GKS Abbrev. for graphical kernel system. A set of graphical functions used by applications programmers with the names and functions defined in ISO 7942 (first edition, published in 1985). The language bindings (the way the functions can be invoked from standard programming languages) are defined in ISO/IEC 8651. GKS is divided into a number of levels with increasing functionality in either input or output. The lowest level (0a) is simple support for two-dimensional graphical output. The highest level (2c) handles complex input requests and simultaneous output to multiple workstations. A three-dimensional version, GKS-3D, has also been defined by ISO. A major revision of GKS was completed and published in 1994 (second edition) and is generally called GKS-94.

GKS graphical kernel system (for computer graphics)