W_COSTA@UNHH.BITNET (11/17/87)
Greatings Netlandia,
Over the past few years, we've acquired a number of different graphics
devices:
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VT125 (ReGIS)
VT241 (ReGIS,Tektronix 4010)
GIGI (ReGIS)
Tektronix 4010, 4014, etc.
CalComp 1044 Pen plotter
Versatec electrostatic plotter
LN03 PLUS (Tektronix 4010,SIXEL)
LVP16 (aka. HP7475A) (HP-GL)
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And we also have a number of different packages to support them
with (naturally not all packages support all devices):
---[Subroutine Packages]--------------------------------------------
GKS Level 0A (from NCAR, supports various and a META file.)
PLOT-10 (from Tektronix, their devices only.)
HCBS (from CalComp, their devices only.)
VERSAPLOT 9 (from Versatec, their devices only.)
---[Applications]---------------------------------------------------
SAS/GRAPH (supports various devices.)
SPSS Graphics (supports various devices.)
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What is distressing is that at our site, because of accidents of
chance/personalities/experience/etc., the way a user deals with each
device and each package has not been defined in a very consistent way.
For some devices, a queue is used (PRINT), with others the user copies
the information directly to the device (COPY). Each software package in
turn also has it's own way of dealing with the outside world, although
with applications like SAS/GRAPH and SPSS Graphics, we do not have too
much control over how they work. What I would like to do is to clean
up some of this mess that has resulted due to the vagaries of time,
place and persons involved. But before I start.....
My question is: For those of you that have a multiplicity of devices
and packages, how do *you* deal with graphics at your site? Do you
have a nice uniform approach to how to handle creating graphics files
and sending these files to their intended devices? Have you added
display graphics device names to the VMS 'terminal types' so that
software can ask the system, rather than the user, for the kind of
device being used? I'm looking for anything that will remove the
clutter from how a user creates graphics on our system. The goal is to
allow users to apply what they have learned from one situation to the
next. Solutions that suggest themselves range from the simple (creative
use of logical names and/or printer queues) to the exotic (a PLOT
command that figures out the kind of device the file is formatted for
and then automatically sends it to that device!)
Or does a mix of vendors (both software and hardware) make it next to
impossible to hide such details from the user?
If possible, please send your views and observations directly to
me and I promise I will summarize the replies and report back to
the net.
Thanks.......BC
## ## ## ## +-------------------------------------------------------+
## ### ## ## ! Bill Costa PHONE: (603) 862-3056 !
## #### ## ## ! University of New Hampshire BITNET: W_COSTA@UNHH !
## ## ## ######## ! Department of University Computing !
## ## #### ## ! Durham, NH 03824 !
## ## ### ## ! USA <Insert Standard Disclaimer Here> !
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