OpenGL and X, Part 3:
Integrating OpenGL with Motif

Mark J. Kilgard
Silicon Graphics Inc.

Abstract:

The OpenGL graphics system can be integrated with the industry-standard OSF/Motif user interface. This article discusses how to use OpenGL within a Motif application program. There are two approaches to using OpenGL with Motif. One is to render into a standard Motif drawing area widget, but this requires each application window to use a single visual for its window hierarchy. A better approach is to use the special OpenGL drawing area widget allowing windows used for OpenGL rendering to pick freely an appropriate visual without affecting the visual choice for other widgets. An example program demonstrates both approaches. The X Toolkit's work procedure mechanism animates the example's 3D paper airplanes. Handling OpenGL errors is also explained.

• 1 Introduction
• 2 OpenGL with Widgets
  • 2.1 The OpenGL-specific Widget
  • 2.2 The Motif Drawing Area Widget
  • 2.3 Drawing Area Callbacks
  • 2.4 Handling Input
• 3 Animation Via Work Procedures
  • 3.1 Handling Iconification
  • 3.2 Timeouts
• 4 Debugging Tips
• 5 Conclusion
• Acknowledgments
• A paperplane.c
• References
• About this document ...