The Computer Graphics Metafile

The Computer Graphics Metafile

The Computer Graphics Metafile deals with the Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM) standard and covers topics ranging from the structure and contents of a metafile to CGM functionality, metafile elements, and real-world applications of CGM. Binary Encoding, Character Encoding, application profiles, and implementations are also discussed. This book is comprised of 18 chapters divided into five sections and begins with an overview of the CGM standard and how it can meet some of the requirements for storage of graphical data within a graphics system or application environment. The reader is then introduced to the practice of using the CGM and the nature of the CGM, its aims, and what is defined in the standard. The following chapters focus on the players, the rules, and the game; the abstract functionality of the CGM; descriptor elements for metafiles and pictures; coordinates, primitives, and attributes; and encodings and implementation considerations. Clear Text Encoding, Binary Encoding, Character Encoding, and application profiles are also explored. The final chapter looks at the use of GKS, GKS-3D, and PHIGS to generate and interpret CGMs. This monograph will be a valuable resource for computer graphics students and professionals as well as software engineers and computer programmers.

CGM and CGI

We have written this book principally for users and practitioners of computer graphics. In particular, system designers, independent software vendors, graphics system implementers, and application program developers need to understand the basic standards being put in place at the so-called Virtual Device Interface and how they relate to other industry standards, both formal and de facto. Secondarily, the book has been targetted at technical managers and advanced students who need some understanding of the graphics standards and how they fit together, along with a good overview of the Computer Graphics Interface (CGI) proposal and Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM) standard in particular. Part I, Chapters 1,2, and 3; Part II, Chapters 10 and 11; Part III, Chapters 15, 16, and 17; and some of the Appendices will be of special interest. Finally, these same sections will interest users in government and industry who are responsible for selecting, buying and installing commercial implementations of the standards. The CGM is already a US Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS 126), and we expect the same status for the CGI when its development is completed and it receives formal approval by the standards-making bodies.

Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM)