glGetString.3gl

Name

  glGetString -	returns	a string describing the	current	GL connection

C Specification

  const	GLubyte	* glGetString( GLenum name )

Parameters

  name	Specifies a symbolic constant, one of GL_VENDOR, GL_RENDERER,
	GL_VERSION, or GL_EXTENSIONS.

Description

  glGetString returns a	pointer	to a static string describing some aspect of
  the current GL connection.  name can be one of the following:

  GL_VENDOR	      Returns the company responsible for this GL
		      implementation.  This name does not change from release
		      to release.

  GL_RENDERER	      Returns the name of the renderer.	 This name is
		      typically	specific to a particular configuration of a
		      hardware platform.  It does not change from release to
		      release.

  GL_VERSION	      Returns a	version	or release number.

  GL_EXTENSIONS	      Returns a	space-separated	list of	supported extensions
		      to GL.

  Because GL does not include queries for the performance characteristics of
  an implementation, it	is expected that some applications will	be written to
  recognize known platforms and	will modify their GL usage based on known
  performance characteristics of these platforms.  Strings GL_VENDOR and
  GL_RENDERER together uniquely	specify	a platform, and	will not change	from
  release to release.  They should be used by such platform recognition
  algorithms.

  Some applications will want to make use of features which are	not part of
  the standard GL.  These features may be implemented as extensions to the
  standard GL.	The GL_EXTENSIONS string is a space seperated list of
  supported GL extensions. (Extension names never contain a space character.)

  The GL_VERSION string	begins with a version number.  The version number is
  of the form major_number.minor_number	or
  major_number.minor_number.release_number. Vendor specific information	may
  follow the version number. Its format	depends	on the implementation, but a
  space	always seperates the version number and	the vendor specific
  information.

  All strings are null-terminated.

Notes

  If an	error is generated, glGetString	returns	zero.

  The client and server	may support different versions or extensions.
  glGetString always returns a compatible version number or list of
  extensions. The release number always	describes the server.

Errors

  GL_INVALID_ENUM is generated if name is not an accepted value.

  GL_INVALID_OPERATION is generated if glGetString is executed between the
  execution of glBegin and the corresponding execution of glEnd.

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Last Edited: Mon, May 22, 1995

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