Name

    EXT_scene_marker

Name Strings

    GL_EXT_scene_marker
    GLX_EXT_scene_marker

Version

    $Date: 1997/09/08 21:31:59 $ $Revision: 1.4 $

Number

    120

Dependencies

    OpenGL 1.1 is required.

Overview

    This extension provides BeginScene/EndScene markers to allow buffering
    and sorting of the OpenGL command sequence needed to construct and
    entire frame. Scene markers are useful for region (aka tile) rendering
    architectures, in which all of the geometry for a region a window must
    be known before any can be rasterized. It may also be applicable to
    other architectures requiring a scene database, such as scanline depth
    buffers.

Issues

    *  Region architectures usually generate only a color buffer. Depth,
       stencil, and other ancillary buffers, if they exist, are instantiated
       only for the screen region being rasterized at any given time, and
       are not retained after all geometry for that region has been
       processed. As a consequence, ancillary buffers are usually
       inaccessible via Read/Copy/Draw operations. Implementations may
       choose to relax this restriction.

    *  State changes affecting primitives are buffered and may need to be
       processed for every screen region. This makes "large" state changes,
       such as DrawPixels or TexImage2D, likely to be prohibitively
       expensive within a scene.

    *  State queries within a scene may also be very expensive, if they are
       deferred to hardware which normally would not process them until
       EndSceneEXT. As with large state changes, it seems preferable to
       allow state queries within a scene, but document that they may be
       costly.

    *  Initial buffer state after BeginSceneEXT is undefined, forcing the
       application to overwrite all pixels. This implies that multiple
       scenes may not be merged into a single visible frame without software
       intervention to read back and combine scenes.

    *  SCENE_REQUIRED_EXT is a property of the visual or pixel format,
       rather than an Enable. Making it an Enable would probably force a
       switch between hardware and software paths.

    *  2D (X or GDI or Quickdraw) rendering is probably only allowed after
       EndSceneEXT, to prevent synchronization issues. It's unclear how to
       phrase this in the spec, however.

    *  Reads and copies between BeginSceneEXT and EndSceneEXT are made
       illegal, since there are many sensible interpretations of what the
       buffer contents might be during this period.

    *  Add mechanism to allow out-of-order rendering, etc.

        No.

New Procedures and Functions

    void BeginSceneEXT(void);
    void EndSceneEXT(void);

New Tokens

    Accepted by the <attribList> parameter of glXChooseVisual, and by the
    <attrib> parameter of glXGetConfig:

        GLX_SCENE_REQUIRED_EXT

    Accepted by the <pname> parameters of GetBooleanv, GetIntegerv,
    GetFloatv, and GetDoublev:

        SCENE_REQUIRED_EXT

Additions to Chapter 2 of the 1.1 Specification (OpenGL Operation)

    None

Additions to Chapter 3 of the 1.1 Specification (Rasterization)

    None

Additions to Chapter 4 of the 1.1 Specification (Per-Fragment Operations
and the Frame buffer)

Additions to Chapter 5 of the 1.1 Specification (Special Functions)

    <Insert before Section 5.6 Hints>

    5.5.5 Scene Markers

    Some OpenGL implementations may benefit from having delimiters which
    mark the start and end of a command sequence which draws an entire
    scene. These implementations may process commands in such a way that it
    is impractical to allow certain commands such as reading the color
    buffer to occur during the course of rendering the scene. When
    SCENE_REQUIRED_EXT is TRUE, OpenGL command processing is modified as
    follows:

    A scene is started by issuing the command BeginSceneEXT; the contents of
    the selected color, stencil, and depth buffers are undefined after
    BeginSceneEXT. A scene is marked complete by issuing the command
    EndSceneEXT. BeginSceneEXT and EndSceneEXT must be matched and do not
    nest.

    When issued between BeginSceneEXT and the corresponding EndSceneEXT, the
    commands ReadPixels, CopyPixels, CopyTexImage, CopyTexSubImage,
    DrawBuffer, Accum, Flush, and Finish generate an INVALID_OPERATION
    error.

    A ReadPixels or CopyPixels call requesting stencil, alpha, or depth
    values may generate an INVALID_OPERATION error if the implementation
    does not store those buffers in a form visible to the application.

    When outside of a BeginSceneEXT/EndSceneEXT sequence, the fragments
    generated from the command DrawPixels and from geometry issued during a
    Begin/End sequence have an undefined effect on the color and ancillary
    buffers, but their changes to OpenGL state are processed as normal. All
    other commands are unaffected.

    When SCENE_REQUIRED_EXT is FALSE, BeginSceneEXT and EndSceneEXT have no
    effect, and none of the restrictions above are in force.

Additions to Chapter 6 of the 1.1 Specification (State and State Requests)

    None

Additions to the GLX Specification

    The parameter GLX_SCENE_REQUIRED_EXT is added to glXGetConfig. When
    queried, by calling glXGetConfig with <attrib> set to
    GLX_SCENE_REQUIRED_EXT, it returns True if the visual requires scene
    markers. For a normal visual, the return value is False.

    glXChooseVisual accepts GLX_SCENE_REQUIRED_EXT in <attribList>. Visuals
    that require scene markers are preferred.

GLX Protocol

    XXX - not done yet

Additions to WGL

    The flag PFD_SCENE_REQUIRED_EXT is added to ChoosePixelFormat, to allow
    selecting a pixel format which requires scene markers.

    XXX - not done yet (no extension query mechanism for WGL at present).

Errors

    INVALID_OPERATION if BeginSceneEXT or EndSceneEXT is issued between
    execution of Begin and the corresponding execution of End.

    INVALID_OPERATION if BeginSceneEXT is issued between execution of
    BeginSceneEXT and the corresponding execution of EndSceneEXT or
    EndSceneEXT is issued when no BeginSceneEXT preceded it.

    INVALID_OPERATION if ReadPixels, CopyPixels, CopyTexImage,
    CopyTexSubImage, DrawBuffer, Accum, Flush, or Finish is issued between
    execution of BeginSceneEXT and the corresponding execution of
    EndSceneEXT.

    INVALID_OPERATION if ReadPixels or CopyPixels is issued requesting
    alpha, stencil, or depth components, and the implementation does not
    store those buffers in a form visible to the application.

New State

    Get Value           Get Command     Type    Initial Value   Attribute
    ---------           -----------     ----    -------------   ---------
    SCENE_REQUIRED_EXT  GetBooleanv     B       -               -

New Implementation Dependent State

    None

Revision History

Changes due to IHV feedback, revision 1.3, September 2, 1997 (ljp)

    Made scene_marker a property of the visual or pixel format, rather than
    an enable. Made DrawBuffer within a scene, or ReadPixels/CopyPixels of
    depth or stencil, illegal.