307 lines
8.3 KiB
HTML
307 lines
8.3 KiB
HTML
<HTML>
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<TITLE>Mesa Introduction</TITLE>
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<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="mesa.css"></head>
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<BODY>
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<H1>Introduction</H1>
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<p>
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Mesa is a 3-D graphics library with an API which is very similar to
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that of <a href="http://www.opengl.org/" target="_parent">OpenGL</a>.*
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To the extent that Mesa utilizes the OpenGL command syntax or state
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machine, it is being used with authorization from <a
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href="http://www.sgi.com/" target="_parent">Silicon Graphics,
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Inc.</a>(SGI). However, the author does not possess an OpenGL license
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from SGI, and makes no claim that Mesa is in any way a compatible
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replacement for OpenGL or associated with SGI. Those who want a
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licensed implementation of OpenGL should contact a licensed
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vendor.
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</p>
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<p>
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Please do not refer to the library as <em>MesaGL</em> (for legal
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reasons). It's just <em>Mesa</em> or <em>The Mesa 3-D graphics
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library</em>. <br>
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</p>
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<p>
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* OpenGL is a trademark of <a href="http://www.sgi.com/"
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target="_parent">Silicon Graphics Incorporated</a>.
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</p>
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<H1>Project History</H1>
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<p>
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The Mesa project was founded by me, Brian Paul. Here's a short history
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of the project.
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</p>
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<p>
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August, 1993: I begin working on Mesa in my spare time. The project
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has no name at that point. I was simply interested in writing a simple
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3D graphics library that used the then-new OpenGL API. I was partially
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inspired by the <em>VOGL</em> library which emulated a subset of IRIS GL.
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I had been programming with IRIS GL since 1991.
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</p>
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<p>
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November 1994: I contact SGI to ask permission to distribute my OpenGL-like
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graphics library on the internet. SGI was generally receptive to the
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idea and after negotiations with SGI's legal department, I get permission
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to release it.
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</p>
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<p>
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February 1995: Mesa 1.0 is released on the internet. I expected that
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a few people would be interested in it, but not thousands.
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I was soon receiving patches, new features and thank-you notes on a
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daily basis. That encouraged me to continue working on Mesa. The
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name Mesa just popped into my head one day. SGI had asked me not to use
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the terms <em>"Open"</em> or <em>"GL"</em> in the project name and I didn't
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want to make up a new acronym. Later, I heard of the Mesa programming
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language and the Mesa spreadsheet for NeXTStep.
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</p>
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<p>
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In the early days, OpenGL wasn't available on too many systems.
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It even took a while for SGI to support it across their product line.
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Mesa filled a big hole during that time.
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For a lot of people, Mesa was their first introduction to OpenGL.
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I think SGI recognized that Mesa actually helped to promote
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the OpenGL API, so they didn't feel threatened by the project.
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</p>
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<p>
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1995-1996: I continue working on Mesa both during my spare time and during
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my work hours at the Space Science and Engineering Center at the University
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of Wisconsin in Madison. My supervisor, Bill Hibbard, lets me do this because
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Mesa is now being using for the <a href="http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/%7Ebillh/vis.html" target="_parent">Vis5D</a> project.
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</p><p>
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October 1996: Mesa 2.0 is released. It implements the OpenGL 1.1 specification.
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</p>
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<p>
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March 1997: Mesa 2.2 is released. It supports the new 3dfx Voodoo graphics
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card via the Glide library. It's the first really popular hardware OpenGL
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implementation for Linux.
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</p>
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<p>
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September 1998: Mesa 3.0 is released. It's the first publicly-available
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implementation of the OpenGL 1.2 API.
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</p>
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<p>
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March 1999: I attend my first OpenGL ARB meeting. I contribute to the
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development of several official OpenGL extensions over the years.
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</p>
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<p>
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September 1999: I'm hired by Precision Insight, Inc. Mesa is a key
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component of 3D hardware acceleration in the new DRI project for XFree86.
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Drivers for 3dfx, 3dLabs, Intel, Matrox and ATI hardware soon follow.
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</p>
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<p>
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October 2001: Mesa 4.0 is released.
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It implements the OpenGL 1.3 specification.
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</p>
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<p>
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November 2001: I cofound <a href="http://www.tungstengraphics.com" target="_parent">
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Tungsten Graphics, Inc.</a> with Keith Whitwell, Jens Owen, David Dawes and
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Frank LaMonica.
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I continue to develop Mesa as part of my resposibilities with Tungsten
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Graphics and as a spare-time project.
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</p>
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<p>
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November 2002: Mesa 5.0 is released.
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It implements the OpenGL 1.4 specification.
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</p>
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<p>
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January 2003: Mesa 6.0 is released. It implements the OpenGL 1.5
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specification as well as the GL_ARB_vertex_program and
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GL_ARB_fragment_program extensions.
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</p>
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<p>
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Ongoing: Mesa is used as the core of many hardware OpenGL drivers for
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the XFree86 X.org X servers within the
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<A href="http://dri.freedesktop.org/" target="_parent">DRI project</A>.
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I continue to enhance Mesa with new extensions and features.
