WebGL - initGL is not defined - google-chrome

Question

I was trying a tutorial which would draw a triangle and a square using WebGL.
http://learningwebgl.com/blog/?p=28 that one.
So when I got to the first testing zone.
I got the error:
Uncaught ReferenceError: initGL is not defined.
This is my code:
var triangleVertexPositionBuffer;
var squareVertexPositionBuffer;
function webGLStart() {
var canvas = document.getElementById("lesson01-canvas");
initGL(document.getElementById("lesson01-canvas"));
initShaders();
initBuffers();
gl.clearColor(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0);
gl.enable(gl.DEPTH_TEST);
drawScene();
}
function initBuffers() {
// driehoek
triangleVertexPositionBuffer = gl.createBuffer();
gl.bindBuffer(gl.ARRAY_BUFFER, triangleVertexPositionBuffer);
var vertices = [
0.0, 1.0, 0.0,
-1.0, -1.0, 0.0,
1.0, -1.0, 0.0
];
gl.bufferData(gl.ARRAY_BUFFER, new Float32Array(vertices), gl.STATIC_DRAW);
triangleVertexPositionBuffer.itemSize = 3;
triangleVertexPositionBuffer.numItems = 3;
// vierkant
squareVertexPositionBuffer = gl.createBuffer();
gl.bindBuffer(gl.ARRAY_BUFFER, squareVertexPositionBuffer);
vertices = [
1.0, 1.0, 0.0,
-1.0, 1.0, 0.0,
1.0, -1.0, 0.0,
-1.0, -1.0, 0.0
];
gl.bufferData(gl.ARRAY_BUFFER, new Float32Array(vertices), gl.STATIC_DRAW);
squareVertexPositionBuffer.itemSize = 3;
squareVertexPositionBuffer.numItems = 4;
}
function drawScene() {
gl.viewport(0, 0, gl.viewportWidth, gl.viewportHeight);
gl.clear(gl.COLOR_BUFFER_BIT | gl.DEPTH_BUFFER_BIT);
mat4.perspective(pMatrix, 45, gl.viewportWidth / gl.viewportHeight, 0.1, 100.0);
mat4.identity(mvMatrix);
mat4.translate(mvMatrix, mvMatrix, [-1.5, 0.0, -7.0]);
gl.bindBuffer(gl.ARRAY_BUFFER, triangleVertexPositionBuffer);
gl.vertexAttribPointer(shaderProgram.vertexPositionAttribute,
triangleVertexPositionBuffer.itemSize, gl.FLOAT, false, 0, 0);
setMatrixUniforms();
gl.drawArrays(gl.TRIANGLES, 0, triangleVertexPositionBuffer.numItems);
mat4.translate(mvMatrix, mvMatrix, [3.0, 0.0, 0.0]);
gl.bindBuffer(gl.ARRAY_BUFFER, squareVertexPositionBuffer);
gl.vertexAttribPointer(shaderProgram.vertexPositionAttribute,
squareVertexPositionBuffer.itemSize, gl.FLOAT, false, 0, 0);
setMatrixUniforms();
gl.drawArrays(gl.TRIANGLE_STRIP, 0, squareVertexPositionBuffer.numItems);
}

Answer 1

Those functions (e.g. initGL) are not part of WebGL
Presumably they are other functions in (or which should have been mentioned by) the tutorial - maybe there is a JavaScript library that should be included? It appears that initGL should also have set the global gl variable.
For instance, see "initGL" of the same site (which I found by searching for "WebGL initGL"). You'll have to hunt down the other definitions (where is initShaders?) to patch the given code ..

Answer 2

Like user2864740 mentioned you are missing some helper functions that the tutorial writer has created. I would suggest clicking the "Click here and you’ll see the live WebGL version" link near the top of every chapter and viewing the source code.
It seems you are missing the following code:
var gl;
function initGL(canvas) {
try {
gl = canvas.getContext("experimental-webgl");
gl.viewportWidth = canvas.width;
gl.viewportHeight = canvas.height;
} catch (e) {
}
if (!gl) {
alert("Could not initialise WebGL, sorry :-(");
}
}
function getShader(gl, id) {
var shaderScript = document.getElementById(id);
if (!shaderScript) {
return null;
}
var str = "";
var k = shaderScript.firstChild;
while (k) {
if (k.nodeType == 3) {
str += k.textContent;
}
k = k.nextSibling;
}
var shader;
if (shaderScript.type == "x-shader/x-fragment") {
shader = gl.createShader(gl.FRAGMENT_SHADER);
} else if (shaderScript.type == "x-shader/x-vertex") {
shader = gl.createShader(gl.VERTEX_SHADER);
} else {
return null;
}
gl.shaderSource(shader, str);
gl.compileShader(shader);
if (!gl.getShaderParameter(shader, gl.COMPILE_STATUS)) {
alert(gl.getShaderInfoLog(shader));
return null;
}
return shader;
}
var shaderProgram;
function initShaders() {
var fragmentShader = getShader(gl, "shader-fs");
var vertexShader = getShader(gl, "shader-vs");
shaderProgram = gl.createProgram();
gl.attachShader(shaderProgram, vertexShader);
gl.attachShader(shaderProgram, fragmentShader);
gl.linkProgram(shaderProgram);
if (!gl.getProgramParameter(shaderProgram, gl.LINK_STATUS)) {
alert("Could not initialise shaders");
}
gl.useProgram(shaderProgram);
shaderProgram.vertexPositionAttribute = gl.getAttribLocation(shaderProgram, "aVertexPosition");
gl.enableVertexAttribArray(shaderProgram.vertexPositionAttribute);
shaderProgram.pMatrixUniform = gl.getUniformLocation(shaderProgram, "uPMatrix");
shaderProgram.mvMatrixUniform = gl.getUniformLocation(shaderProgram, "uMVMatrix");
}
var mvMatrix = mat4.create();
var pMatrix = mat4.create();
function setMatrixUniforms() {
gl.uniformMatrix4fv(shaderProgram.pMatrixUniform, false, pMatrix);
gl.uniformMatrix4fv(shaderProgram.mvMatrixUniform, false, mvMatrix);
}
Depending on the rest of the html on your page, you may also be missing the following script tags:
<script id="shader-fs" type="x-shader/x-fragment">
precision mediump float;
void main(void) {
gl_FragColor = vec4(1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0);
}
</script>
<script id="shader-vs" type="x-shader/x-vertex">
attribute vec3 aVertexPosition;
uniform mat4 uMVMatrix;
uniform mat4 uPMatrix;
void main(void) {
gl_Position = uPMatrix * uMVMatrix * vec4(aVertexPosition, 1.0);
}
</script>