Preface





This manual, Platform Notes: SPARCstation 10SX and SPARCstation 20, describes the machine-dependent functionalities of the Solaris® 2.x graphics and window system APIs (Application Program Interfaces) such as XGL(TM)(2-D and 3-D Graphics Library), XIL(TM) (X Imaging Library), and Xlib, as related to the SX video subsystem. In addition, this document describes configuring and tuning the SX video subsystem to enhance the performance of the applications using the XGL and XIL APIs.

This document should be used as an addendum to the Solaris 2.x document set and the SPARCstation 10SX Hardware Owner's Guide or SPARCstation 20 Hardware Owner's Guide.

Who Should Use This Book

This book is intended for developers who want to tune the SPARCstation(TM) 10SX or SPARCstation 20 video subsystem for using OpenWindows(TM), XGL, or XIL applications.

How This Book Is Organized

Chapter 1, "Introduction to Graphics on the SPARCstation 10SX and SPARCstation 20", gives a brief description of the SPARCstation 10SX and 20SX.

Chapter 2, "Reserving DRAM for SX Accelerated Applications and 20SX", discusses issues pertinent to configuring the SPARCstation 10SX to enhance Sun Pixel Arithmetic Memory processor (SX) accelerator performance.

Chapter 3, "Running OpenWindows on the SPARCstation 10SX and SPARCstation 20 and 20SX", discusses the visuals that are present when running OpenWindows on the SPARCstation 10SX.

Chapter 4, "XIL Acceleration on SX", covers commonly-used XIL functions which have been accelerated on the SX.

Chapter 5, "XGL 3.0.2 Accelerator Guide for SX", discusses the operation of XGL 3.0.2 on the SX.

Appendix A, "Boot Messages", shows messages displayed on the SPARCstation 10SX or 20SX during the boot process following SXDRAM configuration.

What Typographic Changes Mean

The following table describes the typographic changes used in this book.

    Table P-1 Typographic Conventions

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Typeface or Meaning Example Symbol ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             
AaBbCc123      The names of commands,        Edit your .login file.
               files, and directories;       
               on-screen computer output     Use ls -a to list all files.
                                             
                                             machine_name% You have mail.
                                             
                                             
                                             
AaBbCc123      What you type, contrasted     machine_name% su
               with on-screen computer       
               output                        Password:
                                             
AaBbCc123      Command-line placeholder:     To delete a file, type rm filename.
                                                                                      
               replace with a real name or                                            
               value                                                                  
                                             
AaBbCc123      Book titles, new words or     Read Chapter 6 in User's Guide. 
               terms, or words to be         These are called class options. 
               emphasized                    
                                             You must be root to do this.

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Shell Prompts in Command Examples

The following table shows the default system prompt and superuser prompt for the C shell, Bourne shell, and Korn shell.

    Table P-2 Shell Prompts

--------------------------------------------
Shell Prompt --------------------------------------------
                              
C shell prompt                machine_name%
                              
C shell superuser prompt      machine_name#
                              
Bourne shell and Korn shell   $
prompt                                       
                              
Bourne shell and Korn shell   #
superuser prompt                             

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