.TH IM_INIT_WORLD 3 "11 April 1990"
.SH NAME
im_init_world, im_get_option_group \- start up VIPS
.SH SYNOPSIS
#include <vips/vips.h>

int im_init_world( const char *argv0 )
.br
GOptionGroup *im_get_option_group( void );
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B im_init_world(3) 
starts up the VIPS library. It:

 - initialises any libraries that VIPS is using, including GObject
 - starts up the threading system
 - guesses where the VIPS data files are and sets up i18n
 - loads any plugins from libdir/vips-x.x

The
.B argv0
argument is the value of 
.B argv[0] 
your program was passed by the host operating system. VIPS uses this with
.B im_guess_prefix(3)
to try to find the various VIPS data files.

.SH EXAMPLE

  int
  main( int argc, char **argv )
  {
    if( im_init_world( argv[0] ) )
      error_exit( "unable to start VIPS" );

    return( 0 );
  }

.B im_get_option_group(3) 
returns a 
.B GOptionGroup
containing various VIPS command-line options. It can be used with GOption to
help parse argc/argv.

.SH SEE ALSO
im_guess_prefix(3), im_guess_libdir(3), GOption(3)
.SH COPYRIGHT
Birkbeck College and the National Gallery (c) 1994