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rfc:rfc199

Network Working Group T. Williams Request for Comments: 199 SDC NIC: 7151 15 July 1971

      SUGGESTIONS FOR A NETWORK DATA-TABLET GRAPHICS PROTOCOL

Disclaimer

 The work reported herein was supported by the Advanced Research
 Projects Agency of the Department of Defense under Contract DAHC15-
 67-C-0149, ARPA Order No. 1327, Amendment No. 3, Program Code No.
 1D30, and 1P10.
 The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the
 author and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the
 official policies, either expressed or implied, of the Advanced
 Research Projects Agency or the U. S. Government.

INTRODUCTION

 The purpose of this document is to add SDC's comments to the
 discussion of a protocol for network graphics within the ARPA Network
 community.  In general, we are concerned with the development of the
 graphics protocol in two areas: non-interactive graphics and data-
 tablet graphics, as opposed to fully interactive graphics.  By non-
 interactive graphics we mean situations in which there is little or
 no requirement for interaction with displays.  Such displays are
 used, for instance, in data retrieval systems using graphics to
 display retrieved information in the form of charts, X-Y graphs,
 histograms, scatter plots, tabular displays, etc.  In these systems,
 each interaction with the system produces an entirely new display.
 The displays themselves have little, if any, structure.  There is no
 necessity to interact with the picture itself other than, perhaps, by
 the use of light buttons.  It is important that non-interactive
 graphics be simple to implement and use on the network.  Therefore,
 we suggest that the graphics protocol design be based upon non-
 interactive graphics systems and that capabilities needed for
 interactive graphics be added as a super-set.  This will ensure that
 the protocol complexities associated with interactive graphics do not
 impose problems for the user of non-interactive graphics, as they
 would if a non-interactive subset were developed from a protocol
 based initially on interactive graphics.  The section of Request for
 Comment (RFC) 177 describing actual display instructions contains a
 good basis for the development of a non-interactive graphics
 protocol.  With it as a starting point, a protocol for the generation
 of a picture can be developed, and the organizational and structural
 information useful for interactive graphics can be developed later.

Williams [Page 1] RFC 199 SUGGESTIONS FOR A NETWORK DATA-TABLET 15 July 1971

DATA-TABLET GRAPHIC INPUTS

 Our primary topic of concern is data-tablet graphics.  Though there
 are a variety of data-tablet implementation, their functional
 characteristics are similar enough that they can be treated as a
 single class.
 Data-tablet input consists of a triple of information--X, Y, Z--where
 X is the distance along the abscissa, Y is the distance along the
 ordinate (the two quantities are usually measured to a precision of 1
 in 1024), and Z is the distance above the writing plane.  There are a
 variety of encodings for Z, from a simple binary quantity, on or off,
 to three or more values giving various distances, from on the surface
 to several inches above; for our purposes here, we will consider Z as
 a binary entity.
 Input timing may also vary, depending on the tablet implementation
 and installation interface.  Timing varies from a single shot, where
 only one coordinate point is input for each new time that Z indicates
 that the stylus is on the writing surface; to asynchronous, where the
 tablet input is sampled on demand from the driving program or
 interface logic when certain conditions are met, such as that the pen
 has moved a certain amount from the previous sample or that the
 program is ready for another data sample after a variable amount of
 processing; to clocked synchronous, where a timing pulse provides the
 sampling demand.  Clock rates vary from a few (one or two) samples
 per second to nearly 5000 samples per second.  Some clocks are fixed,
 while others are controlled either by program or external switches.
 Relative to the amount of picture information contained in the data
 stream, in general, the data-tablet input is far more voluminous than
 a similar computer generated image.  Additionally, the data-tablet
 input stream contains temporal information that, in certain cases, is
 vital to the proper processing of the input.  Therefore, ways must be
 found to implement a data-tablet graphics protocol that is flexible
 enough to accommodate a broad spectrum of data volume and that is
 compatible with the protocol for non-interactive display images.

