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Further reading □ OverviewContentsPrefaceNotation1. Introduction2. Graphical output3. Coordinates4. Segments and Attributes5. Input devices6. Interaction styles7. Workstations8. Environment9. Input control10. Segment storage11. Metafiles12. Further facilities13. Individual attributesA. AbbreviationsB. Language bindingC. Complete programIndex
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ACDLiteratureBooksGKS
ACDLiteratureBooksGKS
ACL ACD C&A INF CCD CISD Archives
Further reading

OverviewContentsPrefaceNotation1. Introduction2. Graphical output3. Coordinates4. Segments and Attributes5. Input devices6. Interaction styles7. Workstations8. Environment9. Input control10. Segment storage11. Metafiles12. Further facilities13. Individual attributesA. AbbreviationsB. Language bindingC. Complete programIndex

Preface

Standards in computer graphics are long overdue. Whereas de facto standards in programming languages were common very early on (FORTRAN and ALGOL 60) and international standards soon followed, there has been a long period of graphics history where, at best, regional de facto standards have existed and no international standards have evolved.

Now, after some nine years work by a highly dedicated international group of graphics experts, this trend has been broken, with the publication of the Graphical Kernel System (GKS) as an International Standard by ISO in 1985.

GKS is a graphics system which allows programs to support a wide variety of graphics devices. It is defined independently of programming languages.

This book aims to provide the application programmer with a good understanding of the principles behind GKS and to serve subsequently as an informal manual for GKS. No knowledge of GKS is assumed, but the reader is expected to have a good understanding of programming and at least a rudimentary knowledge of computer graphics. The book is arranged in two main parts. The background of GKS is described and its essential concepts are introduced in the first part whereas those features more likely to be required by the specialist graphics programmer are described in the second.

The book may be read in two ways. Firstly to discover the whole of GKS, the chapters in Part I, which introduce the essential concepts, should be read in sequence. However, the chapters in Part II may be read more or less independently of each other, although they assume knowledge of the whole of Part I. Alternatively, to first become acquainted with GKS as a graphical output system, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7 from Part I should be read in sequence followed by a selection of Chapter 8, 10, 11, 12, and 13 from Part II. If required, the remaining chapters can be read to complete the picture.

Examples are expressed in a dialect of FORTRAN 77 described in the introductory section on Notation. As an aid to understanding, names greater than 6 characters are allowed. The correspondence between the names actually used and those in the FORTRAN 77 language binding for GKS is given in an appendix.

Part I begins with a chapter which outlines the historical background of graphics standards and the emergence of GKS. In Chapters 2 and 3, output primitives of GKS and their attributes and the coordinate systems, in which they are specified. are described. Chapter 4 describes how pictures may be divided into segments and how these segments may be manipulated. The segment attributes are introduced. GKS is not only concerned with graphical output but also with graphical input. Its powerful input facilities are covered in Chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 7 concludes Part I with a description of the workstation concept which is the central concept in GKS promoting program portability.

The GKS environment and the more advanced facilities are discussed in Part II. Chapter 8 describes the OKS environment, which includes initialisation of OKS. the OKS data structures, the level structure and error handling. Chapter 9 describes the control of input devices. In Chapter 10. more advanced segmentation facilities (system wide segment storage) are considered and Chapter 11 describes the OKS metafile, a means of transporting graphical information between graphics installations. Chapters 12 and Chapter 13 describe the output primitives not covered in Chapter 2 and say more about attribute handling.

The authors of the book were the editors of the GKS document. Although that document is quite readable, we felt there was a need for a more descriptive introduction to GKS illustrated with many examples. This book is our answer to that need. We believe it will be useful to all application programmers with an interest in computer graphics.

The first edition was published in 1983. Since then GKS has been published as an International Standard and this book has now been updated and revised.

Finally, we would like to thank all those who have participated, in any way, in the standardization process, which has lasted a number of years at national and international levels. Our thanks must also go to wives, families and friends. who have borne with us during both the standardization process and the writing of this book.

Feast of the Epiphany 1986

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