moore@srl.mew.mei.co.jp (W. Phillip Moore) (09/26/90)
I have seen a lot of interesting articles about PEX in magazines, and heard
lots about it from other people. I assume that comp.windows.x has been the
forum for discussions about PEX, but we have only been getting news for
about one month, so suppose I've missed out on it.
I have a 3D tool running under SunView (w/ SunCore) and I want to port it
to X without writing all the 3D routines by hand. I have better things to
do. My current hope is to port the interface to XView and rewrite the 3D
portion using PEX, if possible.
When is PEX going to be available, and will it also be free like X11??
What platforms will it run on??
<About 100 other questions>
If there exists a summary of PEX-related discussions I would really like to
get it. Perhaps some kind-hearted soul to forward it to me.
Thanks in advance.
W. Phillip Moore Phone: 06-908-1431
LSI Research Group FAX: 06-906-7251
Semiconductor Research Laboratory E-mail: moore@mew.mei.co.jp
Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. 1048 Kadoma, Osaka 571, Japanrws@EXPO.LCS.MIT.EDU (Bob Scheifler) (09/27/90)
I assume that comp.windows.x has been the
forum for discussions about PEX,
No, the mailing list x11-3d@expo.lcs.mit.edu has been, although it has
essentially no traffic for quite a while.
My current hope is to port the interface to XView and rewrite the 3D
portion using PEX, if possible.
If you want to plan for PEX, then start writing/learning PHIGS, because
that's the programming interface for PEX. You'll have to consult your
individual vendors to see if the provide any proprietary PHIGS interface
in X today.
When is PEX going to be available, and will it also be free like X11??
It will be available to the public sometime next year, and yes it will be
free. But I will warn you, a completely software implementation of a 3D
pipeline is not particularly speedy. The PEX sample implementation will be
just that. Individual vendors will be doing their own ports to their 3D
graphics hardware, but whether any of that hardware-specific code will ever
become generally available is anyone's guess.
What platforms will it run on??
Right now, I'd say it's safe to say that the sample implementation will
run on any 8-bit color display that runs the MIT sample server. Beyond
that, I won't say.
Now, I get the impression from your address that you are actually from
an X Consortium member, in which case you may be able to get access to
PEX pre-releases already. I'll send you private mail about this.moore@srl.mew.mei.co.jp (W. Phillip Moore) (09/28/90)
No, the mailing list x11-3d@expo.lcs.mit.edu has been, although it has
essentially no traffic for quite a while.
Well, even so, I'd like to be added to the mailing list. Will this message
suffice, or should I mail a direct request to x11-3d?? Also, are there
archives of past discussions (if they are worth having)??
If you want to plan for PEX, then start writing/learning PHIGS, because
that's the programming interface for PEX. You'll have to consult your
individual vendors to see if the provide any proprietary PHIGS interface
in X today.
Great. The tool I currently have (see comp.lsi yesterday) is
SunView/SunCore based, and since SunCore died, I will be writing code for
SunPHIGS pretty soon. I have also heard that some X11 (but Sun only) PHIGS
implementations are already available. I'll check that out.
It will be available to the public sometime next year, and yes it will be
free. But I will warn you, a completely software implementation of a 3D
pipeline is not particularly speedy. The PEX sample implementation will be
just that. Individual vendors will be doing their own ports to their 3D
graphics hardware, but whether any of that hardware-specific code will ever
become generally available is anyone's guess.
But of course. My code is not especially 3D intensive, so slow speed
wouldn't kill it. I basically just need to do some simple plotting in 3D,
with Gauraud shading. Anything else will be a bonus, so I'll live with
what I can get. If fatster optimized server are for sale, no problem. My
company is not poor :-) and I know where the PO forms are.
Right now, I'd say it's safe to say that the sample implementation will
run on any 8-bit color display that runs the MIT sample server. Beyond
that, I won't say.
Our system is all Sun3/4, so I will assume no problem.
Now, I get the impression from your address that you are actually from
an X Consortium member, in which case you may be able to get access to
PEX pre-releases already. I'll send you private mail about this.
