LIBBV(3)

💖 LIBBV(3) — libbv 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to the libbv page: BRL-CAD view graphics interface subroutines. It’s giving old-school plot-filter energy with a 3-D glow-up, and we’re gonna walk through every single function, caveat, and warning. no skips, no cap. 🫶

🌸 NAME 🌸

libbv — BRL-CAD view graphics interface subroutines

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

here’s the full function roster, literally exactly as it appears:

void pl_3box(FILE *fp, int x0, int y0, int z0, int x1, int y1, int z1);
void pl_3cont(FILE *fp, int x, int y, int z);
void pl_3line(FILE *fp, int x0, int y0, int z0, int x1, int y1, int z1);
void pl_3move(FILE *fp, int x, int y, int z);
void pl_3point(FILE *fp, int x, int y, int z);
void pl_3space(FILE *fp, int x0, int y0, int z0, int x1, int y1, int z1);
void pl_arc(FILE *fp, int xc, int yc, int x0, int y0, int x1, int y1);
void pl_box(FILE *fp, int x0, int y0, int x1, int y1);
pl_circle(FILE *fp, int x, int y, int r);
void pl_color(FILE *fp, int r, int g, int b);
void pl_cont(FILE *fp, int x, int y);
void pl_erase(FILE *fp);
void pl_label(FILE *fp, const char *s);
void pl_line(FILE *fp, int x0, int y0, int x1, int y1);
void pl_linmod(FILE *fp, const char *s);
void pl_move(FILE *fp, int x, int y);
void pl_point(FILE *fp, int x, int y);
void pl_space(FILE *fp, int x0, int y0, int x1, int y1);

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

These subroutines generate graphic output commands for processing with the plot(1) plotting filters. They’re lowkey slightly more general than the ones in libplot because these take a file pointer. They also include the BRL 3-D extensions to the plot intermediate code.

Before any of the graphic primitives, you must use pl_space or pl_3space to declare the amount of space necessary. See plot3(5).

• pl_box or pl_3box draws a box between the two given opposite points. The ''pen'' will be left at the second point.
• pl_circle draws a circle of radius r with center at the point (x, y). Heads up: circle and arc cannot be transformed in three space if one is using a filter to do that.
• pl_arc draws an arc of a circle with center at the point (x, y) between the points (x0, y0) and (x1, y1).

String arguments to pl_label and pl_linmod are terminated by nulls and do not contain new-lines.

There are also 2-D and 3_D double-precision versions, with arguments identical to their counterparts above. The naming conventions are to change the prefix to "pd"; examples are thus pd_point and pd_3point. Vector versions for 3_D (also double-precision) are prefixed "pdv", as in pdv_3point.

See plot3(5) and plot(5) for a description of the effect of the remaining functions.

🎀 FILES 🎀

• /usr/brlcad/lib/libbv . a produces output for plot(1G) filters

⚠️ WARNINGS ⚠️

In order to compile a program containing these functions in file.c it is necessary to use cc file.c -lplot3.

• Color specification and three-dimensional primitives are BRL extensions to the "unix plot" language that are not generally found on other systems.

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

plot(1), pl-fb(1), plot3(5), plot(5)

👑 AUTHOR 👑

BRL-CAD Team

💜 COPYRIGHT 💜

This software is Copyright (c) 1989-2026 by the United States Government as represented by U.S. Army Research Laboratory.

🐛 BUG REPORTS 🐛

Reports of bugs or problems should be submitted via electronic mail to devs@brlcad.org.

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that’s the whole vibe, bestie 💅 — source/version: BRL-CAD, manual: LIBBV(3), and the copyright date range 1989-2026 is right there in the COPYRIGHT section. periodt. 🎀