Appendix K: The Iris Terminal Programming Environment - Silicon Graphics IRIS Workstation User Manual

Appendix K: The IRIS Terminal Programming Environment

This document describes the construction of a custom IRIS terminal program
and the corresponding remote graphics library. The programming
environment is supported on an IRIS Workstation, and builds programs that
run on an IRIS Terminal. In addition, programs can be compiled with the IRIS
Terminal programming environment that can be downloaded into the IRIS
Terminal and run independently of a host processor.
With the IRIS Terminal programming environment, you can add or delete
routines from the IRIS Graphics Library. Added routines allow you to run
complex, interactive code segments locally for faster response and no network
or remote host delays. Unused routines can be removed from the standard
library to save memory space on the IRIS Terminal.
The process of modifying the IRIS Graphics Library involves three steps. First,
new routines are added and unused routines are deleted from the IRIS
Graphics Library. The procedures for this are described in Section K.4 and K.5.
Second, the remote graphics library (libgl.a) is compiled. Section K.6 describes
the procedure for compiling a new remote graphics library. Finally, the
make
IRIS terminal program (iris) is reconfigured to contain or omit the routines.
Section K.7 describes the procedure for compiling a new IRIS terminal
make
program. The new IRIS Graphics Library can be tested by compiling an
application program with the new remote graphics library and running the
application program on an IRIS Terminal that has been booted with the new
IRIS terminal program.
The IRIS Terminal programming environment generates GL 1.9 code. There
are a few incompatibilities between GL 1 and GL 1.9 that are described in GL 1
and GL 1.9 Software Differences. Mostly they affect object editing, picking, and
curves. There are some additional routines as well. When the programming
environment is first shipped, these GL 1.9 routines may not yet have been
ported to the IRIS Workstation, so programs written to run on the IRIS
Workstation will use GL 1, and the IRIS Terminal programming environment
will be GL 1.9. As soon as possible, GL 1.9 will be ported to the IRIS
Workstation. If this has not yet been done, watch out for the differences
mentioned in the document referred to above.
Version 1.0