.PMI file

The VIDEOPMI interface is driven by the sections of the .PMI file. There 
are two main types of sections: 

   *  Query sections that describe adapter capabilities 
   *  Set sections that service hardware programming requests 
 

 Query sections provide information on hardware description,  list of 
 ports, list of supported modes, and the range or set of supported timing 
 values. The Set sections provide the capability to identify adapters; 
 unlock registers; cleanup, size, and position the active display; set a 
 mode; save and restore a mode, and the VRAM used by the mode. 

 The VIDEOPMI language defines a video adapter as a hardware controller in 
 terms of its I/O and memory addresses that are programmable by the CPU. 
 The video controller can be a dumb frame VGA/SVGA, an accelerator, or a 
 general-purpose coprocessor. The .PMI file must contain all of the 
 informational sections and a minimal set of Set sections (see PMI 
 Sections). An adapter description starts with its Hardware section, 
 followed by IdentifyAdapter, a number of support sections, and a list of 
 all available modes with the corresponding SetMode sections. 

 The PMI facilitates dynamic hardware configuration, which includes port 
 remapping as well as adding or removing an adapter and its PMI 
 definition. It also includes changing the attached display and multiple 
 instances of the same video hardware driven by the same .PMI. The 
 interface defines monitor timing variables needed to drive a CRT monitor. 
 These variables provide extensive monitor support and a consistent user 
 configuration interface. The PMI language also facilitates programming of 
 the support chips that can be mapped into the I/O and memory space 
 addressable by the CPU, such as external clock-synchronizing chips or 
 smart Digital-to-Analog Converters (DACs). 

 .PMI files are to be provided by the video chip or adapter manufacturers 
 or by the providers of the display drivers. The file should be part of 
 the video adapter installation kit, either as a pre-manufactured flat 
 file or one created by the OEM's installation utility.