1991-2006 Silicon Graphics, Inc.
glDrawElements 3G
glDrawElements render primitives from array data

## C Specification

void `glDrawElements` GLenum mode GLsizei count GLenum type const GLvoid * indices

## Parameters

mode

  Specifies what kind of primitives to render. Symbolic constants `GL_POINTS`, `GL_LINE_STRIP`, `GL_LINE_LOOP`, `GL_LINES`, `GL_LINE_STRIP_ADJACENCY`, `GL_LINES_ADJACENCY`, `GL_TRIANGLE_STRIP`, `GL_TRIANGLE_FAN`, `GL_TRIANGLES`, `GL_TRIANGLE_STRIP_ADJACENCY` and `GL_TRIANGLES_ADJACENCY` are accepted.

count

  Specifies the number of elements to be rendered.

type

  Specifies the type of the values in indices. Must be one of `GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE`, `GL_UNSIGNED_SHORT`, or `GL_UNSIGNED_INT`.

indices

  Specifies a pointer to the location where the indices are stored.

## Description

`glDrawElements` specifies multiple geometric primitives with very few subroutine calls. Instead of calling a GL function to pass each individual vertex, normal, texture coordinate, edge flag, or color, you can prespecify separate arrays of vertices, normals, and so on, and use them to construct a sequence of primitives with a single call to `glDrawElements`.

When `glDrawElements` is called, it uses count sequential elements from an enabled array, starting at indices to construct a sequence of geometric primitives. mode specifies what kind of primitives are constructed and how the array elements construct these primitives. If more than one array is enabled, each is used.

Vertex attributes that are modified by `glDrawElements` have an unspecified value after `glDrawElements` returns. Attributes that aren't modified maintain their previous values.

## Notes

`GL_LINE_STRIP_ADJACENCY`, `GL_LINES_ADJACENCY`, `GL_TRIANGLE_STRIP_ADJACENCY` and `GL_TRIANGLES_ADJACENCY` are available only if the GL version is 3.2 or greater.

## Errors

`GL_INVALID_ENUM` is generated if mode is not an accepted value.

`GL_INVALID_VALUE` is generated if count is negative.

`GL_INVALID_OPERATION` is generated if a geometry shader is active and mode is incompatible with the input primitive type of the geometry shader in the currently installed program object.

`GL_INVALID_OPERATION` is generated if a non-zero buffer object name is bound to an enabled array or the element array and the buffer object's data store is currently mapped.

## See Also

glDrawArrays, glDrawElementsInstanced, glDrawElementsBaseVertex, glDrawRangeElements

## Copyright

Copyright 1991-2006 Silicon Graphics, Inc. This document is licensed under the SGI Free Software B License. For details, see http://oss.sgi.com/projects/FreeB/.