The Graphical Kernel System (GKS) was the first
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 deal ...
, 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 l ...
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 workstations 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. It was little used commercially outside these markets, but remains in use in some scientific visualization packages. It is also the underlying
API defining the
Computer Graphics Metafile. A descendant of GKS was
PHIGS. 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 users.
A main developer and promoter of the GKS was
José Luis Encarnação, formerly director of the
Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics (IGD) in
Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
.
GKS has been standardized in the following documents:
*
ANSI 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 10303-46.
See also
*
General Graphics Interface
*
GSS-KERNEL
*
IGES (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