GLGETSTRING(3G)GLGETSTRING(3G)NAMEglGetString - return 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.
DESCRIPTIONglGetString 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 the GL does not include queries for the performance
characteristics of an implementation, some applications are written to
recognize known platforms and modify their GL usage based on known
performance characteristics of these platforms. Strings GL_VENDOR and
GL_RENDERER together uniquely specify a platform. They do not change
from release to release and should be used by platform-recognition
algorithms.
Some applications want to make use of features that 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-separated list of
supported GL extensions. (Extension names never contain a space
character.)
The GL_VERSION string begins with a version number. The version number
uses one of these forms:
major_number.minor_number
major_number.minor_number.release_number
Vendor-specific information may follow the version number. Its depends
on the implementation, but a space always separates the version number
and the vendor-specific information.
All strings are null-terminated.
NOTES
If an error is generated, glGetString returns 0.
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.
March 1, 2011
