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X Image Extension
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<p>X Image Extension, or XIE was an extension to the <a href="/facts/X_Window_System/ac2vRIQL">X Window System</a> to enhance its <a href="/facts/Computer_graphics/lapBE8wv">graphics</a> capability. It was intended to provide a powerful mechanism for the transfer and display of virtually any image on any X-capable hardware. It was first released with X11R6 in 1994. It is no longer included in the X11 reference distribution, having been removed with X11R6.7 in 2004. </p><p>XIE never gained significant usage — according to <a href="/facts/Jim_Gettys/jsCbnu5q">Jim Gettys</a>, <i>"it failed due to excessive complexity and lack of a good implementation."</i> </p><p>While not intended for use as a general-purpose image-processing engine, XIE did provide a set of image rendition and enhancement primitives that could be combined into arbitrarily complex expressions. XIE also provided <a href="/facts/Import/Gt05qP7R">import</a> and <a href="/facts/Export/t8wVcoNL">export</a> facilities for moving images between client and server, and for accessing images as resources. The client side programming library, XIElib, was documented in the Prentice Hall book <i>Developing Imaging Applications with XIElib</i> by Syd Logan (<a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-13-442914-1). In addition to the server and client library, a performance and test tool, xieperf, was included in X11R6. This client was also written by Syd Logan. </p><p>XIE was developed under contract to the <a href="/facts/X_Consortium/ac2vRIQL">X Consortium</a> by a San Diego, CA company (no longer extant) called AGE Logic. Principal team members include Larry Hare, Bob Shelley, Dr. Dean Verheiden, Dr. Ben Fahey, Dr. Gary Rogers, and Syd Logan. </p><p>For all practical purposes, the Image Extension is obsolete. Adequate image performance is instead gained through use of the ubiquitous <a href="/facts/MIT-SHM/ho8xYnaK">MIT-SHM</a> extension, which allows transfer of large images between the client and server on the same machine (the common use-case) via <a href="/facts/Shared_memory/zmpH7WuV">shared memory</a>. </p>