The Graphical Kernel System (GKS) was the first
ISO
ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization.
ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance
* Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007
* Iso ...
standard for low-level
computer graphics
Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great de ...
, introduced in 1977. A draft international standard was circulated for review in September 1983.
Final ratification of the standard was achieved in 1985.
Overview
GKS provides a set of drawing features for two-dimensional
vector graphics
Vector graphics is a form of computer graphics in which visual images are created directly from geometric shapes defined on a Cartesian plane, such as points, lines, curves and polygons. The associated mechanisms may include vector display ...
suitable for charting and similar duties. The calls are designed to be portable across different
programming language
A programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs. Most programming languages are text-based formal languages, but they may also be graphical. They are a kind of computer language.
The description of a programming ...
s, graphics devices and hardware, so that applications written to use GKS will be readily portable to many platforms and devices.
GKS was fairly common on
computer workstation
A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by a single user, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. The term ''workst ...
s in the 1980s and early 1990s.
GKS formed the basis of
Digital Research's GSX and
GEM
A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, a ...
products; the latter was common on the
Atari ST and was occasionally seen on PCs particularly in conjunction with
Ventura Publisher
Ventura ( Italian, Portuguese and Spanish for "fortune") may refer to:
Places
; Brazil
* Boa Ventura de São Roque, a municipality in the state of Paraná, southern Brazil
* Boa Ventura, Paraíba, a municipality in the state of Paraíba, i ...
. It was little used commercially outside these markets, but remains in use in some scientific visualization packages. It is also the underlying
API
An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...
defining the
Computer Graphics Metafile
Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM) is a free and open international standard file format for 2D vector graphics, raster graphics, and text, and is defined by ISO/ IEC 8632.
Overview
All graphical elements can be specified in a textual source ...
. A descendant of GKS was
PHIGS
PHIGS (Programmer's Hierarchical Interactive Graphics System) is an application programming interface (API) standard for rendering 3D computer graphics, considered to be the 3D graphics standard for the 1980s through the early 1990s. Subsequently, ...
. One popular application based on an implementation of GKS is the GR Framework,
a C library for high-performance scientific visualization that has become a common plotting backend among
Julia
Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g ...
users.
A main developer and promoter of the GKS was
José Luis Encarnação
José Luis Moreira da Encarnação is a Portuguese computer scientist, Professor Emeritus at the Department of Computer Science of the Technische Universität Darmstadt in Germany and a senior technology and innovation advisor to governments, mul ...
, formerly director of the
Fraunhofer Institute
The Fraunhofer Society (german: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., lit=Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research) is a German research organization with 76institutes spread throughout Germany ...
for Computer Graphics (IGD) in
Darmstadt,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
GKS has been standardized in the following documents:
*
ANSI
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organi ...
standard ANSI X3.124 of 1985.
* ISO 7942:1985 standard, revised as ISO 7942:1985/Amd 1:1991 and ISO/IEC 7942-1:1994, as well as ISO/IEC 7942-2:1997, ISO/IEC 7942-3:1999 and ISO/IEC 7942-4:1998
* The language bindings are ISO standard ISO 8651.
* GKS-3D (Graphical Kernel System for Three Dimensions) functional definition is ISO standard ISO 8805, and the corresponding
C bindings are ISO/IEC 8806.
The functionality of GKS is wrapped up as a data model standard in the STEP standard, section
ISO 10303
ISO 10303 is an ISO standard for the computer-interpretable representation and exchange of product manufacturing information. It is an ASCII-based format. Its official title is: ''Automation systems and integration — Product data represe ...
-46.
See also
*
General Graphics Interface
General Graphics Interface (GGI) was a project that aimed to develop a reliable, stable and fast computer graphics system that works everywhere. The intent was to allow for any program using GGI to run on any computing platform supported by it, re ...
*
GSS-KERNEL
*
IGES
The Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES) is a vendor-neutral file format that allows the digital exchange of information among computer-aided design (CAD) systems. It's an ASCII-based textual format.
The official title of IGES is ''D ...
(Initial Graphics Exchange Specification)
*
NAPLPS
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Unofficial source of current implementation informationGKS at FOLDOC
{{List of IEC standards
Computer graphics
Application programming interfaces
Graphics standards
Graphical Kernel System
The Graphical Kernel System (GKS) was the first ISO standard for low-level computer graphics, introduced in 1977. A draft international standard was circulated for review in September 1983.
Final ratification of the standard was achieved in 1985 ...