PROPOSED DATA-TABLET INPUT PROTOCOLS

 Data tablet input can consist of anything from a single point (as
 would occur when something was being pointed at) to literally
 thousands of bytes representing a hand-drawn rendering of a picture
 or a line of text.  In many instances, the raw data-tablet input is
 preprocessed before it is passed to the principal processing program.
 This preprocessing can consist of such things as a variety of
 smoothing algorithms, filtering for thinning and or redundancy
 removal, detection of certain operator actions such as uniquely

Williams [Page 2] RFC 199 SUGGESTIONS FOR A NETWORK DATA-TABLET 15 July 1971

 marking each occurrence of placing the pen on the writing surface and
 raising it, and possibly other, more exotic processes such as corner
 detection, fitting straight-line segments, and the like.  Most of
 these latter processes will not be considered for inclusion in the
 protocol, since they are usually unique to a particular investigator
 and his research.
 Therefore, a data-tablet graphic protocol should permit the sender to
 specify, and the receiver to discriminate among, at least four types
 of data-tablet input:
    1)  Single-shot data
    2)  Unpreprocessed (raw) asynchronous data
    3)  Unpreprocessed (raw) synchronous data
    4)  Preprocessed data
 We will define formats for the first three, then discuss the fourth
 in some detail before defining its format.
 To reduce the number of bits transmitted, data-tablet information
 should be transmitted in incremental form:  a first point, followed
 by the difference between each point and its predecessor.  To
 eliminate the trailing zeros that may be required for compatibility
 with the standard network graphics screen, we have included provision
 for a scale factor by which all increments should be multiplied
 before use.
    Single-Shot Data Input Format:
    Byte 0:   Data tablet input op code
    Byte 1:   Type, 0 = single shot
    Byte 2-3: X - Coordinate
    Byte 4-5: Y - Coordinate
          8          8            16             16
    +----------+----------+---------------+---------------+
    | Op code  |     0    |   X - coord.  |    Y coord.   |
    +----------+----------+---------------+---------------+
          0          1         2     3         4     5

Williams [Page 3] RFC 199 SUGGESTIONS FOR A NETWORK DATA-TABLET 15 July 1971

 In the following proposal for other protocols, it is assumed that
 each "stroke" of the pen is sent as one entity, a stroke being the
 data generated (and processed) between the time that Z indicates that
 the stylus or pen is on the writing surface and the time it is lifted
 from the surface.
    Unpreprocessed (Raw) Asynchronous Data Input Format:
    Byte 0:     Data tablet input op code
    Byte 1:     Type, 1 = raw asynchronous
    Byte 2:     Flags
    Byte 3:     Scale of deltas
    Byte 4-5:   Number of points
    Byte 6-7:   1st X-coordinate
    Byte 8-9:   1st Y-coordinate
    Byte 10:    delta X1
    Byte 11:    delta Y1
        .
        .
        .
    Byte 2n+10: delta Xn
    Byte 2n+11: delta Yn

8 8 8 8 16 16 16 8 8 8 8 +–+—+—–+—–+—.—+—.—+—.—+—–+—–+ +—–+—–+

Op 1 FlagsScale N.o . . deltadelta..deltadelta
poi.nts X0. Y0. X1 Y2 Xn Yn

+–+—+—–+—–+——-+——-+——-+—–+—–+ +—–+—–+ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 2n+10 2n+11

Williams [Page 4] RFC 199 SUGGESTIONS FOR A NETWORK DATA-TABLET 15 July 1971

    Unpreprocessed (Raw) Synchronous Data Input Format:
    Byte 0:     Data tablet input op code
    Byte 1:     Type, 2 = raw synchronous
    Byte 2:     Flags
    Byte 3:     Scale of deltas
    Byte 4:     Sampling rate to the nearest 100 usec
    Byte 5-6:   Number of points
    Byte 7-8:   1st X-coordinate
    Byte 9-10:  1st Y-coordinate
    Byte 11:    delta X1
                        (sign magnitude code)
    Byte 12:    delta Y1
        .
        .
        .
    Byte 2n+11: delta Xn
    Byte 2n+12: delta Yn

