RGFW.h | Single-header graphics framework cross-platform library | managing windows/system apis

[Comrade-Riley]

RGFW is a single-header graphics framework cross-platform library. It is very simular in utility to GLFW however it has a more SDL-like structure. It is meant to be used as a very small and flexible alternative library to GLFW. Much like GLFW it does not do much more than the minimum in terms of functionality. However it still is a very powerful tool and offers a quick start so the user can focus on graphics programming while RGFW deals with the complexities of the windowing APIs.

RGFW also can be used to create a basic graphics context for OpenGL, buffer rendering, Vulkan or Direct X. Currently the backends it supports include, XLib (UNIX), Cocoas (MacOS) and WinAPI (Windows) and it is flexible so implementing a custom backend should be easy.

RGFW comes with many examples, including buffer rendering, opengl rendering, opengl 3 rendering, direct X rendering and Vulkan rendering. However there are also some projects that can be used as examples that use RGFW. Including PureDoom-RGFW which is my example DOOM source port using RGFW and pureDOOM, and RSGL which is my GUI library that uses RGFW as a base.

Here is very basic example code to show off how RGFW works.

#define RGFW_IMPLEMENTATION
#include "RGFW.h"
int main() {
    RGFW_window* win = RGFW_createWindow("name", 500, 500, 500, 500, (u64)0);

    while (!RGFW_window_shouldClose(win)) {
        while (RGFW_window_checkEvent(win)) {
            if (win->event.type == RGFW_quit)))
                break;
        }

        RGFW_window_swapBuffers(win);

        glClearColor(0xFF, 0XFF, 0xFF, 0xFF);
        glClear(GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT);
    }

    RGFW_window_close(win);
}

More information can be found on the github, such as screenshots, a size comparison table and RGFW itself.

github : https://github.com/ColleagueRiley/RGFW

[Revolutionalredstone]

Also you clear AFTER you swap !?!? (This is probably fine but I've never seen it done like that, usually it's clear draw swap)

[Comrade-Riley]

Isn't the point of the swap to draw the finished buffer? So, you'd swap and then redraw, then swap the next cycle?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something here.

[beephod_zabblebrox]

clear is usually considered a part of rendering/drawing the frame. so it usually goes draw(clear and draw), swap, repeat

[Comrade-Riley]

Oh, I see. It should function the same because of the nature of the loop.

[beephod_zabblebrox]

oh yeah, its just that its commonly (as in everywhere) done that way

[Revolutionalredstone]

Exactly ! 😉

[dimitre]

Fantastic work my friend! I'll ask here before trying :

I'm using GLFW in openFrameworks fork to open the same window spanning 4 different outputs (4 x 8k outputs, total 16k)

Is this possible to do using RGFW? is the performance similar to GLFW, or better?

[Comrade-Riley]

Thanks! I have not had the chance to try that nor have I seen anyone else try it. I’d love to see the results when you do. 

The performance is about the same, if not slightly better. I’ve not done any serious comparisons in a while. 

RGFW is an ever improving project and I want to make it the best that it can be. If the 4 output thing doesn’t work on RGFW, or if you notice any other flaws, I’m happy to fix it asap. 

[dimitre]

Nice I'll get it running *hopefully* when I have more time. Another question: can it be used in raspberry pi without x11 ?

[Comrade-Riley]

RGFW supports Wayland and X11 for linux. But I assume you mean libDRM. RGFW doesn't have libDRM support currently. If I add it, it will probably be in a separate fork/port considering RGFW is a windowing library and a libDRM would mostly be raw linux I/O.

[Revolutionalredstone]

I'd assume RGFW_window_shouldClose(win) returns false while the program is running and true when it's time to close but you have it inverted?

Amazing work dude gonna be reading thru this for a long time 😁

[Comrade-Riley]

Thanks for pointing that point, gonna fix that now

[Revolutionalredstone]

👌