You have two real options if you want graphics in your C program on Athena. The simplest is curses. The curses library lets you use character graphics, and control where in your xterm the cursor lies. It's not sophisticated, but it works for suitable applications. For information on it, type:
man cursesfrom your athena% prompt.
The most frequently used graphics libraries on Athena are the X programming libraries. They require a certain amount of learning to use, but the X libraries, and the widget sets available, created most of the graphic software that you can see on athena. For further information, look under the X Windows or C menus for the item Where to get information on PROGRAMMING IN X.
X programming is also introduced towards the end of the 1.00 course at MIT.
Note that neither of these libraries will port directly to a PC or Macintosh environment. Speak with your local software retailer, or ask advice over network news, for suggestions on good PC or Macintosh libraries.
There are a couple of other graphics libraries available on Athena. However, they are not widely used even at MIT, are not very portable off Athena, and there is very limited, if any, expertise on their use. If there is a particular library to which you need access in order to port an existing program, ask in olc and we'll let you know if it's even available.
last updated: 6/12/95