8 8 8 8 8 16 16 16 8 8 8 8 +–+-+—–+—–+—-+—.—+—.-+—.-+—–+—–+ +—–+—–+

Op2FlagsScaleRate N.o X0. Y0. deltadelta..deltadelta
poi.nts . . X1 Y1 Xn Yn

+–+-+—–+—–+—-+———-+–+—–+—–+—–+ +—–+—–+ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 2n+11 2n+12

Williams [Page 5] RFC 199 SUGGESTIONS FOR A NETWORK DATA-TABLET 15 July 1971

PREPROCESSED-DATA INPUT FORMAT

 There are a variety of processes that can be applied to raw tablet
 data before it is transmitted to the requesting program.  For
 instance, when the tablet is "noisy" or jittery, various smoothing
 algorithms may be applied.  The most common of these is some form of
 weighted, clumped or moving average.  At SDC, we have settled on an
 8-point moving average when smoothing is desirable.  Another fairly
 common form of preprocessing is "thinning" or filtering to remove
 unnecessary or redundant data points.  Depending on the end use of
 the data, filter "windows" can have a variety of geometries,
 including square, rectangular, diamond, and circular, and the filter
 may be single or double windowed.  SDC currently uses a single square
 window filter on all tablet input.  The window size is a variable and
 may be set to zero, thus, eliminating the filter.
 Logically, the filter may be described as:
    Take (X,Y) if |Xp - X| >= w or |Yp - Y| >= w is true
 where: (X,Y) is the current data point, (Xp,Yp) is the previously
 accepted data point that either passed the filter or was the first
 point of the stroke, and w is the window size.
    Pictorially, this can be represented as:
  1. — +————-+—–

^ | | ^

        |   |             |  |
            |             |  W
        2W  |  Xp, Yp   __|__v__
            |             |
        |   |             |
        v   |             |
       -----+-------------+
            | <-- 2W -->  |
 Any point inside the square will be rejected, any point on the
 boundary or beyond is accepted and becomes (Xp,Yp).  In addition to
 smoothing and filtering, we have found it necessary that our
 character recognition algorithms be able to estimate the velocity
 along the path of the stroke.  Therefore in addition to saving the X,
 Y coordinates that pass the filter (smoothing, if done, precedes
 filtering and is done on the raw points), we count and store the
 number of rejected points between the saved ones.  Since the data-
 tablet input is synchronous, the count times the sampling rate
 divided into the distance between adjacent points is a sufficient
 approximation for our purposes.  Our character-generator also

Williams [Page 6] RFC 199 SUGGESTIONS FOR A NETWORK DATA-TABLET 15 July 1971

 requires the rectangle surrounding a stroke (defined by the minimum
 and maximum values of X and Y in the stroke); this information is
 very easy to generate during preprocessing.
 Assuming that other Network nodes wanted to use SDC's tablet graphic
 software--the character recognizer in particular--we would have to
 know what, if any, preprocessing was done to the input data before it
 was sent.  Our suggested format for this from of tablet data, then,
 is:
    Byte 0:     Data tablet op code
    Byte 1:     Type, 3 = preprocessed
    Byte 2:     Flags
    Byte 3:     Scale of deltas
    Byte 4:     Sampling rate if synchronous (as indicated by flag)
    Byte 5:     Window Size
    Byte 6-7:   Number of Points
    Byte 8-9:   1st X-coordinate
    Byte 10-11: 1st Y-coordinate
    Byte 12-13: Minimum value of X in the stroke
    Byte 14-15: Minimum value of Y in the stroke
    Byte 16-17: Minimum value of X in the stroke
    Byte 18-19: Minimum value of Y in the stroke

