SVGALib

svgalib is an open-source low-level graphics library which runs on Linux and FreeBSD and allows programs to change video mode and display full-screen graphics. Some popular games like Quake and Doom used it in their original releases.

The library was popular in mid-1990s, but toward 2000s, most applications that used it have migrated to X11 and SDL.

The library is simple to use, as can be seen from the following code sample:

<source lang="c">

1. include <stdlib.h>
2. include <unistd.h>
3. include <vga.h>

int main(void) {

  int color = 4;
  int x = 10;
  int y = 10;
  unsigned int seconds = 5;

  /* detect the chipset and give up supervisor rights */
  if (vga_init() < 0)
       return EXIT_FAILURE;

  vga_setmode(G320x200x256);
  vga_setcolor(color);
  vga_drawpixel(x, y);

  sleep(seconds);

  /* restore textmode and fall back to ordinary text console handling */
  vga_setmode(TEXT);

  return EXIT_SUCCESS;

} </source>

See also

• General Graphics Interface (GGI)

External links

• SVGAlib
• svgalib windowses:SVGALib