A suggestion for GLUT- allow N buttons

[Rob Fletcher]

Hi

Have emailed Mark K a number of times. No replies...

I wonder if the problem is at SGI where MK worked when he developed the code originally.

Are there pieces of code snaffled from other ongoing SGI projects? etc.......

Until MK releases (or is able to release) the code into the PD, then there is really no chance to do anything further.

The only alternative, if the current printed sources are to be useful, is to provide GLUT emulation (for at least those functions used in e.g. Red Book), as a layer on top on a.n.other package.

If a "restricted GLUT API" is done, I would suspect that most of the other packages out there would be able to support the emulation.

Providing 100% emulation for the whole GLUT API is of course harder, and more of the alternative API's will fall by the wayside.

So, perhaps the first shot HAS to be to provide the emulation for the most used functions as per the majority of tutorial materials out there.

Anyone care to make the list of GLUT calls used e.g. in latest Red Book and some of the most used net-tutorial sites?

Post it into a new thread and then maybe those of us who are thinking about actually doing the work will have a reference.

We can make THIS a reality I'm sure ...

Rob.

[bloc]

I stumbled across this link. http://freeglut.sourceforge.net/

This will be fantastic if it turns out semi workable. Wahoo

[147-2]

Yeah, but the problem with that is that if you change the specification without a standard, then glut implementations will diverge. Plus, I recall that there are some specific rights that have to be maintained WRT the GLUT API. The problem with this is that we wish to change the API, and I doubt that may happen without the permission of the authors, who seem quite opposed to allowing GLUT to grow/change. So, I was thinking that Id be the last to say this, but GLUT (in my mind) is dead. I switched to GLFW, which is a very well documented approach to OpenGL system independance. There is one feature missing, fonts, but those may be obtained thru the GLF library. My only remaining contention with GLFW was its lack of support for OSX. I suggested that I may help with an OSX port once my finals were completed, but methinks that the port will be complete before my finals are :P I was quite amazed by the speed at which the people on this forum have attacked the port-problem that I suggested. I was thinking that Id end up doing most of it myself, but I was dead wrong. I really like that.