Printing OpenGL in MFC

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I have seen a number of OpenGL view classes in various magazines.
NONE of them addressed printing. Sigh.

So, suppose you have an OpenGL view class with member data storing
the HGLRC and CDC (which are required for an OpenGL-enabled window):

class COpenGLView : public CView {
	...
protected:
	CDC *m_pDC;
	HGLRC m_hRC;
	...
};

In your OnCreate override, you will create these:

int COpenGLView::OnCreate(LPCREATESTRUCT lpCreateStruct) {
	if (CView::OnCreate (lpCreateStruct) == -1) return (-1);
	m_pDC = new CClientDC (this);
	if (m_pDC == NULL) return (-1);
	//  Set the DC's pixel format...
	if (!SetDCPixelFormat (m_pDC)) return (-1);
	m_hRC = wglCreateContext (m_pDC->GetSafeHdc ());
	if (!wglMakeCurrent (m_pDC->GetSafeHdc (), m_hRC)) return (-1);
	glClearColor (1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f);
	glClearDepth (1.0);
	return (0);
}

Notice that I call wglMakeCurrent () here. Some authors do it at the
beginning of OnDraw (). That is probably because their code didn’t work without it!
Bear in mind that wglMakeCurrent () makes a specific window instance
the current OpenGL window. In an MDI, with two documents open, you need
to make sure that each view instance makes its own window current before
drawing into it. Therefore, calling wglMakeCurrent () in OnCreate () is
not enough — otherwise after the second view is created, all subsequent
OpenGL calls in the first view will get rendered in the second!

Many authors call wglMakeCurrent () at the beginning of the view’s OnDraw()
method — resist the temptation! Here is (roughly) my COpenGLView::OnPrint():

void COpenGLView::OnPrint(CDC* pDC, CPrintInfo* pInfo) {
	//  Let's not worry for now about print preview...
	if (pInfo->m_bPreview) return;  //  or print a message to preview
	window...

		UINT CurPage = pInfo->m_nCurPage;
	GLsizei HRes = pDC->GetDeviceCaps(HORZRES);
	GLsizei VRes = pDC->GetDeviceCaps(VERTRES);
	GLsizei HPixelsPerInch = pDC->GetDeviceCaps(LOGPIXELSX);
	GLsizei VPixelsPerInch = pDC->GetDeviceCaps(LOGPIXELSY);
	pDC->SetMapMode (MM_TEXT);
	// m_LMargin, etc are margins, in inches...
	GLint l = (GLint) (m_LMargin*HPixelsPerInch);
	GLint r = (GLint) (m_RMargin*HPixelsPerInch);
	GLint t = (GLint) (m_TMargin*VPixelsPerInch);
	GLint b = (GLint) (m_BMargin*VPixelsPerInch);
	//  Image width and height...
	GLsizei w = HRes - l - r;
	GLsizei h = VRes - t - b;
	//  Probably don't need this...
	int SavedDC = pDC->SaveDC ();
	if (CurPage == 1) {
		//  Save the current OpenGL settings...
		HDC   hDCOld   = wglGetCurrentDC ();
		HGLRC hGLRCOld = wglGetCurrentContext ();
		//  Make the printer the current
		//  OpenGL rendering device...
		HGLRC hGLRCPrinter = wglCreateContext (pDC->GetSafeHdc ());
		BOOL bRet = wglMakeCurrent (pDC->GetSafeHdc (), hGLRCPrinter);

		ASSERT (bRet);
		glClearColor (1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f);
		glClearDepth (1.0);
		//  This makes a square image...
		if (w < h) h = w;
		if (h < w) w = h;
		//  This centers the images...
		l = (HRes - w)/2;
		b = (VRes - h)/2;
		//
		glViewport(l, b, w, h);
		OnDraw (pDC);
		//  Go back to the saved OpenGL settings...
		wglMakeCurrent (hDCOld, hGLRCOld);
		wglDeleteContext(hGLRCPrinter);
	}
	//  Probably don't need this...
	if (SavedDC != 0) pDC->RestoreDC (SavedDC);
}

Notice that OnPrint () calls OnDraw (). If in OnDraw () you were
to call wglMakeCurrent (), you would no longer be printing…you
would be redrawing the view! It should also be noted that setting
and restoring the current OpenGL device can be done in OnBeginPrinting ()
and OnEndPrinting (); for simplicity, I have put all the code here.

