GLFW

Introduction

GLFW is a free, Open Source, multi-platform library for OpenGL and OpenGL ES application development. It provides a simple, platform-independent API for creating windows and contexts, reading input, handling events, etc.

Version 3.1 adds improved documentation, support for custom system cursors, file drop events, main thread wake-up, window frame size retrieval, floating windows, character input with modifier keys, single buffered windows, build improvements and fixes for a large number of bugs.

If you are new to GLFW, you may find the introductory tutorial for GLFW 3 useful. If you have used GLFW 2 in the past, there is a transition guide for moving to the GLFW 3 API.

Note that a number of source files have been added or renamed in 3.1, which may require you to update any custom build files you have.

Compiling GLFW

See the Compiling GLFW guide in the GLFW documentation.

Using GLFW

See the Building programs that use GLFW guide in the GLFW documentation.

Reporting bugs

Bugs are reported to our issue tracker. Please always include the name and version of the OS where the bug occurs and the version of GLFW used. If you have cloned it, include the commit ID used.

If it's a build issue, please also include the build log and the name and version of your development environment.

If it's a context creation issue, please also include the make and model of your graphics card and the version of your driver.

This will help both us and other people experiencing the same bug.

Dependencies

GLFW bundles a number of dependencies in the deps/ directory.

• Khronos extension headers for API extension symbols used by GLFW
• getopt_port for examples with command-line options
• TinyCThread for threaded examples
• An OpenGL 3.2 core loader generated by glad for examples using modern OpenGL

Changelog

• Added GLFWcursor custom system cursor handle
• Added glfwCreateCursor, glfwCreateStandardCursor, glfwDestroyCursor and glfwSetCursor for managing system cursor images
• Added GLFWimage struct for passing 32-bit RGBA images
• Added monitor and adapter identifier access to native API
• Added glfwSetDropCallback and GLFWdropfun for receiving dropped files
• Added glfwPostEmptyEvent for allowing secondary threads to cause glfwWaitEvents to return
• Added empty test program for verifying posting of empty events
• Added glfwSetCharModsCallback for receiving character events with modifiers
• Added glfwGetWindowFrameSize for retrieving the size of the frame around the client area of a window
• Added GLFW_AUTO_ICONIFY for controlling whether full screen windows automatically iconify (and restore the previous video mode) on focus loss
• Added GLFW_DONT_CARE for indicating that any value is acceptable
• Added GLFW_DOUBLEBUFFER for controlling whether to use double buffering
• Added GLFW_CONTEXT_RELEASE_BEHAVIOR and values GLFW_ANY_RELEASE_BEHAVIOR, GLFW_RELEASE_BEHAVIOR_FLUSH and GLFW_RELEASE_BEHAVIOR_NONE for GL_KHR_context_flush_control support
• Added GLFW_INCLUDE_ES31 for including the OpenGL ES 3.1 header
• Added GLFW_FLOATING for creating always-on-top windowed mode windows
• Added GLFW_FOCUSED window hint for controlling initial input focus
• Added partial and experimental support for Wayland
• Added partial and experimental support for Mir
• Changed the window state attributes (focused, iconified and visible) to query the system directly
• Changed the default of GLFW_REFRESH_RATE to GLFW_DONT_CARE to maintain the default behavior
• Changed static library to build as position independent code for easier use from the Rust language
• Changed glfwGetCursorPos to query the system directly for all cursor modes except captured mode
• Bugfix: The debug context attribute was set from GL_ARB_debug_output even when a debug context had not been requested
• Bugfix: The particles example was not linked against the threading library
• Bugfix: The cursor was not positioned over newly created full screen windows
• Bugfix: The queried cursor position was not always up-to-date
• Bugfix: glfwExtensionSupported always failed for OpenGL ES 3.0 and later if the library was compiled for OpenGL ES
• [Cocoa] Added _GLFW_USE_RETINA to control whether windows will use the full resolution on Retina displays
• [Cocoa] Made content view subclass of NSOpenGLView
• [Cocoa] Bugfix: Using a 1x1 cursor for hidden mode caused some screen recorders to fail
• [Cocoa] Bugfix: Some Core Foundation objects were leaked during joystick enumeration and termination
• [Cocoa] Bugfix: One copy of each display name string was leaked
• [Cocoa] Bugfix: Monitor enumeration caused a segfault if no NSScreen was found for a given CGDisplay
• [Cocoa] Bugfix: Modifier key events were lost if the corresponding modifier bit field was unchanged
• [Cocoa] Bugfix: Joystick enumeration took hundreds of ms on some systems
• [Cocoa] Bugfix: The cursor was hidden when the user resized a GLFW window
• [Cocoa] Bugfix: The 10.10 Yosemite OpenGL 4.1 profile token was not used
• [Cocoa] Bugfix: The generic software OpenGL renderer could be selected under certain conditions
• [Cocoa] Bugfix: The virtual cursor jumped unpredictably when entering disabled cursor mode
• [Win32] Enabled generation of pkg-config file for MinGW
• [Win32] Removed option to require explicitly linking against winmm.dll
• [Win32] Bugfix: Failure to load winmm or its functions was not reported to the error callback
• [Win32] Bugfix: Some keys were reported based on the current layout instead of their physical location
• [Win32] Bugfix: Maximized hidden windows were restored by glfwShowWindow
• [Win32] Bugfix: Context re-creation was not triggered by sRGB hint
• [Win32] Bugfix: Full screen windows were incorrectly sized and placed on some systems
• [Win32] Bugfix: Gamma ramp functions acted on entire desktop instead of the specified monitor
• [Win32] Bugfix: The wrong incorrect physical size was returned for non-primary monitors
• [Win32] Bugfix: X-axis scroll offsets were inverted
• [Win32] Bugfix: The Optimus HPG forcing variable was not correctly exported
• [Win32] Bugfix: The iconified window state attribute was not always updated
• [Win32] Bugfix: Previously focused windows with disabled cursor mode and that had been iconified by Win+D were not visible when restored
• [Win32] Bugfix: The virtual cursor jumped unpredictably when entering disabled cursor mode
• [X11] Added run-time support for systems lacking the XKB extension
• [X11] Made GLX 1.3 the minimum supported version
• [X11] Replaced XRRGetScreenResources with XRRGetScreenResourcesCurrent for monitor property retrieval
• [X11] Bugfix: The case of finding no usable CRTCs was not detected
• [X11] Bugfix: Detection of broken Nvidia RandR gamma support did not verify that at least one CRTC was present
• [X11] Bugfix: A stale _NET_SUPPORTING_WM_CHECK root window property would cause an uncaught BadWindow error
• [X11] Bugfix: No check was made for the presence of GLX 1.3 when GLX_SGIX_fbconfig was unavailable
• [X11] Bugfix: The message type of ICCCM protocol events was not checked
• [X11] Bugfix: glfwDestroyWindow did not flush the output buffer
• [X11] Bugfix: Window frame interactions were reported as focus events
• [X11] Bugfix: Workaround for legacy Compiz caused flickering during resize
• [X11] Bugfix: The name pointer of joysticks were not cleared on disconnection
• [X11] Bugfix: Video mode resolutions and monitor physical sizes were not corrected for rotated CRTCs
• [X11] Bugfix: Unicode character input ignored dead keys
• [X11] Bugfix: X-axis scroll offsets were inverted
• [X11] Bugfix: Full screen override redirect windows were not always positioned over the specified monitor
• [X11] Bugfix: Character input did not work for the default "C" locale
• [X11] Bugfix: Joysticks connected after glfwInit were not detected (temporary inotify solution until proper libudev solution)

