Xref: utzoo comp.graphics:1799 comp.sys.mac:13203
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!decwrl!hplabs!cae780!leadsv!laic!darin
From: darin@laic.UUCP (Darin Johnson)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics,comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: GKS on MAC II
Message-ID: <166@laic.UUCP>
Date: 25 Feb 88 18:57:26 GMT
References: <943@ut-emx.UUCP> <3468@ece-csc.UUCP>
Organization: Lockheed AI Center, Menlo Park
Lines: 44

In article <3468@ece-csc.UUCP>, jnh@ece-csc.UUCP (Joseph Nathan Hall) writes:
> *** EAT THIS ***
> 
> In article <943@ut-emx.UUCP> jezebel@ut-emx.UUCP (Jim Saint) writes:
> >Does the MAC-II support GKS ?

(does it support anything useful for that matter?)

> I've been using GKS on a VAXstation GPX for almost a year now.  The worst
> niggling-type problem with GKS under VMS is that GKS is really designed to
> run under FORTRAN (that's right) and so all the "C" calls are by reference
> (uggh) and many of the string paramegers use descriptors (double uggh).

Actually, this is more of a problem with VMS in general, not GKS.
I haven't used GKS that much, but have used VMS quit a bit (been forced to use
I should say).  Programming is a breeze if you are using FORTRAN, but a 
pain in the butt for anything else.  In particular, descriptors are 
done automatically in FORTRAN, but have to be built by hand in other 
languages.  I would assume that descriptors are used with GKS in order
to interface with FORTRAN better, not that GKS itself needs descriptors
(I seriously doubt that any other OS has descriptors in the same format
anyway).  I haven't seen GKS on a UNIX machine, but a would suspect that 
the C interface has no descriptors or pass by reference parameters.
 
> Aside from that, GKS is basically bloated, illogical and inefficient and I
> can't understand why anyone would want to use GKS on a Mac instead of
> QuickDraw.

(I can't understand why anyone would want to use a Mac :-)

> You might want, I suppose, to port an existing GKS application from a
> Sun or VAXstation to a Mac.  Good luck.  The only standardized binding is
> for FORTRAN.  (Can you imagine writing in a non-stack-based environment on
> a Mac???)

For SunCORE at least, there was a library for C (and similar languages)
and a separate FORTRAN callable library.  Something similar to this should
be easily done by anyone who implements GKS.

(Trying hard to force myself not to say anything bad about Mac's or VMS)
-- 
Darin Johnson (...ucbvax!sun!sunncal!leadsv!laic!darin)
              (...lll-lcc.arpa!leadsv!laic!darin)
	All aboard the DOOMED express!