So, now printing OpenGL is simple. Let’s go back to drawing…

In order to make sure your drawing goes to the correct window, you
need to call wglMakeCurrent from SOMEWHERE OTHER THAN OnDraw ().
But where? The candidates are OnActivateView () and OnUpdate ().

Some of the time, calling it in an override of OnActivateView ()
might be enough. However, there is one scenario where
this will not be enough: MDI apps when you have created a second
CMDIChildWnd frame via the New Window item in the Window menu. This
creates additional views into the same document. Now you can have
the situation where the active view does something which causes the
document to call UpdateAllViews (), which calls the inactive view’s
OnUpdate () method, which will draw into the wrong window!

Alternatively, you can override OnUpdate (), and call wglMakeCurrent ()
there. You might be tempted to do this:

void COpenGLView::OnUpdate (CView* pSender, LPARAM lHint, CObject* pHint) {
	wglMakeCurrent (m_pDC->GetSafeHdc (), m_hRC);
	CView::OnUpdate (pSender, lHint, pHint);
}

Unfortunately, this won’t work all the time. CView::OnUpdate ()
simply invalidates the view’s window, which generates a WM_PAINT
message. This WM_PAINT is queued up, and handled at some later
time…in particular, possibly after calling another view’s
OnUpdate () method (that is, after another window has been made
the current OpenGL rendering device). There is only one conclusion:
you must call OnDraw () directly from OnUpdate () (and don’t call
the base class CView::OnUpdate ()). There are, of course,
performance issues, but I generally ignore them.

Therefore, I usually override both methods: OnActivateView () and
OnUpdate (), and I call wglMakeCurrent () in both. However, in
OnUpdate (), I save and restore the current settings at the
beginning and end of the method (just like in OnPrint ()). This
is not necessary in OnActivateView ().

void COpenGLView::OnActivateView(BOOL bActivate,
								 CView* pActivateView, CView* pDeactiveView) {
	CView::OnActivateView(bActivate, pActivateView, pDeactiveView);
	if (bActivate) {
		wglMakeCurrent (m_pDC->GetSafeHdc (), m_hRC);
	}
}
void COpenGLView::OnUpdate (CView* pSender, LPARAM lHint, CObject* pHint) {
	//  Save the current OpenGL settings...
	HDC   hDCOld   = wglGetCurrentDC ();
	HGLRC hGLRCOld = wglGetCurrentContext ();
	//  Make this view the current OpenGL rendering context...
	BOOL bRet = wglMakeCurrent (m_pDC, m_hRC);
	//  Draw!!!
	OnDraw (m_pDC);
	//  Go back to the saved OpenGL settings...
	wglMakeCurrent (hDCOld, hGLRCOld);
	wglDeleteContext(hGLRCPrinter);
}

The reason to return to the previous settings in OnUpdate () is
fairly subtle. Suppose you didn’t, and the last view to be
redrawn was not the active view. Suppose you then handled a
mouse event in the active view, and you called one of the
OpenGL calls that translated the mouse point into an (x,y,z)
coordinate. It would translate it based upon the current
OpenGL settings (ie. viewport, rotations, scalings, etc).
If the two views were not identical, you would end up with
improper translations. Since I use the mouse to translate,
scale, etc, this is very important! In any case, by setting
the current context in OnActivate (), and restoring the
previous settings at the end of OnUpdate (), the active
view is the current OpenGL context when the next (mouse or
other) event occurs.

Now for print preview: I dunno! I tried to do it, but it
did not work. I basically could not get the CDC configured
to handle OpenGL. I don’t know WHAT I was doing wrong. If
anyone can get it working correctly, please, PLEASE let me
know. It bugs the snot out of me!

In summary, I have tried to not only show the main printing
solution, but have also tried to explain in detail some of the
subtle problems that show up. Hopefully, the discussion will
give you a better understanding of the issues involved, so that
if you run into other OpenGL problems, you will be better
equipped to deal with them.

John Wagner
Institute of Theoretical Dynamics
UC Davis


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