Got it, and to answer the question, Matsushita Electric Works is very
closely related to Matsushita Electric Industries, but we are *not* a
subsidiary. MEI only owns 30% of MEW, and our product lines don't really
overlap much. Our network suvrives because of them, and I know a lot of
the MEI net guru's. We cooperate quite a bit.
If you have a contact address at MEI, that would really be great. I am
sure I could get most of the information I need from them.
Thank you *very* much for the information. BTW, I think you guys are doing
a fantastic job with X11, despite the bitchin' and maonin' I read in
comp.windows.x. Keep up the great work.
A satisfied "customer",
W. Phillip Moore Phone: 06-908-1431
LSI Research Group FAX: 06-906-7251
Semiconductor Research Laboratory E-mail: moore@mew.mei.co.jp
Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. 1048 Kadoma, Osaka 571, Japanhess@suntea (Marty Hess <hess@suntea>) (09/28/90)
>From x11-3d-request@expo.lcs.mit.edu Thu Sep 27 16:51:56 1990 >To: rws@expo.lcs.mit.edu >Cc: xpert@expo.lcs.mit.edu, x11-3d@expo.lcs.mit.edu >In-Reply-To: Bob Scheifler's message of Thu, 27 Sep 90 09:34:48 -0400 <9009271334.AA10232@expire.lcs.mit.edu> >Subject: PEX: when and where... > > If you want to plan for PEX, then start writing/learning PHIGS, because > that's the programming interface for PEX. You'll have to consult your > individual vendors to see if the provide any proprietary PHIGS interface > in X today. > > Great. The tool I currently have (see comp.lsi yesterday) is > SunView/SunCore based, and since SunCore died, I will be writing code for > SunPHIGS pretty soon. I have also heard that some X11 (but Sun only) PHIGS > implementations are already available. I'll check that out. You may want to contact Sun Consulting for information about an existing package of software that greatly assists in moving from SunCore to SunPHIGS. I don't have the details, but I know that it exists. > It will be available to the public sometime next year, and yes it will be > free. But I will warn you, a completely software implementation of a 3D > pipeline is not particularly speedy. The PEX sample implementation will be > just that. Individual vendors will be doing their own ports to their 3D > graphics hardware, but whether any of that hardware-specific code will ever > become generally available is anyone's guess. > > But of course. My code is not especially 3D intensive, so slow speed > wouldn't kill it. I basically just need to do some simple plotting in 3D, > with Gauraud shading. Anything else will be a bonus, so I'll live with > what I can get. If fatster optimized server are for sale, no problem. My > company is not poor :-) and I know where the PO forms are. There are no plans for support of Gouraud shading in the first release of the PEX Sample Implementation. It will only support flat shading. Although it is not required for a minimal PEX extension implementation, we'd liked to have been able to do it. There just wasn't enough time to do an exhaustive implementation. That's not to say that either future work with the code will not add such support (and it's not to say that it *will*, either!) or that individual vendors that support PEX in their servers will not have it, either. - Marty Hess, (415) 336-6374 or 960-1300 Applied Graphics Technology -- PEX-SI Project Manager Mailstop MTV-A1-43 Sun Microsystems, 2550 Garcia, Mountain View, CA 94043-1100 mhess@Eng.Sun.COM
moore@srl.mew.mei.co.jp (W. Phillip Moore) (09/28/90)
There are no plans for support of Gouraud shading in the first release of
the PEX Sample Implementation. It will only support flat shading. Although
it is not required for a minimal PEX extension implementation, we'd liked to
have been able to do it. There just wasn't enough time to do an exhaustive
implementation.
Bummer. Well, in that case, I'll just live with flat shading.
Where can a person get (if possible) an list of what will be implemented in
PEX?? I am (obviously) very interested in this, as I think I will be
writing a lot of code using PEX (once I get it). References to journal
articles and such woul dbe really nice.
Thanks in advance.
W. Phillip Moore Phone: 06-908-1431
LSI Research Group FAX: 06-906-7251
Semiconductor Research Laboratory E-mail: moore@mew.mei.co.jp
Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. 1048 Kadoma, Osaka 571, Japanslg@eb5ts2.ebay.sun.COM (sandy_l. gomez) (09/28/90)
Why do I get this mail? PLEASE TAKE OFF THIS LIST!