SharpGL

Unlock the power of OpenGL in any .NET application. SharpGL wraps all modern OpenGL features, provides helpful wrappers for advanced objects like Vertex Buffer Arrays and shaders, as well as offering a powerful Scene Graph and utility library to help you build your projects.

Check out the Samples, they're a great place to start learning how to use SharpGL.

• Getting Started
• Compatibility
• Developer Guide
  • Build Pipelines
  • Releasing
• Sample Applications
  • WinForms - Ducky Sample
  • WinForms - Extensions Sample
  • WinForms - Hit Test Sample
  • WinForms - Modern OpenGL Sample
  • WinForms - Native Textures Sample
  • WinForms - Particle Systems Sample
  • WinForms - Polygon Loading
  • WinForms - Radial Blue
  • WinForms - Render Contexts Sample
  • WinForms - Render Trigger Sample
  • WinForms - Scene Sample
  • WinForms - SharpGL Textures Sample
  • WinForms - Simple Drawing Sample
  • WPF - Cel Shading Sample
  • WPF - Drawing Mechanisms Sample
  • WPF - FastGL
  • WPF - Object Loading Sample
  • WPF - Simple Shader Sample
  • WPF - Tea Pot Sample
  • WPF - Text Rendering Sample
  • WPF - Two Dimensional Rendering Sample
• Documentation
• SharpGL Visual Studio Extensions
• Credits, Sponsorship & Thanks
• Built with SharpGL

Getting Started

SharpGL is made up of a number of packages, you can install whichever package or packages you need!

Package	Link	Overview
SharpGL		All OpenGL functions wrapped and ready to execute, as well as all OpenGL extensions.
SharpGL.SceneGraph		The SceneGraph library contains a full class library which models key 3D entities.
SharpGL.Serialization		The Serialization library contains utilities to load data from Discreet, Wavefront and Caligari file formats.
SharpGL.WPF		SharpGL for WPF includes the Core as well as OpenGL controls to drop into your WPF app.
SharpGL.WinForms		SharpGL for WinForms includes the Core as well as OpenGL controls to drop into your WinForms app.

Install SharpGL packages with NuGet, either by using the Package Explorer or the Package Manager tool, e.g:

PM> Install-Package SharpGL

Compatibility

SharpGL has built in support for OpenGL support, newer functions can be loaded on demand as needed. The table below shows the compatibility across frameworks and platforms.

OpenGL

Currently SharpGL has built in bindings for OpenGL 4.0 - functions from later versions can be loaded at runtime as needed.

Framework Compatibility

All components support the .NET Framework 4.0 onwards, .NET Core 3.0 onwards and .NET Standard 2.1 onwards. Some components also support earlier versions.

Component	.NET Framework	.NET Core	.NET Standard
SharpGL	4.0+	2.0+	2.0+
SharpGL.SceneGraph	4.0+	2.0+	2.0+
SharpGL.Serialization	4.0+	2.0+	2.0+
SharpGL.WinForms	4.0+	3.0+	2.1+
SharpGL.WPF	4.0+	3.0+	2.1+

Platform Compatibility

Compatibility across platforms is supported via framework specific components.

Platform	Support
WinForms on Microsoft Windows	✅ via SharpGL.WinForms
WPF on Microsoft Windows	✅ via SharpGL.WPF
UWP on Microsoft Windows	❌ Work in Progress
Xamarin on Microsoft Windows	❌ Work in Progress
Xamarin on MacOS	❌ Work in Progress
Xamarin on Linux	❌ Work in Progress

Legacy Versions

The Visual Studio 2017 version of the codebase, which supports the .NET Framework only, is available on the release/2.x branch. However, this branch will not be maintained going forwards. The current mainline still supports the .NET Framework.

Developer Guide

To build the code, clone the repo and open the SharpGL, Samples or Tools solution. The Extensions solution is used for the Visual Studio Project Templates and requires additional components - you can find out more on the Wiki on the 'Developing SharpGL' page.

You can also use the following scripts to run the processes:

Script	Notes
config.ps1	Ensure your machine can run builds by installing necessary components such as nunit. Should only need to be run once.
build.ps1	Build all solutions. Ensures that we build both 32/64 bit versions of native components.
test.ps1	Run all tests, including those in samples.
coverage.ps1	Create a coverage report. Reports are written to ./artifacts/coverage
pack.ps1	Create all of the SharpGL NuGet packages, which are copied to ./artifacts/packages.

These scripts will generate various artifacts which may be useful to review:

artifacts\
  \tests                  # NUnit Test Reports
  \coverage               # Coverage Reports
  \packages               # NuGet Packages

Build Pipelines

Test the main build pipeline with act:

# Install act. See: https://github.com/nektos/act
brew install act

# Run the main pipeline to test release please
act -j main -s GITHUB_TOKEN=<token>

Releasing

To make and publish a release:

1. Update the *.csproj files with the new version number
2. Create the version tag (e.g. git tag v3.2.1)
3. Push the code and tags (e.g. git push --follow-tags)

AppVeyor will automatically push the release to NuGet and GitHub.

