RFC 472 (rfc472) - Page 2 of 2
Illinois' reply to Maxwell's request for graphics information (NIC 14925)
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 472 Reply to Request for Graphics Information March 1973 with an IMLAC passively displaying the NGP0 pictures created. Soon, I hope to finish an IMLAC program that will handle some interaction with the mouse/keyset. I have decided to implement the following (outgoing) commands. MOVE beam to mouse position DRAW from last to present beam position. TEXT at present beam position. UNDO the last command (to facilitate freehand drawing and backspacing in TEXT). Other commands may be implemented as needed to do what people want to do, at least until an adequate interaction standard comes along. Note that there is implicit in the UNDO command the assumption that the other end of the line possesses a certain amount of memory and intelligence. Two possible philosophies for standardizing interaction are that (1) all "nodes" ("generators" or "users" of data) understand some set of commands and possess at least a certain amount of intelligence, and (2) a distinction is made between "displays" and "computers" (quotes because the line is fuzzy). I favor the first for its generality, but I suggest that the lowest level of interactive graphics might want to use the second for ease of implementation with unintelligent devices, e.g., COMPUTEK 400's. (I do not mean to imply in (1) that the actual "computer" would not have a larger vocabulary than the actual "display" --this is inevitable with higher level capabilities in the protocol). Since we have almost no local computing power for applications work, all our graphics computation is done remotely (our work has been primarily at UCSD (B6700), USC-ISI (TENEX), and UCLA-CCN (360)). Because we do our work at scattered sites and are basically economic of labor (pronounced "lazy"), we have a lot to gain by standards and will be glad to cooperate as much as possible with standardization efforts. Steve Bunch [ This RFC was put into machine readable form for entry ] [ into the online RFC archives by Alex McKenzie with ] [ support from GTE, formerly BBN Corp. 9/99 ] Bunch
