---
title: "init(api:sharegroup:)"
framework: opengles
role: symbol
role_heading: Initializer
path: "opengles/eaglcontext/init(api:sharegroup:)-2rt8m"
---

# init(api:sharegroup:)

Initializes and returns a newly allocated rendering context with the specified version of OpenGL ES rendering API and the specified sharegroup.

## Declaration

```swift
init?(api: EAGLRenderingAPI, sharegroup: EAGLSharegroup)
```

## Parameters

- `api`: The desired version of the OpenGL ES rendering API. For legal values, see doc://com.apple.opengles/documentation/OpenGLES/EAGLRenderingAPI.
- `sharegroup`: A sharegroup obtained from another doc://com.apple.opengles/documentation/OpenGLES/EAGLContext object.

## Return Value

Return Value An initialized context object, or nil if the object couldn’t be created.

## Discussion

Discussion To issue OpenGL ES commands to this context, you must first make it the current drawing context by calling setCurrent(_:). OpenGL ES objects such as textures, renderbuffers, framebuffers and vertex buffers are shared across all contexts that are created with the same sharegroup. To specify that a new context should be initialized in an existing sharegroup, retrieve the sharegroup property from a previously initialized context and pass it as a parameter to this initialization method. Pass nil as the sharegroup parameter to create a new EAGLSharegroup object attached to the context.