OpenGL and X, Part 2:
Using OpenGL with Xlib

Mark J. Kilgard
Silicon Graphics Inc.

Abstract:

This is the second article in a three-part series about using the OpenGL graphics system and the X Window System. A moderately complex OpenGL program for X is presented. Depth buffering, back-face culling, lighting, display list modeling, polygon tessellation, double buffering, and shading are all demonstrated. The program adheres to proper X conventions for colormap sharing, window manager communication, command line argument processing, and event processing. After the example, advanced X and OpenGL issues are discussed including minimizing colormap flashing, handling overlays, using fonts, and performing animation. The last article in this series discusses integrating OpenGL with the Motif toolkit.

• 1 Introduction
• 2 Example Walk Through
  • 2.1 Initialization
    • 2.1.1 Choosing a Visual and Colormap
    • 2.1.2 Creating a Rendering Context
    • 2.1.3 Setting Up a Window
  • 2.2 The Dinosaur Model
    • 2.2.1 The GLU Tessellator
    • 2.2.2 Hierarchical Display Lists
    • 2.2.3 Back-face Culling
  • 2.3 Lighting
    • 2.3.1 Types of Lighting
    • 2.3.2 Lighting in the Example
  • 2.4 View Selection
  • 2.5 Event Dispatching
    • 2.5.1 Expose Handling
    • 2.5.2 Window Resizing
    • 2.5.3 Handling Input
    • 2.5.4 Quitting
• 3 Advanced Xlib and OpenGL
  • 3.1 Colormaps
  • 3.2 Double Buffering
  • 3.3 Overlays
  • 3.4 Mixing Xlib and OpenGL Rendering
  • 3.5 Fonts
  • 3.6 Display Lists
• 4 Conclusion
• A glxdino.c
• References
• About this document ...