Graphical Kernel System

The Graphical Kernel System (GKS) was the first ISO standard for low-level computer graphics, introduced in 1977.
そして1982年に規格草案がまとめられ、1985年にISO 7942として国際規格が発行された。
日本においては1990年に、JIS X 4201-1990 『グラフィクス中核系』としてGKSの規格が制定された。
概要.
GKS provides a set of drawing features for two-dimensional vector graphics suitable for charting and similar duties.
The calls are designed to be portable across different programming languages, graphics devices and hardware, so that applications written to use GKS will be readily portable to many platforms and devices.
GKS was fairly common on computer workstations in the 1980s and early 1990s, and formed the basis of Digital Research's GSX and GEM products; the latter was common on the Atari ST and was occasionally seen on PCs particularly in conjunction with Ventura Publisher.
It was little used outside these markets and is essentially obsolete today except insofar as it is the underlying API defining the Computer Graphics Metafile.
A descendant of GKS was PHIGS.
A main developer and promoter of the GKS was José Luis Encarnação, formerly director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics (IGD) in Darmstadt, Germany.
GKS-3D.
GKS-3Dは、2次元座標データを扱う従来のGKSを拡張して、3次元座標データーを扱えるようにした規格で、1988年に規定された。拡張によって、隠線や隠面の消去処理など3次元コンピュータグラフィックス特有の機能を処理することが可能となった。GKS-3Dは、GKSの上位互換の仕様となっており、GKSを用いるように記述されたプログラムをGKS-3Dで動作させることが可能である。
標準規格.
GKS has been standardized in the following documents:
The functionality of GKS is wrapped up as a data model standard in the STEP standard, section ISO 10303-46.