Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!think!ames!amdahl!pyramid!prls!philabs!bebop.philips.com!sxm
From: sxm@bebop.philips.com (Sandeep Mehta)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.misc
Subject: Mixing window system and graphics operations
Message-ID: <3648@briar.Philips.Com>
Date: 14 Jun 88 19:56:12 GMT
Sender: news@philabs.Philips.Com
Reply-To: sxm@bebop.philips.com (Sandeep Mehta)
Organization: Philips Laboratories, Briarcliff Manor, NY
Lines: 25

I wonder if anybody else had faced the following problem, and found even a
partially optimal solution. I am writing some 3D object modelling software
which needs to be interactive i.e. I want control over objects displayed
in a window using window system toolkit primitives (e.g. buttons, scrollbars,
menus etc.). What I have noticed with both the packages I tried this experiment
on (SunCore and PHIGS based FIGARO) is that the application take over control of
the entire current window thus limiting any user interface interaction. I believe
the graphics packages are implemented using the lower level Pixrect library
(on Sun w/s').

My solution to this was to write the interface and object modeller
as client-server processes thus partially separating the graphics package 
operation from the window system. The problem of course is the overhead
I face with inter-process communication whether I use file or pipe I/O
considering the volume of 3D data being processed ! I would imagine
that I should be able to initialize and perform graphics operations in a 
subwindow just as I can from the root window.

Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks !

sandeep

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Sandeep Mehta                                         uunet!philabs!bebop!sxm
Philips Laboratories                                  sxm@philabs.philips.com