Overview
The CIGI (Common Image Generator Interface) is a wire protocol for communication between an IG (image generator) and a host application,
such as a cockpit or other host application. The CIGI API is a library to format the data to the specification of the interface, and
can be used by both the IG and the host.
The following figure shows a high-level view of a host and image generator, both using the CIGI API to format messages which are sent
back and forth. As depicted, there is a two-way exchange of messages between the IG and host.
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| Figure 1 - High-Level View of the CIGI API |
The API handles the details involved with the CIGI, such as byte-swapping for little endian platforms, and handles the CIGI message creation
and buffering. Through the API, the developer is able to add the CIGI packets, and obtain the message when ready to be sent.
The API is a subset of the CIGI SDK, which offers additional error handling and networking support. As seen in the following figure, the
role of the API is to handle message buffering and packing the individual CIGI packets into an outgoing message buffer. In addition, the
API helps process incoming CIGI messages, breaking them into individual packets.
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| Figure 2 - Role of the CIGI API |
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