Design applications of the MIDAS graphics system

midas is a versatile system of fortran-callable subroutines developed for the modular design and device-independent display of two- and three-dimensional graphics compositions. The system is primarily oriented toward applications involving the definition and spatial transformation of three-dimensional line drawings. The graphics generated by midas consist of three-dimensional line segments mapped onto any graphics device with vector-drawing capabilities.This paper presents an application of midas in architectural and civil engineering design. A fortran monitor program has been written to provide a concise command structure for planar design and display. This command structure allows the user to interactively build, transform, store, retrieve, and display three-dimensional planar compositions. Output displays may optionally have hidden lines removed. An example structure (the University of Colorado Computing Center) is modularly designed, edited, and displayed. Finally, a discussion of the advantages and shortcomings of midas as a design tool is given along with suggestions for further improvement of the system.