Association of graphic images and dynamic attributes

Abstract

Various approaches to explicit and implicit control of time and motion in procedural real-time graphic packages and languages are discussed and illustrated. The particular approach of independentty defining static objects and dynamic attribute is introduced and developed. The procedures which alter and manipulate basic objects at interactive run time, teamed "dynamic attributes," may be defined independently of objects as a function of time, input, and other variables. Attributes, once defined, may be associated with and dissociated from objects dynamically. Several objects may simultaneously have the identical attribute. A particular & association exists within its own zero-origin local time frame. Basic objects are static two-or three-dimensional entities in some space. Dynamic objects termed "images" may be recursively defined in teams oa basic objects and attributes. Objects and attributes are the basic building blocks enabling modular program construction. The notions presented here can be used as the basis for design of interactive graphic languages or oda the implementation of graphics packages. An experimental FORTRAN-callable package has been developed to test these notions.