Sample Applications

There are a large number of sample applications that show how to use SharpGL. Check out the 'Samples' solution to see the samples that are available.

WinForms - Ducky Sample

This sample shows how to load an object file with materials, using the Serialization library. It also has great support for internationalization (thanks odalet)!

This sample demonstrates:

• Loading *.obj files and associated materials
• Building polygons from *.obj files
• Arcball rotation

Note that this sample uses immediate mode OpenGL, which is officially deprecated.

WinForms - Extensions Sample

This sample shows how to use OpenGL extensions. It demonstrates this by using the 'bump map' extensions.

Note that this sample uses immediate mode OpenGL, which is officially deprecated.

WinForms - Hit Test Sample

This sample shows how to use to perform hit testing with SharpGL. It uses the Scene Graph to support this.

Note that this sample uses immediate mode OpenGL, which is officially deprecated.

WinForms - Modern OpenGL Sample

This sample shows how to use modern OpenGL capabilities which are Shader based, by showing a vertex and fragment shader.

WinForms - Native Textures Sample

This sample shows how to load textures into OpenGL using pure OpenGL functions. However, the Texture object from the SceneGraph will be much easier to use!

Note that this sample uses immediate mode OpenGL, which is officially deprecated.

WinForms - Particle Systems Sample

This sample shows how to build a simple particle system with OpenGL.

Note that this sample uses immediate mode OpenGL, which is officially deprecated.

WinForms - Polygon Loading

This sample shows how to load polygon data with the Scene Graph and Serialization libraries.

Note that this sample uses immediate mode OpenGL, which is officially deprecated.

WinForms - Radial Blue

This sample shows how to use a Radial Blur effect in OpenGL.

Note that this sample uses immediate mode OpenGL, which is officially deprecated.

WinForms - Render Contexts Sample

This sample demonstrates the different types of render contexts which are available, and how they affect performance and the extensions available.

WinForms - Render Trigger Sample

This sample shows different ways to render; either on a timer or on demand.

WinForms - Scene Sample

This sample demonstrates the Scene Graph which can be used to manage and render geometry.

Note that this sample uses immediate mode OpenGL, which is officially deprecated.

WinForms - SharpGL Textures Sample

This sample demonstrates how textures can be loaded using the SharpGL Textures object, which greatly simplifies texture management.

Note that this sample uses immediate mode OpenGL, which is officially deprecated.

WinForms - Simple Drawing Sample

This sample demonstrates the most basic form of simple drawing in OpenGL.

Note that this sample uses immediate mode OpenGL, which is officially deprecated.

WPF - Cel Shading Sample

This sample demonstrates how to use shaders to create a cel-shaing effect.

WPF - Drawing Mechanisms Sample

This sample demonstrates how to use shaders to create a cel-shaing effect.

WPF - FastGL

This sample demonstrates how to use NV_DX_interop(2) to accelerate drawing using DirectX.

WPF - Object Loading Sample

This sample demonstrates how to load objects in a WPF OpenGL project.

WPF - Simple Shader Sample

This sample shows how to use a simple shader.

WPF - Tea Pot Sample

This sample shows how to quickly and easily render geometry.

WPF - Text Rendering Sample

This sample shows how to render 3D and 2D text.

WPF - Two Dimensional Rendering Sample

This sample shows how to do simple 2D render, with a visual like an old Windows Screen-Saver.

Documentation

All documentation is available on the Wiki.

SharpGL Visual Studio Extensions

There are project templates available for SharpGL WinForms and WPF projects - just search for SharpGL on the Visual Studio Extensions gallery, or get the extensions directly:

• SharpGL for Visual Studio 2010
• SharpGL for Visual Studio 2012/2013

Please be aware that these extensions have not been maintained over time and I am looking for support in maintaining them.

Credits, Sponsorship & Thanks

SharpGL is written and maintained by me. Special thanks go to the following contributors:

• robinsedlaczek - Code and documentation updates, tireless patience while I get through a backlog of work!
• odalet - amazing work on internationalization and making the serialization code work in all locales

NDepend

SharpGL is proudly sponsored by NDepend! Find out more at www.NDepend.com.

Red Gate

Many thanks to Red Gate who have kindly provided SharpGL with a copy of their superb .NET Developer Bundle

JetBrains

Thanks for JetBrains for sponsoring SharpGL with Resharper!

Built with SharpGL

If you've got a project that uses SharpGL and you'd like to show it off, just add the details here in a PR!

Open Vogel

Checkout https://sites.google.com/site/gahvogel/ to see a free, open source project which supports aerodynamics!

AgOpenGPS

This is the very first open source Precision Agricultural App! Built by Brian Tischler, you can see the discussions and excitement on this project with farmers across the world!