| Original author(s) | Harm Hanemaayer |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 1.4.3 / June 2, 2001 |
| Preview release | 1.9.25 |
| Written in | C |
| Operating system | Linux, FreeBSD |
| Type | Library |
| Website | http://www.svgalib.org/ |
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. Toward 2000, many applications that used it migrated to X11 and SDL, which itself can make use of SVGAlib as a video driver.
A sample of SVGAlib code is shown below.
#include <stdlib.h> #include <unistd.h> #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; }