Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!caen!hellgate.utah.edu!cs.utah.edu!thomson
From: thomson@cs.utah.edu (Rich Thomson)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: Practical Intro to PHIGS (new book)
Message-ID: <1991May1.172024.6324@hellgate.utah.edu>
Date: 1 May 91 23:20:23 GMT
References: <1991Apr19.175910.2922@Stardent.COM> <24373@well.sf.ca.us> <24476@well.sf.ca.us> <1462@cvbnetPrime.COM>
Organization: Computer Science Department, University of Utah, SLC, UT
Lines: 42

In article <1462@cvbnetPrime.COM>
	tgross@cvbnet.prime.com (Tom Gross) writes:
>	No one who really knows phigs would want to be called a "phigs 
>	expert".

Why not?  Here's what the webster server says about expert:

> Cross references:
>   1. proficient            
>
> 1. ex.pert \'ek-.sp*rt, ik-'\ aj [ME, fr. MF & L; MF, fr. L expertus, fr.
>    pp. of experiri] obs  1: EXPERIENCED 2: having, involving, or displaying
>    special skill or knowledge derived from training or experience - ex.pert.ly
>    av
> 2. ex.pert \'ek-.sp*rt\ n [F, fr. expert, adj] : one who has acquired
>    special skill in or knowledge of a particular subject : AUTHORITY
> 3. ex.pert \'ek-.sp*rt\ vt : to serve as an expert for : to serve as an
>    expert

Sounds like someone who really knows PHIGS is exactly the expert as
defined above.  It seems like there are lots of people out there on
the net that are interested in PHIGS and are curious about salient
points.  Also, questions come up from people using PHIGS about how to
do this or that.  Given the (until recent) dearth of good information
sources on PHIGS (I consider the standard something akin to a legal
document instead of the kind of thing we expect from "documentation"),
I would think that the more PHIGS experts we have reading and
participating in comp.graphics, the better.

There are lots of things that can be gleaned from "traning and
experience" that aren't obvious from the standards documents.  Things
like:

o   POLYLINE SET 3 WiTH DATA is the structure element to use if you
    want color-per-vertex polylines

o   FILL AREA (and variants) don't have edges -- if you want edges,
    you have to use FILL AREA SET (and variants).

						-- Rich
Rich Thomson	thomson@cs.utah.edu  {bellcore,hplabs,uunet}!utah-cs!thomson
    ``Read my MIPs -- no new VAXes!!''  --George Bush after sniffing freon