Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!ll-xn!mit-eddie!apollo!nelson_p@apollo.uucp
From: nelson_p@apollo.uucp
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: online database graphics
Message-ID: <3bd128e8.44e6@apollo.uucp>
Date: 2 May 88 20:02:00 GMT
Sender: user@apollo.uucp
Lines: 34
To: comp.graphics@news



 I have a question on a graphics topic that is not sexy or 
 flashy like fractals or ray-tracing or NURBS but nevertheless
 has practical significance.   
 
 At home I have a PC with 'hercules-compatible' monochrome graphics.
 I have been considering getting accounts on Compuserve and perhaps
 on some other online databases such as Dialog.  One of the things 
 I've noticed about these services is that, even if they call them-
 selves 'information services', their definition of information is
 rather narrowly limited to ASCII text.
 
 A lot of information is better presented graphically.  And a lot of 
 graphical information does not require shading or high resolution.
 Graphs, charts, pinouts, maps, parts diagrams, simple schematics
 and a lot of other information can be easily represented with simple
 2D line drawing.  A simple command set of moves, draws, filled 
 polygons, text, linestyles and textstyles and maybe patterned fills
 or color setting for those systems that can support it would be all
 that would be necessary.  The average subscriber to these services 
 probably has at least a PC with mono graphics, CGA or EGA or he has
 a Mac.   At 1200 baud a simple, low res image of a few hundred line
 segments and maybe a little text could be sent in a matter of seconds.
 
 So why don't we see more use of graphics in online databases?  Is the
 main problem one of getting the graphical information into the data-
 base in the first place?  Or is there no standard of the type I suggested
 above?  (actually this is a good question: IS there such a standard?)
 Or do people involved in this kind of stuff not recognize the value of 
 representing information graphically?  Is anyone looking at these kinds
 of issues?    
                                 Thank you in advance.

                                          --Peter Nelson