Pegl 0.1a4_1.4

Python 3 wrapper for the EGL API

Pegl is a binding to EGL 1.4, written in native Python 3 through the ctypes library. It provides comprehensive access to EGL functions, while offering a very Pythonic API.

EGL is a specification from the Khronos Group that provides an intermediate layer between other Khronos specifications (OpenGL, OpenGL ES, OpenVG), called “client APIs”, and the native graphics system. EGL can supply an implicit rendering context for each of the client APIs, as well as features like surfaces and buffering.

Pegl wraps EGL version 1.4. It is unlikely to be backwards compatible with previous versions of the specification.

Roadmap

The current Pegl version is 0.1a4_1.4. As an alpha version, care should be taken before making use of the library; it wraps the complete EGL API and all intended extensions, but it is very much untested.

Pegl version numbers are in this format:

w.x_y.z

where w.x represents the major/minor Pegl release (including alpha, beta or release candidate status, if appropriate), and y.z represents the EGL version being wrapped.

0.x series

Releases in this series will provide a wrapper that is Pythonic, but still fairly low-level, and the API is not guaranteed to be stable.

1.x series

Once the basic Pegl functionality is tested and considered usable, I will aim to improve the API, so that an EGL environment can be set up with a minimum of code. When I’m happy with the results, version numbers will be bumped up to 1.x, and some assurance of API stability will be given.

License

Pegl is free software, released under the GNU GPLv3. See the file COPYING and individual source files for the full license terms.

Use

A typical use case might feature these steps:

1. Create a Display instance (pegl.display).

2. Import whatever attribute objects (pegl.attribs) you need to express your requirements

3. Get a Config instance (pegl.config) to match your requirements.

4. Bind the client API you want to use (pegl.context).

5. Get a Context instance (pegl.context) and/or a Surface instance (pegl.surface), as necessary.

6. Do your work in the client API.

7. Repeat from step 4 to mix different client APIs in the one application.

Sample code for steps 1 to 5 might look like this:

>>> import pegl
>>> from pegl.attribs.config import ClientAPIs, CBufferTypes
>>> from pegl.attribs.context import ContextAPIs
>>> dpy = pegl.display.Display()
>>> conf = pegl.config.get_configs(dpy,
...                                {'RENDERABLE_TYPE': ClientAPIs(OPENVG=1),
...                                 'COLOR_BUFFER_TYPE': CBufferTypes.RGB})[0]
>>> pegl.context.bind_api(ContextAPIs.OPENVG)
>>> ctx = pegl.context.Context(dpy, conf)
>>> surf = pegl.surface.PbufferSurface(dpy, conf, {'WIDTH': 640,
...                                                'HEIGHT': 480})
>>> ctx.make_current(draw_surface=surf)

The Library

The main Pegl package, pegl, contains six modules and two subpackages. The top-level package namespace also holds all exception types, plus a few constants and utility functions.

pegl.attribs

The attribs subpackage divides the many EGL attributes into modules according to the object type to which they apply. These modules contain various named tuples and classes, providing namespaces by which the attributes are grouped and given symbolic names. Import the ones you need, as you need them.

pegl.config

The config module revolves around the Config class, which represents a set of EGL configuration options. You will want to obtain a Config that matches your application requirements (color depth, APIs supported, etc.) by calling get_configs() and using one of the configurations it returns. EGL sorts the configurations so that you will usually get the best match by choosing the first result.

pegl.context

The context module chiefly features the Context class and the functions bind_api() and bound_api(). Once you have a configuration, you will usually want to bind an API and then create a Context instance with your Display and Config.

pegl.display

An EGL display is not merely a representation of a physical screen; it is the basic environment of all EGL operations, and holds details of the EGL implementation itself. The display module has a Display class that handles all of these functions. Creating a Display instance will usually be the first step when using EGL.

pegl.ext

A large selection of EGL extensions are given wrappers in the ext subpackage. All non-draft extensions in the EGL Registry as of March 2014 [1] are supported, except for the following:

Ext #	Name string	Reason
1	EGL_KHR_config_attribs	Now part of core EGL.
17	EGL_NV_coverage_sample	NVIDIA proprietary.
18	EGL_NV_depth_nonlinear
24	EGL_HI_clientpixmap	Underspecified; specifically, EGL_CLIENT_PIXMAP_POINTER_HI is undefined.
25	EGL_HI_colorformats	Seems pointless without the above. Also, its enum values are missing from eglenum.spec.
30	EGL_NV_coverage_sample_resolve	NVIDIA proprietary.
46	EGL_NV_3dvision_surface
61	EGL_KHR_get_all_proc_addresses and EGL_KHR_client_get_ etc.	Would involve an architectural change to the native module.

In addition, some extensions that are not officially registered, but are widely available through the Mesa library, are supported by Pegl:

• EGL_NOK_swap_region

• EGL_WL_bind_wayland_display

[1]

Extension numbers 1 to 6, 8 to 10, 16 to 20, and 23 to 66.

pegl.native

The native module provides the wrapper around the functions in the native EGL library, as well as error checking wrapped around them. It is generally not necessary to access this module in your own applications.

pegl.surface

The surface module has classes for the different types of rendering surface that EGL supports: on-screen surfaces bound to native windows (WindowSurface), off-screen surfaces bound to pixel buffers (PbufferSurface), and surfaces that render to native pixmap objects (PixmapSurface).

pegl.sync

The sync module wraps the small number of core EGL synchronization functions that help ensure that native and client rendering calls do not interfere with one another. More advanced synchronization features are available in extensions (pegl.ext.khr_sync, pegl.ext.nv_sync).