Contact

The official website for GLFW is glfw.org. There you can find the latest version of GLFW, as well as news, documentation and other information about the project.

If you have questions related to the use of GLFW, we have a support forum, and the IRC channel #glfw on Freenode.

If you have a bug to report, a patch to submit or a feature you'd like to request, please file it in the issue tracker on GitHub.

Finally, if you're interested in helping out with the development of GLFW or porting it to your favorite platform, we have an occasionally active developer's mailing list, or you could join us on #glfw.

Acknowledgements

GLFW exists because people around the world donated their time and lent their skills.

• Bobyshev Alexander
• artblanc
• arturo
• Matt Arsenault
• Keith Bauer
• John Bartholomew
• Niklas Behrens
• Niklas Bergström
• Doug Binks
• blanco
• Martin Capitanio
• Lambert Clara
• Andrew Corrigan
• Noel Cower
• Jarrod Davis
• Olivier Delannoy
• Paul R. Deppe
• Michael Dickens
• Jonathan Dummer
• Ralph Eastwood
• Michael Fogleman
• Gerald Franz
• GeO4d
• Marcus Geelnard
• Eloi Marín Gratacós
• Stefan Gustavson
• Sylvain Hellegouarch
• Matthew Henry
• heromyth
• Lucas Hinderberger
• Paul Holden
• Toni Jovanoski
• Arseny Kapoulkine
• Osman Keskin
• Cameron King
• Peter Knut
• Robin Leffmann
• Glenn Lewis
• Shane Liesegang
• Дмитри Малышев
• Martins Mozeiko
• Tristam MacDonald
• Hans Mackowiak
• Kyle McDonald
• David Medlock
• Jonathan Mercier
• Marcel Metz
• Kenneth Miller
• Bruce Mitchener
• Jack Moffitt
• Jeff Molofee
• Jon Morton
• Pierre Moulon
• Julian Møller
• Kamil Nowakowski
• Ozzy
• Andri Pálsson
• Peoro
• Braden Pellett
• Arturo J. Pérez
• Cyril Pichard
• Pieroman
• Jorge Rodriguez
• Ed Ropple
• Riku Salminen
• Brandon Schaefer
• Sebastian Schuberth
• Matt Sealey
• SephiRok
• Steve Sexton
• Systemcluster
• Dmitri Shuralyov
• Daniel Skorupski
• Bradley Smith
• Julian Squires
• Johannes Stein
• Justin Stoecker
• Nathan Sweet
• TTK-Bandit
• Sergey Tikhomirov
• Samuli Tuomola
• urraka
• Jari Vetoniemi
• Ricardo Vieira
• Simon Voordouw
• Torsten Walluhn
• Patrick Walton
• Jay Weisskopf
• Frank Wille
• yuriks
• Santi Zupancic
• Jonas Ådahl
• Lasse Öörni
• All the unmentioned and anonymous contributors in the GLFW community, for bug reports, patches, feedback, testing and encouragement