Visual Studio Visual C++ Opengl Glut

Compiling OpenGL Applications with GLUT in Visual C++ Express Edition

If you’ve recently embarked on a journey to develop OpenGL applications using the GLUT (OpenGL Utility Toolkit), you might be wondering how to set it all up in Visual C++ Express Edition (VCEE). This blog post will guide you through the essential steps to get everything working smoothly.

The Basics: What You Need

Before we dive into the setup process, let’s establish a few prerequisites:

  1. Visual C++ Express Edition (VCEE): This is the IDE we’ll be using for our OpenGL projects. If you haven’t installed it yet, you can find it here.

  2. Microsoft Platform SDK: VCEE by default builds for the .Net platform. However, for OpenGL and GLUT, it’s essential to build for the Windows platform. If you’re using an older version of VCEE, you may need to download and install the Microsoft Platform SDK.

  3. GLUT Library: Download and unzip Nate Robin’s Windows port of GLUT.

Step-by-Step Setup Guide

Once you have all the necessary tools, follow these steps to configure VCEE for GLUT and OpenGL development:

1. Configure VCEE

Since VCEE defaults to .Net, you must configure it to build for Windows. Instructions can be found in detail here. This step is crucial for ensuring compatibility between your OpenGL projects and the programming environment.

2. Install GLUT

  • After downloading GLUT, you need to extract the files.
  • Place glut.h into your Platform SDK/include/GL/ directory. This header file contains the function declarations necessary for using GLUT.
  • Open your VCEE project.
  • Navigate to Project Properties and find Additional Linker Directories.
  • Add the directory where your glut.lib file is located. This ensures that your project can successfully link to the GLUT library.

4. Add the DLL for Runtime

  • To ensure that your applications can find the GLUT library at runtime, copy glut.dll into the Windows/System32 directory. This is a crucial step, as it allows all programs using GLUT to access it automatically when executed.

Final Thoughts

Once you have completed all the above steps, your OpenGL applications utilizing GLUT should compile without any issues in Visual C++ Express Edition. You are now set to create visually stunning applications with OpenGL and take advantage of the features provided by GLUT.

Remember, the journey of learning OpenGL and GLUT is filled with creativity and experimentation. Don’t hesitate to explore various features and functionalities these powerful tools have to offer. Happy coding!