Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM) is a

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and

open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' (Y ...

international standard file format for 2D

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 ...

raster graphics upright=1, The Smiley, smiley face in the top left corner is a raster image. When enlarged, individual pixels appear as squares. Enlarging further, each pixel can be analyzed, with their colors constructed through combination of the values for ...

, and text, and is defined by ISO/ IEC 8632.ISO/IEC 8632
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Overview

All graphical elements can be specified in a textual source file that can be compiled into a

binary file A binary file is a computer file that is not a text file. The term "binary file" is often used as a term meaning "non-text file". Many binary file formats contain parts that can be interpreted as text; for example, some computer document fi ...

or one of two text representations. CGM provides a means of graphics data interchange for computer representation of 2D graphical information independent from any particular application, system, platform, or device. As a metafile, i.e., a file containing information that describes or specifies another file, the CGM format has numerous elements to provide functions and to represent entities, so that a wide range of graphical information and geometric primitives can be accommodated. Rather than establish an explicit graphics file format, CGM contains the instructions and data for reconstructing graphical components to render an image using an object-oriented approach. Although CGM is not widely supported for web pages and has been supplanted by other formats in the graphic arts, it is still prevalent in engineering, aviation, and other technical applications. The initial CGM implementation was effectively a streamed representation of a sequence of Graphical Kernel System (GKS) primitive operations. It has been adopted to some extent in the areas of technical illustration and professional

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

, but has largely been superseded by formats such as SVG and DXF. The World Wide Web Consortium has developed WebCGM, a profile of CGM intended for the use of CGM on the Web.

History

*1986 – ANSI X3 122-1986 (

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 organ ...

X3 committee) *1987 – ISO 8632-1987 ( ISO) *1991 – ANSI/ISO 8632-1987 (ANSI and ISO) *1992 – ISO 8632:1992, a.k.a. CGM:1992 (ISO) *1999 – ISO/IEC 8632:1999, 2nd Edition (ISO/IEC JTC1/SC24) *December 17, 2001 – WebCGM ( W3C) *January 30, 2007 �
WebCGM 2.0
(W3C) *March 1, 2010 �
WebCGM 2.1
(W3C Recommendation)

References

External links

General

Overview of CGM Standards

Standards

WebCGM 1.0
W3C Recommendation, 17 December 2001
WebCGM 2.0
W3C Recommendation, 30 January 2007
WebCGM 2.1
W3C Recommendation, 1 March 2010
ISO/IEC 8632-1:1999
Part 1: Functional specification
ISO/IEC 8632-1:1999
Part 1: Technical Corrigendum 1
ISO/IEC 8632-1:1999
Part 1: Technical Corrigendum 2
ISO/IEC 8632-3:1999
Part 3: Binary encoding
ISO/IEC 8632-4:1999
Part 4: Clear text encoding

Other

{{Graphics file formats Graphics file formats Vector graphics markup languages Open formats Graphics standards American National Standards Institute standards World Wide Web Consortium standards ISO standards IEC standards