Preface

The XGL Device Pipeline Porting Guide documents the interfaces and concepts required to write graphics device handlers (otherwise known as loadable device pipelines) for XGL^(TM). These dynamically loadable modules enable applications running on XGL to exploit fully the capabilities of graphics accelerators present at runtime.

Who Should Use This Book

This document is intended for implementors of XGL device pipelines. It is assumed that the reader is familiar with the C and C++ language and with the ideas of classes and class inheritance in C++.

How This Book Is Organized

This manual is organized as follows:

Chapter 1, "Introduction to XGL Loadable Interfaces" presents an introduction to the XGL product and an overview of the three levels of the XGL graphics porting interface.

Chapter 2, "Getting Started" provides an overview of the porting process.

Chapter 3, "Pipeline Interface Classes" presents information on the objects that connect XGL device-independent code with the device pipeline code.

Chapter 4, "Handling Changes to Object State" describes how a device pipeline gets information about changes to XGL state.

Chapter 5, "Getting Information from XGL Objects" describes how a device pipeline gets information on XGL state.

Chapter 6, "View Model Derived Data" describes how a device pipeline gets information about changes to view model data.

Chapter 7, "Window System Interactions" provides information on the relationship between XGL, DGA, the window system, and the device pipelines, and discusses the mechanism by which XGL communicates with the window system.

Chapter 8, "LI-3 Loadable Interfaces" provides information on the LI-3 interfaces.

Chapter 9, "LI-2 Loadable Interfaces" provides information on the LI-2 interfaces.

Chapter 10, "LI-1 Loadable Interfaces" provides information on the LI-1 interfaces.

Chapter 11, "Error Handling" provides directions on adding error processing to a device pipeline.

Chapter 12, "Utilities" provides information on the XGL utilities.

Appendix A, "Performance Tuning" provides information on how to tune your code for optimum performance.

Appendix B, "Changes to the Graphics Porting Interface at GPI 4.1,"

provides information on changes in the graphics porting interface at this release.

Appendix C, "Changes to the XGL Graphics Porting Interface at GPI 4.0"

provides information on changes in the graphics porting interface between the XGL GPI 4.0 and GPI 3.0.2.

Appendix D, "Software Pipeline li1DisplayGcache" lists the code from the software pipeline 3D li1DisplayGcache() function.

Appendix E, "Accelerating NURBS Primitives" provides references for XGL NURBS algorithms.

Related Books

This documentation and the XGL graphics porting interface is part of the Solaris Driver Developer's Kit (DDK). The Solaris DDK describes the interfaces between the Solaris environment and the hardware platform. The DDK includes documentation on the Solaris VISUAL environment, Solaris graphics and imaging foundation libraries, the Solaris X11 server, kernel device drivers for graphics and imaging devices, and the physical connections between graphics devices and Solaris platforms. The DDK also includes header files and sample code to help you develop a graphics accelerator and integrate it into the Solaris environment. For overview information on the Solaris graphics environment, see the Solaris VISUAL Overview for Driver Developers.

For information on the XGL architecture and the object-oriented design of the loadable pipelines, see:

• XGL Architecture Guide

For information on the XGL test suite, see:

• XGL Test Suite User's Guide

For information on the XGL product, see:

• XGL Programmer's Guide
• XGL Reference Manual

What Typographic Changes and Symbols Mean

Table P-1 describes the type changes and symbols used in this book.

Table P-1

Typeface or Symbol	Meaning	Example
AaBbCc123	The names of commands, files, and directories; on-screen computer output	Edit your .login file. Use ls -a to list all files. system% You have mail.
AaBbCc123	Book titles, new words or terms, or words to be emphasized	Read Chapter 6 in User's Guide. These are called class options. You must be root to do this.

XGL Sample Device Handler Usage Rights and Restrictions

The sample device handler code provided with the current XGL DDK package and the source code excerpts presented in this documentation are intended to help you create an XGL loadable pipeline for your product. You can copy, duplicate, or modify any section of the source code, and redistribute object code, as long as its usage is to create a loadable pipeline for XGL. This excludes authorization to redistribute source code created by using the source code information provided by SunSoft. Any other use is therefore prohibited and requires explicit agreements with SunSoft.