GLFW 3.0.1 A multi-platform library for OpenGL, window and input

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Building programs using GLFW

This is about compiling and linking programs that use GLFW. For information on how to write such programs, start with the introductory tutorial.

# Including the GLFW header file

In the files of your program where you use OpenGL or GLFW, you should include the GLFW 3 header file, i.e.:

#include <GLFW/glfw3.h>

This defines all the constants, types and function prototypes of the GLFW API. It also includes the chosen client API header files (by default OpenGL), and defines all the constants and types necessary for those headers to work on that platform.

For example, under Windows you are normally required to include `windows.h` before including `GL/gl.h`. This would make your source file tied to Windows and pollute your code's namespace with the whole Win32 API.

Instead, the GLFW header takes care of this for you, not by including `windows.h`, but rather by itself duplicating only the necessary parts of it. It does this only where needed, so if `windows.h` is included, the GLFW header does not try to redefine those symbols.

In other words:

- Do not include the OpenGL headers yourself, as GLFW does this for you
- Do not include `windows.h` or other platform-specific headers unless you plan on using those APIs directly
- If you do need to include such headers, do it before including the GLFW one and it will detect this

If you are using an OpenGL extension loading library such as GLEW, the GLEW header should also be included before the GLFW one. The GLEW header defines macros that disable any OpenGL header that the GLFW header includes and GLEW will work as expected.

## GLFW header option macros

These macros may be defined before the inclusion of the GLFW header and affect how that header behaves.

`GLFW_INCLUDE_GLCOREARB` makes the header include the modern `GL/glcorearb.h` header (`OpenGL/gl3.h` on Mac OS X) instead of the regular OpenGL header.

`GLFW_INCLUDE_ES1` makes the header include the OpenGL ES 1.x `GLES/gl.h` header instead of the regular OpenGL header.

`GLFW_INCLUDE_ES2` makes the header include the OpenGL ES 2.0 `GLES2/gl2.h` header instead of the regular OpenGL header.

`GLFW_INCLUDE_ES3` makes the header include the OpenGL ES 3.0 `GLES3/gl3.h` header instead of the regular OpenGL header.

`GLFW_INCLUDE_NONE` makes the header not include any client API header.

`GLFW_INCLUDE_GLU` makes the header include the GLU header. This only makes sense if you are using OpenGL.

`GLFW_DLL` is necessary when using the GLFW DLL on Windows, in order to explain to the compiler that the GLFW functions will be coming from another executable.

# Link with the right libraries

## Using GLFW from CMake

The `GLFW_LIBRARIES` cache variable contains all link-time dependencies of GLFW as it is currently configured, so to link against GLFW simply do:

    target_link_libraries(myapp glfw ${GLFW_LIBRARIES})

Note that this does not include GLU, as GLFW does not use it. If your application needs GLU, you can add it to the list of dependencies with the `OPENGL_glu_LIBRARY` cache variable.

## Windows

The static version of the GLFW library is named `glfw3`. When using this version, it is also necessary to link with some libraries that GLFW uses.

When linking a program under Windows that uses the static version of GLFW, you must link with `opengl32`. If you are using GLU, you must also link with `glu32`.

The link library for the GLFW DLL is named `glfw3dll`. When compiling a program that uses the DLL version of GLFW, you need to define the `GLFW_DLL` macro before any inclusion of the GLFW header. This can be done either with a compiler switch or by defining it in your source code.

A program using the GLFW DLL does not need to link against any of its dependencies, but you still have to link against `opengl32` if your program uses OpenGL and `glu32` if it uses GLU.

## Unix with X11

GLFW supports pkg-config, and `glfw3.pc` file is generated when the library is built and installed along with it. You can use it without installation using the `PKG_CONFIG_PATH` environment variable. See the documentation for pkg-config for more details.

A typical compile and link command-line when using the static may look like this:

    cc `pkg-config --cflags glfw3` -o myprog myprog.c `pkg-config --static --libs glfw3`

If you are using the shared library, simply omit the `--static` flag.

If you are using GLU, you should also add `-lGLU` to your link flags.

## Mac OS X

GLFW on Mac OS X uses the Cocoa, OpenGL and IOKit frameworks.

If you are using Xcode, you can simply add the GLFW library and these frameworks as dependencies.

If you are building from the command-line, it is recommended that you use pkg-config

GLFW supports pkg-config, and `glfw3.pc` file is generated when the library is built and installed along with it. You can use it without installation using the `PKG_CONFIG_PATH` environment variable. See the documentation for pkg-config for more details.

You can find pkg-config in most package systems such as Fink and MacPorts, so if you have one of them installed, simply install pkg-config. Once you have pkg-config available, the command-line for compiling and linking your program is:

    cc `pkg-config --cflags glfw3` -o myprog myprog.c `pkg-config --static --libs glfw3`

If you do not wish to use pkg-config, you need to add the required frameworks and libraries to your command-line using the `-l` and `-framework` switches, i.e.:

    cc -o myprog myprog.c -lglfw -framework Cocoa -framework OpenGL -framework IOKit

Note that you do not add the `.framework` extension to a framework when adding it from the command-line.

The OpenGL framework contains both the OpenGL and GLU APIs, so there is no need to add additional libraries or frameworks when using GLU. Also note that even though your machine may have `libGL`-style OpenGL libraries, they are for use with the X Window System and will not work with the Mac OS X native version of GLFW.