GKS(3NCARG)
π GKS β the whole vibe, explained π
okay so bestie, welcome to the NCAR GRAPHICS corner of the man pages, page GKS(3NCARG). sit down, grab a strawberry π, because this one is a whole collection.
GKS β the Graphical Kernel System β is a set of low-level graphics functions, and it's not just Some Guy's opinion: it's standardized by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Standards Institute (ISO). iconic behavior, honestly. π
The collection of man pages in 3NCARG reflects those GKS functions documented in the NCAR UserDoc "User's Guide for NCAR GKS-0A Graphics". Heads up though: this collection does not contain all of the functions in GKS-0A β it's just the most frequently used ones. Lowkey a greatest-hits album. π
But here's the thing: NCAR GKS-0A itself does contain all of the functions required to be implemented by the GKS Standard. So the library is complete, the man page collection is curated. slay.
β¨ SYNOPSIS β¨
okay here's the full roster, every single one, no skips, no skimming β this is the group chat directory fr fr. π
GACTMβ accumulate transformation matrix. stacking them up like they're your unread notifications π¦GACWKβ activate workstation. wake it up, it's time to work β¨GCAβ cell array. not a phone cell, a graphics one πGCLKSβ close GSK. (yes,GSK, that's literally what the page says β we do not touch it, we just respect it π)GCLRWKβ clear workstation.GCLSGβ close segment.GCLWKβ close workstation.GCRSGβ create segment.GCSGWKβ copy segment to workstation.GDAWKβ deactivate workstation. nap time for the workstation π΄GDSGβ delete segment.GESCβ escape. the emergency exit door πͺGEVTMβ evaluate transformation matrix.GFAβ fill area. color inside the lines, we love to see it πGOPKSβ open GKS. the main character entrance πGOPWKβ open workstation.GPLβ polyline.GPMβ polymarker.GQASFβ inquire aspect source flags.GQCHHβ inquire character height.GQCHSPβ inquire character spacing.GQCHUPβ inquire character up vector.GQCHXPβ inquire character expansion factor.GQCLIPβ inquire clipping indicator.GQCNTNβ inquire current normalization transformation number.GQCRβ inquire color representation.GQFACIβ inquire fill area color index.GQFAISβ inquire fill area interior style.GQFASIβ inquire fill area style index.GQLNβ inquire line type.GQLWSCβ inquire linewidth scale factor.GQMKβ inquire marker type.GQMKSCβ inquire marker size scale factor.GQMNTNβ inquire maximum normalization transformation number.GQNTβ inquire normalization transformation.GQOPSβ inquire operating state value.GQOPSGβ inquire name of open segment.GQPLCIβ inquire polyline color index.GQPMCIβ inquire polymarker color index.GQSGUSβ inquire set of segment names in use.GQTXALβ inquire text alignment.GQTXCIβ inquire text color index.GQTXFPβ inquire text font and precision.GQTXPβ inquire text path.GSASFβ set aspect source flags.GSCHHβ set character height.GSCHSPβ set character spacing.GSCHUPβ set character up vector.GSCHXPβ set character expansion factor.GSCLIPβ set clipping indicator.GSCRβ set color representation.GSELNTβ select normalization transformation.GSFACIβ set fill area color index.GSFAISβ set fill area interior style.GSFASIβ set fill are style index. (yep, "fill are", that's the page, we're keeping it π«Ά)GSLNβ set line type.GSLWSCβ set linewidth scale factor.GSMKβ set marker type.GSMKSCβ set marker size scale factor.GSPLCIβ polyline color index. (no "Set" in front, she's built different π )GSPMCIβ (Set polymarker color index. (that stray(? it's canon, iykyk π)GSSGTβ set segment transformation.GSTXALβ set text alignment.GSTXCIβ set text color index.GSTXFPβ set text font and precision.GSTXPβ set text path.GSVPβ set viewport.GSWNβ set window.GTXβ text.GUWKβ update workstation.
π ACCESS π
wanna actually use any of the functions in NCAR GKS? then you gotta load the NCAR GKS library, bestie:
ncarg_gks
that's the whole thing. load ncarg_gks, that's it, that's the access step. π
π¦ MESSAGES π¦
when things go sideways and something yells at you: see the UserDoc "User's Guide for NCAR GKS-0A Graphics" for a complete list of error numbers and messages. that's where the receipts live. π§
πΈ SEE ALSO πΈ
Online
the entire lowercase squad, alphabetically, exactly as it is, no cap:
gactm, gacwk, gca, gclks, gclrwk, gclsg, gclwk, gcrsg, gcsgwk, gdawk, gdsg,
gesc, gevtm, gfa, gopks, gopwk, gpl, gpm, gqasf, gqchh, gqchsp, gqchup,
gqchxp, gqclip, gqcntn, gqcr, gqfaci, gqfais, gqfasi, gqln, gqlwsc, gqmk,
gqmksc, gqmntn, gqnt, gqops, gqopsg, gqplci, gqpmci, gqsgus, gqtxal, gqtxci,
gqtxfp, gqtxp, gsasf, gschh, gschsp, gschup, gschxp, gsclip, gscr, gselnt,
gsfaci, gsfais, gsfasi, gsln, gslwsc, gsmk, gsmksc, gsplci, gspmci, gssgt,
gstxal, gstxci, gstxfp, gstxp, gsvp, gswn, gtx, guwk
Hardcopy
for the paper girlies π β actual physical reading material:
- "User's Guide for NCAR GKS-0A Graphics"
- "Computer Graphics--Graphical Kernel System (GKS) Functional Description, ANSI X3.124-1985"
β COPYRIGHT β
Copyright (C) 1987-2009 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research The use of this Software is governed by a License Agreement.
okay that's the whole page, you ate it, periodt. π
this was GKS(3NCARG) from the UNIX manual, dated March 1993 β shoutout to that date for being older than basically everyone reading this. mwah, bye bestie πβ¨
π¦ where this page comes from
- debian bookworm: libncarg-dev 6.6.2.dfsg.1-1
- debian trixie: libncarg-dev 6.6.2.dfsg.1-10+b2
- ubuntu jammy: libncarg-dev 6.6.2-10build2
- ubuntu questing: libncarg-dev 6.6.2.dfsg.1-10build2
- ubuntu resolute: libncarg-dev 6.6.2.dfsg.1-12
- ubuntu stonking: libncarg-dev 6.6.2.dfsg.1-12build2
- π girlified by deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash on : a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms