void boinc_init_graphics();
at the start and
void boinc_finish_graphics();
prior to exiting.
An application can display a pre-existing image file (JPEG, GIFF, BMP or Targa) as its graphic. This is the simplest approach since you don't need to develop any code. You must include the image file with each workunit. To do this, link the application with api/static_graphics.C (edit this file to use your filename). You can change the image over time, but you must change the (physical, not logical) name of the file each time.
The main application thread is called the worker thread.
boinc_init_graphics() creates a second thread,
called the graphics thread.
The two threads communicate through application-defined
shared memory structures.
Typically these structures contain information about the computation,
which is used to generate graphics.
The worker must initialize the shared data structure
before calling boinc_init_graphics().
Graphical applications must supply the following functions:
bool app_graphics_render(int xs, ys, double time_of_day);
This will be called periodically in the graphics thread.
It should generate the current graphic.
xs and ys are the X and Y sizes of the window,
and time_of_day is the relative time in seconds.
The function should return true if it actually drew anything.
It can refer to the user name, CPU time etc. obtained from
boinc_get_init_data().
Applications that don't do graphics must also supply a
dummy app_graphics_render() to link with the API.
void app_graphics_init();
This is called in the graphics thread when a window is created.
It must make any calls needed to initialize graphics in the window.
void app_graphics_resize(int x, int y);
Called when the window size changes.
void app_graphics_reread_prefs();
This is called, in the graphics thread, whenever
the user's project preferences change.
It can call
boinc_parse_init_data_file();
boinc_get_init_data(APP_INIT_DATA&);
to get the new preferences.
The application must supply the following input-handling functions:
void boinc_app_mouse_move(
int x, int y, // new coords of cursor
bool left, // whether left mouse button is down
bool middle,
bool right
);
void boinc_app_mouse_button(
int x, int y, // coords of cursor
int which, // which button (0/1/2)
bool is_down // true iff button is now down
);
void boinc_app_key_press(
int, int // system-specific key encodings
)
void boinc_app_key_release(
int, int // system-specific key encodings
)
The following global variables control frame rate:
boinc_max_fps is an upper bound on the number of frames per second (default 30).
boinc_max_gfx_cpu_frac is an upper bound on the fraction of CPU time used for graphics (default 0.5).
Several graphics-related classes were developed for SETI@home. They may be of general utility.