This reference manual includes a general presentation of PHIGURE followed by a description of all the functions at the programmer's disposal.
The first volume contains all the information required to understand the main concepts of PHIGURE, such as scene definition, view definition and interactivity functions.
The introduction explains the basic concepts for using this software, as well as a reminder of the basic principles of the PHIGS standard, on which PHIGURE is based. This introduction should be read carefully in order to understand the fundamental concepts of this product before you start programming with PHIGURE. The second volume includes all the simple PHIGURE functions, designed to meet most data imaging needs, in particular axis functions and generalized 2D or 3D primitives, etc.
However, as basic primitives such as lines, fill areas, points, text, etc. are produced directly by the PHIGS standard, the corresponding functions have not been described in this manual. They may, of course, be used with the PHIGURE library and the last part of the introduction explains how to use them in a PHIGURE programming context. This manual includes a description of all PHIGURE functions not directly provided by the PHIGS standard.
The third volume includes more specific functions for images representing technical data, such as mesh representation with contour mapping.
Each chapter in the manual presents a group of PHIGURE functions. There is at least a one page description for each function, including a list of the function's call parameters (or binding), followed by the function's specific features (what it generates and any restrictions on use). General explanations and comments on all the functions are given at the beginning of each chapter.
As PHIGURE is very closely linked to GPHIGS, there are many references to GPHIGS concepts in the manual. Although a presentation of the general principles of GPHIGS is included in this introduction, it may be necessary to refer to GPHIGS manuals for more detailed information.