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</p>
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<H1>Major Versions</H1>
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<p>
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This is a summary of the major versions of Mesa. Note that Mesa's major
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version number tracks OpenGL's minor version number (+1).
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Work is underway to implement the OpenGL 2.0 specification.
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</p>
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<H2>Version 6.x features</H2>
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<p>
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Version 6.x of Mesa implements the OpenGL 1.5 API with the following
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extensions incorporated as standard features:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>GL_ARB_occlusion_query
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<li>GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object
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<li>GL_EXT_shadow_funcs
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</ul>
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<p>
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Also note that several OpenGL tokens were renamed in OpenGL 1.5
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for the sake of consistency.
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The old tokens are still available.
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</p>
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<pre>
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New Token Old Token
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------------------------------------------------------------
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GL_FOG_COORD_SRC GL_FOG_COORDINATE_SOURCE
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GL_FOG_COORD GL_FOG_COORDINATE
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GL_CURRENT_FOG_COORD GL_CURRENT_FOG_COORDINATE
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GL_FOG_COORD_ARRAY_TYPE GL_FOG_COORDINATE_ARRAY_TYPE
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GL_FOG_COORD_ARRAY_STRIDE GL_FOG_COORDINATE_ARRAY_STRIDE
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GL_FOG_COORD_ARRAY_POINTER GL_FOG_COORDINATE_ARRAY_POINTER
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GL_FOG_COORD_ARRAY GL_FOG_COORDINATE_ARRAY
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GL_SRC0_RGB GL_SOURCE0_RGB
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GL_SRC1_RGB GL_SOURCE1_RGB
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GL_SRC2_RGB GL_SOURCE2_RGB
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GL_SRC0_ALPHA GL_SOURCE0_ALPHA
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GL_SRC1_ALPHA GL_SOURCE1_ALPHA
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GL_SRC2_ALPHA GL_SOURCE2_ALPHA
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</pre>
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<p>
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See the
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<a href="http://www.opengl.org/documentation/spec.html" target="_parent">
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OpenGL specification</a> for more details.
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</p>
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<H2>Version 5.x features</H2>
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<p>
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Version 5.x of Mesa implements the OpenGL 1.4 API with the following
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extensions incorporated as standard features:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>GL_ARB_depth_texture
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<li>GL_ARB_shadow
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<li>GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar
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<li>GL_ARB_texture_mirror_repeat
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<li>GL_ARB_window_pos
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<li>GL_EXT_blend_color
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<li>GL_EXT_blend_func_separate
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<li>GL_EXT_blend_logic_op
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<li>GL_EXT_blend_minmax
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<li>GL_EXT_blend_subtract
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<li>GL_EXT_fog_coord
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<li>GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays
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<li>GL_EXT_point_parameters
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<li>GL_EXT_secondary_color
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<li>GL_EXT_stencil_wrap
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<li>GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias (plus, a per-texture LOD bias parameter)
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<li>GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap
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</ul>
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<H2>Version 4.x features</H2>
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<p>
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Version 4.x of Mesa implements the OpenGL 1.3 API with the following
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extensions incorporated as standard features:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>GL_ARB_multisample
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<li>GL_ARB_multitexture
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<li>GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp
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<li>GL_ARB_texture_compression
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<li>GL_ARB_texture_cube_map
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<li>GL_ARB_texture_env_add
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<li>GL_ARB_texture_env_combine
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<li>GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3
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<li>GL_ARB_transpose_matrix
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</ul>
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<H2>Version 3.x features</H2>
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<p>
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Version 3.x of Mesa implements the OpenGL 1.2 API with the following
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features:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>BGR, BGRA and packed pixel formats
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<li>New texture border clamp mode
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<li>glDrawRangeElements()
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<li>standard 3-D texturing
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<li>advanced MIPMAP control
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<li>separate specular color interpolation
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</ul>
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<H2>Version 2.x features</H2>
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<p>
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Version 2.x of Mesa implements the OpenGL 1.1 API with the following
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features.
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>Texture mapping:
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<ul>
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<li>glAreTexturesResident
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<li>glBindTexture
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<li>glCopyTexImage1D
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<li>glCopyTexImage2D
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<li>glCopyTexSubImage1D
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<li>glCopyTexSubImage2D
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<li>glDeleteTextures
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<li>glGenTextures
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<li>glIsTexture
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<li>glPrioritizeTextures
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<li>glTexSubImage1D
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<li>glTexSubImage2D
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</ul>
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<li>Vertex Arrays:
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<ul>
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<li>glArrayElement
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<li>glColorPointer
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<li>glDrawElements
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<li>glEdgeFlagPointer
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<li>glIndexPointer
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<li>glInterleavedArrays
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<li>glNormalPointer
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<li>glTexCoordPointer
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<li>glVertexPointer
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</ul>
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<li>Client state management:
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<ul>
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<li>glDisableClientState
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<li>glEnableClientState
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<li>glPopClientAttrib
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<li>glPushClientAttrib
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</ul>
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<li>Misc:
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<ul>
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<li>glGetPointer
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<li>glIndexub
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<li>glIndexubv
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<li>glPolygonOffset
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</ul>
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</ul>
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</body>
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</html>
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