C Specification

Binary shader code can be retrieved from a shader object using the command:

// Provided by VK_EXT_shader_object
VkResult vkGetShaderBinaryDataEXT(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    VkShaderEXT                                 shader,
    size_t*                                     pDataSize,
    void*                                       pData);

Parameters

  • device is the logical device that shader object was created from.

  • shader is the shader object to retrieve binary shader code from.

  • pDataSize is a pointer to a size_t value related to the size of the binary shader code, as described below.

  • pData is either NULL or a pointer to a buffer.

Description

If pData is NULL, then the size of the binary shader code of the shader object, in bytes, is returned in pDataSize. Otherwise, pDataSize must point to a variable set by the user to the size of the buffer, in bytes, pointed to by pData, and on return the variable is overwritten with the amount of data actually written to pData. If pDataSize is less than the size of the binary shader code, nothing is written to pData, and VK_INCOMPLETE will be returned instead of VK_SUCCESS.

Note

The behavior of this command when pDataSize is too small differs from how some other getter-type commands work in Vulkan. Because shader binary data is only usable in its entirety, it would never be useful for the implementation to return partial data. Because of this, nothing is written to pData unless pDataSize is large enough to fit the data in its entirety.

Binary shader code retrieved using vkGetShaderBinaryDataEXT can be passed to a subsequent call to vkCreateShadersEXT on a compatible physical device by specifying VK_SHADER_CODE_TYPE_BINARY_EXT in the codeType member of VkShaderCreateInfoEXT.

The shader code returned by repeated calls to this function with the same VkShaderEXT is guaranteed to be invariant for the lifetime of the VkShaderEXT object.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-vkGetShaderBinaryDataEXT-None-08461
    The shaderObject feature must be enabled

  • VUID-vkGetShaderBinaryDataEXT-None-08499
    If pData is not NULL, it must be aligned to 16 bytes

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetShaderBinaryDataEXT-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetShaderBinaryDataEXT-shader-parameter
    shader must be a valid VkShaderEXT handle

  • VUID-vkGetShaderBinaryDataEXT-pDataSize-parameter
    pDataSize must be a valid pointer to a size_t value

  • VUID-vkGetShaderBinaryDataEXT-pData-parameter
    If the value referenced by pDataSize is not 0, and pData is not NULL, pData must be a valid pointer to an array of pDataSize bytes

  • VUID-vkGetShaderBinaryDataEXT-shader-parent
    shader must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from device

Return Codes
On success, this command returns

  • VK_SUCCESS

  • VK_INCOMPLETE

On failure, this command returns

  • VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_HOST_MEMORY

  • VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_DEVICE_MEMORY

See Also

VK_EXT_shader_object, VkDevice, VkShaderEXT

Document Notes

For more information, see the Vulkan Specification

This page is extracted from the Vulkan Specification. Fixes and changes should be made to the Specification, not directly.

Copyright

Copyright 2014-2024 The Khronos Group Inc.

SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0