Is SDL Renderer useless if I use opengl for drawing?

Question

I'm am learning SDL2, but I am also using the imgui library that is using OpenGL calls. From what I read on various blogs online, I can't easily mix SDL2 renderer and opengl calls; I either use one or the other.

Most of the tutorials I've read use the renderer, so I do not quite understand how to use SDL2 without the renderer for drawing primitives, or drawing sprites.

Take this for example: http://lazyfoo.net/tutorials/SDL/11_clip_rendering_and_sprite_sheets/index.php

He creates the sdl renderer:

gRenderer = SDL_CreateRenderer( gWindow, -1, SDL_RENDERER_ACCELERATED );

Which he then uses to render images:

void LTexture::render( int x, int y, SDL_Rect* clip )
{
        //Set rendering space and render to screen
        SDL_Rect renderQuad = { x, y, mWidth, mHeight };

        //Set clip rendering dimensions
        if( clip != NULL )
        {
                renderQuad.w = clip->w;
                renderQuad.h = clip->h;
        }

        //Render to screen
        SDL_RenderCopy( gRenderer, mTexture, clip, &renderQuad );
}

He then calls his render() to draw images from a spritesheet:

//Clear screen
SDL_SetRenderDrawColor( gRenderer, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF );
SDL_RenderClear( gRenderer );

//Render top left sprite
gSpriteSheetTexture.render( 0, 0, &gSpriteClips[ 0 ] );

//Render top right sprite
gSpriteSheetTexture.render( SCREEN_WIDTH - gSpriteClips[ 1 ].w, 0, &gSpriteClips[ 1 ] );

//Render bottom left sprite
gSpriteSheetTexture.render( 0, SCREEN_HEIGHT - gSpriteClips[ 2 ].h, &gSpriteClips[ 2 ] );

//Render bottom right sprite
gSpriteSheetTexture.render( SCREEN_WIDTH - gSpriteClips[ 3 ].w, SCREEN_HEIGHT - gSpriteClips[ 3 ].h, &gSpriteClips[ 3 ] );

//Update screen
SDL_RenderPresent( gRenderer );

I understand what is happening, but now that I can't use the sdl renderer, how do I accomplish the same? Can I not use any SDL2 drawing functions now? Do I only use raw opengl calls, and only use SDL for keyboard bindings?

Basically, I do not understand how to use SDL2 for drawing things (like in the sprite example) if I cannot use the SDL Renderer since it seems incompatible with the gui library I'm using, which uses opengl calls for rendering.

Answer 1

Can I not use any SDL2 drawing functions now? Do I only use raw opengl calls, and only use SDL for keyboard bindings?

Correct.

In order to use OpenGL API directly, the SDL window must be created with the flag SDL_WINDOW_OPENGL, as well as a new OpenGL context for it:

auto window = SDL_CreateWindow("Window name",
                 SDL_WINDOWPOS_UNDEFINED,
                 SDL_WINDOWPOS_UNDEFINED,
                 width, height, SDL_WINDOW_OPENGL | SDL_WINDOW_FULLSCREEN);
auto context = SDL_GL_CreateContext(window);

If successful, one would simply perform calls to OpenGL like in any other context handler. That same website linked in the question provides tutorials for using OpenGL with SDL 2, both legacy and modern. Note that none of the two involve creating an SDL renderer. In fact, using it would be inappropriate since the two APIs are meant to be mutually exclusive: you should either use one or the other. This answer makes a quick explanation for why you should not mix them.

Nevertheless, there are ways to achieve the same output from certain SDLRenderer calls using OpenGL (since the same renderer has an OpenGL implementation!), but this will naturally be case specific. Want to draw a simple rectangle? The legacy glBegin and glEnd approach might suffice. Want to draw a sprite? You'll have to send it to the OpenGL device's memory first. Once you know the ropes around OpenGL, making a suitable wrapper layer is often appropriate. If you want to use existing libraries that rely on OpenGL, replacing other drawing procedures to use this API (or utility libraries such as GLU) is the right way to go.

Also note that the SDL renderer does not have to rely on OpenGL (it may use Direct3D on Windows).