Creating a Window with Raftel Engine

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a simple window using Raftel Engine. This is the first step in building any graphical application with the engine.

Previous: Introduction Next: Drawing a Triangle

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

Raftel Engine installed on your system
A basic understanding of C++ programming
A compatible C++ development environment

Creating a Window

Step 1: Include Required Headers

Start by including the Raftel window system header in your program:

Including Required Headers

#include "raftel/window.hpp"

Step 2: Initialize the Window System

Create an instance of the window system:

Initializing Window System

auto windowSystemOpt = Raftel::WindowSystem::make();

The Window System

The WindowSystem class manages the platform-specific window functionality. It must be created before any windows can be created.

Step 3: Create a Window

Using the window system, create a new window with a title:

Creating a Window

auto windowOpt = Raftel::Window::make("WindowTest", *windowSystemOpt);
if (!windowOpt) {
  std::cerr << "Can't create window\n";
  return -1;
}

Error Handling

Always check if the window was created successfully. The make method returns an optional that contains the window instance if successful.

Step 4: Set the Window Context

Before rendering anything, set the window as the current OpenGL context:

Setting Context

windowOpt->MakeContextCurrent();

Step 5: Create the Main Render Loop

Create a loop that keeps the window open until the user closes it:

Main Render Loop

while (!windowOpt->ShouldClose()) {
  windowOpt->clear();
  windowOpt->swapBuffers();
}

The Render Loop

The render loop performs the following operations:

ShouldClose(): Checks if the window should close (e.g., if the user clicked the close button)
clear(): Clears the window's color and depth buffers
swapBuffers(): Swaps the front and back buffers to display the rendered frame

Complete Example

Here's the complete code for creating a window with Raftel Engine:

Complete Code

#include "raftel/window.hpp"

int main(void) {
  auto windowSystemOpt = Raftel::WindowSystem::make();
  auto windowOpt = Raftel::Window::make("WindowTest", *windowSystemOpt);
  if (!windowOpt) {
      std::cerr << "Can't create window\n";
      return -1;
  }

  windowOpt->MakeContextCurrent();
  while (!windowOpt->ShouldClose()) {
      windowOpt->clear();
      windowOpt->swapBuffers();
  }

  return 0;
}

Next Steps

Now that you've created a window, you can proceed to the next tutorial to learn how to render basic shapes:

Drawing a Triangle

Learn how to render a simple triangle using vertices and shaders.

Handling Input

Discover how to capture and respond to user input through the keyboard and mouse.

Previous: Introduction Next: Drawing a Triangle

For complete API details, see the Window Class Reference in the API documentation.