ClassGL Library

The OglSample template application

The OglSample application source code demonstrates using the ClassGL classes together with Microsoft Foundation Classes and OpenGL. The OglSample application code should be considered as a template application for writing custom applications, which uses the ClassGL library. It also delivers the COpenGLView and COpenGLWnd classes implementation source files. The COpenGLView and COpenGLWnd classes have closer MFC concept and they can be easily used to derive custom classes intended for the OpenGL graphics output.

OglSample application specification

The OglSample application is a multiple document MFC application available in the source code form. It provides toolbars and menu for view projection control and rendering context settings together with standard MFC toolbar and menu . The source code was originally generated by the MFC Application Wizard and then the specific source code was added to join the application code with the COpenGL class functionality. The ClassGL related source code is well commented to enable an easy understanding of how the ClassGL classes are designed to work.

The OglSample application demostrates data model independent nature of ClassGL to display (in this case) VRML (Virtual Reality Model Language) data. Note that the OglSample application is not intended to be a VRML viewer and it understands only a small subset of the VRML. The VRML specific code is not available in the source code form and it is linked as a DLL (VRM.DLL). The reason for this is because the OglSample application does not focus on the VRML and therefore the VRML related source code would complicate the application objectives.

For new documents, the OglSample application displays a ‘demo’ data. The demo data shows a simple scene consisting of several cubes.

The OglSample application allows to insert VRML objects into scene, load scene, save scene, print current view, zoom all graphic data, to zoom in, to zoom out, zoom to window, to pan, to rotate, to enter fly or free look interaction modes, to specify view angle, to specify perspective versus orthographic projection, to turn lighting on/off, to turn lighting mode local viewer on/off, to specify how the OpenGL window resizing events should be handled.

The EditSample template application

In addition to the OglSample application, the EditSample application, (which is part of ClassGL regular package, or per request), demonstrates visual and toolbar-based vertex coordinates editing with using ClassGL, and usage of the ClassGL's object highlighting support.