (No Big Deal). GKS is being adopted as American standard, is already adopted in Britain and Germany, and in various stages as an ISO International Standard and in Canada, Netherlands, France, Austria,... For a while, SIGGRAPH and ACM folks toyed around with the idea of trying to establish ACM as an official standards making body (it isn't) and promoting CORE as an "ACM Standard". While the idea of ACM making standards is still moving forward (slowly), the SIGGRAPH Board of Directors voted unanimously in October '84 to abandon any attempt to promote Core as a "standard". In fact, ISSCO has announced that they will be selling a GKS (not Core) package. IBM, Tektronix, DEC, Megatek, Ramtek, ISSCO, Precision Visuals, Chromatics, Cray, Nova, Uniras, Visual Engineering, Data General, Graphic Software Systems and others have all announced GKS products, and some have been shipping for some time. One other important difference between Core and GKS is that Core had only a functional specification (semantics but no syntax). Thus, it is difficult to port application code from one implementation of Core to another. GKS has "bindings" in languages. Fortran is complete, and C, Pascal, and ADA are being worked on right now. I have ported applications from one GKS to another, and its pretty trivial. David H. Straayer Tektronix, Inc. POB 1000 MS 63-296 Wilsonville, OR 97070 (503) 685-3544 (decvax,ucbvax,...)!tektronix!iddic!dhs
works@kiet.UUCP (Workstation) (01/08/85)
This is what I read on the Usenet a while ago. Choong Nyun, kim ...!hplabs!kaist!kiet!works *************************************************************************** Here is some more info about implementations of the Core and GKS under UNIX. (It was culled from the ARAPnet's INFO-GRAPHICS archives.) Jeff Elman Phonetics Lab Dept. of Linguistics, C-008 Univ. of Calif., San Diego UUCP: ...ucbvax!sdcsvax!sdamos!elman ARPAnet: elman@nprdc ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Steve Rubin <Strubin at SRI-KL> Subject: Re: Graphics Software for VAX/UNIX I have a C-language version of the SIGGRAPH Core at a basic level (2-D only, no segmentation, some input primitives). The program runs under 4.1bsd UNIX and supports about nine different devices with more to come: AED-512 frame buffer, Ikonas frame buffer, Raster Technologies model one frame buffer, ID100-V graphics terminal, Versatec V-80 plotter, Ramtek color printer, Symbolics laser printer, CIF (for putting graphics on your VLSI chips), and normal video terminals with TERMCAP cursor control. Release status is not known yet, but further information will be available soon. Documentation is available now. -Steve Rubin Fairchild ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Randy.Pausch at CMU-CS-G at CMU-CS-A Subject: gen. purpose graphics software Contact Joe Pato at Brown University -- they distribute (or did, anyway) a 2D subset of the CORE standard, I believe available in both C and Pascal. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Michael Wayne Young <Michael.Young at CMU-CS-A> Subject: Re: Graphics Software for VAX I have such a package in the works for 4.1BSD; it's a SIGGRAPH "Core" system written for any version 7 or better system (which of course includes System IIII or 4.1BSD running on Vaxen). It currently supports level 1 input and level 1 output; that is, full 3D viewing, no segmentation, no input. It supports the definition of various attributes (such as color, which is what you're interested in); it's up to the device driver to decide how much to actually implement though, and the devices I've had are primarily monochrome (4010 series, hp2648, Tek 4025), but some support color (an AED 512, a Dec Gigi terminal, and an hp7221 plotter [4 pens]). Maybe I should tell you a bit about the status of my project: Currently, all of level 1 i/o is complete; it is currently in use in part of a larger graphics system (only in size, not complexity...) at the University of Delaware. A fairly sophisticated device assignment feature is provided (but not mandated); it allows various device types to be handled on any output file (discriminated at runtime), with various device options (like screen window, startup color, device defaults). It also allows output to be piped to a command, if that's your interest. [I've used that a lot to build device drivers without having a device available.] It's fully device-independent; the effort involved in building an additional device driver is minimal (for me, at least, as nobody else has had to try yet). It relies heavily on standard device driver parts, to maintain continuity among drivers. It's all C code, but is barely accessible from Pascal. [I have an include file for Pascal use, but it's been minimally tested.] Fortran (IV or -77) support is not even conjectured yet, as most parameters are passed by value now, and I see no need to change that either. [It'd be a matter of writing a F77-C interface.] What I plan to be doing in the next 1-2 months is finishing up level 2 (and maybe 3) output; this would add segmentation and the associated visibility handling. Batching of updates would become more important. I am currently part-way through this section, but it's not available yet. I have no current timetable for the inclusion of graphical input; aside from simple "locator" input (joystick or cross-hair cursor), none of my devices could do anything anyway, so it's not that important. A possible intermediate stage is an "escape" function to read this joystick position. I think what I have is probably sufficient for what you want to do... moderately tough vector graphics, primarily for plots, in a device-independent way. If you have any questions/doubts/whatever, don't hesitate to let me know. Now, as for the "distribution" of the package: I'll give it out for free, but I want to retain copyrights on it. [I.e. not public domain, but free to use.] What I'd need is a statement from you saying that you were to use the package for yourselves only, and not to distribute it, plus I guess to pass back changes to me (although I'm not sticky on that point). Let me know if this is the only problem; I'm sure we can arrange something if you're still interested. Michael ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: johnston at LBL-UNIX (Bill & [csam]) Subject: unix graphics David Rosenthal has written an implementation of GKS (one of the proposed ISO and US graphics standards) for UNIX. GKS is functionally similar to a 2-D SIGGRAPH core system, with several groups working on the 3-D version. It is also the case that SUN Microsystems (Jerry Evans, if my memory serves me, though Bill Joy would know also) is writing a UNIX version of GKS. You should also contact Precision Visuals (if you are interested in commercial software), as I believe they have DI-3000 (SIGGRAPH CORE system) running under UNIX. David Rosenthal Strichting Mathematicsh Centrum Kruislaan 413 1098 SJ Amsterdam Postbus 4079 1009 AB Amsterdam THE NETHERLANDS Phone: (020) 592-9333 (Don't try this unless you speak Dutch.) Telex: NETHERLANDS 12571 (this should be checked) Uucp: ucbvax!decvax!mcvax!david (sometimes this works) Bill Joy SUN Microsystems Inc 2310 Walsh Ave Santa Clara, CA 95051 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: decvax!mcvax!david@Berkeley Subject: Graphics for 4.1BSD Here at The Mathematical Centre, Amsterdam, an implementation of GKS, the draft International (and ANSI) standard for 2D graphics software, is underway. It is being made available, but to find out the terms you will have to mail ..decvax!mcvax!paulh (Paul ten Hagen). I did some of the design, but am not involved in the implementation. GKS defines a 3*3 matrix of capabilities, viz: Output Input None Synch Asynch Basic Works Works Wait 4.2BSD Segment Works Works Wait 4.2BSD Full Untest Untest Wait 4.2BSD Some work is still needed even on the bits that work to make them fully distributable (e.g. clean up makefiles, translate comments from Dutch). At present the interface between the Device Independent parts and the Device Dependent bits (drivers) is very low-level and does not exploit the capabilities of advanced devices. Most testing uses an AED512. For information on GKS, contact the ANSI committee: ANSI X3H3 c/o Dr. Peter R. Bono Athena Systems Inc. 206 South Broad St. Pawcatuck, CT 06379 203-599-3061 David Rosenthal ------------------------------------------------------------------------------