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# docs.GL

OpenGL 4
OpenGL 3
OpenGL 2
OpenGL ES 3
OpenGL ES 2

# glBindTexture

## Name

glBindTexture — bind a named texture to a texturing target

## C Specification

`void glBindTexture(` | GLenum | target,
| GLuint | texture`)`;

## Parameters

`target`

  Specifies the target to which the texture is bound. Must be either `GL_TEXTURE_1D`, `GL_TEXTURE_2D`, `GL_TEXTURE_3D`, or `GL_TEXTURE_CUBE_MAP`.

`texture`

  Specifies the name of a texture.

## Description

`glBindTexture` lets you create or use a named texture. Calling `glBindTexture` with `target` set to `GL_TEXTURE_1D`, `GL_TEXTURE_2D`, `GL_TEXTURE_3D` or `GL_TEXTURE_CUBE_MAP` and `texture` set to the name of the new texture binds the texture name to the target. When a texture is bound to a target, the previous binding for that target is automatically broken.

Texture names are unsigned integers. The value zero is reserved to represent the default texture for each texture target. Texture names and the corresponding texture contents are local to the shared display-list space (see glXCreateContext) of the current GL rendering context; two rendering contexts share texture names only if they also share display lists.

You may use glGenTextures to generate a set of new texture names.

When a texture is first bound, it assumes the specified target: A texture first bound to `GL_TEXTURE_1D` becomes one-dimensional texture, a texture first bound to `GL_TEXTURE_2D` becomes two-dimensional texture, a texture first bound to `GL_TEXTURE_3D` becomes three-dimensional texture, and a texture first bound to `GL_TEXTURE_CUBE_MAP` becomes a cube-mapped texture. The state of a one-dimensional texture immediately after it is first bound is equivalent to the state of the default `GL_TEXTURE_1D` at GL initialization, and similarly for two- and three-dimensional textures and cube-mapped textures.

While a texture is bound, GL operations on the target to which it is bound affect the bound texture, and queries of the target to which it is bound return state from the bound texture. If texture mapping is active on the target to which a texture is bound, the bound texture is used. In effect, the texture targets become aliases for the textures currently bound to them, and the texture name zero refers to the default textures that were bound to them at initialization.

A texture binding created with `glBindTexture` remains active until a different texture is bound to the same target, or until the bound texture is deleted with glDeleteTextures.

Once created, a named texture may be re-bound to its same original target as often as needed. It is usually much faster to use `glBindTexture` to bind an existing named texture to one of the texture targets than it is to reload the texture image using glTexImage1D, glTexImage2D, or glTexImage3D. For additional control over performance, use glPrioritizeTextures.

`glBindTexture` is included in display lists.

## Notes

`glBindTexture` is available only if the GL version is 1.1 or greater.

`GL_TEXTURE_CUBE_MAP` is available only if the GL version is 1.3 or greater.

## Errors

`GL_INVALID_ENUM` is generated if `target` is not one of the allowable values.

`GL_INVALID_OPERATION` is generated if `texture` was previously created with a target that doesn't match that of `target`.

`GL_INVALID_OPERATION` is generated if `glBindTexture` is executed between the execution of glBegin and the corresponding execution of glEnd.

## Associated Gets

glGet with argument `GL_TEXTURE_BINDING_1D`

glGet with argument `GL_TEXTURE_BINDING_2D`

glGet with argument `GL_TEXTURE_BINDING_3D`

## Examples

Create a texture object with linear mipmaps and edge clamping.

    GLuint texture_id;
    glGenTextures(1, &texture_id);
    glBindTexture(GL_TEXTURE_2D, texture_id);

    glTexParameteri(GL_TEXTURE_2D, GL_TEXTURE_MAG_FILTER, GL_LINEAR);
    glTexParameteri(GL_TEXTURE_2D, GL_TEXTURE_MIN_FILTER, GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_LINEAR);

    glTexParameteri(GL_TEXTURE_2D, GL_TEXTURE_WRAP_S, GL_CLAMP_TO_EDGE);
    glTexParameteri(GL_TEXTURE_2D, GL_TEXTURE_WRAP_T, GL_CLAMP_TO_EDGE);

    // texture_data is the source data of your texture, in this case
    // its size is sizeof(unsigned char) * texture_width * texture_height * 4
    glTexImage2D(GL_TEXTURE_2D, 0, GL_RGBA, texture_width, texture_height, 0, GL_RGBA, GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE, texture_data);
    glGenerateMipmap(GL_TEXTURE_2D); // Unavailable in OpenGL 2.1, use gluBuild2DMipmaps() instead

    glBindTexture(GL_TEXTURE_2D, 0);

## Tutorials

Sébastien Dominé - Using Texture Compression in OpenGL
Songho - OpenGL Pixel Buffer Object (PBO)
open.gl - Textures Objects and Parameters

## See Also

glAreTexturesResident, glDeleteTextures, glGenTextures, glGet, glGetTexParameter, glIsTexture, glPrioritizeTextures, glTexImage1D, glTexImage2D, glTexParameter

## Copyright

Copyright © 1991-2006 Silicon Graphics, Inc. This document is licensed under the SGI Free Software B License. For details, see https://web.archive.org/web/20171022161616/http://oss.sgi.com/projects/FreeB/.

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