GLGETSTRING(3G)

NAME
glGetString - return a string describing the current GL connection

C SPECIFICATION

const GLubyte *glGetString(GLenum name);

const GLubyte *glGetStringi(GLenum name, GLuint index);

PARAMETERS

name
    Specifies a symbolic constant, one of GL_VENDOR, GL_RENDERER, GL_VERSION, or GL_SHADING_LANGUAGE_VERSION. Additionally, glGetStringi accepts the GL_EXTENSIONS token.

index
    For glGetStringi, specifies the index of the string to return.

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_SHADING_LANGUAGE_VERSION
    Returns a version or release number for the shading language.

glGetStringi returns a pointer to a static string indexed by index. name can be one of the following:

GL_EXTENSIONS
    For glGetStringi only, returns the extension string supported by the implementation at index.

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.

The GL_VERSION and GL_SHADING_LANGUAGE_VERSION strings are laid out as follows: <version number><space><vendor-specific information>

The version number is either of the form major_number.minor_number or major_number.minor_number.release_number, where the numbers all have one or more digits. The minor number for SHADING_LANGUAGE_VERSION is always two digits, matching the OpenGL ES Shading Language Specification release number.

Vendor-specific information may follow the version number. Its format 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. glGetString always returns a compatible version number. The release number always describes the server.

ERRORS

GL_INVALID_ENUM is generated if name is not an accepted value.

GL_INVALID_VALUE is generated by glGetStringi if index is outside the valid range for indexed state name.

VERSION SUPPORT
 | OpenGL Version
Function / Feature Name | 2.0 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.6
glGetString | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔
glGetStringi | - | - | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔

SEE ALSO

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 1991-2006 Silicon Graphics, Inc. Copyright © 2010-2014 Khronos Group. This document is licensed under the SGI Free Software B License. For details, see https://khronos.org/registry/OpenGL-Refpages/LICENSES/LicenseRef-FreeB.txt.

COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 1991-2006 Silicon Graphics, Inc.
Copyright © 2010-2014 Khronos Group