A FORTRAN Graphics and Animation Library for X Windows

Abstract

The requirements for a computer package for the graphical animation and visualization of scientific data are discussed. It is concluded from the analysis of these requirements that simplicity of implementation, interactive response and FORTRAN compatibility are features that are strongly desired by users. These features have a major impact on the design of the graphical library. The handling of graphics resources is further complicated by the need to remove the details of resource management from the FORTRAN programmer while at the same time maintaining some degree of flexibility and efficiency. A “black box” system of graphics library primitives has been constructed to conform the needs of the FORTRAN programmer. The library primitives are constructed from a lower-level commercial graphics library to simplify resource management and give the library a FORTRAN ‘flavor’. A modular style of programming that emphasizes event-driven passing of program control is developed to guide the FORTRAN programmer. A User’s Manual containing a series of instructional tutorials as well as a routine-by-routine description of the library is included along with a code listing.