glLighti function

Article
12/11/2020

The glLighti function returns light source parameter values.

Syntax

void WINAPI glLighti(
   GLenum light,
   GLenum pname,
   GLint  param
);

Parameters

light

The identifier of a light. The number of possible lights depends on the implementation, but at least eight lights are supported. They are identified by symbolic names of the form GL_LIGHTi where i is a value: 0 to GL_MAX_LIGHTS - 1.

pname

A single-valued light source parameter for light. The following symbolic names are accepted.

Value	Meaning
GL_SPOT_EXPONENT	The param parameter is a single integer value that specifies the intensity distribution of the light. Integer and floating-point values are mapped directly. Only values in the range [0, 128] are accepted. Effective light intensity is attenuated by the cosine of the angle between the direction of the light and the direction from the light to the vertex being lighted, raised to the power of the spot exponent. Thus, higher spot exponents result in a more focused light source, regardless of the spot cutoff angle. The default spot exponent is 0, resulting in uniform light distribution.
GL_SPOT_CUTOFF	The param parameter is a single integer value that specifies the maximum spread angle of a light source. Integer and floating-point values are mapped directly. Only values in the range [0, 90], and the special value 180, are accepted. If the angle between the direction of the light and the direction from the light to the vertex being lighted is greater than the spot cutoff angle, then the light is completely masked. Otherwise, its intensity is controlled by the spot exponent and the attenuation factors. The default spot cutoff is 180, resulting in uniform light distribution.
GL_CONSTANT_ATTENUATION, GL_LINEAR_ATTENUATION, GL_QUADRATIC_ATTENUATION	The param parameter is a single integer value that specifies one of the three light attenuation factors. Integer and floating-point values are mapped directly. Only nonnegative values are accepted. If the light is positional, rather than directional, its intensity is attenuated by the reciprocal of the sum of: the constant factor, the linear factor multiplied by the distance between the light and the vertex being lighted, and the quadratic factor multiplied by the square of the same distance. The default attenuation factors are (1,0,0), resulting in no attenuation.

param

Specifies the value that parameter pname of light source light will be set to.

Return value

This function does not return a value.

Error codes

The following error codes can be retrieved by the glGetError function.

Name	Meaning
GL_INVALID_ENUM	light or pname was not an accepted value.
GL_INVALID_VALUE	A spot exponent value was specified outside the range [0, 128], or spot cutoff was specified outside the range [0, 90] (except for the special value 180), or a negative attenuation factor was specified.
GL_INVALID_OPERATION	The function was called between a call to glBegin and the corresponding call to glEnd.

Remarks

The glLighti function sets the value or values of individual light source parameters. The light parameter names the light and is a symbolic name of the form GL_LIGHTi, where 0 = i < GL_MAX_LIGHTS.

The pname parameter specifies one of the light source parameters, again by symbolic name. The param parameter is either a single value or a pointer to an array that contains the new values.

Lighting calculation is enabled and disabled using glEnable and glDisable with argument GL_LIGHTING. When lighting is enabled, light sources that are enabled contribute to the lighting calculation. Light source i is enabled and disabled using glEnable and glDisable with argument GL_LIGHTi.

It is always the case that GL_LIGHTi = GL_LIGHT0 + i.

The following functions retrieve information related to the glLighti function:

glGetLight

glIsEnabled with argument GL_LIGHTING

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows 2000 Professional [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server	Windows 2000 Server [desktop apps only]
Header	Gl.h
Library	Opengl32.lib
DLL	Opengl32.dll