On Tue, 11 Jan 2000, Bernd Kreimeier wrote:
> Stephen J Baker writes:
> > In the application, you can do a glGetString(GL_RENDERER)
> > and detect that it's fallen back to software - and if you
> > don't like that - pop up a cute message and abort.
>
> I would then need Mesa to guarantee me a "Software" token
> in the string. Can do.
I think it's reasonably recognisable right now - and if it
isn't then we should make it so.
> > Some applications don't care about speed and they should
> > not be prevented from running reliably no matter what the
> > underlying renderer is.
>
> Given the performance difference between Mesa software and
> even a Voodoo Graphics board, I don't agree.
That's because you are thinking of games and such like.
For many OpenGL applications, whether you take 1 second
to compute an image or 1/100th second is of no importance.
Those applications have the right to expect OpenGL or Mesa
to 'do the right thing' on whatever hardware/software is
present.
> If a Mesa version is compiled for Glide (G400, nVidia), any
> failure to use the hardware is an error by definition.
No - it isn't. If you ask for a rendering context that the
hardware can't manage - then a software fallback is appropriate.
If I demand a 1024x800 window on a machine that happens to
have a Voodoo-1 installed on it, I should not expect my program
to die...for some applications, a software fallback is quite
acceptable. (Imagine a Chess game perhaps)
> Here is an alternative I am thinking about: the application
> measures framerate and aborts if it is less than say 5fps.
> That combined with some appropriate farewell message might
> work for our purposes.
Yep - that would make good sense.
Perhaps:
I have detected that your computer is only able to
update the image XX times per second - that's not
really fast enough for playing this game. It's
likely that hardware 3D is either not installed
or not correctly installed. Do you want to continue
at this speed?
[Yes] [No]
Steve Baker (817)619-2657 (Vox/Vox-Mail)
Raytheon Systems Inc. (817)619-2466 (Fax)
Work: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.hti.com
Home: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://web2.airmail.net/sjbaker1
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