Re: [Mesa3d-dev] Bug in z-depth

[Dave S. <shr...@sg...>]

Daryll Strauss writes:

> > In this case I don't feel an extension is necessary.  Allen's visual
> > selection utility is completely layered on top of the GLX API; it needs
> > no hooks inside GLX.  I think people who need the code could simply add
> > the .c and .h files to their project and compile it in.
> > 
> > That way, there's no hassles with versioning or compile-time or run-
> > time extension testing, etc.  And we all know how bad that can be!
> 
> I agree technically that works, but that doesn't get it widely
> distributed and if people don't know it exists they won't use it.

   However, its not as if people have been unsuccessful using
glXChooseVisual().  I tend to believe that very few applications go to
the trouble of very specific visual selection above glXChooseVisual().
The most notable execpetions are things like sensor simulation, and
that's mostly because they exporting digital data, and not a visual
image.

> I'm trying to get it included in some standard library (maybe as
> extension) so that people have it and use it instead of inverting
> their own. If you really dislike attaching it to GLX maybe we need a
> our own libMesaU (or equivalent) that can include stuff like this.

   Personally, I would vote for something in the spirit of "isfast".

   On the pro side of attaching it to GLX, as GLX evolves, then perhaps
so will it.

   On the (larger, IMO) con side, generic use of an alternative visual
selection algorithm (which probably isn't needed in many cases anyhow),
means that as new features become "default" (like multisampling) for
visuals, these changes should be transparently folded into something
like glXChooseVisual() without requiring modification of the developer's
code. 

   I don't think glXChooseVisual() sucks so bad that an alternative
needs to be standardized.  Not to slight the work that Allan's done, but
a faster, and easier, solution would be some better documentation of how
to choose visual.

   Thanks.

-- 

Thanx,
Dave

  ---------------------------------------------------------------------

   Dave Shreiner                                   <shr...@sg...>
   Silicon Graphics, Inc.                            (650) 933-4899