glNormalPointer(3G) OpenGL Reference glNormalPointer(3G)
NAME
glNormalPointer - define an array of normals
C SPECIFICATION
void glNormalPointer( GLenum type,
GLsizei stride,
const GLvoid *pointer )
PARAMETERS
type Specifies the data type of each coordinate in the array.
Symbolic constants GLBYTE, GLSHORT, GLINT, GLFLOAT, and
GLDOUBLE are accepted. The initial value is GLFLOAT.
stride Specifies the byte offset between consecutive normals. If stride
is 0- the initial value-the normals are understood to be tightly
packed in the array.
pointer Specifies a pointer to the first coordinate of the first normal
in the array.
DESCRIPTION
glNormalPointer specifies the location and data format of an array of
normals to use when rendering. type specifies the data type of the
normal coordinates and stride gives the byte stride from one normal to
the next, allowing vertexes and attributes to be packed into a single
array or stored in separate arrays. (Single-array storage may be more
efficient on some implementations; see glInterleavedArrays.) When a
normal array is specified, type, stride, and pointer are saved as
client-side state.
To enable and disable the normal array, call glEnableClientState and
glDisableClientState with the argument GLNORMALARRAY. If enabled, the
normal array is used when glDrawArrays, glDrawElements, or glArrayElement
is called.
Use glDrawArrays to construct a sequence of primitives (all of the same
type) from prespecified vertex and vertex attribute arrays. Use
glArrayElement to specify primitives by indexing vertexes and vertex
attributes and glDrawElements to construct a sequence of primitives by
indexing vertexes and vertex attributes.
NOTES
glNormalPointer is available only if the GL version is 1.1 or greater.
The normal array is initially disabled and isn't accessed when
glArrayElement, glDrawElements, or glDrawArrays is called.
Execution of glNormalPointer is not allowed between glBegin and the
corresponding glEnd, but an error may or may not be generated. If an
error is not generated, the operation is undefined.
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glNormalPointer(3G) OpenGL Reference glNormalPointer(3G)
glNormalPointer is typically implemented on the client side.
Since the normal array parameters are client-side state, they are not
saved or restored by glPushAttrib and glPopAttrib. Use
glPushClientAttrib and glPopClientAttrib instead.
ERRORS
GLINVALIDENUM is generated if type is not an accepted value.
GLINVALIDVALUE is generated if stride is negative.
ASSOCIATED GETS
glIsEnabled with argument GLNORMALARRAY
glGet with argument GLNORMALARRAYTYPE
glGet with argument GLNORMALARRAYSTRIDE
glGetPointerv with argument GLNORMALARRAYPOINTER
MACHINE DEPENDENCIES
On RealityEngine, RealityEngine2, and VTX systems, do not enable or
disable GLVERTEXARRAY, GLVERTEXARRAYEXT, GLNORMALARRAY,
GLNORMALARRAYEXT, GLCOLORARRAY, GLCOLORARRAYEXT,
GLINDEXARRAY,GLINDEXARRAYEXT, GLTEXTURECOORDARRAY,
GLTEXTURECOORDARRAYEXT, GLEDGEFLAGARRAY or GLEDGEFLAGARRAYEXT
between a call to glNewList and the corresponding call to glEndList.
Instead, enable or disable before the call to glNewList.
On InfiniteReality systems it is particularly important to minimize the
amount of data transferred from the application to the graphics pipe,
since the host-to-pipe bandwidth limit can cause a performance
bottleneck. One way to reduce the amount of data transferred per vertex
is to use properly-aligned byte and short data types whenever possible.
Accordingly, the EXTvertexarray extension on InfiniteReality systems
has been optimized for vertex information packed into the following data
structures. (Note: v represents vertex coordinates, c represents color
components, n represents normal coordinates, and t represents texture
coordinates. Normals must have unit length.)
struct {GLfloat v[3];}
struct {GLubyte c[4]; GLfloat v[3];}
struct {GLshort n[3]; GLfloat v[3];}
struct {GLubyte c[4]; GLshort n[3]; GLfloat v[3];}
struct {GLshort t[2]; GLfloat v[3];}
struct {GLshort t[2]; GLubyte c[4]; GLfloat v[3];}
struct {GLshort t[2]; GLshort n[3]; GLfloat v[3];}
struct {GLshort t[2]; GLubyte c[4]; GLshort n[3]; GLfloat v[3];}
struct {GLfloat t[2]; GLfloat v[3];}
struct {GLfloat t[2]; GLubyte c[4]; GLfloat v[3];}
struct {GLfloat t[2]; GLshort n[3]; GLfloat v[3];}
struct {GLfloat t[2]; GLubyte c[4]; GLshort n[3]; GLfloat v[3];}
Application-specific fields may be added to these structures, provided
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glNormalPointer(3G) OpenGL Reference glNormalPointer(3G)
that all the fields described above retain their relative order and word
alignment.
An additional constraint applies when glTexGen is being used. The
implementation normally generates all four texture coordinates in
parallel, and must take special action to generate just a subset of the
four coordinates. Therefore performance is best when none of the texture
coordinates are being generated, or when all of them are being generated.
For example, when using 2D texturing (generating s and t coordinates) it
will be faster to enable texture coordinate generation for the r and q
coordinates as well as s and t. Choose a texture generation mode of
GLOBJECTLINEAR and use the plane equations (0,0,0,0) and (0,0,0,1) for
r and q, respectively.
Using these structures on InfiniteReality systems can improve performance
considerably, compared to structures in which all values are single-
precision floating point.
SEE ALSO
glArrayElement, glColorPointer, glDrawArrays, glDrawElements,
glEdgeFlagPointer, glEnable, glGetPointerv, glIndexPointer,
glInterleavedArrays, glPopClientAttrib, glPushClientAttrib,
glTexCoordPointer, glVertexPointer
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