GLSTENCILOP() MachTen Programmer’s Manual GLSTENCILOP()
NAME 
glStencilOp - set stencil test actions
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C SPECIFICATION 
void glStencilOp( GLenum fail, 
GLenum zfail, 
GLenum zpass )
PARAMETERS 
fail Specifies the action to take when the stencil test 
fails. Six symbolic constants are accepted: 
GL_KEEP, GL_ZERO, GL_REPLACE, GL_INCR, GL_DECR, and 
GL_INVERT. The initial value is GL_KEEP.
zfail Specifies the stencil
action when the stencil test 
passes, but the depth test fails. zfail accepts 
the same symbolic constants as fail. The initial 
value is GL_KEEP.
zpass Specifies the stencil
action when both the stencil 
test and the depth test pass, or when the stencil 
test passes and either there is no depth buffer or 
depth testing is not enabled. zpass accepts the 
same symbolic constants as fail. The initial value 
is GL_KEEP.
DESCRIPTION 
Stenciling, like depth-buffering, enables and disables 
drawing on a per-pixel basis. You draw into the stencil 
planes using GL drawing primitives, then render geometry
and images, using the stencil planes to mask out portions
of the screen. Stenciling is typically used in multipass
rendering algorithms to achieve special effects, such as
decals, outlining, and constructive solid geometry render-
ing.
The stencil test conditionally
eliminates a pixel based on 
the outcome of a comparison between the value in the sten-
cil buffer and a reference value. To enable and disable 
the test, call glEnable and glDisable with argument 
GL_STENCIL_TEST; to control it, call glStencilFunc.
glStencilOp takes three
arguments that indicate what hap- 
pens to the stored stencil value while stenciling is 
enabled. If the stencil test fails, no change is made to
the pixel’s color or depth buffers, and fail specifies
what happens to the stencil buffer contents. The follow-
ing six actions are possible.
GL_KEEP Keeps the current value.
GL_ZERO Sets the stencil buffer value to 0.
GL_REPLACE Sets the stencil
buffer value to ref, as 
specified by glStencilFunc.
GL_INCR Increments the current
stencil buffer 
value. Clamps to the maximum repre- 
sentable unsigned value.
GL_DECR Decrements the current
stencil buffer 
value. Clamps to 0.
GL_INVERT Bitwise inverts the
current stencil buffer 
value.
Stencil buffer values are
treated as unsigned integers. 
When incremented and decremented, values are clamped to 0
and $2 sup n - 1$, where $n$ is the value returned by 
querying GL_STENCIL_BITS.
The other two arguments to
glStencilOp specify stencil 
buffer actions that depend on whether subsequent depth 
buffer tests succeed (zpass) or fail (zfail) (see 
glDepthFunc). The actions are specified using the same 
six symbolic constants as fail. Note that zfail is 
ignored when there is no depth buffer, or when the depth
buffer is not enabled. In these cases, fail and zpass 
specify stencil action when the stencil test fails and 
passes, respectively.
NOTES 
Initially the stencil test is disabled. If there is no 
stencil buffer, no stencil modification can occur and it
is as if the stencil tests always pass, regardless of any
call to glStencilOp.
ERRORS 
GL_INVALID_ENUM is generated if fail, zfail, or zpass is
any value other than the six defined constant values.
GL_INVALID_OPERATION is
generated if glStencilOp is exe- 
cuted between the execution of glBegin and the correspond-
ing execution of glEnd.
ASSOCIATED GETS 
glGet with argument GL_STENCIL_FAIL 
glGet with argument GL_STENCIL_PASS_DEPTH_PASS 
glGet with argument GL_STENCIL_PASS_DEPTH_FAIL 
glGet with argument GL_STENCIL_BITS 
glIsEnabled with argument GL_STENCIL_TEST
SEE ALSO 
glAlphaFunc, glBlendFunc, glDepthFunc, glEnable, glLogi-
cOp, glStencilFunc
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