Tgif (pronounced t-g-i-f) is an Xlib-based interactive 2-D drawing tool (using vector graphics) under X11 on

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...

and most

UNIX Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, an ...

platforms (including

Mac OS Two major famlies of Mac operating systems were developed by Apple Inc. In 1984, Apple debuted the operating system that is now known as the "Classic" Mac OS with its release of the original Macintosh System Software. The system, rebranded "M ...

X and cygwin on Windows). It was developed since 1990 and is

free software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...

released under the

QPL The Q Public License (QPL) is a non-copyleft license, created by Trolltech for its free edition of the Qt. It was used until Qt 3.0, as Trolltech toolkit version 4.0 was released under GPL version 2. It fails the Debian Free Software Guidelin ...

license.

Quirks

Because Tgif was developed long before a standard way for drawing programs to work, one might find it unfamiliar to use in a number of ways: *Although Tgif mention point sizes, it uses a unit that is 1/128 of an inch for point sizes. *While there is an option to display font sizes in points, the sizes are still subject to rounding to the nearest 1/128". *Unlike modern drawing programs, Tgif uses

spline curve In mathematics, a spline is a special function defined piecewise by polynomials. In interpolating problems, spline interpolation is often preferred to polynomial interpolation because it yields similar results, even when using low degree poly ...

s instead of Bézier curves. *Also unlike modern drawing programs, Tgif does not allow the user to select a colour from a color wheel or through controls that allow the user to adjust colour values. Instead, Tgif provides a list with a short list of colours. If the user wishes to use a colour that is not in the list, they would need to add their desired colour to the list. This list is then saved with the currently-open drawing. *Usable fonts are listed in a configuration file. If the user wishes to use fonts that are not on the list, they would have to change the configuration file. *Only fonts in the ISO 8859-1 encoding (i.e. "square") CJK fonts and symbols or

dingbat In typography, a dingbat (sometimes more formally known as a printer's ornament or printer's character) is an ornament, specifically, a glyph used in typesetting, often employed to create box frames, (similar to box-drawing characters) or as ...

fonts can be used. *Rescaling can lead to ugly defect, which is most likely due to both the use of integer coordinates and roundoff errors. *Because Tgif uses Xlib (which predated modern

Unicode Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. The standard, wh ...

support) Tgif does not and cannot support Unicode.

The Tgif file format

Tgif saves drawings in a

Prolog Prolog is a logic programming language associated with artificial intelligence and computational linguistics. Prolog has its roots in first-order logic, a formal logic, and unlike many other programming languages, Prolog is intended primarily ...

-basedTgif FAQ - Tgif File Format, http://bourbon.usc.edu/tgif/faq/format.html

plain text In computing, plain text is a loose term for data (e.g. file contents) that represent only characters of readable material but not its graphical representation nor other objects (floating-point numbers, images, etc.). It may also include a limit ...

file format. Because the program is based on Prolog, there isn't a lot of support from other programs for reading the Tgif file format. Fonts are represented as PostScript font names. Originally, it was possible to print Tgif drawings in

batch mode Computerized batch processing is a method of running software programs called jobs in batches automatically. While users are required to submit the jobs, no other interaction by the user is required to process the batch. Batches may automatically ...

without using an X display. However, this feature changed somewhere in the 4.1 versions. Currently, in order to print drawings, the user would need to be running Tgif on an X display. This restriction cannot be applied if the drawing only uses

Times Roman Times New Roman is a serif typeface. It was commissioned by the British newspaper ''The Times'' in 1931 and conceived by Stanley Morison, the artistic adviser to the British branch of the printing equipment company Monotype, in collaboration w ...

Helvetica Helvetica (originally Neue Haas Grotesk) is a widely used sans-serif typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann. Helvetica is a neo-grotesque design, one influenced by the famous 19th century (1890s) ...

Courier A courier is a person or organisation that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...

, and/or Symbol fonts.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Tgif home page
Free vector graphics editors Vector graphics editors for Linux