Beginning OpenGLSL

[Songoku]

Ok i have a question.
If i want to use an extension, i have to check if my graphicscard does support this extension then i need functionpointers to use the new functions. My question is:
Do i need to have functionpointers for every new funtion which is provided by OpenGLSL. There are so many new functions i cannot believe that this is the only way to use OpenGLSL. Which files do i have to include??? I am a newbie to OpenGLSL and i try to get started using OpenGLSL. Please help me. Thanks.

[Corrail]

You will need a function pointer for every function you are going to use.
Here you can find a tutorial of how to use extensions: http://developer.nvidia.com/object/o..._tutorial.html

Here are some tutorials for GLSL: http://www.clockworkcoders.com/oglsl/tutorials.html

[Songoku]

And which are the functions i have to have a pointer to in order to use OpenGLSL?

[Corrail]

See specification of GLSL extensions:
http://oss.sgi.com/projects/ogl-samp...nguage_100.txt
http://oss.sgi.com/projects/ogl-samp...er_objects.txt
http://oss.sgi.com/projects/ogl-samp...tex_shader.txt
http://oss.sgi.com/projects/ogl-samp...ent_shader.txt

There the functions and the definitions you will need are specified.

[Songoku]

Do i realy need all functions? And are the tokens automaticly linked to my program or do i have to rewrite a file including all the tokens???

[Ffelagund]

You can use a tool to open all function pointers and check all extensions supported by your card. Try http://glew.sourceforge.net

[Songoku]

Thanks but i think i will write my own classes to get the stuff work. Thanks for all the help.

[Songoku]

One question left:
I check for extensions, have functionpointer to all the functions and wrote my shaders.
Do i need a compiler for the shader programs or can i compile my code with the compiler i use for my c++ apps?

[Ffelagund]

If you want develop glsls shaders, try this: www.typhoonlabs.com, it's my free glslang Shader Designer, If you want to use shaders into your programs, you only need pass the string with the source code to opengl, and opengl will compile the shader for you.
To learn how opengl handle the shaders, download the ogl2sdk form www.3dlabs.com, there are sample source code.

[Songoku]

Do i need any header file to include? Or can i do it without any header files?