IRIS GL (Integrated Raster Imaging System Graphics Library) is a proprietary graphics

API An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build ...

created by

Silicon Graphics Silicon Graphics, Inc. (stylized as SiliconGraphics before 1999, later rebranded SGI, historically known as Silicon Graphics Computer Systems or SGCS) was an American high-performance computing manufacturer, producing computer hardware and soft ...

(SGI) in the early 1980s for producing 2D and 3D computer graphics on their

IRIX IRIX (, ) is a discontinued operating system developed by Silicon Graphics (SGI) to run on the company's proprietary MIPS architecture, MIPS workstations and servers. It is based on UNIX System V with Berkeley Software Distribution, BSD extensio ...

-based IRIS graphical workstations. Later SGI removed their proprietary code, reworked various system calls, and released IRIS GL as the industry standard

OpenGL OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a Language-independent specification, cross-language, cross-platform application programming interface (API) for rendering 2D computer graphics, 2D and 3D computer graphics, 3D vector graphics. The API is typic ...

History

In 1982, SGI began development of IRIS GL. It soon became much more popular than the ANSI standard PHIGS, as developers considered it more intuitive and flexible. In the years after 1982, IRIS GL began licensing it to many companies, including

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

. Fragmentation soon became an issue with IRIS GL's popularity, in the implementations and a much bigger one with many different windowing systems. In 1985, the

X window system The X Window System (X11, or simply X) is a windowing system for bitmap displays, common on Unix-like operating systems. X originated as part of Project Athena at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1984. The X protocol has been at ...

came around, and finally there was a somewhat common system. The system was considered more transparent and reliable. Later, a competitor came along from

Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc., often known as Sun for short, was an American technology company that existed from 1982 to 2010 which developed and sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services. Sun contributed sig ...

and

Digital Equipment Corporation Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC ), using the trademark Digital, was a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s. The company was co-founded by Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson in 1957. Olsen was president until ...

, relying much more on the X window system. It was technically called X3D, though soon became more commonly known as PHIGS Extension To X (PEX). By the late 1980's, full implementations were available. Around that time, developers that used IRIS GL started to demand a portable, open graphics standard from SGI to support the most machines possible. In 1989, to comply with the demands and not be replaced, SGI started development of

. Two years later, the OpenGL ARB was formed with people from many different companies. In September of 1991, it was announced by SGI that IRIS GL was available for general licensing, making it fully open. They also announced that several companies, including Intel and Microsoft endorsed the GL. In June 1992, the OpenGL 1.0 specification was released, with as much portability as possibly. (free trial) Unlike PEX, OpenGL did not rely on the window system, it being a completely separate part to ensure their previous goals were met. To avoid namespace conflicts, every function was prefixed with "gl". Many modules were also either cleaned up, removed, or renamed.

Overview

IRIS GL was a graphics library for the

workstations. Window creation and input were built in. It provided special routines for handling 3D graphics, allowing the user to specify a 3D transformation, and then having it automatically be applied with every vertex passed in. Due to the lack of programmable shaders, shading is specified with many parameters including diffuse, specular, ambient, and emission. There existed routines like rect that allowed a programmer to specify vertices from a more high-level perspective. The GL also had basic

typesetting Typesetting is the composition of text for publication, display, or distribution by means of arranging physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or '' glyphs'' in digital systems representing '' characters'' (letters and other ...

support using raster fonts, and also support for NURBS curves

References

External links

Official OpenGL website
3D graphics software Application programming interfaces Graphics libraries Graphics standards SGI graphics Video game development software

History

Overview

See also

References

Further reading

External links