VBOpenGL type library v1.2
Version 1.2 of the type library is a consolidation of Patrice Scribe's 'Microsoft OpenGL Type Library 1.1' and the previous versions of VBOpenGL.tlb.There are 2 sets of OpenGl dlls, one from Microsoft and one from SGI. The first file is for Microsoft, the second for SGI. Unless you have installed the SGI implementation of OpenGL, you should use the type library for the Microsoft dlls.
[What's the difference? I don't use the SGI dlls, but it is said by those who do that SGI is faster in some circumstances. Specifically, if you don't have hardware acceleration and you use textures or large screen resolutions, SGI may be dramatically faster. ALL the code on this site uses the MS implementation because SGI does not support the SGI implementation any longer. If you are beginning with OpenGL and you want to use the sample code on this site, download the type library for the MS dlls only.]
Download VBOpenGL 1.2 for Microsoft
(approx. 180K)
Download VBOpenGL 1.2 for SGI
(approx. 180K)
Installation:
Expand the zip file and move 'vbogl.tlb' to a directory where you intend to leave it. You must register the type library before you can use it. You can do this with regsvr32.exe, or by running VB and adding a reference to the type library by selecting 'Project | References...', then 'Browse', then the tlb file. You will then be able to use the Object Browser to examine the library and call OpenGL functions from code.
Both of the type libraries above include a lot of declarations of Win32 functions. If you already use another Win32 type library and want to use just the OpenGL modules, you can download the following version, which is the same as the above Microsoft type library, but with the Win32 modules removed. Note that to use glxCtl and all the samples on this site you should use one of the type libraries above, not this one - otherwise you will have to add API declarations to all the sample code. Note also that this version is for the MS dlls.
VBOpenGL 1.2 - OpenGL only
(approx. 90K)
About GLUT:
The type library includes declarations for GLUT 3.6. You can for example call glutWireSphere and VB will load glut and you will get a wire sphere. However, I neglected to do an SGI-specific version of GLUT, so if you use the SGI type libraries, beware of this. If you need GLUT functionality, it would generally be better to consult the GLUT source code and port it to VB than to load GLUT, but that's just my opinion.
About Type Libraries:
A type library effectively adds any dll to the native VB language. If you want to see the code for this or any other type library, you can run the latest version of OLEView, included in the SDK tools. It will re-generate the source code from the type library. You can use type libraries to '#include' 3rd party dlls and even VB code - see the 'StereoView' sample for an example.
Please send suggestions, bug reports, and such to:
edx@hk.super.net