thender@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (10/24/90)
Hello all. I have been programming using Fortran and HP Starbase routines. The programs are for flow visulization. We have the problem of cutting and pasteing(spelling) pictures for I publications. I hate that. This is the computer era. We should do better. The software we use for word processing will accept graphics images in CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile) format.( it will accept other bitmapped formats, etc. but CGM seems to be the best because of the way it retains vectors, entities, not bitmaps, if I understand it right.) I would like to create binary CGM files on the HP 350, soon to be 425 and 433's and move it to our PC AT's to include in our publications. I have currently used a hack where I generated a text encoded CGM file(this is a format an engineer can understand) and then used a program from the net to create a binary CGM file. This works well, except I don't understand all about the text stuff in CGM, i.e. it is not as general as I would like to have. When using DI3000 form Precision Visuals INC. I think, you can create their form of a metafile. This can then be converted using the program that I currently have from the net. So, you ask, where is this going? Can a binary CGM file be created from Starbase or Starbase Display List. CGM files seem to be a standard, as do so many other things in computers, I thought it should be able to be done if I knew how and where to look. I hate bitmaps!!! Thank you all for your time and help. Please post to the net or send email to; hender@uicfda.aae.uiuc.edu Todd Henderson Former TAMU Aggie. All comments and questions are mine. And as for the trademark names of the stuff I mentioned, well most of the software is trademarked or whatever by somebody. They deserve all of the credit.
bailey@math-cs.kent.edu (Jeff Bailey) (10/25/90)
The hpcgm starbase device driver seems to be what you're after. According
to volume 1 of _Starbase Device Drivers Library Manual_ under HPCGM:
"This device driver produces ANSI/ISO standard Computer Graphics Metafile
(CGM). The CGM is a metafile for capturing and storing device independent
picture descriptions. It may contain multiple pictures.
.
.
.
The hpcgm device driver supports the following three encoding methods
(see also "Parameters for gescape," CGMESC_ENCODING later in this driver).
o The Binary encoding is reasonably compact and is optimized for
CPU efficiency ...."
Hope this helps.
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Jeff Bailey (JRB71) (System Administrator) <bailey@mcs.kent.edu>
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
Kent State University
Kent - OH 44242