Williams [Page 7] RFC 199 SUGGESTIONS FOR A NETWORK DATA-TABLET 15 July 1971

 Two forms follow from here, depending upon another flag:
      Counts included         and       Counts deleted
      Byte 20:       delta X1           Byte 20:         delta X1
      Byte 21:       delta Y1           Byte 21:         delta Y1
      Byte 22:       rejected point count1
      Byte 3n+20:    delta Xn           Byte 2n+20:      delta Xn
      Byte 3n+21:    delta Xn           Byte 2n+21:      delta Yn
      Byte 3n+22:    RPCn

8 8 8 8 8 8 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 –+-+—–+—–+—–+——+——+—-+—-+—–+—–+—–+—–+

|3|Flags|Scale|Rate |Window|  #   | X0  | Y0 |Xmin|Ymin |Xmax |Ymax |
| |     |     |     | Size |points|     |    |    |     |     |     |

–+-+—–+—–+—–+——+——+—-+—-+—–+—–+—–+—–+ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

8     8     8        8     8     8

—–+—–+—–+-—–+—–+—–+ delta|delta| RCP1| delta|delta| RCPn| X1 |Y1 | | Xn | Yn | | —–+—–+—–+-—–+—–+—–+ 20 21 22 20 21 22 Counts Included Williams [Page 8] RFC 199 SUGGESTIONS FOR A NETWORK DATA-TABLET 15 July 1971 8 8 8 8 8 8 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 –+-+—–+—–+—–+——+——+—-+—-+—–+—–+—–+—–+ Op|3|Flags|Scale|Rate |Window| # | X0 | Y0 |Xmin |Ymin |Xmax |Ymax | | | | | | Size |points| | | | | | | –+-+—–+—–+—–+——+——+—-+—-+—–+—–+—–+—–+ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 8 8 8 8 8 —–+—–+—–+ +—–+—–+ delta|delta|delta|…|delta|delta| X1 |Y1 | X2 | |Xn |Yn | —–+—–+—–+ +—–+—–+ 20 21 22 2n+20 2n+21 Counts deleted The flags in this format not only indicated whether or not the data is synchronous and whether the counts are present, but may also be used to indicate whether or not the data was smoothed and the type of filtering. CHARACTER SETS AND CHARACTER GENERATION Our work in character recognition impacts the proposed protocols in one other area, that of character sets and character generation. Figure 1 shows the displayable characters presently available. We have planned extensions that will bring the set to 192 characters. The availability and use of our and others' extended character sets must be provided for in the protocol. The character-set problem, though, is the easy one. We have found that when dealing with hand-printed input, the computer-generated output must be flexible enough to retain the geometry of the user's input–at least temporarily. This requires that we be able to generate characters in a large variety of sizes, with variable aspect ratios (independently specified sizes for X and Y). Since this is not an available hardware function, all of our characters are program generated. We currently specify character size and ratios in terms of X and Y multipliers applied to a character prototype. The character prototype is constructed on a 5" x 7" grid (extended, if necessary to handle the long tails on p's, q's, etc.), where the grid-line spacing is 2^-10 times the screen size. The important point is that network transmission must be capable of specifying those types of characteristics when needed. Williams [Page 9] RFC 199 SUGGESTIONS FOR A NETWORK DATA-TABLET 15 July 1971 We propose, then, that a message format that specifies: o Character code o Character position o Character height and width As an inside, we would rather that the character origin be the left- hand baseline point rather than the center–primarily because the center is ill-defined unless the character space is specified to include vertical extensions in both directions but also because it is difficult to take advantage of variable spacing to justify characters that are of unequal width (an aesthetic consideration of relevance in some displays). Figure 1: SDC EXTENDED CHARACTER SET (see PDF file) Endnote Subscript notation is inline. See the PDF file for a complete view of this document. [This RFC was put into machine readable form for entry] [into the online RFC archives by Lorrie Shiota, 10/01] Williams [Page 10]

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