Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!newstop!sun!kimba!hvr
From: hvr@kimba.Sun.COM (Heather Rose)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: Animated images under X11
Keywords: screenload, X server, images, bitmaps
Message-ID: <132261@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>
Date: 27 Feb 90 02:31:06 GMT
References: <2169@syma.sussex.ac.uk>
Sender: news@sun.Eng.Sun.COM
Reply-To: hvr@sun.UUCP (Heather Rose)
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mountain View
Lines: 35

In article <2169@syma.sussex.ac.uk> jonm@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Jonathan Meyer) writes:
>
>We have a program that runs on Sunview, using multiple screenloads to
>dump images directlty from disc to screen. This produces real-time animation.

FYI:  you could much better than screenload, but that's another topic.  Go
down to your local Sun sales office or demo booth and ask for a demo of 
Aviator.  

>The X facilities for loading images onto the screen are limited to ones
>that operate accross a network, or use file formats that are portable but
>very inefficient.
>
>For a real-time operation such as this, we need to be able to tell the X
>server to load an image directly from the local disc to the screen, in the
>same way that fonts are loaded into the server.
>
>Would this require an extension to the X server, or could I use the font
>support or another technique that is already in the server? I am sure that
>others have already thought of this. Do you have a good solution?
>
>I think this is a general problem with X - the image manipulation facilities
>are necessarily limited by the (otherwise excellent) architecture.

I believe there is an extension in the works called shared X.  What
you want to do is the moral equivalent of mmap'ing your data into the
X server data space.  And yes, this does require an extension to the server
and perhaps shared memory facilities in the OS depending upon the implemenation.

Again, if you're using Sun's, you should talk to your local sales reps
about this issue.

Regards,

Heather