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.ds Dt 24 September 1999
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.ds Xs 56397 5 getstring.gl
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.B "\- return a string describing the current GL connection
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const GLubyte* \f3glGetString\fP(
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.TP \w'\fIname\fP\ \ 'u
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Specifies a symbolic constant, one of
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\%\f3GL_VENDOR\fP, \%\f3GL_RENDERER\fP, \%\f3GL_VERSION\fP, or \%\f3GL_EXTENSIONS\fP.
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\%\f3glGetString\fP returns a pointer to a static string
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describing some aspect of the current GL connection.
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\f2name\fP can be one of the following:
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Returns the company responsible for this GL implementation.
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This name does not change from release to release.
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Returns the name of the renderer.
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This name is typically specific to a particular configuration of a hardware
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It does not change from release to release.
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Returns a version or release number.
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Returns a space-separated list of supported extensions to GL.
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Because the GL does not include queries for the performance
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characteristics of an implementation, some applications are written to
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recognize known platforms and modify their GL usage based on known
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performance characteristics of these platforms.
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Strings \%\f3GL_VENDOR\fP and \%\f3GL_RENDERER\fP together uniquely specify
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a platform. They do not change from release to release and should be used
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by platform-recognition algorithms.
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Some applications want to make use of features that
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are not part of the standard GL. These features
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may be implemented as extensions to the standard GL.
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The \%\f3GL_EXTENSIONS\fP string is a space-separated
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list of supported GL extensions.
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(Extension names never contain a space character.)
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The \%\f3GL_VERSION\fP string begins with a version number.
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The version number uses one
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\f2major_number.minor_number\fP
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\f2major_number.minor_number.release_number\fP
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Vendor-specific information may follow the version
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number. Its depends on the implementation, but
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a space always separates the version number and
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the vendor-specific information.
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All strings are null-terminated.
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If an error is generated, \%\f3glGetString\fP returns 0.
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The client and server may support different versions or extensions.
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\%\f3glGetString\fP always returns a compatible version number or list of extensions.
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The release number always describes the server.
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\%\f3GL_INVALID_ENUM\fP is generated if \f2name\fP is not an accepted value.
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\%\f3GL_INVALID_OPERATION\fP is generated if \%\f3glGetString\fP
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is executed between the execution of \%\f3glBegin\fP
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and the corresponding execution of \%\f3glEnd\fP.